Reliance on Allaah
A Warning Regarding Ruqa (Statements of INVOCATION of summoning the devil or idols), Tama’im (CHARMS of Well being and protection from evil eye) , and Tiwalah (Statements of SORCERY)
I start with the name of Allaah. Thereafter:
Allaah ordered us in His clear Book to rely on Him. Reliance is the certainty of the heart and the total confidence in Allaah. In Surat Al Ma’idah _Ayah 23__, Allaah said
وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَتَوَكَّلُوا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
which means: [Rely on Allaah, tabaraka wa ta^ala, if you are believers.] Since reliance on Allaah is obligation on the believer, the one who is strongly established in relying on Allaah, is of a higher status than the one who has not satisfied this obligation. If one’s reliance on Allaah is stronger than another, then his status would be higher.
The one who relies on Allaah would avoid doing that which Allaah made prohibited on him. Among that which would negate or oppose relying on Allaah are some types of Ruqa, as well as Tama’im, and Tiwalah. At-Tirmidiyy related the Prophet said:
إن الرقى والتمائم والتولة شرك
which means: << Ruqa, Tama’im, and Tiwalah are shirk.>> i.e. (Ruqa (Statements of INVOCATION of summoning the devil or idols), Tama’im (CHARMS of Well being and protection from evil eye), and Tiwalah (Statements of SORCERY) are acts of associating partners with Allaah
RUQA: (Statements of INVOCATION of summoning the devil or idols)
To perform the unlawful (haram) ruqa means to use words which contain blsphemy or to use words the meaning of which is not understandable. The ruqa the Prophet classified as shirk are those that contain a worship to other than Allaah, like those who worship the planet or the sun or the devils or the like. These ruqa that include such blasphemous words are those that negate reliance on Allaah. However, the ruqa which are based on the Qur’an and mentioning Allaah are permissible, because the Prophet performed on himself and on others. Many sahih hadiths were mentioned in reference to this. Among these was what al-Bayhaqiyy related from the route of ^Uthman Ibnu ^Affan may Allaah raise his rank. ^Uthman said: “I got sick and the Prophet visited me during my illness. The Prophet said: ‘Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim, I protect you by Allaah, al-Wahid, al-Ahad, As-Samad, al-ladhi lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakul-lahu kufuwan ahad, from that from which you suffer. He said that several times.”
As to those ruqa that include mentioning Allaah, these are recommended, i.e., it is liked to perform this type of ruqa. Moreover, performing this type would be rewardable, along with the benefit that occurs as a result of performing it–among curing and the like. The best of the lawful (halal) ruqa is to recite the Mu^awidhatayn: Surat al-Falaq and Surat an-Nas. In summary, the ruqa which contains sayings from the Qur’an and sayings mentioning Allaah are permissible. The ruqa which contain shirk and/or incomprehensible words are forbidden, and this includes words written in languages other than Arabic which do not have a comprehensible meaning or whose meaning is invalid or not understood.
Among many of the Wahhabis you would hear explicit statements whereby they attribute bodily attributes to Allaah and attributes of movement and rest although it is known that bodies and movement are creations. The Wahhabis negate tawhid by such statements–tawhid Allaah revealed to His Prophet–yet they claim to be defenders of it. Recently it was witnessed one of the Wahhabis was on the mimbar in Makkah when he said: “Allaah descends like my descent,”: and he took a step down from the mimbar. This is clear blasphemy. If the Wahhabis truly adhered to the tawhid and the teachings of the Religion, they would not negate the essentials of the belief. They would avoid likening Allaah to the creations. They would avoid attributing bodily attributes to Allaah. To descend–to go from a higher point o a lower point–and to ascend–to go from a lower point to a higher point–are attributes of the creation. Allaah is clear from all of that.
In the hadith of the Prophet related by al-Bukhariyy, the Prophet said:
ينزل الله كل ليلة إلى السماء الدنيا حين يبقى ثلث الليل الآخر ، فيقول : من يدعوني فأستجيب له ، من يسألني فأعطيه ، من يستغفرني فأغفر له ؟ ”
This hadith does not mean Allaah descends from above to below. it does not mean Allaah was above and then came down. Since the Wahhabis do not have the correct conviction, they believe Allaah comes down from above. They did not comprehend the meaning of the word “yanzil” in the hadith. The term “yanzil” in the Arabic language can mean for one to move from above to below, for one to order others to come from above to below, as well as other meanings. What would be the suitable meaning among the meanings of the word “yanzil” can be attributed to Allaah.
The correct meaning of the hadith is: <<Allaah orders an angel to come down every night after midnight and call: “Is there one who makes du^a’ to be answered? Is there one who asks for forgiveness to be forgiven?”>> If a person says the meaning is to descend–to go from above to below–then this person has established a false meaning, because by that he made the meaning of the hadith contradict the meaning of Surat ash-Shura, Ayah 11 in which Allaah said:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِير
which means: [Nothing resembles Him in any way.] Nothing is like Allaah, and the hadiths of the Prophet do not contradict any verses of the Qur’an. Hence the correct and suitable meaning of the word “yanzil” is that Allaah ordered an angel to come down.
In support of this is another narration of that hadith. An-Nasa’iyy explicitly stated in his book, The Doings In a Day and a Night, “Allaah ordered an angel to call out: “Is there one who makes du^a’ to be answered? Is there one who asks for forgiveness to be forgiven?” This narration explains and interprets the first narration. The first was narrated by al-Bukhariyy and the second was narrated by an-Nasa’iyy. The best way to interpret the meaning of a hadith is by another hadith or an ayah (verse) from the Qur’an. In addition to this, the mind testifies to the invalidity of the saying of the Wahhabis. Once the time of midnight starts in one country, a moment later midnight would start in another place, and after another moment it would start in another place, and so on… Since this is so, according to the Wahhabis and their false interpretation of the hadith, they are claiming Allaah is continually going up and down, up and down. This is a ridiculous nonsense talk. Once must clear the hadith of the Prophet from such sayings. Tawhid is clearing Allaah from resembling the creation, i.e., the Self of Allaah does not resemble the selves of the creation, and His attributes and His doings do not resemble the attributes and the doings of the creation.
TAMA’IM (CHARMS of Well being and protection from evil eye)
In the aforementioned hadith regarding negating or opposing reliance on Allaah, the Prophet referred to tama’im classified as shirk. This was in reference to the people of the Era of Ignorance who used to put beads on their children with the conviction these beads could cure or protect them from the evil eye, i.e., despite the Will of Allaah. They did not believe or have the conviction Allaah protects the children from the evil eye by those beads. Those are the tama’im the Prophet taught us were forbidden. Hence, what the Muslims wear on their bodies or on their chests which contain writings from the Qur’an and the like are not tama’im.
Is it not the case when one is suffering an illness or suffering from sorcery done to him, that we hang writings from the Qur’an on that person as a means to be cured? These writings we hang on a person are not what the Prophet meant in his hadith mentioning tama’im as shirk. The one who interprets those tama’im as the writings from the Qur’an that one hangs on oneself, rendered unlawful something Allaah made lawful, and such a person would be perverting the Religion. The behavior and sayings of the Wahhabis are not in line with the Religion in this matter because when they see a Muslim wearing the hirz (those writings from the Qur’an) they approach the Muslim and pull it off him since they claim this is shirk. This is known about the Wahhabis.
The methodology of those Wahhabis is contrary to the methodology of the Companions of the Prophet. It was confirmed about the Companions of the Prophet they used to write words with which they seek refuge with Allaah from the devil, and they used to hang it on their little children and/or around the necks of their younger children. This is confirmed, and it was narrated by at-Tirmidhiyy about ^Abdullah Ibnu ^Amr. Those Wahhabis claim to be following tawhid, yet what they are doing is against the actions and the practices of the companions of the Prophet. Tawhid has nothing to do with physically stripping the people of writings that merely include the mentioning of Allaah and the words from the Qur’an.
TIWALAH (Statements of SORCERY)
As to the tiwalah that is shirk, which the Prophet mentioned in his hadith, this includes something pertaining to sorcery. There is a sorcery containing words of blasphemy and shirk which pertains to what women used to perform or practice for the purpose of making the woman more loved by her husband and by this he would obey her and not oppose her in a matter she wants. That was among the practices the Arabs used top perform during the Era of Ignorance. That sorcery was known among the people before the Revelation of the Qur’an, and that sorcery was learned from the devils. Most of the sorcery the people learn is taught by devils, although Harut and Marut, two angels, taught a small amount of people the issues of sorcery when they descended in Babel.[1] At the orders of Allaah, Harut and Marut taught the people this so the people could easily differentiate between sorcery and miracles.
Allaah subjected the people to a test. The two angels used to advise the people who learned the sorcery not to apply it. Although the angels taught the sorcery, it was not with the purpose of people applying it. They taught the people sorcery so the people would know the difference between sorcery and miracles. Sorcery is among the most enormous sins. IN fact, among sorcery is blasphemy–like that which contains an act of worship to a planet or to the devil.
Some of the people who wanted to learn sorcery from the devils were unable to learn until they prostrated to the devil. It is known that among the people of Damascus was a man who was unable to learn sorcery until after he prostrated to the devils, i.e.,., to first fulfill the devils’ demand to commit blasphemy. Let it be known: All sorcery is forbidden, even the sorcery of those women who used it to make their husbands more loving of them. There is no difference between the sorcery done to make others more loving and the sorcery done to make others more hating. It is not permissible to confront, to face, or to offset one act of sorcery with another. even if a person was inflicted with sorcery, if it was done to him and he was harmed by that, he is not permitted to use the sorcery of another sorcerer to relieve him of the effects of the first.
If someone made sorcery on another so the husband and wife would reject each other, the correct cure is for one to supplicate Allaah to relieve him of that effect and create loving and joining among them. One may also recite Surat Yasin for that purpose or the like, and it is also permissible for one to use other methods to get rid of the effect of sorcery–other than resorting to sorcery. Reciting some verses from the Qur’an writing Qur’an in a special way and using some of ht medicines (some of the things one can eat) in which Allaah made a cure for sorcery are also permissible.
Let the believer be cautioned against those people who inject confusion in that stream. Some people do sorcery and mix it with some writings from the Qur’an to delude [people into believing the Qur’an enters practices of sorcery. This is an invalid conviction. It is not suitable to use the Qur’an for sorcery–which the devils taught people to do. They taught people to mix sorcery with the Qur’an such that when a sorcerer wanted to perform sorcery, sometimes he would add a verse from the Qur’an to it, and that sorcery would affect some people. the one whom Allaah did not will for him to be protected form such sorcery would be affected by it
Sometimes sorcery is done to affect the behavior of certain people. Some f the sorcerers perform sorcery on women. if the sorcerer performs sorcery on a woman, the devil will enter and possess her body, and she will appear as if she did not have a mind and submit herself to that sorcerer. that sorcerer might fornicate with her and then do something to her to make her slightly alert so she could leave that place. some ignorant people would not know this was done by the teachings of the devil and by his effect. By the will of Allaah, the devil can possess a body–whether a male or a female–and lead that person to a certain location.
The one who believes the Qur’an would be a source of sorcery is a blasphemer. We ask Allaah to grant us those who would relieve us form those sorcerers, because their harm is tremendous–both in bodies and in wealth. Many of the sorcerers lead the people towards blasphemy by leading them to believe the Qur’an takes part in sorcery. The one who believes that is a blasphemer. One of those sorcerers of past days deluded people into believing he could behead a person and put his head back. This is an illusion because it is not something truly done. The sorcerer bluffed the vision of some people and then blasphemed by saying, “I cause death and bring people back to life.” He claimed he gave life and death…
May Allaah protect us from the evil of the ruqa, tama’im, and tiwalah!
Be firm I your reliance on Allaah and in the matters of tawhid. clearing Allaah of the non-befitting attributes and clearing Allaah from resembling the creation follows the methodology of the Prophet. To truly rely on Allaah requires avoiding what Allaah made prohibited. Allaah knows what is harmful and what is detrimental; the Prophet warned us of the dangers of the unlawful ruqa, the tama’im, and the tiwalah. We have the obligation to heed that warning, and we do so seeking the reward from Allaah.
[1] Babel is the name of a city in Iraq.