The spread of the phenomenon of amulets that young men and women hang on their chests, written by shaykhs who claim they protect from the evil eye: what is the ruling of the Shari'ah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Your Eminence, the phenomenon of amulets that young men and women hang on their chests has spread among us. These amulets are written by shaykhs who say that they protect from the evil eye. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view regarding such things?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. The answer to this question is that we must know that the means that bring about good or ward off evil must be derived from the Shari'ah, because such a matter, namely bringing about good or warding off evil, does not occur except by the decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, we must follow the path that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has made a path leading to that.
As for mere illusions that are not based on a Shari'ah principle, they are illusions with no reality. A person may be psychologically affected by them due to what he believes about them, even if the reality is otherwise. Hanging amulets on the chests is not free from two cases. The first case is that they are talismans or broken letters whose meaning is unknown. These are forbidden without doubt, and perhaps the names of jinn devils are written on them without the wearer knowing. In this case, hanging them is a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah). If the one who hangs them believes that they benefit or harm without the decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) committing major shirk.
And if he believes that the One who benefits and harms is Allah, but that these are a means, it is minor shirk, because Allah the Exalted has not made this a means by which evil is averted or good is attained.
The second case is that these amulets are written with known letters from the Qur'an or from the authentic Sunnah. This is a matter of disagreement among scholars. Some hold that there is no harm in them, citing the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Isra 17:82]. Others hold that they are prohibited and are a type of minor shirk, citing the generality of the hadiths indicating that amulets are shirk. What the believer should do is avoid them, because the least that can be said about them is that there is no report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicating their permissibility. The original ruling in such matters is prohibition until evidence of permissibility is established. Furthermore, if a person becomes attached to them, he turns away from what he should do of the verbal invocations that the Shari'ah has brought, such as the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the Verse of the Throne: "Whoever recites it in the night, a protector from Allah will not cease to be over him, and no devil will approach him until he becomes morning." And his saying regarding the last two verses of Surat al-Baqarah: Sunan Ibn Majah 1368Sahih (Darussalam). And likewise his saying regarding the two chapters of protection (al-Mu'awwidhatayn).
The important point is that these amulets cause a person to be heedless of what he should do of the verbal invocations prescribed by the Shari'ah.
Therefore, my advice to these people and those like them is to leave these amulets and to say what the Sunnah has brought of verbal invocations, either from the Book or from the Sunnah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. This is a Sudanese man working in the Gulf who says:
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. The answer to this question is that we must know that the means that bring about good or ward off evil must be derived from the Shari'ah, because such a matter, namely bringing about good or warding off evil, does not occur except by the decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, we must follow the path that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has made a path leading to that.
As for mere illusions that are not based on a Shari'ah principle, they are illusions with no reality. A person may be psychologically affected by them due to what he believes about them, even if the reality is otherwise. Hanging amulets on the chests is not free from two cases. The first case is that they are talismans or broken letters whose meaning is unknown. These are forbidden without doubt, and perhaps the names of jinn devils are written on them without the wearer knowing. In this case, hanging them is a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah). If the one who hangs them believes that they benefit or harm without the decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) committing major shirk.
And if he believes that the One who benefits and harms is Allah, but that these are a means, it is minor shirk, because Allah the Exalted has not made this a means by which evil is averted or good is attained.
The second case is that these amulets are written with known letters from the Qur'an or from the authentic Sunnah. This is a matter of disagreement among scholars. Some hold that there is no harm in them, citing the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.
وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْءانِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًاWhoever recites the last two Verses of Surat Al-Baqarah at night, that will be sufficient for him.
من قرأهما في ليلة كفتاهThe important point is that these amulets cause a person to be heedless of what he should do of the verbal invocations prescribed by the Shari'ah.
Therefore, my advice to these people and those like them is to leave these amulets and to say what the Sunnah has brought of verbal invocations, either from the Book or from the Sunnah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. This is a Sudanese man working in the Gulf who says: