Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
In some circles, what is known as treatment through the Beautiful Names of Allah has become widespread. Tables are circulated assigning each of Allah's Names to a particular disease or body organ that the Name is allegedly able to treat, together with a prescribed method and number of repetitions.
Examples found in such tables include assigning the Name “As-Sami'” (The All-Hearing) to what is described as restoring energy balance, “Ar-Razzaq” (The Provider) to the stomach, “Al-Jabbar” (The Compeller) to the spine, “Ar-Ra'uf” (The Most Kind) to the colon, “Al-Hayy” (The Ever-Living) to the kidneys, and “Al-Basir” (The All-Seeing) and “An-Nur” (The Light) to the eyes, and so forth.
This approach is based on claims concerning so-called vital energy and the law of resonance, asserting that repeating the Beautiful Names of Allah produces particular effects on the organs of the body or the immune system. Some versions even add specific Quranic verses that are claimed to increase the strength of this effect.
This concept is incorrect. It is not permissible to turn the Names of Allah into therapeutic methods in this manner without valid religious evidence or a recognized empirical basis, for several reasons:
The means by which healing occurs are of two kinds:
1. Religious means:
These are means established as causes of treatment by evidence from the Quran or Sunnah, such as legitimate ruqyah, supplication, and recitation of the Quran.
2. Empirical means:
These are means whose effectiveness has been established through recognized observation and valid experimentation, such as medicines and medical treatments.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that medicine is merely a means, while the true Cause of healing is Allah. He also stated that nothing may be declared a cause of healing unless it has been established as either a religious cause or a recognized empirical cause.
As for claiming that a particular Name of Allah treats a particular organ or a specific disease, while prescribing a certain method and number of repetitions, personal experience or a feeling of psychological improvement is not sufficient to establish that this is a legitimate or empirical therapeutic cause.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, stated in meaning that religious causes are known through revelation, while empirical causes are known through valid direct experience. As for what is merely based on illusions or fantasies, it cannot be accepted or established as medicine, lest people be led into following unfounded notions.
Therefore, assigning particular therapeutic effects to the Names of Allah without evidence amounts to attributing causation to something that Allah has not established as a cause.
Another problem with these tables is that they may contain names or expressions attributed to Allah without sound evidence that they are among His Beautiful Names.
Among the expressions sometimes found in such tables are “Jalla Jلالuhu” (Glorious is His Majesty), “An-Nafi'” (The Benefactor), “Ar-Rashid” (The Guide to the Right Way), and “Al-Badi'” (The Originator), and others. Establishing the Names of Allah is a matter based on revelation; therefore, it is not permissible to declare a particular name to be one of Allah's Beautiful Names without authentic evidence.
The claim that each of these Names possesses a particular energy capable of treating a specific disease becomes even more invalid when it is based in the first place on names that have not been established as Names of Allah.
Determining that a particular Name treats a particular disease, and specifying a method of using it and a certain number of repetitions, requires valid evidence.
Introducing such specifications without evidence from the Quran or Sunnah constitutes speaking about Allah without knowledge. Allah says:
“Say: My Lord has only forbidden immoralities—what is apparent of them and what is concealed—and sin, aggression without right, and that you associate with Allah that for which He has not sent down any authority, and that you say about Allah what you do not know.”
[Al-A'raf 7:33]
Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman as-Sa'di, may Allah have mercy on him, stated in his commentary on this verse that speaking about Allah without knowledge includes speaking without knowledge concerning His Names, Attributes, Actions, and Law.
Allah says:
“And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them and leave those who deviate concerning His Names. They will be recompensed for what they used to do.”
[Al-A'raf 7:180]
What is prescribed is to call upon Allah through His Beautiful Names and to believe in what they indicate of perfection, majesty, and greatness.
As for assigning a particular Name to the treatment of a particular organ, or claiming that it possesses a special energy that affects a specific part of the body, this cannot be attributed to Islam without evidence.
It is established that the Quran is a source of healing. Allah says:
“And We send down of the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers.”
[Al-Isra 17:82]
And He says:
“And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.”
[Ash-Shu'ara 26:80]
The permissibility of ruqyah through the Quran and supplication is also established, including the established practice of using Surat Al-Fatihah in ruqyah.
However, the fact that the Quran is a healing does not mean that a person may invent special methods of treatment by assigning each Name of Allah to a particular organ or specifying a particular number of repetitions and then attributing this practice to Islam.
The Beautiful Names of Allah are of immense significance. Allah has prescribed that we call upon Him through them, honor them, and believe in the attributes of perfection that they contain.
However, claiming that each Name of Allah possesses a particular energy capable of treating a specific disease or organ, while specifying a method of using the Name and a particular number of repetitions, has no basis in Islamic law. It is not permissible to attribute such practices to religion or to believe that they constitute therapeutic causes without valid evidence.
Likewise, it is not permissible to attribute Names to Allah that have not been established by authentic evidence, nor is it permissible to use His Names in theories based on claims for which there is no valid religious evidence.
Therefore, these tables and theories should be abandoned, people should be warned against spreading them, and whoever has spread them or attributed them to Islamic law without knowledge should repent to Allah.
And Allah knows best.