Oh boy this one is quite an interesting comic to put together. On the one hand it is quite obvious that the concept of the Evil Eye is pretty universal. Many cultures were aware of it and had devised ways to counter it.

In Islam the Evil Eye is called Hasad… which translates to Envy or at least is a derivative of the word. Now the thing about Hasad is that there is Bad hasad where someone looks upon the bounty that Allah has given to someone and wishes that thing to belong to themselves and for it not to belong to the other person. So if you have a car… a nice one obviously. I would want it for myself and wish that you didn’t have it.

Whereas you can wish for Allah to grant you a car but not wish that the other person lose possession of the car they own.In which case you would say Mashallah, La Kuwata illa Billah. ما شاء الله لاحول و لا قوة الا بالله

That is kind of neutral hasad… its more of a longing than an act of evil. On the other hand there is the positive kind of hasad where you would look upon someone who might have memorized the Quran and wish that you where also a memorizer of God’s book. Or that you prayed more superlative prayers or you had more money so that you can go to hajj or umrah etc.

Now it is VERY important that I indicate that if a muslims uses any of the symbols I have shown in the comic then you have committed an act of shirk. Allah clearly indicates through his Prophet (peace be upon him) that you should recite the last three chapters of the Quraan (al ikhlaas, al falak and al naas) to protect your children or yourselves against the Evil Eye. You can also use Ayat Al Kursi amongst other ayat… but the last three chapters are paramount.

Believing in the Evil eye is part of being Muslim… you cannot accept part of the deen and reject the other and since this is a part of the deen then we must believe in it as we must believe in magic and the unseen (like angels for example).

So the hand and the blue eye have been used for millennia prior to the emergence of islam. It has attributed some kind of power or relevance to objects like beads and cut outs of hands. This is all shirk billah and should not be practiced by muslims. Ever.

It is also prudent to mention that while people who listen to heavy metal might think they are making the sign of the devil when they hold their middle and ring fingers with their thumb… In fact the sign popularized by Ronnie James Dio is in fact an old italian tradition. People used it to ward off the evil eye… and specifically in this context ronnie’s grandmother.

If you have these icons in your car or as jewelery. I strongly advise you to remove them and don’t use them again. May Allah bare witness that I have warned you and you will be held accountable.

And Allah knows best.

October 7, 2010