Charms and Omens Chapter 4

Good Fortune and Misfortune Both of these occur according to Allah’s will. Charms (Tamimah) It was the practice of the Arabs during the time of the Prophet to wear arm bracelets, bangles, beaded necklaces, shells, etc., as charms to avert evil and bring good fortune. When we give this characteristic to a human being or an object, the power to avert evil, then we in turn have made major shirk in the aspect of tawheed ar Rububiyyah since it is only Allah who has the power to allow these things to occur. An aspect of this type of shirk can be found in Catholicism wherein they have many statues, medallions, and the likes which they utilize for protection and worship.

Charms Continued… Proof from the sunnah against this practice: Imran ibn Husayn reported that when the Prophet saw a brass bangle on a man’s upper arm, he said to him, “Woe be on you! What is this?” The man replied that it was to protect him from a sickness called Al Wahinah. The Prophet then said, “Cast it off, for verily it would only increase your weakness. And if you died with it on, you would never succeed.” (Ahmed, Ibn Majah) So the wearing of a copper, brass, or iron bracelets by the sick or the healthy while holding the belief that they will avert or cure sickness is strictly forbidden. The Prophet said, “Treat each others sicknesses, but do not treat sicknesses with forbidden things.” (Abu Dawood)

Charms Continued… The Prophet said, “By the One in whose hand rests my soul, all of you will follow the path of those before you.” This means that the Muslims will imitate the practices of the Christians and Jews. The prophet said, “May Allah curse failure and unrest to whoever wears a talisman or puts it on others.” (Ahmed) This hadith demonstrates how serious of cry this is. The Prophet asked for those who wear these things to be cursed by Allah. Abdullah ibn Mas’ood’s wife zaynab, reported that once Ibn Mas’ood saw a cord necklace around her neck. He asked her what it was, and she replied, “It is a cord in which a spell has been place to help me.” He snatched it from her neck, broke it up and said, “Surely the family of Abdullah has no need for shirk. I have heard Allah’s Messenger say, “Verily spell, talismans, and charms are shirk.” (Abu Dawood)

Charms Continued… Zaynab replied to Ibn Mas’ood saying, “Why are you saying this? My eye used to twitch, and when I went to so and so, the Jew, he put a spell on it and it stopped twitching.” Ibn Mas’ood replied, “Verily it was only a devil prodding it with his hand so when you had it bewitched he left it alone. It would have been sufficient for you to have said as the Prophet used to say: إذهب البأس رب الناس وأشف أنت السافي لا شفاء إلا شفاءك شفاءاً لا يغادره سقما. “Remove the suffering, O Lord of mankind, and heal it perfectly, as You are the Healer. There is no cure except by Your cure, a cure which is not followed by sickness.”

Ruling on Charms All types of charms are prohibited in Islam. Many charms become interwoven into peoples everyday lives and few people stop to think about them, yet when their origins are exposed, the shirk which lies at their base becomes obvious. Rabbits Foot In the west they hang the hind paws of rabbits around their necks on necklaces. The origin of this belief is based on the rabbit’s thumping their hind leg on the ground. The ancient tales believes that they talked with underground spirits. Horseshoes People nail them over their doors.

Horseshoes Continued… People nail them over their doors. The origin is in greek mythology. Horses were considered sacred animals. It was thought that the horse shoe brought good fortune. The open end had to point upward so that it would hold the luck. If it pointed down, then they believed that the luck would spill out. Quranic Charms The sahaba, including ibn Mas’ood, Ibn Abbas, and Hudthayfah were all opposed to the wearing of Quranic charms. Wearing the Quran as an amulet is like a sick man given a prescription by a doctor and instead of reading it and getting the medicine, he rolls it into a ball, puts it in a pouch and hangs it around his neck, believing that it will make him well.

Horseshoes Continued… People nail them over their doors. The origin is in greek mythology. Horses were considered sacred animals. It was thought that the horse shoe brought good fortune. The open end had to point upward so that it would hold the luck. If it pointed down, then they believed that the luck would spill out. Quranic Charms The sahaba, including ibn Mas’ood, Ibn Abbas, and Hudthayfah were all opposed to the wearing of Quranic charms. Wearing the Quran as an amulet is like a sick man given a prescription by a doctor and instead of reading it and getting the medicine, he rolls it into a ball, puts it in a pouch and hangs it around his neck, believing that it will make him well.

Omens Pre-Islamic Arabs used to consider the direction in which birds and animals moved to be a sign of impending good or bad fortune. The practice of reading good or bad omens in birds was known as Tiyarah from the verb Tara which means to take flight. Al Husain reported that the Prophet said, “Whoever does tiyarah or has it done for himself, has his future prophesized or has someone bewitched, is not one of us.” (Tirmithi) Today people believe that if a bird poops on you that it is good luck. Allah states, “No affliction strikes in the earth nor befalls you except according to what was written prior…” (57:22)

Knock on Wood When someone is hopeful for something and thinks their luck will change, they knock on wood and look around for someone else to knock. This goes back to European times when people thought that gods lived in trees. Spilling Salt If salt is spilled people believe that misfortune will befall them. So they will take the spilled salt and throw it over the left shoulder. It was used to keep the evil spirits away that live on the left side.

The Number 13 In America the number 13 is considered unlucky. So people dislike Friday the 13 th. The origin goes back to Christianity believing that at the last supper their were 13 disciples and that the 13 th one was Judas who betrayed Jesus. The belief of omens is classified as Shirk in all the major areas of tawheed. Muslims must stay away from practicing or falling into any of these different forms of shirk.