Talismans in Islam Rule: To ascribe any type of supernatural power to other than Allah, or to believe that an object in and of itself can cause harm or good, is pure shirk. “We say nothing but that (perhaps) some of our gods may have seized you with evil.” He said: “I call Allah to witness, and do ye bear witness, that I am free from that what you associate (with Allah), besides Him! So scheme (your worst) against me, all of you, and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, My Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving creature, but He has grasp of its fore-lock. Verily, it is my Lord that is on a straight Path.” ( Hood, 11:54-56) “And should you ask them, ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ They would most certainly say: ‘Allah’. Say: ‘Have you then considered that what you call upon besides Allah, would they, if Allaah desires to afflict me with harm, be the removers of His harm, or (would they), if Allah desires to show me mercy, be the withholders of His Mercy?’ Say: ‘Allah is sufficient for me; in Him do the reliant put their trust.” (Az-Zumar, 39:38) Talismans and omens are superstitions in all societies and cultures, they are a manifestation of weakness. People use them to Protect themselves or their children, or animals Cure from sickness Bring good luck Increase love between the spouses. Or it can be said they are used to bring good, keep good, prevent evil, and lift evil. Some examples of modern day talismans include a rabbit’s foot, four-leaf clover, horseshoe, etc. “Surely, incantations, talismans, and tiwalah are shirk.” (Related by At-Tirmidhee, Abu Dawood and others) Tiwalah was a special type of talisman worn by women that they thought would make their husbands love them more. It was narrated from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Aamir al-Juhani Radi Allahu Anhu that a group came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (to swear their allegiance (bay’ah) to him). He accepted the bay’ah of nine of them but not of one of them. They said, “O Messenger of Allah, you accepted the bay’ah of nine but not of this one.” He said, “He is wearing an amulet.” The man put his hand (in his shirt) and took it off, then he (the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)) accepted his bay’ah. He said, ‘Whoever wears an amulet has committed shirk.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 16969) The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam would accept Islam from people who drank and committed sins. It is not a prerequisite to give up sins to become Muslims, but for this act it is shirk and thus Islam could not be accepted from such a person. ‘Umraan narrated that the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam saw a man wearing a copper bracelet on his arm and he said to him “Woe to you, what is this?” He replied, “To protect me from weakness (rheumatism).” The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam said, Indeed, this only increases your weakness. Throw it away, for if you die wearing it, you will never attain success. (Reported by Ahmad, by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh, and by Ibn Maajah without “Throw it away” to the end.) The fact that such a person would never be successful shows that it is shirk. “Whoever hangs something will be left to it.” (At-Tirmidhi) ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ood once saw his wife wearing a knotted thread around her neck. He pulled at it and broke it, saying, “The family of ‘Abdullah is free of associating anything with Allah for which He has sent no authority. Then he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) say, ‘Incantations, amulets and tiwalah are shirk.’ I said, “Why do you say this? By Allah, my eye was weeping with a discharge and I kept going to so and so, the Jew, who did a spell for me. When he did the spell, it calmed down.” ‘Abdullaah said: “That was just the work of the Shaytaan who was picking it with his hand, and when (the Jew) uttered the spell, he stopped. All you needed to do was to say as the Messenger of Allah (saw) used to say: ‘Adhhib il-ba’s, Rabb al-naas, ishfi anta al-Shaafi, laa shifaa’a illa shifaa’uka shifaa’an laa yughaadiru saqamaa (Remove the harm, O Lord of mankind, and heal, You are the Healer. There is no healing but Your healing, a healing which leaves no disease behind.’” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3883; Ibn Maajah, 3530) All types of talismans are a manifestation of shirk. The most common of talismans is the cross. “Whoever puts a talisman on his animal then Muhammad has nothing to do with him.” (Abu Dawood) What about Quranic Verses? This cannot be shirk because it is the Speech of Allah, and it is allowed to seek refuge in it. The Quran is uncreated and an Attribute of Allah. To wear Quranic verses is also not an innovation because it is narrated some Sahabah wore it. The stronger opinion though, is that it is discouraged. “We used to recite upon our ill and we asked the Prophet (SAS) if we can do that after Islaam. He said, ‘Recite to me what you recite.’ Then he said, ‘There is no problem with it unless it contains shirk.” (Muslim) “They (the companions of Abdullaah bin Mas’ud (RA)) used to dislike every type of amulet and talisman whether they contained the verse of Qur’an or anything else.” (Ibraaheem An-Nakha’ee) Ibn Mas’ood (ra) said, “They used to hate all types of talismans, Quranic ones and non-Quranic ones.” The Prophet (saw) never did this even though the Quran was written down during his time. When a person sees someone wearing Quran, they can’t tell if it is Quran or not. It is disrespectful to wear Quran because you will do things like going to the bathroom.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:07:59 +0000
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