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In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful
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Assalamo Alykum Wa Rehmatullahe wa Barakaatuh
Tiyarah and Fall (Bad omens and good omens): Superstition- -the Hidden Shirk
Tiyarah (seeing bad omens) comes from the word tayr (birds) [because the ancient Arabs used to see omens in the movements of birds and other creatures – Translator], and is the opposite of fa’l (good omens). The Arabs all used to have the same ideas about fal and Tiyarah.
Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salaam said: “The difference between al-tiyarah and al-tatayyur is that tatayyur means feeling in ones heart that something bad is going to happen, whilst tiyarah means acting on the basis of those pessimistic feelings.”
Tiyarah existed long before Islam. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“But whenever good came to them, they said, ‘Ours is this.’ And if evil afflicted them, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with Moosa and those with him…” [al-Araaf 7:131].
Types of superstitious belief in bad omens, ancient and modern:
1. Certain days or months, such as Safar and Shawwaal.
2. Certain birds, such as crows and owls.
3. Certain animals, such as snakes, black cats and monkeys, or their movements, such as the passing of gazelles.
4. Certain types of people, such as a one-eyed man or a hunchback.
5. Certain numbers, such as 13 among the Christians, 7 among the Bedouin and 10 among the Raafidis; in the latter case because they dislike the “‘asharah mubashsharah (the ten Sahaabah who were given the certain promise of Paradise) – with the exception of ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him). Hence they will say “Nine plus one” instead of “ten.”
6. Certain sounds, such as the voice of a crow or the sound of an ambulance or fire truck.
7. Frightening or disturbing dreams.
8. Colours, such as the colour of blood, or yellow.
9. When the eyelashes of the left eye tremble involuntarily, they say, “Something bad is going to happen to us.”
10. Calling a child by the name of a living person, such as the father or mother and so on.
11. Witnessing an accident or a fire in the morning.
12. Seeing one’s wife’s mother in the morning.
13. When the right hand or right foot itches.
14. The virtue of Tawakkal (putting one’s trust in Allaah) and not indulging in Tiyarah. The Prophet ( peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Seventy thousand people will enter Paradise without being called to account and without being punished.” Among the virtues of these people, he described them as not believing in tiyarah and as putting their trust in Allaah. (Reported by Muslim).
Condemnation of tiyarah and explanation that it is a kind of shirk. Ibn Masood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Al-tiyarah is shirk,’ and he said it three times.” (Reported by Abu Dawood and others, and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani).
Imraan ibn Husayn (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘He is not one of us who does tiyarah or has it done for himself…’” Al-Albaani said: “Its isnaad is hasan.” Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Tiyarah is a kind of shirk and a way in which the Shaytaan influences and scares a person. It is very serious for the one who takes it to heart and pays too much attention to it, but it is insignificant for the one who pays no attention to it and is not concerned about it.
Muaawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Salami reported that he said to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Some of us believe in tiyarah.” He said, “That is something that any of you may feel in himself, but it should not stop you from doing anything.” (Muslim).
So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) explained that any anxiety suffered because of tiyarah is all in the mind and has nothing to do with the object that caused the fear. It is the persons own illusion, fear and shirk that is affecting him and stopping him from doing what he wants to do, not the thing that he saw or heard. Whoever adheres firmly to the bonds of Tawheed and puts all his trust in Allaah, thus nipping the ideas of tiyarah in the bud before they take hold, will be successful and happy in this world and the next.
In a saheeh hadeeth, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Leave any ideas of tiyarah as they are [i.e., do not take them any further].” (Saheeh Abi Dawood). What this hadeeth means is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wanted them not to pay attention to such ideas, but to leave them alone, as Allaah had made them, because they can bring neither benefit nor harm.
Ibn Jareer said: “What this means is to leave birds (tayr) alone without shooing them away, and carry on with one's own business, because shooing them away does not bring any benefit or ward off any harm.”
Ikrimah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “We were sitting with Ibn Abbaas when a bird flew over us and screeched. A man who was there said, ‘Good!’ Ibn Abbaas said to him, ‘It is neither good nor bad.’” He hastened to rebuke him lest he think that it had any influence for good or evil.
Taawoos set out on a journey with one of his friends, and a crow screeched. The man said, “Good!” Taawoos said, “What is the good in that? Do not accompany me any further.”
Ibn Abd al-Hakam said: “Muzaahim said, When ‘Umar ibn Abd al-Azeez set out from Madeenah, I looked and saw that the moon was in Hyades [a group of stars in Taurus], and I did not want to tell him that, so I just said to him, “Look how beautiful the moon looks tonight.” ‘Umar looked, and saw that the moon was in Hyades, and said, “It is as if you wanted to tell me that the moon was in Hyades. O Muzaahim, we do not go out by the help of the sun or the moon; we go out by the help of Allaah, al-Waahid, al-Qahhaar.”’”
The limits of tiyarah. The kind of tiyarah that makes a person go ahead with his plans or stops him from going ahead is the kind of tiyarah that is prohibited. As for the good omens (fal) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) liked, this is a kind of optimism that a person does not feel dependent upon, unlike things that may make a person either go ahead or change his plans, in which a person is in a sense depending upon it. And Allah knows best.
Kafaarah (expiation) for one who engages in tiyarah. Imaam Ahmad reported in his Musnad and Ibn al-Sunni also reported with a saheeh isnaad from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever lets tiyarah stop him from doing something is guilty of shirk.” They said, “What is the kafaarah for that?” He said, “To say: Allaahumma la khayra illaa khayruka wa laa tayra illaa tayruka wa laa ilaaha ghayruka (O Allaah, there is no good except Your good, no birds except Yours, and there is no god beside You).”
“… no birds except Yours” means: the birds are part of Your creation, they can bring neither benefit nor harm, and the only One Who can bring benefit or harm is You, may You be glorified.
Remedies for tatayyur:
(a) Tawakkal, which means delegating all one’s affairs to Allaah and relying on Him, whilst at the same time taking the necessary means and precautions. This is an obligation which must be done purely and sincerely for Allaah, because it is one of the best forms of worship and highest levels of Tawheed. Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings): “… and put your trust in Allaah, if you are believers indeed.” [al-Maa’idah 5:23] and “And put yout trust in the Ever-Living One Who dies not, and glorify His Praises, and Sufficient is He as the All-Knower of the sins of His slaves.” [al-Furqaan 25:58]. Putting one’s trust in Allaah is one of the greatest and most important ways of getting rid of pessimism and superstition and other matters pertaining to shirk.
(b) Knowing that everything that happens, happens by the decree of Allaah. Blessings and calamities alike are covered by the will and decree of Allaah, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves but is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (al-lawh al-mahfooz), before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allaah.” [al-Hadeed 57:22]. Thus a person may be reassured about these matters, and there is no need for tatayyur or tiyarah, because good and bad alike are subject to the will and decree of Allaah.
(c) Istikhara. This is one of the greatest forms of worship and is complete Tawakkal or dependence on Allaah. It is the alternative to tatayyur and tiyarah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to teach his Companions to make istikhaarah for all their affairs just as he used to teach them the soorahs of the Qur’aan.
(d) Moving away from places which one thinks are “unlucky”. Here we are talking about doubt, not certainty. Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “A man said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, we lived in a house where our number was great and our wealth was abundant, then we moved to a house where our numbers dwindled and our wealth decreased.’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Leave it, for it is bad.’” (Reported by Maalik, Abu Dawood, al-Bukhaari in al-Adab al-Mufrad, and classed as hasan by al-Albaani).
“Leave it, for it is bad” – Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: “I think that he said it lest they adhere to thoughts of tiyarah.” Al-Baghawi said: “He told them to move away from it because they did not like it and did not feel comfortable; if they moved, the things they were feeling would go away. He did not tell them to move because the house was the cause of the problems.”
But the Creator made that the time for His decree to be carried out. – suggested by Ibn al-Arabi al-Maaliki.
Know the difference between Loving Islam & Living Islam
Courtesy: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; on behalf of; Adil ibn Manzoor Khan: Compiled, edited and adapted by Khalid Latif, e-tabligue
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