Reports on evil omens

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Taking evil omens is shirk. Taking evil omens is shirk. There is none of us but that something of it occurs to him, but Allah removes it because of reliance on Him."

Urwah bin Amir said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about taking omens. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of it is the good omen, and it does not turn a Muslim back. When any of you sees something of this that he dislikes, he should recite this supplication, whose meaning is: 'O Allah, none but You can bring good, and none can ward off evil, and the power to avoid sins and the strength to do good come only through Your help.'"

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Contagion has no reality, evil omens have no reality, and hamah has no reality." A man stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), if one camel has mange, it gives mange to all the camels?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That too is divine decree; otherwise, who gave mange to the first one?"

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Evil omens have no reality, hamah has no reality, and safar has no reality."

Al-Mudarib bin Hazn said: "I said to Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): 'If you have heard any hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then narrate it to me.' He said: 'Yes. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Contagion has no reality, evil omens have no reality, hamah has no reality, the best omen is the good omen, and the evil eye is true."'"

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to love the good omen and dislike evil omens.

Qatadah narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Contagion has no reality, evil omens have no reality, and I love the good omen."

Ibrahim said that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "An evil omen harms no one except the person who takes it as an evil omen."

Ziyad bin Abi Maryam said that Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) set out on a journey. Some gazelles came towards him, and when they drew near him they turned back. A man said to him: "O Commander, go back." Sayyiduna Sa'd said to him: "Tell me, from which of them did you take an evil omen? From their horns when they came towards me, or from their tails when they turned and went away?" Then, on that occasion, Sayyiduna Sa'd also said: "Indeed, taking evil omens is a branch of shirk."

Ikrimah said that Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) clung to a man afflicted with leprosy. I asked him: "You have clung to a man afflicted with leprosy?" He said: "Let it pass; perhaps he is better than both me and you."

Sayyidah Umm Kurz (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Leave the birds in their nesting places."

The mother of Sulayman bin al-Qasim said: "I asked Umm Sa'id, who was the concubine of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): 'Did Sayyiduna al-Hasan and Sayyiduna al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both) take evil omens?' She said: 'They would both feel it and still carry on with what they were doing.'"

Sayyiduna Qabisah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Taking omens from the sounds of birds, taking evil omens, and throwing pebbles for fortune-telling are the way of Satan."

Raja bin Haywah said that Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever has any of three traits is a hypocrite: whoever speaks like soothsayers, or seeks allotment by means of gambling arrows, or returns from a journey because of taking an evil omen."

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ghoul (the jinn changing form and leading people astray from the road) has no reality, and safar has no reality."