Al-Shifa Verse | 17:82

Al-Shifa Verse

Al-Shifa Verse (Arabic: آیة الشفاء), or the Verse of Healing, is the verse of the Quran 17:82 which indicates the healing effect of the Quran for believers.

According to Quranic exegetes, the Quran heals both physical and psychic problems of human beings.

According to some exegetes, the Quran is healing in the sense that it expels polytheism, disbelief, misguidedness, and moral vices, and leads to happiness, guidance, and moral virtues.

According to the Verse of Healing,

contrary to believers, the Quran intensifies the hatred, anger, jealousy, disbelief, and psychic problems of polytheists and disbelievers, and so they are not guided by the Quran.

According to Sunni and Shiite exegetes of the Quran, all Quranic verses are healing, so it is not restricted to this verse.

Some people believe that "zālimīn" (unjust people or wrongdoers) in the verse are people who do wrong to Ahl al-Bayt (a).

Content

The verse of Quran 17:82 is known as the Verse of Healing or al-Shifā Verse, which indicates that the Quran can heal diseases.

Shiite and Sunni scholars believe that all Quranic verses are healing, and so this feature is not restricted to al-Shifā Verse.

The healing power of the Quran has been interpreted in a variety of ways:

=> According to some exegetes, such as Abu l-Futuh al-Rāzī, al-Fakhr al-Rāzī, and al-Tabrisī,

the healing power of Quranic verses lies in grounds they provide for knowing God, Prophethood, the resurrection, predestination, and Imamate,

since it saves people from bewilderment and ignorance, and precludes doubts, guiding people to happiness and the right path.

=> According to some other exegetes, such as Allāma Tabataba’i, just as the human body might sometimes suffer from diseases,

- the human soul might also suffer from moral and faith-related diseases which can be healed by the recitation of and acting upon the Quran.

=> Some exegetes maintain that Quranic verses are helpful for physical diseases as well:

According to Nizami, in earlier times, when physicians were disappointed of treating a patient,

they performed 2 Rakat of prayer and recited the Quran 1, and then recited the Verse of Healing for the improvement of the patient, and then the patient was healed.

=> According to al-Fayd al-Kāshānī, the meanings of Quranic verses heal psychic diseases, and their words heal physical diseases.

Mercy (Rahma)

Allāma Tabataba’i believes that the word, "rahma" (mercy), in the verse refers to the enlightenment of the human heart with knowledge and certainty.

Thus, when one no longer has doubts, moral diseases, or problems in his or her beliefs, they return to their original nature of purity (fitrah).

In his Majma al-Bayān, al-Tabrisī takes "mercy" to mean God's blessings.

In Tafsīr nimūna, "Shifa'" or healing is interpreted as the purification of one's heart, and the "mercy" is interpreted as the renewal of one's self.

The Quran and Polytheists

According to the Verse of Healing,

Quranic verses do not bring about anything for polytheists and disbelieves except loss, the intensification of their disbelief, anger, and hatred.

Allāma Tabataba’i interprets "zālimīn" (wrongdoers) in the verse to refer to disbelievers, maintaining that Quranic verses give them nothing but disbelief and loss because their original nature is distorted.

- He takes such loss to be a consequence of their actions, since Quranic verses guide human beings to happiness.

Al-Tabrisī considers the loss of disbelievers to amount to the disclosure of their impure inner selves by Quranic verses.

According to Ayatollah Makārim Shirazi, Quranic verses heal and provide mercy for everyone except for those who do not seek the truth and obstinately oppose the Quran and God. Thus, when they hear Quranic verses, their disbelief, hatred, and jealousy are intensified.

According to Tafsīr al-shāfī, al-Burhān, and Nūr al-Thaqalayn, "zālimīn" (wrongdoers) in the Verse of Healing are those who unjustly treat Ahl al-Bayt (a).