Back to search

Is it permissible to say, "So-and-so has cured me," or "That medicine has cured me"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no harm in a Muslim attributing something to its correct cause, such as: "Thanks to so-and-so, this matter changed," or "Through my effort, such-and-such happened," without neglecting the true Initiator, who is Allah Almighty. This is because he attributed the cause to a real influencer, and this is permissible both religiously and intuitively. For example, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding his uncle Abu Talib: "Were it not for me, he would have been in the lowest depths of the Hellfire."

However, if one attributes it to an incorrect cause, this is not permissible and may constitute polytheism (shirk). This falls into two categories: 1. Attributing it to a hidden cause that has absolutely no effect, such as saying: "Were it not for such-and-such a saint, this would not have happened." This is major polytheism (shirk akbar). 2. Attributing it to an apparent cause that has not been proven to be a cause, neither religiously nor intuitively. This is a type of minor polytheism (shirk asghar), such as charms and amulets that are said to ward off the evil eye.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy