[2] The Disease and the Cure: An Introduction

A Note on the Author’s Title

The word Musannif , when you place a kasrah (short ‘i’ vowel) under the noon , means the writer, the author. The word Musannaf ,when you place a fathah (‘a’ vowel) on the noon, means the book that the author wrote.

The Book and Its Two Names

This book is most widely known as Ad-Da’ wad-Dawa’ The Disease and the Cure. In Arabic, Ad-Da’ means disease or illness, and Ad-Dawa’ means the cure or the remedy.

However, this same book has been published and circulated under a second, longer title: Al-Jawab al-Kafi liman Sa’ala ‘an al-Dawa’ al-Shafi*: The Sufficient Answer for the One Who Asked About the Healing Cure. This second title actually reveals something important about the origin of the book: it was written in response to a question. Someone came to Imam Ibn al-Qayyim with a question, not mentioning the name of his ailment openly, but describing it, and in response, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim wrote this entire book.

What This Book Is About

At its core, this is a book about sins, what they are, what they do to a person’s life, and how a person can free himself from them.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, makes an observation in this book that is as relevant today as it was seven centuries ago. He says: many people struggle intensely across different areas of their lives. A person strives for sustenance but finds no blessing in it. Another person makes every possible effort for their health, yet their health does not improve. A parent works hard on the upbringing of their children, yet the qualities they hope to see in their children simply do not emerge. Someone tries again and again to bring reform to his household, yet his home does not change. And in all of these cases, that person cannot figure out where the gap is, where exactly his efforts are falling short.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim answers this directly: the door through which the shortcoming enters is sin. A person’s heart is immersed in sins, and because of those sins, Allah the Lord of the Worlds withdraws blessing from his sustenance. Because of sins, his efforts are made to fail. Because of sins, the capacity for genuine reform is removed from his home. The person is laboring on the outside while the real disease is inside, unaddressed and unacknowledged.

This is the central thesis of the book and then Imam Ibn al-Qayyim goes further, detailing the specific harms and effects of sins that most of us would never even consider, and then laying out the cure with equal depth and care.

The Beauty of His Writing Style

Those who have read Imam Ibn al-Qayyim’s books in Arabic know that his style is in a category of its own. Imam al-Shawkani, may Allah have mercy on him, himself a scholar of immense stature, described Ibn al-Qayyim’s writing by saying that he possesses an extraordinary sweetness, a remarkable command of words and meanings, and a manner of expression that the majority of writers, whether earlier or later simply cannot match. He said that his speech is such that intellects fall in love with his style, minds are drawn toward his methodology, and hearts develop an attachment to his writing.

Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, may Allah have mercy on him, added something even more remarkable: he said that Ibn al-Qayyim’s books are beloved to every group and every sect and that this even includes those who personally opposed him or bore enmity toward him. His opponents still sought out and cherished his books because of the sheer quality of what he wrote.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim adopts this very same methodology in Ad-Da’ wad-Dawa’, and we will encounter it throughout our study of this book, In Sha Allah.

Learn Arabic to Taste the Real Sweetness

This point about his writing style opens a door to something more important. No matter how gifted a translator is, a translation can never fully carry the impact of an author’s original words. You can extract meaning through a translation, you can understand the concept, but the real taste, the real effect of the style, can only be experienced in the original language.

Now, if this is true of human speech of the words of a scholar who was himself a creation of Allah, then what must be the case with the Speech of Allah the Lord of the Worlds, the Noble Quran, which was revealed in the Arabic language?

No matter how accurate and high-quality a translation of the Quran one reads, the effect that the Arabic Quran has on the heart cannot be replicated in any other language. This is part of why Allah the Lord of the Worlds repeatedly emphasizes in the Quran itself that it was revealed in clear Arabic because that language carries a power of impact on the human heart that no other language can substitute.

The practical lesson for every one of us, especially the youth, is this: make learning the Arabic language one of the highest goals of your life. Not merely as an academic pursuit, but so that you can hear the Speech of Allah with the ears of your heart, understand it directly, and be guided by it as it was meant to guide. Among all the goals a young person sets for himself in life, this one deserves to be at the very top.

The Generosity of the Scholars

The fact that this entire book, running to roughly 500 to 600 pages in modern print, was written in response to a single question from an ordinary person tells us something profound about Imam Ibn al-Qayyim’s character.

We have settled in our minds that generosity means generosity with money, the generous person is the one who spends freely from his wealth. But Imam Ibn al-Qayyim’s response to this questioner teaches us that the highest form of generosity is the generosity of knowledge. A person whom Allah has blessed with knowledge, and who then spends his time and that knowledge for the benefit of people that is the greatest generosity.

Money spent on people has a limited and often temporary effect. But when a person spends knowledge, the effect of that knowledge can last for centuries. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim wrote this book 700 years ago, and today people across the world are still benefiting from it. That is the nature of the generosity of knowledge.

But here an essential principle must be stated, one that the Arabic language captures in five words: فاقد الشيء لا يعطيه. He who does not possess something cannot give it. Knowledge can only be distributed by a person who first acquired it. This is obvious to us in financial matters, if someone asks you for money and you have none, you simply say so. But in the matter of religious knowledge, we observe that everyone comes forward to teach, to guide, to instruct regardless of whether they have genuinely learned anything or not.

The Noble Quran and the Sunnah contain severe warnings for those who speak about the religion without knowledge. And the companion Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, made a remarkably accurate prediction when he told the people of his era, a time filled with Companions and senior Tabi’un: “You are living in a time when Fuqaha are many and Khutaba are few.” Then he said: “Soon there will come a time when the Fuqaha will be very few, and the Khutaba will be in great abundance.” People who truly understand the religion will be scarce, while people who merely talk about the religion will be everywhere.

Every person alive today can see how precisely this was fulfilled.

The Sincerity of the Questioner Matters Too

Another lesson from the origin of this book: just as the scholar must have sincerity and genuine knowledge before answering, the questioner must also examine his own heart before asking.

Our tradition recognized this so clearly that scholars wrote entire works on the etiquettes of both the one asking (Mustafti) and the one answering (Mufti) for example, the genre of books known as Adab al-Mufti wal-Mustafti. Both roles carry responsibility.

Allah the Lord of the Worlds placed extraordinary blessings in the questions of sincere questioners. The famous Aqeedah Wasitiyyah of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, one of the most studied texts on Islamic belief in history , was also the answer to a single question. A man traveled from Wasit in Iraq all the way to Damascus, Syria, and asked Ibn Taymiyyah about beliefs. Ibn Taymiyyah wrote that foundational text in the short window between Asr and Maghrib prayers. Similarly, Al-Tadmuriyyah was also written in response to a question. The pattern repeats throughout Islamic scholarly history.

What this means for us is that when we approach a scholar or seek knowledge, we should first ask ourselves: Why am I asking? What is my intention? Am I seeking the truth, or am I seeking to argue? Am I asking to act upon the answer, or merely to satisfy curiosity? The sincerity in asking is what opens the door for Allah to place blessings in the answer.

The Question

مَا تَقُولُ السَّادَةُ الْعُلَمَاءُ، أَئِمَّةُ الدِّينِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ - فِي رَجُلٍ ابْتُلِيَ بِبَلِيَّةٍ وَعَلِمَ أَنَّهَا إِنِ اسْتَمَرَّتْ بِهِ أَفْسَدَتْ دُنْيَاهُ وَآخِرَتَهُ، وَقَدِ اجْتَهَدَ فِي دَفْعِهَا عَنْ نَفْسِهِ بِكُلِّ طَرِيقٍ، فَمَا يَزْدَادُ إِلَّا تَوَقُّدًا وَشِدَّةً، فَمَا الْحِيلَةُ فِي دَفْعِهَا؟ وَمَا الطَّرِيقُ إِلَى كَشْفِهَا؟ فَرَحِمَ اللَّهُ مَنْ أَعَانَ مُبْتَلًى، وَاللَّهُ فِي عَوْنِ الْعَبْدِ مَا كَانَ الْعَبْدُ فِي عَوْنِ أَخِيهِ، أَفْتُونَا مَأْجُورِينَ رَحِمَكُمُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى.

The questioner opens with a formal address: “What do the noble scholars, the Imams of the religion say regarding a person who has been struck by a calamity and a trial, and who is certain that if this calamity remains and persists, it will destroy both his worldly life and his Hereafter.

He does not name his disease. He does not describe it explicitly. But notice what he does communicate: the certainty of destruction if things remain as they are, the awareness that both worlds are at stake, and the urgency of someone who genuinely fears for himself.

He then adds: He has tried every possible way to push this calamity away from himself. And yet the more he tries to distance himself from it, the more the calamity grows. The more he reaches for the cure, the further the cure seems.

Then he asks: is there any way out? And he closes with a beautiful invocation: may Allah have mercy on the afflicted one, and may Allah help every person who helps an afflicted person. He even quotes a hadith: “Allah continues to help His servant as long as the servant helps his brother.”

Read Between the Lines

The scholars have always said: do not just read the lines but read what is between them. There is a difference between a reader who closes a book and finds its secrets settled in his heart, and a reader who closes a book and finds its effect went no further than the cover. The first reads deeply; the second only reads what is apparent.

Look at this question deeply and you find:

A person in genuine pain, not asking to argue or debate

Humility in addressing the scholars with honor

Honesty about having already tried and failed

A heart that recognizes the seriousness of its own condition

A closing that appealed to the scholar’s compassion by reminding him of the reward of helping the afflicted

This is the etiquette of asking. And this is why we find in our tradition that scholars wrote entire works such as Adab al-Mufti wal-Mustafti, on the manners of both the one who asks and the one who answers. The questioner carries a responsibility too.

What Was the Disease?

The questioner never names his illness. But Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, understood immediately. The person was afflicted with ‘Ishq’, an overwhelming, consuming love for a non-Mahram woman.

The scholars describe ‘Ishq’ as among the most destructive of diseases. The greatest physicians and hakims of any era have acknowledged their helplessness before it. It has driven people to madness. It has caused people to abandon their religion, their families, their reason. Many afflicted by it departed from this world still in its grip.

Now notice the wisdom of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim’s approach: he does not address Ishq directly at the start. He saves that discussion for near the end of the book. First, he lays a foundation presenting principles, remedies, and spiritual realities that prepare the reader’s heart to receive the cure. He builds the ground before he plants the seed. This itself is a lesson in methodology for every teacher and every caller to Allah.

أَجَابَ الشَّيْخُ الْإِمَامُ الْعَالِمُ، شَيْخُ الْإِسْلَامِ مُفْتِي الْمُسْلِمِينَ، شَمْسُ الدِّينِ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ أَيُّوبَ إِمَامِ الْمَدْرَسَةِ الْجَوْزِيَّةِ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى. لِكُلِّ دَاءٍ دَوَاءٌ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ أَمَّا بَعْدُ: فَقَدْ ثَبَتَ فِي صَحِيحِ الْبُخَارِيِّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - عَنِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ دَاءً إِلَّا أَنْزَلَ لَهُ شِفَاءً» . وَفِي صَحِيحِ مُسْلِمٍ مِنْ حَدِيثِ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ: «لِكُلِّ دَاءٍ دَوَاءٌ فَإِذَا أَصَابَ دَوَاءُ الدَّاءِ بَرَأَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ» . وَفِي مُسْنَدِ الْإِمَامِ أَحْمَدَ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ شَرِيكٍ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - قَالَ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يُنْزِلْ دَاءً إِلَّا أَنْزَلَ لَهُ شِفَاءً، عَلِمَهُ مَنْ عَلِمَهُ وَجَهِلَهُ مَنْ جَهِلَهُ» ، وَفِي لَفْظٍ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَضَعْ دَاءً إِلَّا وَضَعَ لَهُ شِفَاءً، أَوْ دَوَاءً، إِلَّا دَاءً وَاحِدًا، قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا هُوَ؟ قَالَ: الْهَرَمُ» قَالَ التِّرْمِذِيُّ: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ صَحِيحٌ. دَوَاءُ الْعِيِّ السُّؤَال

The Answer Begins: Every Disease Has a Cure

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim opens his response with praise of Allah, then immediately brings reassurance through the words of the Prophet ﷺ himself.

He cites the hadith in Sahih Bukhari from Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah has not sent down a disease except that He has also sent down its cure.”

This is the first thing Imam Ibn al-Qayyim says to this desperate man: your premise is wrong. You said there is no cure, that the more you try the worse it gets but the Prophet ﷺ himself declared that every disease sent down by Allah comes paired with its cure. The disease being stubborn does not mean the cure does not exist. It means you have not yet found the right cure.

He then adds the hadith from Sahih Muslim, narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him: “Every disease has a cure, and when the cure meets the disease, by the permission of Allah the Exalted, the person recovers.”

The key phrase: by the permission of Allah. The cure working is not automatic, it requires the permission and will of Allah the Lord of the Worlds. This keeps a person’s heart anchored in tawakkul even while he pursues treatment.

He then brings a third narration from Musnad Ahmad, from Usamah bin Shareek, may Allah be pleased with him: “Certainly Allah has sent down a cure for every disease, those who know it, know it, and those who are ignorant of it, are ignorant of it.”

This hadith opens a door. The cure exists but not everyone knows where to find it. This is why people go to doctors for physical ailments: because the doctor knows what we do not. The same applies to spiritual diseases. The person with ‘Ishq’ came to Imam Ibn al-Qayyim precisely because he did not know the medicine and Imam Ibn al-Qayyim did.

He also mentions the hadith: “Allah has not placed a disease except that He placed alongside it a cure or a medicine, except for one disease.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of Allah, which disease has no cure?” He said: Al-Haram: old age. There is no medicine for old age. Everything else outward or inward, physical or spiritual has a cure kept by Allah the Lord of the Worlds.

وَهَذَا يَعُمُّ أَدَوَاءَ الْقَلْبِ وَالرُّوحِ وَالْبَدَنِ وَأَدْوِيَتِهَا، وَقَدْ جَعَلَ النَّبِيُّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - الْجَهْلَ دَاءً، وَجَعَلَ دَوَاءَهُ سُؤَالَ الْعُلَمَاءِ. فَرَوَى أَبُو دَاوُدَ فِي سُنَنِهِ مِنْ حَدِيثِ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: «خَرَجْنَا فِي سَفَرٍ فَأَصَابَ رَجُلًا مِنَّا حَجَرٌ، فَشَجَّهُ فِي رَأْسِهِ، ثُمَّ احْتَلَمَ، فَسَأَلَ أَصْحَابَهُ فَقَالَ: هَلْ تَجِدُونَ لِي رُخْصَةً فِي التَّيَمُّمِ؟ قَالُوا: مَا نَجِدُ لَكَ رُخْصَةً، وَأَنْتَ تَقْدِرُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ، فَاغْتَسَلَ، فَمَاتَ، فَلَمَّا قَدِمْنَا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُخْبِرَ بِذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: قَتَلُوهُ قَتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَلَا سَأَلُوا إِذَا لَمْ يَعْلَمُوا؟ فَإِنَّمَا شِفَاءُ الْعِيِّ السُّؤَالُ إِنَّمَا كَانَ يَكْفِيهِ أَنْ يَتَيَمَّمَ وَيَعْصِرَ - أَوْ يَعْصِبَ - عَلَى جُرْحِهِ خِرْقَةً ثُمَّ يَمْسَحُ عَلَيْهَا، وَيَغْسِلُ سَائِرَ جَسَدِهِ.» فَأَخْبَرَ أَنَّ الْجَهْلَ دَاءٌ، وَأَنَّ شِفَاءَهُ السُّؤَالُ

Ignorance Is Also a Disease

After these hadiths, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim makes a pivotal move. He states that the Prophet ﷺ declared ignorance itself to be a disease and named its cure as asking the scholars.

He illustrates this with a powerful narration recorded in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, from Jabir bin Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him. During a journey, a companion was struck on the head by a stone and suffered a serious wound. That same night he experienced a nocturnal emission. He asked his fellow travelers: can I perform tayammum instead of a full bath given my injury? They said no, you must use water.

He bathed. And he died from the shock to his wound.

When the companions returned and informed the Prophet ﷺ, he was furious. He said: “They killed him, may Allah destroy them! When they did not know, why did they not ask?” Then he ﷺ explained what the correct ruling actually was: the man could have performed tayammum, or placed a cloth over the wound and wiped over it while washing the rest of his body.

فَإِنَّمَا شِفَاءُ الْعِيِّ السُّؤَالُ “The cure for ignorance is asking.”

The lesson Imam Ibn al-Qayyim draws is profound: notice how the Prophet ﷺ used the language of killing, “They killed him”, even though they never laid a hand on him. They gave religious guidance without knowledge, and a man died. If that is how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke about those who guided without knowledge in one fiqh ruling, what about those who guide entire communities on matters of aqeedah, halal and haram, and the heart without knowledge?

In our era, this has become the greatest spiritual epidemic: people speaking about the religion of Allah without having learned it. Everyone steps forward to teach, to post, to declare regardless of whether they possess knowledge or not. In worldly matters we understand this clearly: if someone asks us for money we don’t have, we say so. But in knowledge, we give freely what we do not possess.

The Quran: The Greatest Cure of All [الْقُرْآنُ شِفَاءٌ ]

وَقَدْ أَخْبَرَ سُبْحَانَهُ عَنِ الْقُرْآنِ أَنَّهُ شِفَاءٌ، فَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: {وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا أَعْجَمِيًّا لَقَالُوا لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ وَعَرَبِيٌّ قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَشِفَاءٌ} [سُورَةُ فُصِّلَتْ: ٤٤] وَقَالَ {وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ} [سُورَةُ الْإِسْرَاءِ: ٨٢] . وَ ” مِنْ ” هُنَا لِبَيَانِ الْجِنْسِ لَا لِلتَّبْعِيضِ، فَإِنَّ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّهُ شِفَاءٌ، كَمَا قَالَ فِي الْآيَةِ الْمُتَقَدِّمَةِ، فَهُوَ شِفَاءٌ لِلْقُلُوبِ مِنْ دَاءِ الْجَهْلِ وَالشَّكِّ وَالرَّيْبِ، فَلَمْ يُنْزِلِ اللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ شِفَاءً قَطُّ أَعَمَّ وَلَا أَنْفَعَ وَلَا أَعْظَمَ وَلَا أَشْجَعَ فِي إِزَالَةِ الدَّاءِ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ

After establishing that every disease has a cure, and that ignorance is itself a disease cured by asking those who know, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim makes his most important point of this opening section.

He states that Allah the Lord of the Worlds revealed the Noble Quran as a cure. He brings two verses:

“Say: it is for those who believe, a guidance and a cure” (Surah Fussilat)

“And We send down of the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers” (Surah al-Isra, 17:82)

He then addresses a subtle point of Arabic grammar for those who read in Arabic: the word min in “We send down of the Quran” does it mean part of the Quran is a cure, the way we might say “I spent some of my money”? Imam Ibn al-Qayyim says no. This min is for the genus, it indicates the nature and category of what is being described. The entirety of the Quran was revealed as a cure.

Then he makes a statement that deserves to be written on the walls of our hearts:

“Allah the Exalted has not sent down from the heavens any cure whatsoever that is more comprehensive, more beneficial, greater, or more successful in removing disease than the Quran.”

The Quran is a cure for ignorance. A cure for doubt. A cure for suspicion. A cure for the diseases of the heart desires, attachments, arrogance, despair. There is no treatment revealed from the sky more beneficial, more encompassing, or more effective than the Quran.

In our coming sessions, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim will share something remarkable from his own personal experience, the days he spent in Makkah al-Mukarramah during Hajj, far from physicians and medicines, when he treated himself and many pilgrims using nothing but the Noble Quran. That account is extraordinary and we will reach it, In Sha Allah.