Question: I wear this ta‘viz
for some reason. Is it okay to wear it? My grandmother told me that it
is beneficial to wear it. But, I am still not sure and would like to confirm.
Please clarify.
Answer: Generally, the basic
reasons for which a person wears a ta‘viz are protection and earning
the blessings of God. It is thought that certain words – Qur’anic or
other – if written in the ta‘viz would protect a person from evil
and attract the blessings of Allah.
It needs to be submitted that Islam
does not recognize any ta‘viz as a means of protecting oneself from
harm, or for waiving away any evil or misfortune, or to attract well-being
and happiness. All of these come from God alone. A true Muslim should seek
refuge from evil, misfortune and harm by pleading to the Almighty, and
he or she should desire happiness, well-being and joys by asking from the
Almighty. That was the way of the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and indeed, the
way of all other prophets. Beyond that, even reciting the Qur’an without
understanding it cannot be helpful, for the Qur’an is a message
that invites the reader to reflect on what it says, with the intent of
implementing its teachings in his or her everyday life.
Thus we have no account of the Prophet
(sws) using a ta‘viz for the attainment of certain aims, and neither did
he ever issue any such items to others – and we must not forget that he
was an example for us all. Added to this is, obviously, the argument that
the Prophet (sws) never allowed religion to become a slave of magic and
sorcery. In fact, if at all, such references are found in religion, they
have been on the part of the disbelievers and not the believers. For example
the Qur’an says:
And the unbelievers would almost trip you up
with their eyes when they hear the Message and they say: ‘Surely he is
possessed!’ But it is nothing less than a Message to all the worlds. (68:51-52)
Even though the context of these verses
is beyond the scope of the issue at hand, it is worthwhile to notice how
both the Messenger of Allah, through whom the revelation of the Qur’an
was carried out, and the verses of Allah have been declared free of
being carriers of magic and sorcery. So, how can it be imagined that certain
‘divine’ words can do magic simply by hanging them over a mirror or wearing
them around the neck, etc.?
In the end, I would like to share
the concern that, at times, it does become very difficult for us to shun
tradition; nevertheless, in the end, one has to make a choice between tradition
and religion.
(Saadia Malik)
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