What is the ruling on hanging amulets?

Question:
We move on to other letters from our brother listeners. A letter reached the program from the Republic of Sudan, sent by Shaybah Kamil Abu Ali. Our brother’s letter is actually lengthy and deals with the matter of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), but the summary of the letter is this question: What is the ruling on amulets? Please mention the evidence so that the issue becomes clear? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
Hanging amulets is among the forbidden matters of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Amulets are what is written on scraps of cloth, or paper, or pieces of leather or otherwise, in which are written cryptic symbols whose meaning is unknown. Sometimes the names of some of the shayatin (devils) or some of the jinn are written in them, or sometimes supplications or verses are written in them. They are then hung on the sick person or the child, and they claim that they ward off the jinn from them. Some of them hang them to ward off the evil eye. The people of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance) used to do this, hanging amulets on their children and strings on their camels, and they claimed that they ward off calamity from them. This is ignorance of Allah and a lack of insight.
Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the cutting of amulets, and he said: .
He prohibited hanging strings on animals and sent out in the armies those who would remove them and cut the strings that were hung on camels or horses.
The point is that hanging strings and amulets was a known practice in the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance), so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it and invalidated it.
According to the scholars, hanging amulets and strings is minor shirk (associating partners with Allah) if the intent of the one hanging them is that they are a cause. But if the intent of the one hanging them is that they ward off harm by themselves and that they avert evil by themselves, this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), we seek refuge in Allah.
There is a matter in which the scholars differed, which is if the amulets are from the Qur'an or from good supplications, and they do not contain cryptic symbols or shirk (associating partners with Allah) or any reprehensible things, is it permissible or not permissible?
Some of the Salaf (the earliest generations) permitted them and said: They are of the same kind as ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation), and they permitted hanging amulets that are from the Qur'an or from supplications that are not problematic.
Others among the scholars said: It is not permissible, rather its permissibility is opening the door to shirk (associating partners with Allah).
They said: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited amulets and spoke generally without specifying one thing over another. Rather, he said: This is general.
And he said: If we permit amulets from the Qur'an, we have contradicted these general hadiths, and generality is a proof that must be followed. Then, if we permit these amulets from the Qur'an, it becomes an opening of the door to shirk (associating partners with Allah), for matters become confused and this is mixed with that, and people confuse this with that, and shirk (associating partners with Allah) occurs. The Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) has come with sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm) with many proofs; everything that leads to shirk (associating partners with Allah) or to forbidden things is prevented. There is no doubt that hanging amulets from the Qur'an or from permissible supplications contradicts the general hadiths and the general prohibition, and causes the opening of the door to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and the confusion of matters. Therefore, the correct view is to prohibit all of them.
The correct view is to prohibit all amulets, from the Qur'an and other than the Qur'an; taking the generality of the hadiths and blocking the door to shirk (associating partners with Allah). And Allah is the One to be sought for help.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.