Three Accounts, One Narrator: Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij

Of the eighteen accounts in the book «من عجائب العلاج بالصدقة» (Remarkable Accounts of Healing through Charity), most are entirely anonymous — no name, no source. But three accounts stand out a little from this crowd, because in these three the book states clearly where the accounts came from — a person named "Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij", who heard them directly from the "owner" of the account, that is, the one to whom the event happened, and who later narrated them to people. This article presents those three accounts, and then explains what independent research has actually found about the identity of this "Shaykh", and how much evidential value that carries.

Account 1: A Daughter's Incurable Throat Illness and a Large Sum of Sadaqah

In the book this account is titled "The Eighth Account: Because of Sadaqah, Allah Healed His Daughter". The book writes: "Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij — may Allah grant him success — says: The owner of this account himself told it to me."

That man says he had a little daughter who developed an illness in her throat. He went around many hospitals and many doctors without any benefit — the illness became incurable, and the girl's suffering robbed the whole family of sleep. She had to be given injections again and again just to ease the pain. At that time a righteous man phoned him and told him the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — "Treat your sick with sadaqah" (داووا مرضاكم بالصدقة). He replied that he already gave a lot of sadaqah anyway. Then the righteous man said that this time he must give sadaqah with the intention of his daughter's healing. The first time, he gave a small sadaqah to a poor man — no change occurred. The second time he was told to give sadaqah in proportion to his wealth. This time he loaded his car with rice, chickens and various food supplies, and distributed them among many poor people. He himself says in amazement that he had not realized that the last injection his daughter had received was the injection right before his sadaqah; after that the girl was completely healed. The book adds that at the time of the event the girl was three years old and had no other illness.

Account 2: A Brother's Sudden Collapse and Seven Thousand Riyals in Sadaqah

The book's "Tenth Account: He Was Struck by the Evil Eye, So Allah Healed Him through Sadaqah" — here too the book writes: "The Shaykh also says: This is another account, which its owner told me."

The narrator says that his brother had gone somewhere one day and was standing in the street when, without any complaint, he suddenly fainted and fell — "as if a bullet had been fired into his head". At first the family thought perhaps it was the evil eye, or a cancerous tumor, or a blood clot in the brain. Tests and X-rays were done at several hospitals and clinics, but no problem was found in the head — yet in his severe pain the patient could neither sleep nor even breathe. The narrator asked his brother whether he had money that could be given as sadaqah on his behalf. The brother agreed. Then he withdrew about seven thousand riyals and phoned a righteous man who knew the poor, so that it would be distributed among them. The narrator swears by Allah that his brother was healed of the illness that very day, even before the money reached the poor.

Account 3: A Little Girl's Fever and 20 Sacks of Rice, 20 Cartons of Chicken

The third account appears in the book under the title "The Eleventh Account: His Little Daughter Was Struck by Fever, So Allah Healed Her through His Sadaqah", and here too the same source sentence: "The Shaykh also says: This is another account, which its owner narrated to me."

The narrator says his little daughter was suffering from fever and high temperature and had stopped eating. Even after taking her to several medical centers, her temperature did not come down; rather, her condition was getting worse. After he returned home anxious, his wife suggested giving sadaqah on the girl's behalf. He phoned a man who was in contact with the poor and asked him to pray the Asr prayer in the mosque and then take 20 sacks of rice and 20 cartons of chicken from him and distribute them among the needy. The narrator swears by Allah that he is not exaggerating — just five minutes after putting down the phone, he saw his little daughter running, playing, jumping on the sofa — fully healed.

Who Is the Narrator? Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij's Identity and Verification

What is worth noting is that the book never names that father, that brother or that family. In all three accounts the same fixed sentence recurs: "The Shaykh ... says: ... the owner of this told it/related it/narrated it to me." That is, the chain has only one permanent, named link — the collector/narrator himself, Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij.

In the research phase of this series, an attempt was made to verify this very name independently, and the result is clear. Exactly these three accounts — with the same specific numbers and in almost identical Arabic wording — were found at saaid.org/rasael/345.htm, which is Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij's own published article/treatise. There, in the throat-illness account, the sentence "لي بنت صغيرة أصابها مرض في حلقها..." (I have a little daughter, an illness has struck her throat...) is found word for word. In the brother's account, "سقط مغشياً عليه و كأنه رمي بطلقة من بندقية على رأسه...سحبت ما يقارب السبعة آلاف ريال" (he fainted and fell, as if a bullet had been fired into his head... I withdrew about seven thousand riyals) — this sentence too matches almost word for word. In the little daughter's fever account, "اشتكت طفلتي من الحمى و الحرارة...تأخذ مني 20 كيس أرز و 20 كرتون دجاج" (my little daughter was suffering from fever and high temperature... take from me 20 sacks of rice and 20 cartons of chicken) — this account too matches, with the same numbers.

Not only that — the throat-illness account was also found quoted separately on an X/Twitter account called "جواهر العلم" (Jawahir al-Ilm), where it is clearly written: "الشيخ / سليمان المفرج – وفقه الله –" (Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij, may Allah grant him success). That is, two completely independent places outside this book — one his own published site, the other a social media account that quotes him by name — reach the same conclusion: these three accounts really did come from Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij's collection and publication. The book's source attribution is not invented, nor pinned on the wrong person — it is correct.

The Correct Classification: The Source Is Sound, but the Accounts Are Not Verifiable

Two separate questions must not be confused here. Question one: "Did the person to whom the book attributes the accounts really say or write them?" — The answer is yes, and that is now independently confirmed. Question two: "Did these events really happen to that father, that brother, that family, and did they happen exactly this way?" — To this there is no independent evidence. Shaykh Al-Mufarrij himself is also not an eyewitness to these events — he is a collector who wrote down what he heard from others. And those from whom he heard were never known by name — apart from "its owner", they have no other identification in the book or in the article on saaid.org.

For this very reason all three accounts have been given Status B — the source is correctly cited, and the source document (the original article on saaid.org) has been independently found and confirmed, but the core content of the accounts themselves remains anonymous testimony. This status stands exactly midway between the other two kinds of accounts in this series. On one side are the book's nine entirely anonymous accounts (Status D) — where there is no source other than "it is mentioned" or "a man says", and who said it is also unknown. These three accounts are stronger than that, because at least the collector's name is known and that name has been independently confirmed. On the other side are the two accounts of Al-Hakim Abu Abdullah and Ibn Al-Mubarak (Status A/B) — which are recorded in classical history books like those of Imam Al-Bayhaqi and Imam Adh-Dhahabi, century after century, and quoted in multiple independent sources. Those two accounts are stronger than these three, because their source is an authoritative historical book that has passed the test of centuries — whereas the source here is a recent online publication of a contemporary caller to Islam's own collection.

Put simply — "a real, identifiable religious teacher truly collected and published these accounts" — on one hand this is much more than saying "this is just an internet rumor", because here there is a real, verifiable name and publication. But on the other hand it is not "as certain as historical information recorded in a classical book", because the main figures in the accounts never revealed their names and there is no other independent way to verify the truth of their words. Shaykh Sulaiman Al-Mufarrij is not being doubted here — on the contrary, it is precisely because his honesty and identity are confirmed that these accounts rise one step above "anonymous rumor". But he too has said only what he heard — and what is hearsay never becomes proof equal to an eyewitness's testimony. These three accounts should therefore be read exactly for what they are — religious testimony collected and published by a known, trustworthy caller to Islam, not events proven medically or historically.

What does this mean practically for a reader? When hearing or reading these three accounts, it is appropriate for a Muslim to accept them as exhortatory testimony compiled by a known, trustworthy caller to Islam — just as any admonishing account heard from a known scholar is accepted. But it would not be right to present them as conclusive proof for the claim that "sadaqah cures illness", or to present these figures (7, 000 riyals; 20 sacks of rice and 20 cartons of chicken) as certain statistics — because they were told from the memory of a single anonymous person and have not been independently rechecked. Reading the source and the account while keeping the two separate is the most honest way here.

References

The Book's Own Source Citations

• The eighth story (the daughter's throat illness), the tenth story (the brother's fainting and the seven thousand riyals), and the eleventh story (the baby girl's fever) — in all three, the book gives as its source: "Shaykh Sulayman Al-Mufarrij — may Allah grant him success — says: The owner of this story himself told me / said to me / narrated to me this story."

Other reliable sources

• saaid.org/rasael/345.htm — Shaykh Sulayman Al-Mufarrij's own published article/risalah, in which all three stories are found almost word for word in Arabic, with the same specific figures (7,000 riyals; 20 sacks of rice and 20 cartons of chicken).
• The X/Twitter account "جواهر العلم" (Jawahir al-Ilm) — quoted the story of the throat illness separately and explicitly attributed it to "الشيخ / سليمان المفرج – وفقه الله –" (Shaykh Sulayman Al-Mufarrij), independently of the book.
• The forum thread "قصص واقعية مؤثرة في بيان أثر الصدقة" and the hawamer.com forum — reposts of the same three stories, but these are mainly a re-circulation of the same original writing of al-Mufarrij, not entirely distinct new sources.

Note: The sources above confirm that the book's attribution (Shaykh Sulayman Al-Mufarrij) is correct. They do not independently confirm the underlying truth of the stories (the real experiences of the father, the brother or the family) — because those individuals were never known by name.

This article has been prepared on the basis of the stories narrated in the book «من عجائب العلاج بالصدقة» and the independent verification of the sources of those stories.