Question:
Salam alaykoum mawlana shaykh,
can you please explain this to me….”the “evil eye” is real, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The evil eye is real, and if anything were to overtake the divine decree (al-qadar) it would be the evil eye.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2188, from the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas”
***”if anything were to overtake the divine decree (al-qadar) it would be the evil eye.”*** is it that powerful. for I believe that ALLAH (swt) is the MOST POWERFUL and nothing happens WITHOUT HIS CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE. therefore, how could the evil eye be more powerful than his decree. I have trouble believing that anything can be powerful to interfere with pre-destination. If so, PLEASE guide us so we can avoid it altogether!
Jazakkalahu kairan.
Answer:
Wa `alaikum as salaam,
I think you are slightly misinterpreting this hadith. It says that “if anything” were to overtake the Divine decree it would be the evil eye. This clearly implies that nothing can actually overtake the Divine decree. So you are correct that nothing can interfere with Allah’s (swt) plans. However….the hadith clearly shows that evil eye is not something to underestimate or discount. So much so that “if anything” were to overtake the Divine decree – than evil eye would be it.
There are many activities one can do to protect his/herself from evil eye.
First, the Prophet (s) has advised using ruqya. There are special Naqshbandi taweez which should be available to you. Please let us know if you don’t know how to obtain one. You should wear it as much as possible.
Second, you can recite the Quran and certain du`as. According to Bukhari:
Narrated` Aisha: Whenever the Prophet go went to bed every night, he used to cup his hands together and blow over it after reciting Surat al-Ikhlas, Surat al-Falaq and Surat an-Nas, and then rub his hands over whatever parts of his body he was able to rub, starting with his head, face and front of his body. He used to do that three times.
Please see this post for more information: http://eshaykh.com/family/black-magic-and-nazar.
And Allah knows best.
Yusuf Hussain
