In our local mosques, people bring bottles of water on the day of the completion of the full Quran (khatam) in taraweeh in Ramadan. After the prayer, when the full quran recitation is completed, the haafiz (memorizer of the Quran) blows on the bottles of water. Then people take those bottles home and drink the water with the intention of healing from various diseases. Some people drink it with the intention of protection from diseases. Is this permissible or is it innovation? I learned that it is permissible to blow on water by reciting Quran and drinking the water for healing. Does this permissibility apply to the incident described above?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, scholars underlined the permissibility of reciting Quran over water and drinking it for treatment purposes. Ibn Muflih wrote, "Saalih (son of Imaam Ahmad) stated that whenever he got ill, his father would take a vessel of water, recite verses of the Quran over it, and ask him to drink from it and wash his hands and face. ʻAbdullaah narrated that he saw his father reciting the muʻawwithaat  (Soorahs Al-Ikhlaas, Al-Falaq and An-Naas 112-113 - 114) over the water and then drink from it and pour it over his body."

Ibn Al-Qayyim cited a report on the authority of Abu Haatim, that Layth ibn Abi Sulaym said:

"It came to my knowledge that reciting these verses helps in treating those who have been smitten by magic spells, Allaah willing; they should be recited over a vessel of water to be poured over the head of the victim of a magic spell. The verses are (what means):

- {And when they had thrown, Moses said: What you have brought is (only) magic. Indeed, Allaah will expose its worthlessness. Indeed, Allaah does not amend the work of corrupters.} [Quran 10:81]

- {So the truth was established, and abolished was what they were doing.}  [Quran 7:118]

- {And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is.}  [Quran 20:69]"

Shaykh Ibn Baaz was once asked, "We heard of some people who treat others by means of the Quran; they recite Quran and supplications that are prescribed in the sharee'ah over water or olive oil as a remedy for witchcraft, the evil eye and the touch of the Devil, and they receive payment for that. Is this permissible according to the sharee'ah? Does reciting over water or oil take the same ruling as reciting over the sick person himself?" He replied:

"...There is nothing wrong with reciting over water or oil to treat the sick person, the one on whom a spell has been cast, or the one who is insane, but reciting over the patient and blowing over him is better and preferable. Abu Daawood narrated a hadeeth with a good chain of narration in which the Prophet recited over water for Thaabit ibn Qays ibn Shammaas and then poured it over him. Moreover, the Prophet said, 'There is nothing wrong with ruqyah (healing through the Quran or supplication) that does not involve shirk (polytheism). [Muslim].'"

However, what this imaam, to which the questioner is referring, is doing is groundless and has no basis in the sharee'ah; he did not recite the Quran over this water. Rather, he blows into the water after finishing the recitation and the prayer. This is not the proper manner of reciting the Quran over water that is to be used in the ruqyah. The person should draw the vessel near his mouth and recite whatever he can from the Quran over the water therein. The scholars held two different views regarding blowing into the water after finishing the recitation. Ibn Muflih wrote:

 "It is disliked to spit into or blow one's breath over the water; it is said that there are two scholarly views on the permissibility of spitting into the water or blowing into it in this case. As-Saamiri underlined that Imaam Ahmad maintained that it is disliked to spit into the water used in the ruqyah and that he stated that there was no problem with blowing into it. Abu Mansoor said to Abu ʻAbdullaah (Imaam Ahmad), 'It is disliked to spit in the water used for the ruqyah.' Thereupon, Abu ʻAbdullaah remarked, 'Is it not said that the person reciting the ruqyah is to blow his breath into the water, not spit in it?' Is-haaq ibn Raahawayh, like some of the late Shaafiʻis, held that it is actually recommended to spit and blow into it because the stronger the manner of breathing is while reciting the ruqyah, the stronger and more perfect and effective it becomes. This is why both the good and evil souls avail themselves of such a technique adopted by both the believer and magicians alike. It has been underlined in Sharh Saheeh Muslim that the majority of the Companions and Taabiʻeen believed that it is recommended to blow into the water used in the ruqyah..."

Allaah knows best.