The Remedy For Those Victimized By Sins By Ibn Al-Qayyim

Al-Da' wa al-Dawa' is among the works Imam Ibn al-Qayyim is best known for — a book about the sickness of the heart caused by sin, the craving that keeps people returning to what harms them, and the cure that Allah has placed within reach of every servant willing to take it. The Remedy for Those Victimized by Sins is an English translation of that work, in which Ibn al-Qayyim addresses the person who sins, knows they sin, wants to stop, and yet keeps returning — diagnosing the condition with psychological and spiritual precision and prescribing the treatment from the Qur'an and Sunnah.

What This Book Covers

The Disease: The Heart's Craving for Sin

Ibn al-Qayyim identifies the mechanism by which sin enslaves the heart — how the initial pleasure leaves a mark, how that mark weakens resistance to the next occurrence, and how this cycle hardens the heart until sin no longer feels like sin. The diagnosis is unflinchingly accurate.

Why Good Intentions Are Not Enough

A central insight of the book is that desiring to stop a sin is not the same as taking the means to stop it. Ibn al-Qayyim addresses the person who keeps making resolutions that don't hold, identifying what is missing in their approach and what genuine tawbah requires beyond the feeling of regret.

The Cure: Specific and Graduated

The remedy Ibn al-Qayyim prescribes is specific: it begins with sincere knowledge of Allah's greatness and one's own poverty before Him, moves through sincere tawbah and its conditions, and continues through the specific acts of worship and habits that gradually strengthen the heart's resistance to sin until the craving weakens and ultimately disappears.

Speaking About Allah Without Knowledge

Later in the book Ibn al-Qayyim turns from the sins of the limbs to a heavier matter: describing Allah's names, attributes, and actions without knowledge. He weighs the denier against the polytheist, cites Fir'awn as the champion of denial, and explains why Iblees loves innovation more than he loves sin. You can read those pages in the author's own words in our excerpt, Speaking About Allah Without Knowledge.

About the Author

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (691–751 AH) studied under Ibn Taymiyyah in Damascus and wrote extensively on the diseases of the heart and their treatment. Published by International Islamic Publishing House (IIPH).

Who This Book Is For

Any Muslim who struggles with persistent sin and wants to understand both the mechanism of that struggle and the Islamic path out of it. One of the most honest, precise, and ultimately hopeful books on this subject in the Islamic tradition.

Continue Reading

This is the IIPH translation of al-Da' wa al-Dawa'. We also carry the Hikmah Publications edition of the same work as The Disease and the Cure — compare the two before you choose, and see our article on The Disease and the Cure for what the book actually contains. Read a passage from this edition in Speaking About Allah Without Knowledge, browse more works by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, or see our guide to the best books on purifying the soul (tazkiyah).