Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:82

(That is, that which is in the betterment of their religion and the reform of their souls, like the healing medicine for the sick. The particle min [of] is for clarification—it was placed first out of importance—though Abu Hayyan denied the permissibility of it being for clarification and chose instead that it is for the beginning of the limit (ibtida' al-ghayah); this is an inadmissible rejection, for it implies that the entire Qur'an is such. In the tradition: "Whoever does not seek healing by the Qur'an, may Allah not grant him healing."

Or, it is for partiality (tab'id). Its meaning, according to what is in al-Kashshaf, is: "We send down that which is a healing," meaning: We send it down gradually, as a healing after healing. It does not mean that the Qur'an is divided into what is a healing and what is not a healing—as al-Hawfi mistakenly assumed, rejecting the possibility of intending partiality. Rather, the meaning is that what has not yet been revealed is not a healing for the believers due to their lack of knowledge of it, and that everything that is revealed is a healing for a specific ailment, with the revelation of healing occurring equivalent to the renewal of the ailment.

It is also argued that this view is most consistent with the requirements of the context. It is not hidden from you that this is far-fetched; therefore, the choice for directing the partiality is that it pertains to physical healing, which is among the special properties of some verses and not others. Among the first category is al-Fatihah, which possesses famous effects, and the "Verses of Healing," which are six:

1. "And [He will] heal the breasts of a believing people" (9:14).
2. "A healing for what is in the breasts" (10:57).
3. "In it is healing for the people" (16:69).
4. "And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers" (17:82).
5. "And when I am ill, it is He who cures me" (26:80).
6. "Say: 'It is, for those who believe, a guidance and a cure'" (41:44).

al-Subki said: "I have tested this many times." It is narrated from al-Qushayri that his son fell ill and he despaired of his life. He saw Allah—the Exalted—in his dream and complained to Him about it. He said to him: "Gather the verses of healing, read them over him, or write them in a vessel and have him drink water that has washed them away." He did so, and Allah cured him. Physicians acknowledge that some matters and incantations heal through a spiritual property, as al-Andalusi detailed in his Mufradat, and likewise Dawud in the second volume of his Tadhkirah. Whoever denies this is not to be heeded.

Indeed, scholars differed regarding the permissibility of what al-Qushayri did, which is a type of nushrah (curing the bewitched). They defined it as writing something of the names of Allah or the Qur'an, then washing it with water, then wiping the patient with it or having them drink it. al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i, and Mujahid forbade this. Abu Dawud narrated from the hadith of Jabir that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about nushrah, and he said: "It is from the work of Satan."

Ibn al-Musayyib permitted it. The nushrah about which the Prophet (peace be upon him) spoke as he did is the nushrah that was practiced in the Pre-Islamic era. It consists of various types, including what incantators practice in most eras: reading things of unknown meaning that were not established in the Sunnah, or writing them, hanging them, or drinking them. Malik said: "There is no harm in hanging writings containing the names of Allah on the necks of the sick for the purpose of seeking blessings through them, provided the hanger does not intend by that to ward off the 'evil eye'." He meant by this that there is no harm in hanging them after the affliction has descended and relief and recovery have begun, like the incantations for the evil eye that are supported by the Sunnah. As for before the descent of the affliction, it is problematic—and this is strange. According to Ibn al-Musayyib, it is permissible to hang a protective amulet ('awdhah) from the Book of Allah in a casing or the like, and it may be kept [with one] during intercourse or in the toilet, and he did not restrict it to before or after. al-Baqir permitted amulets to be hung on children absolutely. Ibn Sirin saw no harm in a person, whether adult or child, hanging something from the Qur'an absolutely; this is what the people have followed, both in ancient and modern times, in all regions.

However, directing the partiality toward what has been mentioned is not supported by His saying—the Exalted—: "And it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss" (17:82). This means that the entire Qur'an, or every part of it, does not increase the disbelievers who deny it and who place things in their improper positions—despite it being in itself a healing for what is in the breasts from the ailments of doubt and the sicknesses of delusion—except in loss, meaning destruction through their disbelief and denial. Their increase [in loss] is in the sense that whenever they renew their disbelief and denial of a verse that is revealed gradually, they increase thereby in destruction. Some interpreted "loss" as diminution, signifying the attainment of some of the rudiments of Islam within them; in this, as stated, is a hint that the confusion and doubts that beset believers during their seeking of guidance and direction are in the position of illnesses, while the ignorance and obstinacy in the disbelievers are in the position of death and destruction. Attributing the aforementioned increase to the Qur'an, even though they are the ones who increase in it due to their own evil deeds, is in consideration of it being the cause of that. In this is an astonishment at its nature, in that it is the circuit for both healing and destruction, just as it became pearls in shells but poison in the mouth of a viper.

It is sometimes said that the division of the Qur'an into what is a healing for the ailments of doubt pertains only to the proofs, such as the verses indicating the invalidity of polytheism and the establishment of the Oneness of Allah—the Exalted—and verses indicating the possibility of physical resurrection. Not all verses of the Qur'an are like that, for among them are commandments for prayer, fasting, and zakat, and prohibitions against murder, adultery, and theft, and the like; by these, the ailments of doubt and sicknesses of delusion are not healed. Likewise, the verses of narratives. Yes, in what was mentioned there is a benefit other than the healing of those ailments; it is mercy. In that case, it is said that there is an ellipsis in the verse: "We send down of the Qur'an that which is a healing and [that] which is a mercy," meaning: We send down verses that are a healing and verses that are a mercy.

In this is that doubt is not exclusive to what pertains to Allah—the Almighty and Majestic—and the possibility of resurrection; rather, it is also in the Message and his—peace be upon him—truthfulness in claiming it. There is no verse in the Qur'an that is not independent or does not have a role in the healing from that ailment, because of the inimitability it contains. Likewise, there is no verse that does not have a benefit from another perspective, so every verse is mercy, just as all of them are a healing. However, its being mercy is in relation to every single believer, as every believer benefits from it in some way. Its being a healing is in actuality in relation to those who are afflicted by something of the ailments of doubt and the sicknesses of delusion, and not all believers are like that—the assertion that everyone is like that at the beginning of faith is not accepted, nor is it necessary, as is not hidden.

The Imam generalized its healing property, and he spoke well: "It is a healing for spiritual diseases, which are of two types: false beliefs and reprehensible character traits. Because it contains the true proofs that expose the false doctrines regarding divinity, prophethood, the Hereafter, and divine decree, it heals from the first type of diseases. And because it contains the details of reprehensible traits, defines the corruption within them, and provides guidance toward noble traits and praiseworthy deeds, it heals from the other type of disease." Healing is an indication of evacuation (takhliyah), and mercy is an indication of decoration (tahliyah). Since the former is more important than the latter, healing was mentioned first. Ponder this, and Allah—the Exalted—is the Grantor of success.

The two Basrans recited nunazzilu [We send down] with a nun and a light letter. Mujahid recited it with a ya and a light letter, and al-Marwazi narrated it from Hafs.

Zayd bin Ali—may Allah be pleased with them both—recited shifa'an wa rahmatan [healing and mercy] in the accusative case. Abu Hayyan said: "This is explained by them being two circumstantial qualifiers (hal), and the predicate [of the sentence] is 'for the believers.' The operative factor in the circumstantial qualifiers is the verb implied in the prepositional phrase [of the Qur'an]. A parallel to this is 'and the heavens are folded in His right hand' in the recitation of the accusative matwiyyat [folded], and the saying of the poet: 'The kin of Ibn Kuz, wearing their armor among them, and the kin of Rabi'ah bin Hadhdhar.' Then he said: 'Placing the circumstantial qualifier before its operative factor from the prepositional phrase is not permitted except by al-Akhfash; those who forbid it make it accusative by implying 'I mean [specifically].' You know that one who permits the circumstantial qualifier to come from the subject does not need that."