The Prophet's Own Ruqyah: How He Used the Qur'an's Last Three Surahs for Protection

Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fell ill, he had a fixed response: recite three short surahs over himself, then blow gently onto his own hands and pass them over his body. When his final illness made that too hard for him to do, his wife ‘Ā’ishah (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhā) took over — reciting the same three surahs and wiping him with his own hand, she said, “hoping for its blessing.”

That is ruqyah: treating harm, present or feared, with the words of Allah. It is not a spell and it does not work by itself — it is a request made to Allah, in His own words, for protection from what a person cannot control. And of everything the Qur’an offers to recite, the Prophet kept returning to the same twelve verses — Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat al-Nās — in illness, before sleep, and in the ordinary rhythm of morning and evening. This is that practice, traced hadith by hadith to the printed page each one sits on, so a reader who wants to check any of it can go straight to the page instead of taking our word for it.

‘Ā’ishah described what her husband did whenever he fell ill: “He would recite the protective surahs over himself and blow, and when his sickness grew severe, I would recite over him and wipe him with his own hand, hoping for its blessing.” This is recorded on printed page 6/190 of

, as hadith 5016, in the Book of the Merits of the Qur'an, chapter on the virtue of the protective surahs.

The next hadith on the same printed page widens the picture: it was not only for himself. ‘Ā’ishah said that whenever anyone in his household fell ill, “he would blow over them with the protective surahs,” and that during his own final illness she carried on the practice in his place, believing his hand carried more blessing than hers. Imam Muslim records this separately, with the same core wording, on printed page 4/1723 of

, as hadith 2192, in the Book of Greetings, chapter on treating the sick with the protective surahs and blowing. Two collections, two chains, the same household habit: illness was met with these three surahs before it was met with anything else, and it stayed the family's response right up to the Prophet's own final illness, when reciting them himself was no longer something he could manage.

Abū Sa’īd al-Khudrī (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) said that the Messenger of Allah used to seek Allah’s protection from jinn and the human evil eye — until Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat al-Nās were revealed. “Once they were revealed, he took to them and left everything else.” Al-Tirmidhī records this on printed page 3/576 of

, as hadith 2058, grading it ḥasan gharīb himself on the same page, and noting that a report on the same subject also reaches him through Anas.

A second narration makes the same point from a different angle. Ibn ‘Ābis al-Juhanī (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) said the Prophet asked him directly, “Shall I not tell you the best thing anyone has ever sought protection with?” When he said yes, the Prophet named the two surahs. This is recorded in the Musnad of Aḥmad, within the chapter gathering the narrations of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir al-Juhanī, on printed page 28/612 of

, as hadith 17389 — graded ṣaḥīḥ by the edition's editors on the same page. Put the two reports together and the claim is not modest: of everything a person could recite for protection, nothing else was judged comparable to these two short surahs.

The same three surahs were also woven into the ordinary day rather than saved for a crisis. ‘Abdullāh ibn Khubayb (raḍiy Allāhu ‘anhu) reported that the Prophet told him to recite Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ and the two protective surahs three times each, morning and evening, adding that doing so would “suffice you against everything.” Abū Dāwūd records it on printed page 4/482 of

, as hadith 5082, and al-Tirmidhī collects the same report independently.

Before sleep, the routine changed shape slightly but kept the same three surahs at its centre. ‘Ā’ishah described what the Prophet did every single night before lying down: he would cup his hands together, blow into them, recite Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat al-Nās into his palms, then wipe as much of his body as he could reach with them — starting with his head and face, then the front of his body — and repeat the whole sequence three times. This sits on that same printed page 6/190 of

, as hadith 5016 above, as hadith 5017 immediately after it. Three moments in a single day — waking, resting, and whatever illness might bring in between — each anchored to the same twelve verses.

﴿قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ﴾

“Say: He is Allah, One — Allah, the Eternal Sustainer that all creation turns to while He turns to none. He has not fathered anyone, nor was He fathered. And nothing stands as His equal.” (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, 112:1–4)

﴿قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّـٰثَـٰتِ فِى ٱلْعُقَدِ وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ﴾

“Say: I seek shelter with the Lord who splits the dawn, from the harm in anything He has made, from the harm of night once it closes in, from those who blow their spells into tied knots, and from the harm of anyone whose envy has taken hold of them.” (Sūrat al-Falaq, 113:1–5)

﴿قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلنَّاسِ مَلِكِ ٱلنَّاسِ إِلَـٰهِ ٱلنَّاسِ مِن شَرِّ ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ ٱلْخَنَّاسِ ٱلَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ﴾

“Say: I seek shelter with the Lord of humankind, the Sovereign over humankind, the God worshipped by humankind, from the harm of the slinking, withdrawing whisperer who murmurs into people’s hearts — whether it comes from jinn or from people themselves.” (Sūrat al-Nās, 114:1–6)

Twelve verses. One states who Allah is; the other two name, without any softening, exactly what a person fears — the dark, sorcery, envy, an inner whisper — and ask Allah directly for cover from each. That is the whole content of what the Prophet recited over himself when he was sick, into his own hands before sleep, and out loud morning and evening for the rest of his life.

Nothing above requires a specialist or a set ceremony. Cup your hands, recite the three surahs into them, and pass them over your own body the way ‘Ā’ishah described — before sleep, on waking, or whenever fear, envy or harm feel close. The same twelve verses, recited three times each, are what the Prophet named as sufficient morning and evening; illness only added the blowing and the wiping on top of a habit that was already daily. qurangallery.com/adhkar carries the daily remembrances built around exactly this rhythm, morning and evening, in one place, if you want somewhere to start.

If any citation in this post does not check out against the page it names, tell us — that is the entire reason we name the page instead of the collection alone.

May Allah ﷻ make these three surahs a shield for us in this life, the way they were a shield for His Messenger (peace be upon him) in his.