Can you explain this practice?

[glo]

I read this comment elsewhere and wondered if this is really an Islamic practice? It looks like magic to me ...
Are practices like this encouraged in Islam?

Recite this aayat from the Glorious Quran once everyday and blow it upon your hands and rub it on the face and on the chest.

I have also heard other things said by Muslims - for example "Allah will answer your prayer when it rains"

I find these kind of things very alien and it makes me feel uncomfortable. To me it sounds as if people are trying to get God to answer their prayers by certain practices ... a bit (no offense intended!!) like a genie in a bottle.

Can somebody help me understand what this is about and how such things are interpreted within Islam?

Thank you.

 

[islamica]

There are certain surahs in the Quran that Allah has given preference over others and have made them a means of healing, answering prayers, protection, etc. Below is one such example,

It has been narrated in Bukhari and Muslim from `A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) that, "When the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) use to take his place of resting, he used to blow into his two hands and recite the Mu`awwadhat [Surah al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq, al-Naas] and pass and wipe his hands over the body.'
​

There is one thing to remember though. There is a difference between what is authentic prophet practice and what isn't. There are certain surahs you recite for a certain number of times and do the recommend act, like above. What some do is extend this by adding their own formulas where they state ridiculous stuff like recite this 7000 or that 300 times and do this or that to get what you want. That is not part of Islam.


Regarding the rain, there are also certain times that your dua (supplication) is more likely to accepted. A humanistic way of understanding is, you are more likely to get what you want if you go ask someone when they are in a good mood.

Narrated Sahel Ibn Sa'ad (RA): that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: 'Two will not be rejected, Supplication when the Adhan (call of prayer) is being called, and at the time of the rain'. [Al-Hakim 2: 114, and Abu Dawud #2540, ibn Majah]

'Seek the response to your du'as when the armies meet, and the prayer is called, and when rain falls' [reported by Imam al-Shafi' in al-Umm, al-Sahihah #1469]. The time of the rain is a time of mercy from Allah (SWT) so, one should take advantage of this time when Allah (SWT) is having mercy on His slaves.


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You can read more about best time to make duas here http://www.islamawareness.net/Dua/best.html

 

[Insaanah]

read this comment elsewhere and wondered if this is really an Islamic practice? It looks like magic to me ...

I'm not sure what verses were being referred to in the quote, but see this hadeeth:

Narrated `Aisha:

Whenever Allah's Messenger (peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon him) went to bed, he used to recite the Mu'auwidhaat (i.e. Surat al-Falaq 113 and Surat-an-Nas 114) then blow on his hands and pass his hands over his body.

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 6319
In-book reference: Book 80, Hadith 16
USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 8, Book 75, Hadith 331

This is an authentic practice of the Prophet, which we also do, as part of our night time supplications when we get into bed, to seek refuge in Allah from all kinds of evil and harm.

Are practices like this encouraged in Islam?

Only practices authentically transmitted from the Prophet (peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon him)

I have also heard other things said by Muslims - for example "Allah will answer your prayer when it rains"

One of the great mercies of Allah is that He has favoured certain times over others. Thus, he has distinguished these timings so that the worshipper can eagerly anticipate their arrival, and thus pray earnestly and with fervor. Had all timings been the same, the worshipper would not have had the same enthusiasm and fervor that exists during more blessed times. Therefore it is important that the one who desires that his dua be answered utilise these times, and ensure his dua is more frequent during them. Some of the times, places and actions are mentioned below:

In the last third of the night
Between the adhaan (call to prayer) and iqaamah (call to start prayer)
After the salaat (five times daily prayers)
When drinking zamzam water
During the month of Ramadan
During the Laylatul Qadr (a certain night in Ramadan)
Inside the Ka'bah
At mounts Safa and Marwa
After stoning the Jamarat during Hajj
The day of Arafah
The first ten days of the month of Dhul Hijjah
When rain falls

I find these kind of things very alien and it makes me feel uncomfortable.

This seems odd to me. To recite Qur'anic verses and then blow gently on your hands and pass over your own body makes you feel uncomfortable.

Yet the acceptance of the sacrifice of an innocent man and his dying a slow, painful, humiliating, and bloody death on a cross for your salvation, doesn't make you feel uncomfortable. It doesn't seem consistent.

 

[glo]

A humanistic way of understanding is, you are more likely to get what you want if you go ask someone when they are in a good mood.

Surely this cannot be transferred to God. God answers prayers when he is in a good mood? :?

Yet the acceptance of the sacrifice of an innocent man and his dying a slow, painful, humiliating, and bloody death on a cross for your salvation, doesn't make you feel uncomfortable. It doesn't seem consistent.

Jesus' sacrifice according to Christian teaching makes me feel uncomfortable too - but in a very different way and for different reasons.
However, that doesn't not belong into the Clarification about Islam section, so I won't say any more about that here.

To recite Qur'anic verses and then blow gently on your hands and pass over your own body makes you feel uncomfortable.

Only because it seemed to have 'magic undertones' to it.
Please understand that I only ask questions to understand certain practices better. It's how I learn.

If it is just done as a ritual/gesture or a reminder without any 'magical intentions' connected to it, then I can understand it much better. Perhaps like some Christians crossing themselves as a reminder of God and without the sign itself having any magical meaning attached to it.
Do you think there may be a similarity in how the gesture is used?

 

[islamica]

Surely this cannot be transferred to God. God answers prayers when he is in a good mood? :?

Sister Insaanah worded it better than I did. Just like some surahs are preferred over others, so too are some days or times preferred over others. It is a way of showing some things have more merit than others and is a mercy of Allah on us to provide this opportunity for us to strive even more in these times to gain more benefits.

 

[ardianto]

As we know that the rain is grace from Allah because very beneficial for nature and human. This is why when the rain were falling, Prophet Muhammad (saw) recited dua "Allahumma shoyyiban naafi’aa" (O Allah, bring down to us beneficial rain).[*]

What Prophet Muhammad (saw) doing was felt grateful for the grace (in this case the rain) that Allah had given, and expect Allah made that rain gave benefit to the nature and people.

Grateful. This is what a Muslim should do when he saw the rain as grace of Allah. And if someone feels grateful for what Allah has given, Allah will provide convenience for him, including when he makes dua.

So, not the rain itself that make the dua will be answered, but the grateful in the heart for what Allah has given that make Allah be pleased with the person who make dua. If someone intentionally wait for the rain to make dua, but there's no grateful in his heart, Allah would not answer his dua.


[*]Narated Aisha (ra): The Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam when he saw the rain, he said,"Allahumma shoyyiban nafi'an"
(HR. Bukhari no. 1032, Ahmad no. 24190, dan An Nasai no. 1523)

 

[glo]

Grateful. This is what a Muslim should do when he saw the rain as grace of Allah. And if someone feels grateful for what Allah has given, Allah will provide convenience for him, including when he makes dua.

Thank you, ardianto.
I can relate to what you have written and it helps me understand. Salaam.

 

[Insaanah]

Only because it seemed to have 'magic undertones' to it.

If it is just done as a ritual/gesture or a reminder without any 'magical intentions' connected to it, then I can understand it much better. Perhaps like some Christians crossing themselves as a reminder of God and without the sign itself having any magical meaning attached to it.
Do you think there may be a similarity in how the gesture is used?

No, not at all. The practice of magic is haraam and is a major sin. And Christians crossing themselves is to remind themselves of the three persons of the trinity and seek the blessings of the three persons. There is no relation, analogy or similarity between this and any Islamic practice.

I am not sure why seeking refuge in the One True God without associate in His Divinity and then gently blowing on the hands and then passing the hands over the body would be considered magic, or even to have such connotations. This is the practice of the Prophet :saws: which he taught us to seek refuge in Allah and His protection from all kinds of evil and harm when going to bed, and we do it because that it what he did and taught.

It might help you to see the translation of the two surahs, where you can see clearly we seek refuge against magic and witchcraft:

Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak
From the evil of that which He created
And from the evil of darkness when it settles
And from the evil of malignant witchcraft
And from the evil of an envier when he envies (113)

Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,
The King of mankind,
The God of mankind,
From the evil of the retreating whisperer (devil)
Who whispers in the hearts of mankind,
From among the jinn and mankind (114)

It could only be magic if the Qur'an contained magic incantations or spells in it, but it doesn't, rather it warns sternly against the practice of magic, and is a book of guidance for all mankind.

As requested, thread closed.

Peace.