Short answer
Scholars differ. Many contemporary scholars allow clinical hypnotherapy by a qualified professional for treatment, such as pain, anxiety or quitting smoking, as long as it involves no shirk, no claims about jinn, nothing haram and no improper seclusion. Others forbid hypnosis outright. Stage hypnosis for entertainment should be avoided. Ask a mufti before starting.
Treatments are permitted unless they contain something forbidden. Hypnotherapy that is a psychological technique, done by a trustworthy qualified practitioner without shirk or haram, falls under permitted treatment according to many muftis. Anything that relies on jinn, unknown words or loss of control to do wrong is forbidden.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Hypnosis means guiding someone into a deeply relaxed, focused state in which they respond more to suggestion. In clinical use it is used to manage pain, anxiety, phobias, irritable bowel syndrome and habits like smoking. Hypnobirthing is mostly breathing and relaxation for labour.
Why some scholars allow it. The Prophet ﷺ allowed ruqyah as long as it contained no shirk, which scholars take as a general rule for remedies: a treatment is judged by what it contains. Clinical hypnotherapy is a recognised psychological method, and the patient is not unconscious and cannot normally be made to act against their will. Many contemporary muftis therefore treat it like other forms of therapy when its conditions are met.
Why others forbid it. Some scholars, including some major fatwa councils, have held that hypnosis involves calling on jinn or handing over one's mind to another person, and have forbidden it. Their caution is a reason to choose carefully.
Conditions if you use it:
- a qualified, regulated clinician, not a spiritual healer or entertainer
- no shirk, no talk of spirits, past lives or energies that contradict your beliefs
- a practitioner of your own sex, or another person present, so there is no seclusion
- no suggestions that involve anything haram
- simple relaxation and breathing techniques, as in most hypnobirthing classes, are not a concern
Stage hypnosis, where people are made to act foolishly for an audience, is best avoided, since it strips people of dignity. Follow a qualified doctor's advice on whether hypnotherapy suits your condition, and ask a mufti.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Israa 17:70
۞ وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلْنَٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَفَضَّلْنَٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍۢ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًۭا ﴿٧٠﴾
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.
Treatments must not strip a person of dignity.
Sahih Muslim 2200
Sahih... لا بأس بالرقى ما لم يكن فيه شرك ...
"There is no harm in ruqyah as long as it contains no shirk."
A remedy is judged by its content: free of shirk and haram, it is allowed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5678
Sahih... ما أنزل الله داء إلا أنزل له شفاء ...
"Allah has not sent down any disease without sending down a cure for it."
Lawful treatments are encouraged.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on treatment. Treatment is permitted unless it involves something forbidden.
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.