Short answer
Yes. Reciting the Quran or authentic duas, blowing lightly into water and drinking it or washing with it for healing is permitted by Hanafi scholars and most scholars of the other schools, as a form of ruqyah. The cure is from Allah, not the water, and the water should be treated with respect.
Ruqyah over water is permitted in the Hanafi school, provided nothing unknown or contrary to tawhid is used. The Hanafi texts also permit writing verses on a clean surface and dissolving them in water for the sick to drink. Leftover water is not poured into impure places.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
In many families this is called dam or blowing on water: someone recites al-Fatihah, Ayat al-Kursi and the last surahs, blows lightly into a glass of water, and the sick person drinks it or washes with it. The basis is ruqyah in general, which the Prophet ﷺ approved as long as it has no shirk in it, together with his practice of blowing lightly (nafth) after recitation.
Water was also part of the Sunnah's treatment of the evil eye: the Prophet ﷺ had the man who gave the eye wash in a vessel, and the water was poured over the one affected. And his ruqyah for the sick used a little saliva mixed with earth: in the name of Allah, the soil of our land with the saliva of some of us, our sick is cured by our Lord's permission. Scholars took from these that ruqyah may be carried by a physical medium.
The Hanafi texts also allow writing verses of the Quran with clean ink on a plate or paper and washing it into water for a sick person to drink, and Imam Ahmad is reported to have allowed the same. Some contemporary scholars prefer spoken ruqyah only, but they do not call the practice shirk.
Practical points:
- Recite yourself, or ask a trustworthy person. Avoid anyone who adds unknown words, numbers or names.
- Do not pour leftover water down the toilet. Pour it on plants or clean ground.
- Zamzam water carries its own blessing and can be used the same way.
- Keep taking the treatment your doctor prescribes.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Israa 17:82
وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلْقُرْءَانِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌۭ وَرَحْمَةٌۭ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۙ وَلَا يَزِيدُ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًۭا ﴿٨٢﴾
And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.
The Quran is a healing, whether recited over the person or over water.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5745
Sahih... تربة أرضنا بريقة بعضنا يشفى سقيمنا ...
"The soil of our land, with the saliva of some of us, our sick is cured."
Ruqyah may be carried by a physical medium.
Sahih Muslim 2200
Sahih... لا بأس بالرقى ما لم يكن فيه شرك ...
"There is no harm in ruqyah as long as there is no shirk in it."
The general rule for any ruqyah.
Sunan Ibn Majah 3509
Grading to be checked... فأمر عامرا أن يتوضأ فيغسل وجهه ويديه إلى المرفقين ...
"He told Amir to wash, so he washed his face and his hands to the elbows."
Water was used to treat the evil eye.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on treatment and remedies (al-tadawi wa al-mu'alajat). Permits writing verses of the Quran and giving the water to a sick person to drink.
- Zad al-Ma'ad (Ibn al-Qayyim), Section on prophetic medicine, treatment of difficult childbirth. Reports Imam Ahmad's permission to write Quran and give its water to drink.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.