Shirk Amulets
One of the back doors of shirk is “Shirk Amulets.” In the age of ignorance, people used to hang threads, rings, and amulets on their arms or shoulders with the belief that these would protect them from the evil eye, jinn, and fever. They believed it would create love between husband and wife, and similarly, people used to tie rings or amulets on children so that troubles would be kept away from them. All these matters are shirk and ignorant customs, which Islam has declared false. It is narrated from Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (RA) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((من علق تميمة فقد أشرك))
“Whoever hangs an amulet has committed shirk.”
Moreover, whoever turns to these shirk amulets, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has cursed him. It is narrated from Uqbah bin Amir (RA) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((مَنْ تَعَلَّقَ تَمِيمَةٌ فَلَا أَتَمَّ اللَّهُ لَهُ ، وَمَنْ تَعَلَّقَ وَدَعَةٌ ، فَلَا وَدعَ اللهُ لہُ.))
“Whoever hangs a Tamimah, may Allah not complete any of his affairs, and whoever hangs a ‘Wida’ah’ amulet, may Allah not grant him rest.”
It is understood that this act carries a double threat.
Firstly:
Shirk (polytheism).
Secondly:
The curse of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
عافانا الله منه
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ud رضي الله عنه that he saw an amulet around his wife (Zainab)’s neck, so he grabbed it and cut it off, and said:
“The family of Abdullah is completely free and detached from shirk.” Then he said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
(( إِنَّ الرُّقى وَالسَّمَائِمَ وَالتِّوَلَةَ شِرُكٌ .))
“Indeed, ruqyah (incantations), amulets, and ‘Tawlah’ (charms to induce love) are acts of shirk.”
People asked, O Abu Abdur-Rahman! We know about amulets and talismans, but what is this “Tawlah”? You said:
“This is a kind of spell that women have done to gain the love of their husbands.”
Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (RA) that he saw a thread tied on the arm of a patient, so Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (RA) cut or removed it, and then recited this verse from the Qur’an:
(مَا یُؤْمِنُ اَكْثَرُهُمْ بِاللّٰهِ اِلَّا وَ هُمْ مُّشْرِكُوْنَ)
“Most of them believe in Allah, but they associate others with Him.”
Readers! The companion of the Prophet ﷺ cutting or removing this thread is strong evidence of rejecting this practice, even though that person considered this thread a means of healing. But causes are only permissible if their permissibility is established by Allah Almighty and His Messenger ﷺ, and along with that, there should be no reliance on these causes, rather there should be belief in obtaining healing from Allah Almighty. Now, although this thread had been “ruqyah” (correct incantation) performed on it, yet the companion of the Prophet ﷺ removed it. So things that are inherently shirk (polytheism), such as amulets, charms, and talismans, how dangerous would their use be?
The Prophetic ahadith ﷺ not only condemn these amulet threads and all such similar acts but also classify them as “acts of shirk,” as you have observed in the above lines.
In reality, the enemies of Islam have been present among the Muslims for a long time, disguised as misguided Sufis. Their constant effort has been to prevent Muslims from reciting the Quran, the source of guidance and enlightenment, and from following its commandments. Once indifference towards the Quran is established, it becomes easier for them to distance Muslims from authentic Hadiths. Because mixing the authentic and fabricated Hadiths was not a difficult task for them. Consequently, they fabricated more than three hundred thousand Hadiths and spread them among Muslims. As a result, a corruption occurred in the faith and practice of Muslims, and the poisonous tree of polytheism and innovation was so watered that its sour, bitter, and unpleasant fruits are present before us today.
The enemies of Islam could not directly dare to alienate Muslims from the recitation of the Holy Quran and its teachings, so they thought that Muslims today have a passionate love for the Holy Quran and believe in the virtues of certain specific Surahs in the light of authentic Hadiths. For example:
Reciting “Surah Al-Mulk” every night protects from the torment of the grave, reciting “Surah Al-Kahf” on Friday brings blessings and protection from the trials of the Dajjal from one Friday to the next, and similarly, the recitation of the “Mu’awwidhatayn” was used by Labid bin Asim, a Jew, to ward off the effects of magic, as narrated by the Prophet ﷺ himself. So why not use the same method to create a breach in their fortress of faith and deeds? And these people become deprived of the requirements of the Quran and Sunnah. Accordingly, they wisely compiled countless benefits and virtues of each Surah of the entire Quran, and ignorant Sufis spread and popularized these fabricated and baseless narrations. They taught them that in this way, Muslims who are indifferent to the recitation of the Quran would be greatly attracted to the Quran because of these virtues and benefits. Dr. Mahmood Tahan writes in his book ”
“:
“A fabricator is someone who, in his opinion, is eager to encourage people towards goodness and virtue or wants to prevent them from evil. He invents certain things and presents them in the form of hadiths. Such people generally appear to be ascetics and Sufi-like in outward appearance. They are considered the worst kind of fabricators because people readily accept their words due to their apparent piety and righteousness. For example: Maysarah bin Abdur-Rabbah is narrated by Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book ‘Al-Du’afa’ from Ibn Mahdi. He said that he asked Maysarah where he got these hadiths from, which say that if someone recites such and such thing, he will receive such and such reward and merit, etc. Maysarah replied that these statements are self-made by him. He said he does this to attract people towards goodness and virtue.”
Furthermore, when the enemies of Islam saw that it was impossible for every person to memorize all the major Surahs of the Holy Quran by heart, they created numerical values for the letters of the Quranic alphabet for the ease and convenience of the general public. They attributed this science of numerology to Sayyidina Ali (رضی اللہ عنہ), so that no objection could be raised against this science in relation to him.
The Jews and Magians had converted the alphabet into numbers as follows:
ا ب ج د ہ و ز
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ح ط ی ک ل م ن
8 9 10 20 30 40 50
س ع ف ص ق ر ش
60 70 80 90 100 200 300
ت ث خ ذ ض ظ غ
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Thus, each letter of the alphabet was assigned a numerical value equivalent to it.
They then declared each number to possess a special effect and began writing amulets and talismans and distributing them among the public. In this way, the people very quickly became their followers. Along with this, they arranged inscriptions of Quranic verses and attributed extraordinary benefits to them. Consequently, after some time, “Sufism” and “amulets” became inseparable.
The Companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them) used to act upon the Quranic verses. Under the influence of these Sufis, Muslims began writing Quranic verses and wearing them around their necks, abandoning the practice of acting upon them.
Why did the inner Shias invent the science of numerology? The main reason was that through it, the hearts and minds of the masses could be influenced very quickly and easily without any argument or debate. For example, the supposed birth year of the Twelfth Imam of the Shias is stated as 256 AH. The spiritual greatness of this date was proven not by evidence but with the help of numerology. The public was told, “Look! The number of ‘Noor’ (light) is also ‘256’, therefore it is proven that the Twelfth Imam Mahdi is Noor (light)!!”
Similarly, the number of letters in ” حَيٌّ ” is “18”, therefore the “14” infallible Imams and “4” gates, meaning these “18” individuals are also ” حی “, that is, alive.
The number of letters in ” بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم ” is “19”, therefore the number “19” is blessed. This is why the month of the “Baha’i Shias” is 19 days long.
Baha’u’llah, the “Founder of the Baha’i Faith,” claimed to be “ظہور حق” in the year 1261 AH. His followers used the argument to captivate the public that “ظہور الحق,” meaning the numerical value of Baha’u’llah’s title, is also “1261.” Similarly, since the number “9” is perfect, wherever there are “9” Baha’is, a “gathering” of Baha’i Shi’as can be established there.
Furthermore, study “Shama Shabistan Raza” by Iqbal Ahmad Noori, published by Shehbaz Publishers, Lahore. In volume 3, page 76 of this book, the properties of “Surah Noor” are mentioned as follows:
“If nocturnal emission occurs frequently, recite Surah Noor three times and blow over oneself, and for silencing enemies, recite it five times. If one writes the talisman and keeps it with oneself, one will be protected from satanic whisperings. Its total numerical value is ‘2457 40.’ It is in the fifth chamber of the chessboard. The talisman is:
100606 100620 100617 100614
100618 100613 100607 100619
100612 100615 100602 100608
100621 100609 100611 100616”
Perhaps even the disbelievers did not commit such injustice against the Holy Quran; however, the inner ones succeeded in their purpose. In the present era, the extraordinary prevalence of amulet-wielding thugs among Muslims, the booming market of occult practices and fortune-telling, and the habit of washing and making others drink Quranic verses and their inscriptions have become widespread in every Muslim household under the blessings of Sufism.
Apart from the specific and designated Surahs of the Holy Quran whose virtues are mentioned in the books of Hadith, all other narrations are fabricated. Moreover, according to the saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Muslims should begin every task by reciting “بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم“. Since “بسم اللہ” is a part of the Quran, besides the blessing, another important benefit of reciting it is that for every letter of the Quran read or written, ten good deeds are rewarded. Therefore, whoever reads or writes “بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم“, which consists of nineteen (19) letters, is rewarded as if they have earned “190” good deeds each time. However, these oppressors made Muslims believe that since writing “بسم اللہ” everywhere might lead to disrespect of these Quranic letters, they should instead write the numbers “786” in their writings, especially in place of “Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim”. Thus, in their naivety, Muslims deprived themselves of “190” good deeds every time by adopting the numbers “786”.
In any case, relying on this numerology, the enemies of Islam disguised themselves as Sufis and introduced the practice of talismanic amulets among Muslims, and a large section of Muslims, forgetting Allah Almighty, started rushing headlong on the path of polytheism and innovation.
(عافانا الله منه)
Whereas writing letters of Abjad and calculating with them, and learning astrology are among the polytheistic matters. Those who learn this knowledge, calculate through it, and diagnose people’s illnesses, regarding them Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (RA) says:
((إِنَّ قَوْمًا يَحْسِبُونَ أَبَا جَادٍ، وَيَنْظُرُونَ فِى النُّجُومِ ، وَلَا أَرى لِمَنْ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ.))
“Indeed, those who write letters of Abjad and calculate (people’s illnesses etc.) and learn astrology, in my view, they have no share or reward (in the Hereafter).”
Therefore, talismans written with letters of Abjad are polytheistic, and hanging such talismans makes a person a polytheist.
The command to hang Quranic talismans:
The correct statement regarding hanging Quranic amulets is that it is impermissible due to several reasons. The clear statement of the noble Companions and the great Followers, may Allah have mercy on them, is that hanging amulets is not allowed, and these chosen people are more knowledgeable and obedient to the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than others. Accordingly, Ibrahim Nakha’i (the teacher of Imam Abu Hanifa) says:
((كَانُوا يَكْرَهُونَ السَّمَائِمَ كُلَّهَا مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ وَغَيْرِ الْقُرْآنِ.))
“The Companions of the Prophet declared all amulets forbidden, whether they contained Quranic verses or anything other than the Quran.”
Benefit:
In that era, saying “makruh” (disliked) was understood to mean forbidden. This prohibition and disallowance are due to three reasons:
➊ The ruling against hanging amulets is general, therefore Quranic amulets are included in it; there is no evidence for any exception.
➋ Hanging Quranic amulets will become an excuse for hanging amulets made from non-Quranic materials, and it will become difficult to forbid people from doing so.
➌ Hanging Quranic amulets will cause disrespect to it, because the one who hangs Quranic amulets will certainly enter the restroom.
