Chapter 4 Good Fortune and Misfortune Both of these occur according to Allahs 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 ID: 237212
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Slide1
Charms and Omens
Chapter 4Slide2
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.Slide3
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
)Slide4
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
) Slide5
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.” Slide6
Ruling on CharmsAll 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. Slide7
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. Slide8
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. Slide9
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)Slide10
Knock on WoodWhen 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. Slide11
The Number 13In 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.