50. The Evil Eye

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abi Umama ibnSahl ibn Hunayf heard his father say, "My father, Sahl ibn Hunayf dida ghusl at al-Kharrar. He removed the jubbah he had on while Amir ibnRabia was watching, and Sahl was a man with beautiful white skin. Amirsaid to him, 'I have never seen anything like what I have seen today,not even the skin of a virgin.' Sahl fell ill on the spot, and hiscondition grew worse. Somebody went to the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, and told him that Sahl was ill,and could not go with him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, came to him, and Sahl told him what had happenedwith Amir. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, 'Why does one of you kill his brother? Why did you notsay, "May Allah bless you?" (ta baraka-llah) The evil eye is true. Dowudu from it.' Amir did wudu from it and Sahl went with the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and there wasnothing wrong with him." Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab that Abu Umama ibn Sahl ibnHunayf said, ''Amir ibn Rabia saw Sahl ibn Hunayf doing a ghusl andsaid, 'I have not seen the like of what I see today, not even the skinof a maiden who has never been out of doors.' Sahl fell to the ground.The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wasapproached and it was said, 'Messenger of Allah, can you do anythingabout Sahl ibn Hunayf? By Allah, he can not raise his head.' He said,'Do you suspect anyone of it?' They said, 'We suspect Amir ibn Rabia.'" He continued, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, summoned Amir and was furious with him and said,'Why does one of you kill his brother? Why did you not say, "May Allahbless you?" Do ghusl for it.' Amir washed his face, hands, elbows,knees, the end of his feet, and inside his lower garment in a vessel.Then he poured it over him, and Sahl went off with the people, andthere was nothing wrong with him." Yahya related to me from Malik that Humayd ibn Qays al-Makkisaid, "A man came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, with the two sons of Jafar ibn Abi Talib. He said totheir nursemaid, 'Why do I see them so thin?' Their nursemaid said,'Messenger of Allah, the evil eye goes quickly to them. Nothing stopsus from asking someone to make incantations (using ayats of Qur'an)for them, except that we do not know what of that would agree withyou.' The Messenger of ,Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, 'Make incantations for them. Had anything been able toprecede the decree, the evil eye would precede it.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Sulaymanibn Yasar that Urwa ibn az-Zubayr told him that the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered the house ofUmm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace. There was a child weeping in the house, and they told him thatit was from the evil eye. Urwa said, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Why do you not findsomeone to make an incantation to protect it from the evil eye?' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "When the slave is ill, Allah ta'ala sends two angels tohim." He said, "They look at what he says to his visitors. If hepraises Allah and lauds Him, when they come to him, they take that upto Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, and He knows best, and He says,'If I make my slave die, I will make him enter the Garden. If I healhim, I will replace his flesh with better flesh and his blood withbetter blood and I will efface his evil actions.'" Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that Urwaibn az-Zubayr said that he heard A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'When a mumin is afflictedby something, even a thorn, it removes (or effaces) his wrongactions.' " Yazid did not know which of them Urwa said. Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn AbiSasaca said that he heard Abu'l-Hubab Said ibn Yasar say that he hadheard Abu Hurayra say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, said, 'Allah afflicts the one for whom He desiresgood.'" Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that deathcame to a man in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace. A man said, "He was fortunate," as he haddied without being tried by illness. The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said, "Alas for you, what will let youknow that if Allah had tried him with illness, He would have wiped outhis wrong actions." Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that Amribn Abdullah ibn Kab as-Salami told him that Nafi ibn Jubayr told himthat Uthman ibn Abi al-As came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace. Uthman said that he had a pain whichwas enough to kill him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, said, "Rub it with your right hand seven timesand say, 'I take refuge with the might of Allah and His power from theevil of what I feel.' " Uthman added, "I said that, and Allahremoved what I had. I still command my family and others to say it." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from A'isha that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, when he had a complaint, would recite the lastthree suras of Qur'an, over himself and blow. She said, "When his painwas great, I would recite it over him and wipe him with his right handhoping for its blessing." Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Amra bintAbd ar-Rahman that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq visited A'isha while she had a[health] complaint and a jewish woman was making incantation (ruqya)for her. Abu Bakr said, "Do it (incantation) with the Book of Allah." Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that a manreceived a wound in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace. The blood clotted in the wound and theman called two men from the Banu Ammar tribe. They looked at it andclaimed that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said to them, "Which of you is the better doctor?" They said,"Is there any good in medicine, Messenger of Allah?" Zayd claimed thatthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"The one who sent down the disease sent down the remedy." Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "I heardthat Sad ibn Zurara cauterized himself because of a pain in the throataccompanied by blood and he died." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarcauterized for the palsy and he had a talisman made for a scorpionsting. Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from Fatimabint al-Mundhir that whenever a woman who had a fever, was brought toAsma bint Abi Bakr, she made dua for her and took water and poured itinside her collar. She said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, ordered us to cool it with water." Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "Fever is from the vehemence of the heat of Jahannam, socool it with water." Malik related to me from Nafi from IbnUmar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "Fever is from the vehemence of the heat of Jahannam, soput it out with water." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard from Jabir ibnAbdullah that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "When a man visits an invalid, he plunges into mercyto the extent that when he sits with him, it settles in him," or thelike of that. Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard from Bukayr ibn Abdullah ibn al-Ashajj from Ibn Atiya that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "There is no contagion, nohama and no serpent in a hungry belly. However, the possessor of sicklivestock must not stop at the same place as the possessor of healthylivestock, but the possessor of healthy livestock may stop wherever hewishes." They said, "Messenger of Allah, Why is that?" TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Itis harmful." Note: The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.