Al-Dāʾ

The disease — the central term of the book, referring to sin and the spiritual ailments that afflict the heart. Ibn al-Qayyim deploys this medical term deliberately to establish that spiritual illness is as real, as serious, and as treatable as physical illness. Just as a physical disease left undiagnosed will progress and eventually become fatal, spiritual disease untreated will harden the heart, dim its perception of truth, and sever its connection to the divine. The choice of this term reframes the entire moral life: sin is not merely a rule broken but a wound that requires specific, targeted treatment if healing is to occur.

As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn al-Qayyim and the scholars of his school.