The alternation of day and night, and the changing of seasons are great signs of Allah’s kudrat. This is also a significant favor of Allah to human beings. It is narrated in the Quran,

 وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ خِلْفَةً لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَذَّكَّرَ أَوْ أَرَادَ شُكُورًا

He is the One who made the day and the night follow each other, for the one who wishes to be mindful or wishes to show gratitude. Sura Furqan, Verse 62

Undoubtedly, Allah has made some days, nights, and months more sacred than others. The reward for good deeds during those particular times is much greater than at other times. However, he did not make any day or night or month evil. Time is Allah’s favor and kindness. Through performing good deeds, anybody can make their time blessed and fruitful. 

Considering any day, night, or month as evil, or believing that a particular time brings misfortune for certain tasks, is a practice from the time of Jahiliyyah. For example, during the days of Jahiliyyah, some people thought that the month of Shawal was inauspicious for marriage. Ummul Muminin Hadhrat Aisha (R.A.) refuted this misconception and said, "The Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam married me in Shawal and spent our first night of marriage in Shawal. So, who among the wives of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is more fortunate than me? (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1423)

Nowadays some people have these types of misconceptions regarding Muharram. They think, it is bad to marry in Muharram. Maybe the cause behind this misconception is that this month Hussain R.A. was martyred. But they do not think that time is by no means evil. Specially, Muharram is one of the four blessed months (al-ashhur al-hurum). It is the first meritorious and important month after Ramadan. How can this month be evil due to the martyrdom of Hussain R.A.? Evil omen is in those people’s deeds who killed Him unjustly. Is there any month in a year when no great person was killed? Then, are all months of a year evil?

Regarding the month of Safar, people of Jahiliyah thought that it was bad and evil. This type of misconception is undoubtedly superstition, which is refuted by Islam. Thus, Islam rescued people from a big danger and made the path to peace and happiness easy. The term ‘Superstition’ refers to the belief in something based solely on conjectures without any evidence and the tendency to let it influence real-life decisions. It is a dangerous disease that fills people’s minds with imaginary notions. It drowns people in depression and despair and imposes upon them different kinds of unbearable customs. Following these conjectures is not only the root cause of many false beliefs and many bid`ahs (innovations), it is also the root cause of major sins like Shirk. To believe in bad omen and the tendency to take its influence is one of the worst superstitions, which left a bad influence upon people’s lifestyle.

As its basis is rooted in different imaginary assumptions and conjectures, it is impossible to imagine how many categories there are in bad omen based on times, places, and persons. In Some places, a new moon is considered bad, while in others, odd nights are seen evil. Likewise, specific days or placees are seen ill-omened in certain places. Different people consider different subjects inauspicious. Many individuals believe that certain days or nights are inauspicious for specific aktivities. All of these beliefs can be seen as a form of blind adherence inherited from Arab pagans or Indian idol worshippers. 

In this subject, a dangerous superstition is that even today many people consider the birth of a daughter inauspicious like the people of the age of ignorance before Islam. At least, birth of a daughter as the first child is believed a bad omen by many people. Even many mothers also consider daughters evil. Na'uzubillah!

One of the great favours of Islam to mankind is that it rejects conjectures without any evidence and presents the belief in Tawhid (oneness of Allah) in which there is no room for blind belief and superstition. Specially, Islam strongly refutes the tendency to take bad omen from something.

The prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, spread of diseases on its own, deriving bad omen from something like birds, owls etc., as well as belief in Safar ( a month in Islamic calendar being considered evil) are false imaginations. They have no reality. [Bukhari Hadith 5757, Muslim Hadith 5743]

In this Hadith, a few superstitions have been refuted:

This hadith refutes the concept that diseases can spread on its own from one person to another. This is one kind of shirk. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam refuted this notion by questioning who infected the first person? However, with deseases for which transmission from an afflicted person to others has been proven, there is no conflict in taking precautionary measures alongside maintaining the belief in tawhid. In certain cases, shariah itself advises caution. The concept that is refuted in shariah is that the diseases inherently possess the ability to spread independently. Matters such as gain, loss, harm, benefit, life, death, illness, and well-being are all under the controll of Allah.

 Secondly, the subject refuted in this Hadith is the practice of deriving bad omens from various signs, which is stated in the Hadith by the word of Tiyarah. The root of this word is  طير ( meaning 'bird' in Arabic). In Arabia, a common way to determine whether something is good or bad was the flight of birds. If the bird flew to the right, they considered it a good omen. If it flew to the left, they interpreted it as a bad omen, and based on this, they would decide whether to proceed with something or abstain from it. Then the practice of taking any bad omen has been called tiyarah, however its way may be.

Islam declares these imaginary things as baseless and clearly states that the act of taking a bad omen is one kind of Shirk. [Musnad Ahmad 1/389; Tirmidhi, Hadith 1614; Abu Daud, Hadith 3910, 3907].

He who believes in Taqdir (destiny), and whose belief in tawheed is clear, who considers that it is Allah who is the controller of all goodness and evil, he cannot fall after a good or bad omen. These are activities of those who accept different imaginary things as their beliefs and derive a bad omen from something without any evidence. This kind of belief is not but one kind of shirk.

Someone asked the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, oh Allah’s prophet! in the age of ignorance, we used to determine whether something is good or bad by making birds fly. He answered, this is waswasah of your mind (false imagination). So, do not abstain from your act because of this. Muslim, Hadith 5767

In another Hadith, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, "If you experience this kind of waswasah (whispering doubts) in your mind, then recite these words and proceed with your action."

 اللهم لا يأتي بالحسنات إلا أنت و لا يدفع السيئات إلا أنت و لا حول و لا قوة إلا بالله .

O Allah, it is You who brings forth goodness, and it is You who shields from evil. There is no power and no strength except through Allah. Abu Dawud, Hadith 3919

In another Hadith, it is narrated that if a person refrains from their task due to a bad omen, it's as if they have committed shirk (associating partners with Allah). When they asked for a remedy, he said, "Recite these words and proceed with your task."

 اللهم لا خير إلا خيرك و لا طير إلا طيرك و لا إله غيرك

Oh Allah, all goodness comes only from you, and all evils happen only by your order. There is no God but you.

In fact, tawheed is such a profound belief that when it is instilled in someone's heart, they no longer fear anyone other than Allah. Their focus is centered solely on Allah. This is the heart of tawheed. On the contrary, those without this belief in tawheed may find the weeds of shirk growing in their hearts, as seen in those who adhere to superstitions.

 Thirdly, the superstition of Jahiliyah about owls is refuted in this hadith. During the period of Jahiliyah, this notion was prevalent that if an owl sits on the roof of a house, or the branch of a tree, there someone may die or something evil may happen while death, life, goodness, or evil are predestined and happen in the due time by the will of Allah. There is no connection between owls and these things. Did Allah, who is the owner and creator of everything, ever state that the owl is a sign of the trouble? Is there any evidence in the Quran and Sunnah to support this belief?

Troubles usually come due to sins. The door of repentance is always open. In the same way, the door of prayer to Allah for goodness and protection from evils is always open as well. We should be careful about all these things.

 Fourthly, what is narrated in the Hadith is ‘Safar’. The scholars of hadith have different opinions in explanation of this word. One of them is, during Jahiliyah, the month of Safar was considered evil. Islam refutes this wrong assumption and declares it a baseless and unreal superstition. Islam states that there is no concept of bad omens in its teachings. Belief in bad omens are mere superstitions and fancy constructs of human mind. The biggest bad omen is the commission of the sins and misdeeds by mankind, which invokes the displeasure of Allah. Therefore, we should refrain from sins. There is no bad omen with a particular day or night or month. Time is a great favor of Allah. We should utilize it properly and make it fruitful by doing good deeds. This is the way to earn goodness and barakah. May Allah grant us tawfiq and save us from all kinds of waswasah and misconceptions.

Published in the monthly alkawsar March, 2005

Translation: Enam Hasan Junaid