As an antidote to witchcraft
The concept of sorcery or witchcraft exists in Islam. In the Qur'an verse 102 of Chapter Al-Baqara states:
And they followed what the Shaitans chanted of sorcery in the reign of Sulaiman, and Sulaiman was not an unbeliever, but the Shaitans disbelieved, they taught men sorcery and that was sent down to the two angels at Babel, Harut and Marut, yet these two taught no man until they had said, "Surely we are only a trial, therefore do not be a disbeliever." Even then men learned from these two, magic by which they might cause a separation between a man and his wife; and they cannot hurt with it any one except with Allah's permission, and they learned what harmed them and did not profit them, and certainly they know that he who bought it should have no share of good in the hereafter and evil was the price for which they sold their souls, had they but known this.
In the tradition of Muhammad, he was himself once targeted by sorcerers, but he annulled their effect through the recitation of the verses of the Qur'an. According to various traditions, different parts of the Qur'an are described to have a positive effect on an individual in terms of negating and preventing the effects of witchcraft, or for general well being and becoming a better practicing Muslim. Eminent Muslim scholar of the sub-continent Maulana Mohammad Zakariya collected these verses in book form, which were already in use in his family as an antidote to witchcraft. This collection is popularly referred to as Manzil.
The Manzil comprises the following verses of the Quran:
* Surah Al-Fatihah (chapter 1): verses 1 to 7
* Surah Al-Bakarah (chapter 2): verses 1 to 5, 163, 255 to 257, and 284 to 286
* Surah Al-Imran (chapter 3): verses 18, 26 and 27
* Surah Al-A'araf (chapter 7): verses 54 to 56
* Surah Al-Israa (chapter 17): verses 110 and 111
* Surah Al-Muminoon (chapter 23): verses 115 to 118
* Surah Al-Saaffaat (chapter 37): verses 1 to 11
* Surah Al-Rehman (chapter 55): verses 33 to 40
* Surah Al-Hashr (chapter 59): verses 21 to 24
* Surah Al-Jinn (chapter 72): verses 1 to 4
* Surah Al-Kaafiroon (chapter 109): verses 1 to 6
* Surah Al-Ikhlas (chapter 112): verses 1 to 4
* Surah Al-Falaq (chapter 113): verses 1 to 5
* Surah Al-Naas (chapter 114): verses 1 to 6
The entire manzil is prescribed to be read one or three times in one sitting. This may be performed once or twice a day, in the latter case once in the morning and once in the evening.
