sunnahfastAlongside the sunnah fasting days, there is another beloved sunnah tied to the lunar calendar: hijama, or cupping — a simple therapy the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have used and encouraged others toward. It is not a fast, and it is not obligatory. Here is what the hadith actually say, and why sunnahfast now sends one gentle reminder a month for it.
What the Prophet ﷺ said about cupping
The general merit of cupping is uncontroversial and echoed across the major collections, including Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim in similar wording. One of the plainest statements:
“If there is any good in any of the remedies you use, it is in cupping.”
Another names it alongside two other well-known remedies:
“Healing is in three things: A drink of honey, the glass of the cupper, and cauterizing with fire, but I forbid my nation to use cauterization.”
Cupping is named twice here — once on its own, once in this trio with honey — which is part of why generations of Muslims have kept it as a living practice, unlike cauterization with fire, which the Prophet ﷺ named a means of healing in principle but discouraged for his own ummah in practice.
Why the 17th, 19th and 21st
A separate hadith goes further and names specific days of the lunar month:
“Whoever wants to be cupped, let him seek out the seventeenth, nineteenth or twenty-first (of the month); and let none of you allow his blood to rage so that it kills him.”
This is the hadith behind the long-standing tradition of timing hijama to these three days each Hijri month. It is worth being honest about its strength: hadith scholars are divided on this particular narration. Some, including al-Albani, grade its chain as da'if (weak); others point to similarly worded reports in at-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud (and collected in Mishkat al-Masabih) as support for treating the timing as an established, if not ironclad, sunnah. Reasonable people who love the sunnah differ here, and neither position makes cupping itself any less beneficial or any more obligatory — the timing is a recommendation, not a requirement.
Because three near-identical monthly emails would be more noise than benefit, sunnahfast sends just one reminder — on the eve of the 17th, the first and most commonly cited of the three days.
The Night Journey
A further, well-known narration ties cupping to the night of the Isra', the Prophet's ﷺ Night Journey:
“On the night on which I was taken on the Night Journey (Isra'), I did not pass by any group of angels but all of them said to me: 'O Muhammad, you should use cupping.'”
A few practical notes
- This is optional, not obligatory — hijama is a sunnah remedy, not a religious duty, and there is no sin in skipping it.
- Book with a trained, hygienic practitioner using single-use, sterile equipment — the hadith recommend the practice, not any particular provider.
- If you're pregnant, on blood thinners, have a bleeding disorder, or manage a serious health condition, check with a doctor first — this page is not medical advice.
- The 19th and 21st are just as much a part of the tradition as the 17th — sunnahfast simply emails once a month; if the 17th does not suit you, the same window continues on the 19th and 21st.
- Cupping and fasting: scholars have historically differed on whether cupping affects a fast (one hadith says the fast breaks; another describes the Prophet ﷺ being cupped while fasting and in Ihram) — if you are fasting, it's worth asking someone of knowledge you trust rather than assuming either way.
One reminder a month
Like every other sunnahfast nudge, the Hijama reminder is on by default and entirely optional — turn it off any time from your preferences page, no need to unsubscribe from everything else. One email, the evening before the 17th, around 7 PM your local time, Insha Allah.
Sources
The hadith above are quoted exactly as translated, with their reference. Further reading: