1. The Evil eye is real
The evil eye is a common believe in many cultures that a glance with admiration and envy can have a negative influence on objects or persons and that this can happen unconsciously. It is said to be a form of curse from envious person, most of the time unknowingly. Across the world a lot of people believe that the evil eye can cause misfortune, bad luck or even death just from a look. Jealousy in one of the main vehicles of the evil eye. But the influence of the evil eye comes mainly from the fact that an admiration might be follow by the evil disposition of the heart and the soul of the one who admires.
The concept of the evil eye is present in the main worldly religions, In both the quran and the Bible the story of Joseph gives hints on scriptural references to the evil eye. When Joseph saw his dream and related it to his father Jacob, Jacob advised him not to tell his brothers as Satan can manipulate them with jealousy. Later when Jacob sent the younger brother Benjamin with his brothers to Egypt he said : “My sons , enter not by one but by separate doors. Yet I cannot avail you anything against Allah. On him I have relied and on him should reliant persons rely “(quran 12:67). According to many Islamic scholars, Jacob’s sons were so handsome that their father was afraid the evil eye could be cast on them. The evil eye can therefore result from people envying some of the blessings of gifts we have been granted.
And today in the era of social media, a lot of people are posting every thing they like or they things they do in social media. In doing so the encourage those who admire them to cast the evil eye on them. One should be cautious as people will envy you and this envy can cast the evil eye is a reality, wether you believe in it or not. Imagine posting your nice mansion to a poor friend, your car, children etc… The evil eye can be a result of the jealousy of some of your followers in the social media. As a matter of fact one should sometimes be moderate in posting some pictures. The evil eye is considered real in every part of the world. In Islamic monotheism there is evidence from the Hadith that the evil Eye is real and can affect anyone. Abu Hurayra is reported to have quoted the prophet(pbuh) as saying: “The evil eye is a reality”. Aisha reported the prophet(pbuh) asking those who believe to seek refuge with Allah from the evil eye because it is a reality. Moreover, Ibs Abbas reported that the prophet(pbuh0 said:
“The evil eye is a reality, and if there is anything that could ever race with al qadar(destiny), it I would have been the evil eye; and if you have been requested to wash your body,then do it.”
2. Three ways of treating the evil eye
Throughout the various cultures in the world there are a range of beliefs on the ways to cure the evil eye. The methods varies from weary amulet to using all kinds of ingredients to ward off the effect of the evil eye. In china, people will hang a six-sided mirror on the front door or place it in the front-window to protect themselves from the effects of the evil eye. In some European cultures such as in Italy, people will pour salt around their home or at the door to ward off the influence of the evil eye. Some others believe that they can use garlic to prevent or cure the evil eye. Placing a lemon in a transparent glass full of water is another method used in other cultures. There a various suggestions around the world especially when children are concerned. For example it is a Jewish tradition to tie a red rope on a side of a baby bed to prevent him from the influence of the evil eye. In eastern Europe people will will simply drop a piece of charcoal into a pot of water to diagnose the evil eye,if the piece of coal floats then the performer is affected otherwise he is not. In some cases oil is dropped into water and the from of the drops will determine if one is affected or not. It is required in Hispanic cultures that if someone has cast the evil eye on a child(knowingly or unknowingly for example, he should place his hand on the forehead of that child to cancel the effect of that evil eye.
Since we are concerned with Islam, the prophet(pbuh) has suggested a wide range of effective methods to get rid of the evil eye
1. Washing the patient
There is a tradition that the prophet advised those affected by the evil eye to wash their body and give the water to the one who caused the affliction to wash themselves.
2. Reciting ruqyah
It is advisable to do ruqyah against the evil eye by putting the hand on the forehead and reciting ruqyah.
“In the name of Allah, I do ruqyah for you, and Allah will cure you from any illness that may harm you and from the soul or the evil eye of the jealous, Allah will cure you, in the name of Allah I will do ruqya for you”
(Bismillahi arqiqa wallahu yushfika min kulli da’in udhikka wa min kulli nafsin aw ayni hasidin Allahu yushfika, bismillahi arqiqa)
You can put your hand on the patient’s forehead and recite
“in the name of Allah he will heal you from any illness, he will cure you , from the evil of the jealous when he gets jealous and from the evil of a person with an evil eye”
There is also a short form of ruqyah that can be recited by putting the hand on the head of the patient to to ward off the evil eye.
“O Allah Lord of mankind, drive away the pain, and heal me for you are the healer, there is no cure except Your cure; a cure that does not leave any illness, but that it cures it”
(Allahumma rabba annas, azhibi al basa washsi anta shafi illa shifa’a illa shifa’uka., shifa’an la yughadiru saqaman).
3. Using the 3 last verses of the glorius quran
The three last surats of the glorious quran can be used to treat the evil eye. It suffice to put one’s hand ohn the forehead and recite those verses.
Since prevention is better than cure, it will be advisable for everyone to be cautious when he admires something. The prophet taught to say Mashaallu every time you see someone with something you appreciate and to continuously seek protection in Allah. As far as our world in concerned ,sometimes we can also post some bad experiences in social media in order to appear normal. Because unlike mere jealousy caused by desire to see a person stripped of his blessing, the evil eye is can be caused by extreme admiration from our followers and is not conscious . Jealousy comes mostly form an evil person but the evil eye can be cast by a righteous person and can be reflexive . A common way to protect oneself therefore is to avoid exposing certain blessings especially to people who are in need of them. It does not mean that one should become a hypocrite or shun people but it means that one should be careful . The best way is to seek refuge in Allah. When a believer sees something he likes he should invoke God to bless it even if it belongs to somebody else. The evil eye is about what people can see, fortunately the content of our heart is one of the greatest blessings from Allah, and when we take care of it and improve on our faith and avoid what is forbidden and invite others to what is good, we will live a better life in this world, and in the hereafter.
Post-Scriptum and disclaimer
Praise be to Allah Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the seal of the prophets Muhammad, his family, his companions and his followers. I bear witness that there is no God but God, and that he revealed wisdom to a series of messengers and that Moses and Jesus were his messengers, and that Muhammad is his last messenger. I am not a Muslim scholar and I have no claim that I fulfill any the qualities a scholar should posses. I am just sharing my own understanding of some relevant spiritual topics related to spirituality in general and Islam particularly in the light of the quran and the sunna as well as other sources. May God guide us all and make our work useful…
