Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Amulets are contrary to belief in the oneness of Allah (Tawheed)
This thing that you have described, which is called “haras”, is a kind of amulet, and Islam came to declare such things as false, because they are contrary to belief in the oneness of Allah, which states that the power to bring benefits and cause harm is in the hand of Allah alone; the believer puts his trust in Him and seeks refuge in Him. So the one who uses these amulets and believes that they are of benefit has committed an act of shirk, and may have fallen into major shirk if he believes that they can bring benefit or have some impact in and of themselves.
It was narrated from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Aamir al-Juhani that some people came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and he accepted the oath of allegiance of nine and refrained from accepting it from one. They said: O Messenger of Allah, why did you accept the oath of allegiance of nine and refrain from accepting it from this one?
He said: “He is wearing an amulet.”
So he put his hand [inside his garment] and pulled it off, then he accepted his oath of allegiance and said: “Whoever wears an amulet has associated something with Allah (shirk).”
Narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad (28/636-637); classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in as-Silsilah as-Saheehah (1/889). Its isnad was classed as qawiy by the commentators on al-Musnad.
Ibn al-Atheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Amulets (tamaa’im, sing. tameemah) are beads that the Arabs used to put on their children to protect them from the evil eye, or so they claimed, then Islam declared that to be false and put an end to it.
It is regarded as shirk (associating others with Allah) because their intention in using them was to ward off the decrees that had been written for them, so they sought to ward off harm with the help of something other than Allah, Who is the only one who can ward it off. End quote from an-Nihaayah fi Ghareeb al-Hadith (1/197-198).
This practice is contrary to rational thinking and undermines it.
Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan as-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The purpose of Islamic teachings is to perfect people’s faith, by rejecting idolatry and attachment to created beings, and to perfect their reasoning by rejecting myths and superstitions, and to encourage people to focus on beneficial matter, which will enhance their reasoning and purify their souls, which in turn will lead to rectifying all their affairs, both spiritual and worldly. And Allah knows best." (Al-Qawl as-Sadeed/al-Majmoo‘ah al-Kaamilah li Mu’allafaat as-Sa‘di 10/19).
Secondly:
Ruling on wearing amulets as a tradition
In the case of one who wears amulets with the intention of following tradition, not with the intention of believing in them, that is not permissible either, because this is a false tradition that is contrary to the teachings of Islam. What one must do is abolish them and reject them, and not approve of them, even if that is only in outward appearance. Moreover, they cause confusion to the one who sees them and wears these things. No one knows or can ask everyone who wears them whether he believes in them or not.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon them) forbade that in all cases, and he instructed the one who wore any such thing to take it off, without enquiring into his thinking and whether he believed in it or not.
It was narrated from ‘Imraan ibn Husayn that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) saw a man with a band of brass on his upper arm. He said, “What is this band?” He said: It is for pain in the shoulder and hand. He said: “Take it off, for it will only increase you in weakness.”
Narrated by Ibn Maajah (3531) and others, and it has corroborating evidence. See: Haashiyat al-Musnad (31/77-79).
Moreover, wearing it is an imitation of the followers of falsehood, and we are forbidden to imitate the disbelievers and sinners.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (4031); classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel (5/109).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
This is a jayyid isnad… at the very least, this hadith indicates that it is haraam to imitate them, although the apparent meaning indicates that the one who imitates them is a disbeliever, as in the verse in which Allah, may He exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
{And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them} [al-Maa’idah 5:51].
Whatever the case, it indicates that imitating them is prohibited, on the grounds that it is imitation…" (Iqtida’ as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem 1/240-242).
And Allah knows best.
Comment