Your body is a trust

Your body is not really yours. It is an amanah (a trust) from Allah. He gave it to you for a short time, and He will ask you about it. Nabi ﷺ said a person's feet will not move on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about his life, his knowledge, his money, and his body, and what he used it for¹.

Allah says: We have honored the children of Adam².

So Islam asks you to look after your body, and not to harm it:

• Allah says: do not throw yourselves into ruin with your own hands³, and do not kill yourselves⁴.
• Nabi ﷺ told a Companion who fasted every day and prayed all night: your body has a right over you⁵. Rest, food and sleep are part of your deen, not a break from it.

Seeking treatment is from the Sunnah

Nabi ﷺ said: Allah has not sent down any disease without also sending down its cure⁶. And: for every disease there is a cure. When the cure meets the disease, it is healed by Allah's permission⁷.

Some Bedouins once asked him: should we use medicine? He said: use medicine, for Allah has not made a disease without making a cure for it, except one: old age⁸.

• So seeing a doctor, taking tablets, having surgery, and doing physical therapy are all allowed and good. Most scholars say treatment is recommended, and some say it becomes required when leaving it would clearly lead to death or serious harm.
• Nabi ﷺ himself had cupping (hijama), paid the man who did it, and praised it as a treatment⁹.
• Medicine is a cause. Allah is the One who heals. Ibrahim said: and when I am sick, He heals me¹⁰.

Does medicine weaken trust in Allah?

No. A man asked Nabi ﷺ: should I tie my camel and trust Allah, or leave it loose and trust Allah? He said: tie it, and trust Allah¹¹. Taking the means and trusting Allah go together.

Nabi ﷺ did praise seventy thousand people who enter Jannah without reckoning, who do not ask others for ruqyah and do not get burned with hot iron as a cure, and trust their Lord¹². Scholars explain this is a very high level of trust. It does not make treatment wrong, since Nabi ﷺ himself told people to use medicine.

Honey, black seed and "Prophetic medicine"

• Allah says honey has healing for people¹³. Nabi ﷺ said: there is healing in black seed for every disease, except death¹⁴.
• These are blessed and you may use them. But they do not replace the treatment your doctor gives you.

Medicine that has something haram in it

Most medicine is simply halal. A few contain something from a haram source, like pork, or an impure thing, or alcohol. What then?

What all scholars agree on

• Alcohol as a drink is not a cure. A man told Nabi ﷺ he made wine as a medicine. Nabi ﷺ said: it is not a medicine. It is a disease¹⁵.
• Nabi ﷺ forbade medicine made from foul, impure things¹⁶. So when a halal medicine works just as well, take the halal one.
• Real need changes the ruling. Allah lists the haram foods and then says: but whoever is forced by need, not wanting it and not going too far, there is no sin on him¹⁷. And Allah has explained what is haram, except what you are forced to¹⁸.

Where scholars differ

Scholars differ on using a haram or impure thing as medicine when there is no halal option:

• Many scholars allow it when the need is real, there is no halal medicine that works, and a trusted doctor advises it. The Hanafi fatwa position and the Shafi'is are close to this. Their evidence: the need verses above, and Nabi ﷺ allowing two Companions to wear silk, which is haram for men, because of a skin disease that made them itch¹⁹. He also told some sick people to drink camel milk and urine as a cure²⁰.
• Other scholars are stricter. Many Malikis and Hanbalis do not allow eating or drinking a haram thing as medicine, because a cure is not certain the way starving to death is. The Companion Ibn Mas'ud said: Allah did not put your cure in what He made haram for you.

Both views are held by real scholars. If your health depends on a medicine and there is no halal option, many scholars give you room, so do not put your health at risk. Ask your doctor whether a halal option exists, and follow a scholar you trust. For more on alcohol and drugs, see Alcohol, drugs and smoking. For the rule of need, see Doubtful things, need and mistakes.

Capsules, syrups and vaccines

Gelatin capsules

Many capsules and some tablets are made with gelatin, which often comes from pork or from animals not slaughtered the Islamic way.

• One view: making gelatin changes the bones and skin completely into a new thing. Scholars call this istihala (full change). Many Hanafis and Malikis hold that a thing that fully changes takes a new ruling, like wine that turns into vinegar. Some medical and fiqh councils today said gelatin is clean and halal on this basis.
• Another view: the change in gelatin is not complete, so pork gelatin stays haram. Scholars with this view allow it only when there is no other option.
• In practice: ask your pharmacist for a vegetable (plant) capsule or a tablet. Many medicines have one. If there is none and you need the medicine, both views give you room to take it.

A little alcohol in medicine

• Some syrups and drops use a small amount of alcohol to keep the medicine mixed. You could never get drunk from the dose.
• Many scholars and fiqh councils today allow such medicine when the amount is tiny and it does not intoxicate, especially when there is no alcohol-free option.
• Others say avoid it when an alcohol-free version exists. Many pharmacies stock one, so it is easy to ask.
• Alcohol swabs, hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes are not drinks. Most scholars today allow using them. Hospitals depend on them.

Vaccines

• Vaccines protect you, your children and people around you from serious disease. Most scholars and Islamic councils allow them, and many encourage them, because protecting life is one of the main goals of the shariah.
• A few vaccines contain pork gelatin. Scholars who allow them point to full change (istihala), the tiny amount, and need. Some scholars are more careful, so follow one you trust, and ask your doctor if a version without pork gelatin exists.

Ruqyah and the Quran, together with medicine

Allah says: We send down in the Quran what is healing and mercy for the believers²¹. The Quran heals the heart first, and by Allah's permission it can help the body too.

• Ruqyah means reciting Quran and duas over a sick person. Some Companions read Al-Fatiha over a chief who was stung, and he was cured. Nabi ﷺ said: how did you know it is a ruqyah?²².
• The one rule: there is no harm in ruqyah as long as it has no shirk in it²³. Quran, Allah's names and clear duas only.

A dua for pain

Nabi ﷺ told a man in pain: put your hand on the place that hurts, say Bismillah three times, then say seven times: A'udhu billahi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa uhadhir. I seek refuge in Allah and His power from the evil of what I feel and what I fear²⁴.

Not one or the other

Ruqyah and medicine work together. Nabi ﷺ made ruqyah, and he also told people to use medicine²⁵. So read Quran over yourself, and take your medicine. Be careful of anyone who tells you to stop seeing your doctor, or who says every illness is jinn or magic. For more on ruqyah, see Jinn, magic and the evil eye.

Giving blood and organs

Allah says: whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved all of mankind²⁶.

Blood donation

• Most scholars today allow giving blood, and many say it is a great good deed, since it saves lives. It must not harm the donor.
• Give it freely. Many scholars say selling blood is not allowed, though a patient may pay when there is no other way to get it.

Organ donation

This is a new question, and scholars differ in good faith:

• Many scholars and fiqh councils allow it, from a living donor (like a kidney) or after death, with conditions: it is given freely and never sold, the donor (or family) agrees, a living donor is not put in serious danger, and death is clearly confirmed before organs are taken. Their evidence is saving life²⁷ and the rule of need.
• Other scholars do not allow it. They say the body is a trust from Allah, so you may not give it away. They also point to the honor of the dead body: Nabi ﷺ said breaking the bone of a dead person is like breaking it while he is alive²⁸. Some also question how death is defined in hospitals.

Both views are held by real scholars. Think it through, follow a scholar you trust, and tell your family what you decided. Some countries treat everyone as a donor unless they say no, so find out the law where you live and record your choice.

Cosmetic surgery: fixing versus changing

Islam makes a clear difference between fixing something and changing a healthy body only for looks.

Fixing is allowed

A Companion named Arfajah lost his nose in a battle. He made a silver nose, but it began to smell. Nabi ﷺ told him to make a nose of gold²⁹. Gold is normally not allowed for men, yet Nabi ﷺ allowed it to fix an injury.

So these are allowed, by agreement or by most scholars:

• Repairing injuries, burns and scars from accidents.
• Fixing birth defects, like a cleft lip, or an extra finger that causes harm.
• Rebuilding after cancer or illness, like a breast after a mastectomy.
• Treatment for something that causes real pain or harm, like braces for teeth that do not close properly.

Changing a healthy body only for looks is not allowed

Ibn Mas'ud reported that Allah cursed those who tattoo and get tattooed, who pluck the hair of the face, and who file gaps in their teeth for beauty, changing what Allah created³⁰. Shaytan said he would make people change the creation of Allah³¹.

• So surgery on a normal, healthy feature only to look more beautiful or fashionable is not allowed, according to most scholars.
• The gray area: a feature that is far from normal and causes real distress or mockery. Some scholars treat this as fixing a defect and allow it. Others are stricter. Ask a scholar you trust about your case.

Before any surgery, ask your doctor about the risks.

Family planning and fertility

Here is the short version. For your own case, ask a scholar you trust and your doctor.

Contraception

• Jabir said: we used to practice 'azl (withdrawal) while the Quran was being sent down³². Nabi ﷺ also said: do it if you wish, but what Allah has decreed will come³³.
• So most scholars allow temporary contraception between a husband and wife, for good reasons like spacing children or the mother's health. Most say both spouses should agree. (Shafi'is do not require the wife's agreement for withdrawal.)
• Some scholars dislike it without a real reason. In one report Nabi ﷺ called withdrawal a hidden burying³⁴, and having children is a blessing Islam loves.
• Permanent methods (cutting the tubes, vasectomy) are not allowed by most scholars, except for a real medical need.
• Ending a pregnancy is a different and much more serious question. Ask a scholar.

IVF and fertility treatment

• Fertility treatment is allowed by most scholars today, within marriage only: the husband's sperm and the wife's egg, while they are still married, and the embryo placed in the wife's own womb.
• Donor sperm, donor eggs and another woman carrying the baby are not allowed, according to most scholars, because they mix lineage.

Mental health is part of the trust

Your mind is part of your body, and part of the trust. Depression, anxiety and trauma are real illnesses, like diabetes or a broken bone.

• Nabi ﷺ said no tiredness, illness, sorrow, sadness, hurt or distress touches a Muslim without Allah wiping away sins for it³⁵. He named sadness and distress beside illness.
• He used to ask Allah for protection from worry and grief³⁶. Even the best of people felt them.
• The prophet Yaqub grieved so much that his eyes turned white³⁷. He said: I only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah³⁸.
• When his baby son Ibrahim was dying, Nabi ﷺ wept. He said the eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, but we say only what pleases our Lord³⁹.

Getting help is allowed and good

• Seeing a doctor, counselor or therapist, and taking medicine for your mind, is the same as any treatment. Allah sent a cure for every disease⁴⁰.
• Dhikr, salah and Quran give the heart rest: in the remembrance of Allah, hearts find rest⁴¹. Use them together with treatment, not instead of it.

Patience with illness, and its reward

Sickness is hard. But for a believer, it is never wasted.

• Nabi ﷺ said: no tiredness, illness, sorrow or pain touches a Muslim, even a thorn that pricks him, without Allah wiping away some of his sins for it⁴².
• He also said: how amazing is the affair of the believer. All of it is good for him. If something good comes, he is thankful. If something hard comes, he is patient. Both are good for him⁴³.
• Patience does not mean you cannot say "it hurts" or cry. It means you do not complain against Allah.

Patience and treatment go together. You can be patient and go to the hospital.

Duas for the sick

• When visiting the sick, Nabi ﷺ said: Allahumma Rabban-nas, adhhibil-ba's, ishfi antash-Shafi, la shifa'a illa shifa'uk, shifa'an la yughadiru saqama. O Allah, Lord of the people, take away the harm. Heal, You are the Healer. There is no healing but Yours, a healing that leaves no illness behind⁴⁵.

For how to pray and fast while ill, see Praying when sick and Who does not have to fast. More duas are on the duas page.

Common questions

My doctor is a man and I am a woman (or the other way). Is that allowed?

Yes, when you need treatment. Scholars allow a doctor to see and touch what is needed for treatment. If a doctor of your own gender is easily available, many scholars say choose one, and you may ask for a chaperone. In an emergency, take the care you need.

My only option is a capsule made with pork gelatin. Can I take it?

First ask your pharmacist for a plant capsule or tablet. If there is none and you need the medicine, many scholars say gelatin is changed and clean, and others allow it from need. Either way, take your medicine⁴⁶.

The cough syrup for my child has a little alcohol in it.

Ask for an alcohol-free version; many exist. If there is none, many scholars allow a tiny amount that cannot intoxicate in medicine. Ask your doctor about the dose.

Is taking antidepressants or seeing a therapist a sign of weak iman?

No. It is treatment, like any other⁴⁷. Keep your dhikr and salah too. Choose a therapist who respects your faith if you can.

Should I sign up as an organ donor?

Scholars differ. Many allow it with conditions: given freely, with consent, and death clearly confirmed. Others do not allow it. Follow a scholar you trust, and tell your family your choice.

A sheikh told me to stop my medicine and only use ruqyah.

Do not stop your medicine without your doctor. Nabi ﷺ told people to use medicine⁴⁸. Ruqyah is good, but it goes together with treatment, not instead of it.