This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Hadith 22: There is misfortune in three things: house, woman, and horse
There are two narrations from Hazrat Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) regarding the misfortune of these three things. The first hadith is that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
Reference: Misfortune is in the horse, the woman, and the house
"Horses, women, and houses have misfortune."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Marriage, Chapter: What to avoid regarding the misfortune of women, Hadith: 5093
In the second hadith, the companions mentioned misfortune to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he said:
إن كان الشؤم فى شيء ففي الدار والمرأة والفرس
"If misfortune can be in anything, it can be in the house, the woman, and the horse."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Marriage, Chapter: What to avoid regarding the misfortune of women, Hadith: 5094
Similarly, it is narrated from Hazrat Sahl bin Sa'd Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
إن كان فى شيء ففي الفرس والمرأة والمسكن
"If misfortune were to be in anything, it would be in the woman, the horse, and the house."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Marriage, Chapter: What to avoid regarding the misfortune of women, Hadith: 5095
It appears that the advent of Islam has made these hadiths objectionable only because they involve women, and since the entire inclination is towards women, to protect them, they objected that there is a contradiction between these hadiths: one hadith affirms misfortune absolutely in all three things, while the other hadith mentions it conditionally or with a qualification.
Answer:
There is no contradiction in these ahadith; rather, it is a principle in hadith that when a hadith contains additional words and the narrator is trustworthy and reliable, this addition is accepted. Similarly, one hadith can serve as an explanation for another hadith. So, the second hadith narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) and the hadith narrated from Sahl bin Sa’d Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him) are explanations of the first hadith narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). That is, if superstition is to be considered valid in anything, it would be valid in these three things, but legally, it is not valid in any of these three things. Hence, it is understood that superstition is not valid in anything. Moreover, the meaning of superstition in Arabic is تطير, which means to take a bad omen. In the era of ignorance, bad omens were taken from these three things.
Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned these ahadith in the explanation of the following verse:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُمْ وَأَوْلَادِكُمْ عَدُوًّا لَّكُمْ فَاحْذَرُوهُمْ
“O you who have believed! Indeed, among your wives and your children are enemies to you, so beware of them.”
Reference: (64-At-Taghabun:14)
That is, a person naturally loves his children and wife. Sometimes this love exceeds limits to the extent that it makes him heedless of Allah, His religion, and His remembrance, as Allah Almighty said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
“O you who have believed! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah.”
Reference: (63-Al-Munafiqun:9)
When the love for wealth, children, and spouses reaches such a level, it can cause calamity and bad luck. Similarly, the love and preoccupation with these three things (mentioned in the hadith) also become a cause of superstition for a person.
