Indeed, one of the deadly diseases and
great evils is the illness that afflicts a person due to magic, the
evil eye or envy. Magic has an extremely evil effect on a person
because it can cause illness or death. Also this is the case with the
evil eye of the envier when the soul complies with malice and evil is
intended in the heart, for indeed one can harm the envied person, i.e.
by the Will of Allah; rather it can cause illness or death, i.e. by the
will of Allah.
Magic is real and has an effect, and
also envy is real and has an effect. Indeed, one of the blessings
bestowed on a believer is that he has been facilitated with blessed
means and beneficial things by way of which the evil of the magician
and envier are repelled and the calamity that results from their
evil is stopped.
Ibnul Qayyim summarized those means of protection into ten great
affairs, and if a believing servant fulfills and applies them, the
evil of the envier, the evil of the one who afflicts with the evil
eye and the evil of the magician will cease.
The First Means of Protection:
Seek Allah’s Refuge against their
evil, just as Allah said: "Say: I seek refuge with (Allah) the
Lord of the daybreak; From the evil of what He has created; And from
the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or
the moon as it sets or goes away). And from the evil of the
witchcrafts when they blow in the knots; And from the evil of the
envier when he envies.” [Surah Al-Falaq]
Allah hears the one who
seeks His Refuge and knows what the person is seeking. Allah is able
to do all things and He alone is the One from Whom refuge is sought –
none amongst His creation has the right to be invoked for refuge
nor for shelter; rather He is The Only One Who gives refuge to those
who invoke Him for refuge. He is the One Who protects and shelters
them against the evil of that which they seek refuge against. The
reality of seeking refuge is to flee from something that terrifies a
person and(seeking protection from one who can protect and give
shelter.
There is neither a protector for a
servant nor one to grant him refuge besides Allah. Allah suffices the one who relies on Him and He is enough for the
one who seeks shelter from Him. Allah is the One who provides safety
against the fear of the one who is fearful and gives support to the
one who seeks support. He an Excellent Protector and an Excellent
Helper.
The Second Means of Protection:
Taqwa - The one who fears Allah will be protected and
safeguarded by Allah and will not be left to others. Allah said: "But if you remain patient and become
Al-Muttaqun(the pious), not the least harm will their cunning do to
you. Surely, Allah surrounds all that they do." [3:120]
The Third Means of Protection:
Patience - Neither fighting nor
complaining about the evil doer, nor reminding oneself of his harm.
The envied person is not given victory against the envier with the
likes of anything that greater or more effective than patience.
Whenever the envier’s transgression increases, it becomes a
powerful host for the one who is transgressed against and a means
through which the transgressor fights himself unknowingly. His
transgression is an arrow fired against himself. Allah said: "But
the evil plot encompasses only him who makes it." [35:43]
If the envied person exercises patience
and does not transgress, he will receive a good end by the permission
of Allah.
The Fourth Means of Protection:
At-Tawakkul - Reliance upon Allah.
Whoever relies upon Allah, Allah will suffice him. Reliance upon
Allah is one of the most powerful means by way of which a person is
protected regardless the extent of the harm, oppression, and enmity
of the creation. The one who suffices himself with Allah as his
Protector, the enemy cannot have any hope of harming him. If a
person relies upon Allah, in a manner in which Allah deserves to be
relied upon and firmly believes in Allah’s absolute control of
the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, Allah will grant
him a way out from the difficulty or harm and aid help him.
The Fifth Means of Protection:
Isolate one’s heart
from being
preoccupied with the affair of the enemy and not to think about him
– intending to eliminate his affair from one’s thoughts whenever he
comes to one’s mind; neither paying attention to him
nor fearing him, nor filling one’s heart with thoughts about him.
This one of the most beneficial remedies and the most powerful means
of repelling his evil, for indeed it is similar to the case of a
person who is sought after by the enemy in order to seize and harm
him, but neither does the enemy see him nor have contact with him;
rather he abandons the enemy and the enemy is not able to do anything
to him. This is because evil occurs if both have contact and are
connected to each other. This is the case with the souls that are
similar, i.e. if a person allows himself to be dragged to the level
of the enemy, for there will not be tranquillity if both souls have
contact with each other and evil will continue until one of them is
destroyed. However, if a person turns his soul away from the enemy,
protects it from thinking about him and preoccupies himself with what
is more beneficial, the envious transgressor will consume himself with
envy, for indeed envy is like fire and some of it burns the other part
if it does not find something else to burn.
The Sixth Means of Protection:
Devotion to Allah - be sincere to Allah, i.e. in deeds and statements, seeking after Allah’s Love and
Pleasure, turning to Allah in
repentance and complete submission in all of one’s thoughts and
desires. Striving to direct one’s thoughts and desires to conform
gradually to what Allah loves and is pleasing to Him, etc until this
overcomes, dominates, and repels everything that opposes what Allah
loves. So the person directs his thoughts, concern, and desires to
be in agreement with what his Lord loves and he seeks to draw close
to his Lord, i.e. in obedience and keeping away from disobedience,
and remembers and praises his Lord. Allah stated that
Iblees said: "Iblis (Satan)) said: By Your
Might, then I will surely mislead them all; except Your chosen slaves
amongst them (faithful, obedient, true believers of Islamic
Monotheism).” [38:82-83]
The sincere person is like one who
retires to a fortified fortress – neither is the one fortified in
it fearful nor is the one who retires to it destroyed, nor does his
enemy hope to approach it.
The Seventh Means of Protection:
Repentance - sins are the cause behind
being overpowered by one’s enemy. Indeed Allah said: "And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of
what your hands have earned." [42:30]
A servant of Allah is not overpowered
by someone who harms him except due to sin, whether he is aware or
unaware of it. The sins of a person – which he is unaware of- are
several times as much as what he knows, and the sins he has forgotten
– which he is aware of and committed – are several times as much
as what he can remember. In a well-known supplication, the believer
is commanded to say: "O Allah! I seek refuge with you from
associating partners with you knowingly and I seek your forgiveness
for what I do unknowingly." [Imaam Al-Bukhari in
Al-Adabul Mufrad, Number 719 & declared authentic by Imaam
Albani in Sahih Al-Adabul Mufrad, Number 551]
A person’s need for
seeking
forgiveness for his sins- which he is unaware of- are several times
as much as the sins he is aware of. He is not overcome by someone or
something harmful except due to sin, and no evil comes to him
except as a result of sins and those other deeds that necessitate
such evil. If a person refrains from sins, he is relieved of its evil
consequences. And when a person is transgressed against by an
opponent, there is nothing more beneficial for him than sincere
repentance, which were a cause of being overcome by the enemy.
The Eighth Means of Protection:
Spending in charity and being good to
others by benefiting them and repelling harm as much as one is able.
Indeed, this has an amazing effect in repelling calamity, the evil
eye, and the evil of an envious person. Hardly is the good doer and
giver of charity overcome by the evil eye and the envy of an envious
person, for if afflicted by some of that calamity, Allah treats
him with kindness, gives him relief and support. Spending in charity
and doing good are acts of gratitude to Allah for the favours He has
bestowed on you and a safeguard against everything that will cause
those blessings to cease.
The Ninth Means of Protection:
Eradicate the intense anger of the
envier, the transgressor, and the harmful person by being good to
him, offering him sincere advice and being compassionate towards him.
Allah said:"The good deed and the evil deed
cannot be equal. Repel (the evil) with one which is better (i.e.
Allah ordered the faithful believers to be patient at the time of
anger, and to excuse those who treat them badly), then verily! he,
between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was
a close friend. But none is granted it (the above quality) except
those who are patient, and none is granted it except the owner of the
great portion (of the happiness in the Hereafter i.e. Paradise and in
this world of a high moral character).” [41:34-35]
And ponder upon the situation of that
Prophet (as) about whom our Prophet (saws) informed us that he was beaten by his people until he bled,
then he started wiping the blood off his face and saying, ‘’O
Allah! Forgive my people, for indeed they do not know (i.e. they do
not possess knowledge).’’ [Al-Bukhari]
The Tenth Means of protection:
Tawheed - Firm belief that
Allah alone is the Creator of everything, the Provider and the one
Who controls everything in the universe; firm belief in Allah’s
Perfect Names and Attributes and that there is no similarity to
Allah; firm belief that none has the right to be worshipped except
Allah, constantly attaching oneself to Allah-The One Who created all
the means to accomplishing what one seeks, The All-Mighty, The
All-Wise - whilst giving consideration to the means of attaining
protection and to know that nothing can bring harm or benefit, except
by the permission of Allah.
Allah said: "And
if Allah touches you with hurt, there is none who can remove it but
He; and if He intends any good for you, there is none who can repel
His Favour which He causes it to reach whomsoever of His slaves He
will." [10:106]
The Prophet (saws) said to Ibn Abbaas, ‘’Know that even if the Nation (or the
whole community) were to gather together to benefit you with
something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which
Allah has already decreed for you, and that if they gather together
to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with
anything except that which Allah has already decreed against you.” [40 Hadith Nawawi]
If a person fulfills Tawheed, then
indeed fear of other than Allah will be removed from his heart. His
enemy will be the weakest thing to him let alone something to be
feared alongside his fear of Allah. He will fear Allah alone and no
one else. He will find that his thoughts about the affair of his
enemy, fear of his enemy and busying himself with the affair of his
enemy is due to a deficiency in his belief in Tawheed. Had he been
perfecting his belief in Tawheed, it would have been the uppermost
thing in his mind and that Allah is the One Who will protect and
defend him, for indeed Allah defends those who truly believe. If a
person is a true believer, Allah will defend him based on the level or strength of his belief in Allah. Tawheed is the greatest
shield and whoever embraces it will be amongst those who are
safeguarded. Some of the pious predecessors said, “Whoever truly fears Allah, everything will fear
him; and whoever does not fear Allah, Allah will make him fear
everything.”
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