al-Dhikr wa al-Dua wa al-Ilaj bi al-Ruqa min al-Kitab wa al-Sunna
- Author died
- 1440 AH
- Editions
- t Yasir Fathi
al-Dhikr wa al-Dua wa al-Ilaj bi al-Ruqa min al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (Remembrance, Supplication, and Healing through Incantations from the Quran and Sunnah) is a compendium of Islamic prayers, supplications, and spiritual medicine authored by the Saudi scholar Saeed bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani (d. 1440 AH / 2018 CE).
Composition and Methodology
Al-Qahtani began compiling the work in Sha'ban 1405 AH (1985 CE) and completed it around Rabi' al-Awwal 1406 AH (1985 CE). In his introduction, he noted that although classical scholars had authored major compilations on the subject—prominently al-Nawawi in al-Adhkar—he aimed to assemble a structured manual restricted to sound (sahih) and good (hasan) narrations attributed directly to primary hadith collections.
In verifying and evaluating the narrations, al-Qahtani drew extensively upon the hadith gradations of contemporary scholars, notably Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, Abd al-Qadir al-Arna'ut, Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, and his teacher Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz.
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into three major divisions:
- Invocations of Remembrance (al-Dhikr): Covers the virtues of dhikr and assemblies of remembrance, followed by prophetic formulas for daily life, including morning and evening remembrances, prayers surrounding sleep, travel, ritual acts, and varied occasions.
- Supplications (al-Dua): Focuses on the concept and merits of supplication, the conditions and etiquettes for its acceptance, obstacles to its fulfillment, and optimal times and postures of response. It brings together Quranic supplications, prayers made by prophets and righteous predecessors, and unrestricted prophetic invocations.
- Healing through Lawful Incantations (al-Ilaj bi al-Ruqa): Details spiritual remedies derived from the Quran and Sunnah for conditions such as sorcery, the evil eye, demonic affliction, psychological distress, fever, wounds, anxiety, grief, and spiritual ailments of the heart, alongside prophetic physical remedies like black seed, honey, and Zamzam water.
Abridgments
The author produced several standalone abridgments derived directly from individual sections of this compendium:
- Hisn al-Muslim min Adhkar al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (1409 AH / 1989 CE), an abridgment of the invocations section that omitted lengthy chains and detailed references, becoming one of the most widely circulated prayer books across the Muslim world.
- al-Dua min al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (Sha'ban 1408 AH / 1988 CE), condensing the supplications section with additional beneficial formulas.
- al-Ilaj bi al-Ruqa min al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (Jumada al-Akhira 1414 AH / 1993 CE), abridging the section on healing and ruqyah.
- Shurut al-Dua wa Mawani al-Ijabah fi Daw al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (1416 AH / 1995 CE), excerpting the portion detailing the prerequisites, etiquettes, and hindrances of supplication.
Publication History
The initial edition of the book was issued by Maktabat al-Rushd in 1408 AH (1988 CE), followed by a second edition in 1410 AH (1990 CE).
Around 1416 AH, al-Qahtani commissioned Yasir ibn Fathi al-Masri to prepare an expanded hadith documentation (takhrij) cross-referenced with primary hadith compendia, which was completed in Rabi' al-Awwal 1422 AH. Al-Qahtani subsequently asked Furayh ibn Salih al-Bahlal to review the documentation; al-Bahlal supplied critical remarks on hadith evaluation methodologies—such as the status of additional reports by trustworthy narrators (ziyadat al-thiqah) and leniency regarding chains in virtuous deeds (fada'il al-a'mal)—which al-Qahtani preserved in the introduction to the expanded third edition. This edition was published by Mu'assasat al-Juraysi in four volumes: Volumes 1 and 2 dedicated to adhkar, Volume 3 to duʿāʾ, and Volume 4 to ruqyah.
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