The Meaning of Bad Omens and Superstition in the Hadith

Question:
May Allah keep you safe, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: In the book *Tawhid*, in the chapter on what was transmitted regarding superstition, there is a hadith: "Bad omens are only in three things: a woman, a horse, and a house." Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said, "Allah is the Creator of good and evil, of fortune and misfortune," and so on until the end of his statement. What is the meaning of "bad omen" (shu'um)? What is the intended meaning of "misfortune" (nahw)? And does the common people's saying that a woman is unlucky or a car is jinxed agree with the meaning of the hadith?

Answer:
Yes. And using perfume does not involve shirk (associating partners with Allah), as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. If it is without a cause, it is haram (forbidden), because they take omens from things that contain no evil and have no effect. They take omens from some birds, from some animals, and from the one-eyed person; when they see the one-eyed person, they change their state. This is not permissible because these creatures do not contain any evil, nor are they a cause of evil. However, if this place is known, or this house is known, to be such that if someone stays in it, they are afflicted or die, or if this horse is known to be such that whoever rides it dies, or if this woman is known to be such that whoever marries her dies, then these are specific creations of Allah in which there is evil. Allah creates what He wills; He creates many specific entities. If it is known about these houses that whoever creates them or dwells in them is afflicted, then it ends, because this is among the warnings. Warnings are better than causes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade entering a town with an epidemic and leaving it, in order to contain the plague in its place, based on the causes from the principle. So if you know about these three that they are under evil, and that whoever approaches them is afflicted, then it is obligatory to avoid them. Allah the Exalted says: the verse. But if nothing is exposed to it, then it is not permissible to believe in it as a cause of patience. This is what the ignorant people believe regarding blessed things and good things, even the messengers in whom Allah placed blessing. They took omens from Musa (Moses), and from those with him. They took omens from Ishaq (Isaac) (peace be upon him), and from Ismail (Ishmael) (peace be upon him). They make the source of good the source of evil. This is in their direction. This is not the condemned superstition, and which is the mosque,