Title: Further Exchange on Reciting or Using Part of a Verse of the Qur'an Question/Comments: Jazakallahukhairan for your informative reply. I have further inquiries regarding the subject: If we were to recite the Quran while doing some chores & sometimes we bow to pick up or search for something, etc. - would that be regarded as ruku & do we have to stop reciting at that moment? Could you inform the actual text of the hadis you mentioned? Why you do not recommend to use the Qur'an or any part of it as ruqyah?Are there not many sound hadis which show that the prophet & sahabah did it.For example in Chapter "virtues of the Quran" in Bukhari Volume 6, Book 61, Number 529: aw alfansa Malaysia Answer: In reciting the Qur'an one should always respect it and concentrate on it. If you find yourself reciting the words of God during light activities that allow you the freedom to grasp what you are saying, then I find no fault in this; even when bending down. However, bending down while in the process of cleaning, or any other activity for that matter, is not considered Ru'ku . Ru'ku is an intentional act that glorifies the Lord Who created you. A very important feature of acts of worship is Niya (intent). Hence, you should perform Ru'ku only when that is your intent and when you are absolutely free from all other distractions. It is obvious that doing any household chores is not equal to showing humility to God, but rather a process in completing a personal task. According to one of the narratives in Tirmidhi, the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said: من قرأ حرفا من كتاب الله فله به حسنة والحسنة بعشر أمثالها... (الترمذي، رقم الحديث 2910 ) Whoever recites a word from the Book of God, he shall be credited with one good deed and a good deed is rewarded ten times... I do not recommend using the Qur'an or any part of it as Ruqyah because the Holy Qur'an is not a charm. Nor is it a magical amulet. The Qur'an is the word of God. A Guidance to humanity. Its function is to direct and remind people of God and what He expects of us as His creatures to believe in and behave like. As for your cited narrative, it has been reported as under: Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: While we were on one of our journeys, we dismounted at a place where a slave girl came and said, "The chief of this tribe has been stung by a scorpion and our men are not present; is there anybody among you who can treat him (by reciting something)?" Then one of our men went along with her though we did not think that he knew any such treatment. But he treated the chief by reciting something, and the sick man recovered whereupon he gave him thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink (as a reward). When he returned, we asked our friend, "Did you know how to treat with the recitation of something?" He said, "No, but I treated him only with the recitation of the Mother of the Book (i.e., Al-Fatiha)." We said, "Do not say anything (about it) till we reach or ask the Prophet so when we reached Medina, we mentioned that to the Prophet (in order to know whether the sheep which we had taken were lawful to take or not). The Prophet said, "How did he come to know that it ( Al-Fatiha ) could be used for treatment? Distribute your reward and assign for me one share thereof as well." (Volume 6, Book 61, Number 529) Before deriving any conclusions from this narrative, it would be better to first gather all the relevant information that we can get from all the narrations of the said incident. Some important pieces of information that we get from other narrations of the same incident is as under: When the group of companions reached the place, they asked the tribe for food, but the people of the tribe refused to give them any food [1] ; Another one of the narratives of the incidents implies that the people of the tribe were aware of the goodness of the message of the Prophet (pbuh) and referring to it, they asked the companions to help their leader, who had been bitten by a scorpion [2] ; In one of the narratives, it is reported that when the Prophet was informed about the incident, he laughed and said: 'What made you think that it is a Ruqyah ?' [3] A close examination of the Prophet's response to the incident does not allow us to take this incident as a basis of allowing the use of Qur'anic verses as the use of Ruqyah . It is clear that had Islam recommended the use of Qur'anic verse as Ruqyah , the Prophet (pbuh) would then have promoted this usage more actively, rather than merely smiling at such an act of one his companions. The incident, in fact, seems to be one of the many signs that may appear at the advent of a messenger of God to attract the attention of the addressees towards the call of the messenger. Finally, it should be kept in mind that the most that can be said on the basis of the reported incident is that the use of Qur'anic verses as Ruqyah is not prohibited and can only be termed as 'allowed'. It is obviously not something recommended or encouraged by the Prophet (pbuh). This is precisely what we had stated in our previous response. I hope I have clarified the issue God knows best Ronnie Hassan March 18, 2003 [1] In one of the narratives of Bukhariy , the narrator says: انطلق نفر من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في سفرة سافروها حتى نزلوا على حي من أحياء العرب فاستضافوهم فأبوا أن يضيفوهم... (البخاري، رقم الحديث 2156 ) A group of the companions of the Prophet reached one of the Arab tribes in one of their journeys and asked them for food, but they refused... [2] In one of the narratives of Abu Dawood , the narrator says: فقالوا إنا أنبئنا أنكم جئتم من عند هذا الرجل بخير فهل عندكم من دواء أو رقية... (أبو داود، رقم الحديث 3901 ) They said: 'We have been told that you have come from this man (i.e., the Prophet) with goodness. Do you also have any medicine or charm... [3] In one of the narratives reported in Bukhariy , it is reported: فضحك وقال وما أدراك أنها رقية (البخاري، رقم الحديث 5404 ) The Prophet laughed and said: 'What made you think that it is a Ruqyah ?'