What is the ruling on one who takes a good omen from the name Sahl and a bad omen from the name Sa'b?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you: Do you know the difference between taking a bad omen (tatayyur) and taking a good omen (fal)? If a person wants to travel and someone named Sahl passes by him, does he take a good omen?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : His name is Sahl. If someone named Sa'b passes by him, does he take a bad omen? Is this not similar to the case of a person who releases a bird; if it flies to the right, he takes a good omen, and if it goes to the left, he takes a bad omen?
The Shaykh : As for taking a good omen (fal), it pleased the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) because it encourages one to do good and act upon it. If you intend to do something and then you find or encounter someone you love, and this encourages you to do the work, or you hear someone saying, "O Sahl, O Suhayl, O Salih," or the like, and this encourages you, then this is good, because it encourages one to work.
As for taking a bad omen (tatayyur), it is the opposite. A person intends something and then sees something ugly, so he delays doing that thing. This is not permissible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade taking a bad omen (tatayyur).
The difference between taking a good omen (fal) and driving away birds so that they go to the right or the like, is that the birds going to the right or forward has no effect in this matter. It is merely a false belief from the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah).
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : His name is Sahl. If someone named Sa'b passes by him, does he take a bad omen? Is this not similar to the case of a person who releases a bird; if it flies to the right, he takes a good omen, and if it goes to the left, he takes a bad omen?
The Shaykh : As for taking a good omen (fal), it pleased the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) because it encourages one to do good and act upon it. If you intend to do something and then you find or encounter someone you love, and this encourages you to do the work, or you hear someone saying, "O Sahl, O Suhayl, O Salih," or the like, and this encourages you, then this is good, because it encourages one to work.
As for taking a bad omen (tatayyur), it is the opposite. A person intends something and then sees something ugly, so he delays doing that thing. This is not permissible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade taking a bad omen (tatayyur).
The difference between taking a good omen (fal) and driving away birds so that they go to the right or the like, is that the birds going to the right or forward has no effect in this matter. It is merely a false belief from the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah).