Apprehension concerning what is in store for us in the future is natural, because God has ordained human life in such a way as to keep the next moment a perfect mystery. Try as we may, we remain absolutely ignorant of what may take place next year, tomorrow or the next minute. As human beings feel their vulnerability to events that take place in the immediate and distant future, they want to ensure what is beneficial and to repel what is harmful. A believer places his trust in God, praying to Him to increase what is good and to spare him what is evil. When faith and trust in God are not strong enough, people may resort to all sorts of things to ensure that nothing harmful happens to them or to their children and loved ones.
Over the centuries, certain things have been associated with good or bad omen in different communities. In pre-Islamic Arabia, people attached bad omen to owls, weaving certain legends around this nocturnal bird. As the Arabian society was tribal and largely lawless, when it came to individual and vengeance killings, Arabs considered taking revenge for any wrongful killing to be of paramount importance. They believed that if a person was killed and his tribe or family did not manage to avenge his killing, his soul is turned into an owl which would cry at night: ‘I am thirsty; give me a drink.’ Should they manage to kill someone in revenge, it flies away.
All this was stopped by Islam. The Prophet made it clear in a number of Hadiths that such ideas were groundless. In one of these he says: "There is nothing true about the owl cry. The omen that comes near to reality is a good optimistic word. An envious eye is real." (Related by al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Al-Tirmidhi)
In this Hadith the Prophet tells us about three things that are more or less related. In the first one he makes it clear that all beliefs about the owl and the bad omen it brings are without foundation. However, he confirms that an envious eye may bring some harm. This refers to a person who looks admiringly at something that belongs to another, but he is at the time full of envy, wishing that the thing he is admiring was his own. If he feels that it is beyond him, then he wishes that the owner be deprived of it. Such ill thought may bring some harmful effect to the person viewed with envy.
The other thing the Prophet refers to in this Hadith is what we mentioned two weeks ago about feeling optimistic when hearing a good word or a piece of good news. Here the Prophet describes it as the nearest thing to reality when people have some expectations about the immediate future. An example of this is to feel good when we hear a person’s name and it bodes well for our purpose.
When the Prophet and his companions tried to visit Makkah in the sixth year after he had to settle in Madinah, the Quraysh tried to prevent them from entering the city, although they came only to visit the Kaaba for worship there. Long and protracted negotiations ensued, and the two parties were close to war, despite the Prophet’s attempts to prevent it. At last the Quraysh sent one of their distinguished figures to lay down their terms for a peace agreement, which came to be known as the Al-Hudaybiyah Peace Treaty. When the Prophet was told that the Quraysh delegate was Suhayl ibn Amr, he said to his companions: "God has facilitated your affairs." (Related by Al-Bukhari and Al-Tabarani) The Prophet said this because the man’s name is derived from a root word that means ease and facility. Thus, he associated the name with the hope of an easy resolution of the dispute.
As we have noted, the Hadith with which we started refers to a superstitious practice of ancient Arabia. A similarly weird practice is that mentioned in a Hadith that says that Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, used to have "newborn children sent to her so that she would pray God to bless them. Once a baby boy was brought to her. When she was about to put the baby in his cot after blessing him, she noticed that there was a knife under his pillow. She inquired about it and was told: ‘We put the knife to repel the jinn so that they would not harm him.’ She took the knife and threw it away, warning the people against its use and said: ‘The Prophet used to hate that people should associate bad omen with anything and warned against that.’ Aishah used to follow the Prophet’s guidance with similar warnings." (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)
The Prophet did not stop at warning against such practices. His guidance teaches us how to replace them with what brings real benefit. He realized that people are affected by what they see. It is important, therefore, to teach them how to overcome a negative feeling. He says: "When any of you sees something unpleasant he should say: ‘My Lord, no one brings good other than You; and no one repels evil except You. No power is ever effective except with Your permission." This is a simple prayer which attributes all matters to God and associates all operative factors with His will. It thus reminds us that when we place our trust in God, we come to no harm other than what He has allowed to happen. Hence, our prayer to Him may be answered and that harm may be diverted from us by His will, or at least its effects are reduced. Thus, we do not associate with Him anything, not even mentally as when we accept superstitious practices like that of the owl or the knife under the pillow of a newborn child.
Before ending this subject, we need to clarify a point about associating bad omen with three matters: a woman, a horse or a home. These are even acknowledged in some Hadiths. One of these is reported by Anas ibn Malik: "A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘Messenger of God, we were in a home where we had an increase in the number of our family and in our wealth. We then moved to another home, and we suffered decrease in numbers and property.’ The Prophet said, ‘Leave that home, for it is objectionable.’" (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Abu Dawood) Another Hadith quotes the Prophet as saying: "If bad omen may be associated with anything, then it is with a woman, a horse and a home." (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The first Hadith simply suggests a measure to deal with a situation that has arisen with this family. It does not confirm that bad omen is associated with that particular house. The family that moved into it has felt that misfortune has taken place since then. Therefore, it was best that they should leave it so that they do not continue to entertain such thoughts. We should read the Prophet’s suggestion as a remedial one, not as a confirmation that the house itself brought misfortune to its dwellers. It may well happen that another family would move in and no misfortune may occur to them.
As for the second Hadith, we note that it is conditional in phraseology. Thus, the Prophet is referring to what actually happens in life. People tend to associate misfortune with the three matters mentioned in the Hadith more than with anything else. This is only natural because these three are closely related to one’s life. Therefore, if one experiences such thoughts, then the best thing is to change them because God has allowed divorce and it is perfectly legitimate to sell a horse or a home to buy another. Why, then, keep any of them when one feels so uncomfortable. However, when one embarks on changing any of these three, one must always believe that it is God who determines all affairs. None of these is responsible for any misfortune.
