شِفَاء
Girl Arabic origin Shifāʾ
Female CompanionIn the Quran“Healing”, the return to health and the soothing of the heart
The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, Al-Isra 17:82.
Al-Shifaʾ bint ʿAbd Allah, of Quraysh, was one of the first women emigrants and could write, a rare skill in her time. The Prophet ﷺ came in while she was with Hafsa and said to her: “Will you not teach her the ruqya for namla, as you taught her writing?” (Abu Dawud 3887). The Quran calls itself “a healing and a mercy for the believers” (17:82).
Shifaʾ means “healing”: recovery from illness, from the root sh-f-y. The word also expresses relief, when grief, anger or doubt leave the heart; one speaks of the shifaʾ of the breasts. The Quran uses it four times, for the Quran itself, “a healing for what is in the breasts” (10:57), and for honey, “in it there is healing for people” (16:69). The name is given in the Maghreb (Chifa) and in Turkey (Şifa).
Yes: the word Shifa appears in the Quran 4 times, in 4 surahs.
وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلْقُرْءَانِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَا يَزِيدُ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًا ٨٢
And We send down of the Qur’ān that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَآءٌ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٥٧
O mankind, there has come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.
ثُمَّ كُلِى مِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ فَٱسْلُكِى سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلًا يَخْرُجُ مِنۢ بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَٰنُهُۥ فِيهِ شِفَآءٌ لِّلنَّاسِ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ٦٩
Then eat from all the fruits and follow the ways of your Lord laid down [for you]." There emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is healing for people. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who give thought.
وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَٰهُ قُرْءَانًا أَعْجَمِيًّا لَّقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ ءَايَٰتُهُۥٓ ءَا۬عْجَمِىٌّ وَعَرَبِىٌّ قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ هُدًى وَشِفَآءٌ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍۭ بَعِيدٍ ٤٤
And if We had made it a foreign [i.e., non-Arabic] Qur’ān, 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.
All the words of the root ش ف ي in the Quran (6 occurrences)
أَلاَ تُعَلِّمِينَ هَذِهِ رُقْيَةَ النَّمْلَةِ كَمَا عَلَّمْتِيهَا الْكِتَابَةَ "
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Shifa in particular: the general rules of Islam apply.
Read the rules for choosing a name
This page is an aid to reflection, not a fatwa. For a personal case, ask a person of knowledge.
