Short answer
Al-Fatihah is the surah most clearly linked to healing in the Sunnah: the Prophet ﷺ confirmed it as a ruqyah. He also recited al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and al-Nas over himself when ill. Beyond these, the whole Quran is a healing, so you may recite any part with the hope of cure, alongside medical treatment. The four schools agree.
Reciting the Quran over the sick, or over yourself, with the intention of seeking a cure from Allah is sunnah and permitted. It goes together with medical treatment and does not replace it.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Allah says He sends down of the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers (17:82), and calls it a guidance and cure for those who believe (41:44). Scholars explain that this healing covers the heart, through faith and guidance, and the body, through ruqyah (recitation for healing).
- Al-Fatihah. A Companion recited it over a chief stung by a scorpion, who recovered, and the Prophet ﷺ asked him how he knew it was a ruqyah. See how to recite al-Fatihah for healing.
- Al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and al-Nas. In his final illness he would blow over himself with them, and Aishah did it for him when he grew weak.
- Ayat al-Kursi. Recited before sleep, it keeps a guardian from Allah with you until morning.
Some people also recite the six verses that mention shifa (healing): 9:14, 10:57, 16:69, 17:82, 26:80 and 41:44. This is a practice of later scholars rather than something the Prophet ﷺ taught, so it is fine as long as you do not treat it as a sunnah with a fixed reward. The same goes for reciting Surah Yasin or al-Mulk for the sick: it is good, but no authentic hadith names them as a cure.
Recite with certainty that the cure is from Allah, blow lightly over the place of pain, and keep taking the treatment your doctor prescribes. The Prophet ﷺ said Allah has sent down no disease without also sending down its cure. For duas, see dua for health and healing.
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 itself is described as healing.
Quran, Surah Fussilat 41:44
وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَٰهُ قُرْءَانًا أَعْجَمِيًّۭا لَّقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ ءَايَٰتُهُۥٓ ۖ ءَا۬عْجَمِىٌّۭ وَعَرَبِىٌّۭ ۗ قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ هُدًۭى وَشِفَآءٌۭ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌۭ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍۭ بَعِيدٍۢ ﴿٤٤﴾
And if We had made it a non-Arabic Qur'an, they would have said, "Why are its verses not explained in detail [in our language]? Is it a foreign [recitation] and an Arab [messenger]?" Say, "It is, for those who believe, a guidance and cure." And those who do not believe - in their ears is deafness, and it is upon them blindness. Those are being called from a distant place.
The Quran is a cure for the believers.
Quran, Surah Yunus 10:57
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَآءٌۭ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةٌۭ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٥٧﴾
O mankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.
Its healing reaches the heart as well as the body.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5736
Sahih... وما أدراك أنها رقية خذوها واضربوا لي بسهم ...
"How did you know it is a ruqyah? Take it, and give me a share."
He confirmed al-Fatihah as a ruqyah for healing.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5735
Sahih... كان ينفث على نفسه في المرض الذي مات فيه بالمعوذات ...
"Aishah said he used to blow over himself with the Mu'awwidhat in the illness in which he died."
The last surahs are recited for illness.
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."
Ruqyah and medicine are both means of the cure Allah sends.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on treatment and remedies (al-tadawi wa al-mu'alajat). Ruqyah with the Quran for illness is permitted.
- Umdat al-Qari (al-Ayni), Kitab al-Tibb, chapter on ruqyah with al-Fatihah. A Hanafi explanation of the hadith that al-Fatihah is a ruqyah.
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.