Pre-islamic age of Ignorance: Pre-islamic age of ignorance believed in the existence of many types of bad luck. Jahiliyyah people considered animals, objects, days, people, and even the movement of the stars in the sky as the cause of bad luck. There were hundreds of types of bad luck. For example, tefe’ul means to consider some events as auspicious, to see them as the beginning of good things and to attribute them to good. On the other hand, Teşeüm, as the opposite of tefe’ul, means to regard some objects and events as inauspicious, to attribute them to evil and to constantly emphasise bad possibilities.

Pre-islamic age of ignorance used to call the imaginary beings known as “Ghouls”, a genus of jinns or devils, which were considered to appear in different forms and colours and lead people astray and destroy them.[684] It was believed that they would appear to people in secluded and desolate deserts and destroy them.[685] For this reason, when travelling in desolate places, they would ask permission by saying, “I seek refuge with the owner of this region.”[686]

They also regarded the owl as inauspicious. “If the murderer of a victim is not avenged, the spirit of the victim will take the form of an owl and cry over his grave, ‘Water me! Quench my thirst,’ and after revenge is taken, it will fly away.”[687]

Shooting stars were also regarded as signalling the birth or death of a great person.[688]

Buraydah (r.a.) narrates: The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) did not jinx anything (that people jinxed). When he would send an official, he would ask him his name, and if he liked it, he would rejoice, and even the joy of it would be seen on his face. If he disliked the name, it would also be seen on his face. If he was going to enter a village, he would ask his name, and if he liked it, he would rejoice, and if he disliked it, it would be seen on his face.[689]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) said: There is no circulation,[690]nor safar,[691]nor khama[692]! Hearing this, a Bedouin jumped up and said, “O Messenger of Allah!

how does scabies get infected?” he asked. The Messenger of Allah gave the following answer: So who infected the first one?[693]

There is no inherent contagion of disease, there is no jinx in things, and there is no such thing as Ghoul[694].

There is no evil in the hooting of an owl. Nor is there any bad luck in anything[695].

In this section, I would like to briefly mention a misconception. Some circles, consciously or unconsciously, are constantly making the Prophet’s hadith that “jinx is in the woman, the house and the horse” a matter of agenda. This hadith is not to accept the existence of bad luck, but to convey that the people of ignorance had such a belief at that time. The following incident narrated by Hazrat ‘A’isha clearly demonstrates this: Two men from Beni Amir came to the presence of Hazrat ‘A’isha (r.a.) and said: “O ‘A’isha, Abu Hurayra said that the Prophet said: The jinx is in these three things: The woman, the house and the horse.” They asked, “What do you say? Hearing this, Hz Aisha (r.a.) became extremely angry: The Messenger of Allah has never said such a thing. He only reported that the people of the Ignorance saw bad luck in women, houses and horses and believed in it.”[696]With these words, Hazrat ‘A’isha said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) narrated that the people of the Ignorance had such a belief. In Abu Dawud’s Musnad[697], the following narration by Muhammad bin Rashid from Mekhul puts the issue on a different footing: Abu Hurayrah said to Hazrat ‘A’isha, “The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Jinx is in three things: The woman, the house and the horse. He replied: “When Abu Hurairah entered the presence of the Messenger of Allah, the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) said: “May Allah curse the Jews. They say: “Jinx is in three things: In the woman, in the house and in the horse.” He was explaining (the belief of the Jews). Abu Hurairah could not memorise the beginning of the hadith.”[698] He said: “The Jews used to say: ‘O Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless you and grant you peace.'”[699]

However, in the hadith in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s Musnad, the subject is not explained as jinx, but as bliss and unhappiness: Three things are from the bliss of mankind. And three things are from the misfortune[700] of mankind. Three things that bring bliss: A righteous woman, a comfortable house and a good mount. And the three things that bring misfortune to mankind are: A bad woman, a bad house and a bad horse.[701]

Nowadays: Substances whose working principle we do not know, animals we do not know about, or planets moving in our outer world continue to harbour the belief of jinxing like the belief of ignorance. There is hardly an area where this superstition does not exist.

Since it is not possible to explain all such empty beliefs here, we see it more appropriate to consider one of the common jinx beliefs in the world as an example. For example, there is a jinx belief that is believed to be realised by breaking a mirror. When we consider the area covered by this jinx and the time that has passed with this belief, even to think that millions of people still share this belief will be enough to horrify the mind. The first use of mirrors dates back to ancient Egyptian times. In the early times, since they were made of metals such as brass, bronze, silver or gold, it was not possible for them to break. At that time, it was believed that the mirror showed the human soul with the image reflected from the surface. However, there was also the belief that as a result of the breakage of the glass, the soul in the mirror left a part of the body. This belief led to the necessity of assigning a time to the jinx(!) caused by the breaking of the mirror. In the first century, the Romans determined the duration of the jinx caused by broken mirrors as seven years. The Romans believed that life renewed itself every seven years. This was a belief that arose from the idea that since the soul and human health were destroyed as a result of the breakage of the mirror or glass, it would take seven years for the body to regenerate itself and regain its health. By the 15th century, the people of Italy had fully convinced themselves that if the mirror was broken, they would live a life worse than death for seven years and would be exposed to various disasters. After the belief was fully accepted in this form, it was now necessary to take measures against them. And as a matter of fact, so it was. The measure taken was as follows: “If the broken pieces of the mirror are collected and washed in a river flowing southwards or buried in the ground, the bad luck will be destroyed.” Isn’t this a pretty good precaution? Because not everyone has a river flowing south. What would happen to us then? But the precautions were not limited to this. When the mirror in the bedroom was not in use, it was to be covered so that the spirit would not remain in it, and if it broke, it was to be thrown outside without looking inside. The mirrors in the house of a deceased person had to be covered. The rational explanation for this was “so that the soul would not encounter any obstacles on its journey to the sky”. In the 17th century, this belief spread rapidly in countries such as England and France, which would later be known as very modern. Even today, almost all over the world, this belief in bad luck still persists. And this belief has now become such that a conscious person finds it difficult to convince even those closest to him that breaking a mirror is not a bad luck. Since the truth of Jahiliyyah consists of the truths accepted by the majority of the society on the basis of conjecture, no one can easily convince anyone of anything in these societies. Because the answer to criticism comes ready-made. “So many people are wrong, are you the only one who is right?” This is how we have briefly dealt with the emergence, spread and rules of a jinx. We need to convey a few of the types of jinxes like this for informative purposes. Since it is not possible to give sources for these beliefs, we will be content with giving the source of those who believe in jinx.

Some of the beliefs that have been formed on the basis of “so they say” are as follows:

If a rooster crows prematurely at night, war will break out. (According to this belief, it is impossible to estimate the number of roosters crowing before the Second World War.)

The dog that starts howling when it hears the call to prayer is not good. (Perhaps the dog howls because it does not think the fate of those who do not pray despite the call to prayer is good.)

If a dog howls bitterly at night, it is believed that there is a dead or dying person nearby. (Do not let it be because it is hungry!)

Most of the people consider the black colour of the cat as bad luck. (What can be said about the one who jinxes the cat because Allah (swt), the mighty dyer, has coloured it black?)

If frogs raise their voices, it will rain. (If scientists acted with this belief, perhaps there would be no drought in the world.)

The howling of a dog is also regarded as news of a catastrophe. (It is out of brainlessness. And the catastrophe should not be the Day of Judgement…)

Whichever house the jay crows in, good tidings will come to that house. If a black crow crows in whose house, a funeral will come out of that house. (You paint it white as soon as you catch it; thus you neutralise the trouble).

If an owl hoots in whose house, either trouble or death will come to that house. (Did we not paint the crow for this reason just now? How difficult it is to maintain peace in these times.)

The snake seen on the road is a sign of good luck and good fortune. (I believe that if you approach it when it is seen, even more auspicious results will be obtained.)

If a dog howls while the evening and night adhan are being recited, someone will die in that neighbourhood. (It is from prayer, from prayer…)

If rabbits, foxes and black cats cross the road, bad luck will come. (Even if I have a gun in my hand?)

The cawing of a crow is interpreted as a sign that a guest or someone who is abroad will come. (This belief must be before the invention of the telephone.)

If one passes under the staircase, one will not grow taller, but shorter. (This belief indicates that one who uses the lift will be taller. I wonder how tall Pharaoh, who built a high building to reach the Lord of Moses (a.s.), would have been if he had used the elevator.)

If work is started on Tuesday, the work will shake as soon as it is finished. (If the bosses believe, I am sure that the labourer will have no difficulty in believing.)

It is not good to drink milk and buy a house on Wednesday. (Estate agents and milkmen should be put to death for serving this evil.)

If laundry is washed on Thursday, one becomes rich. (It may be a believable truth for those who own detergent factories.)

In Turkish, Gûl is known as Gûlyabani, as well as witch or ghoul. Today, there is a widespread belief that the ghouls are prevented from causing harm by saying “destur” when passing through deserted places. The belief of marrying ghouls or goblins is also one of the beliefs that have become quite famous today.

The planets rotate and change places. Days change constantly according to the rotation of the earth. Animals sing or howl for any reason at any time. Since jinns or spiritual beings also have the right to live, they live in a deserted place. All these and similar phenomena are witnessed, but attributing these actions to oneself had nothing to do with reason.

Ta’eum: To regard as inauspicious, to attribute to inauspiciousness, to attribute to evil

[684] Kamus, II, 307; Alusi, Bulugu al-Arab, II, 340; Nawawi, Minhaj (Sharh Muslim), XIV, 216

[685] Sahih Bukhari Muhtasari Tajrîd-i Sarih Translation and Commentary, vol. 4, pp. 418-420

[Ibn Ishaq, Sira, p.92; Ibn Hisham, Sira I, p.201

[687] Kemalettin Demiri, Hayat’ul Hayvan, Meral publishing house, p.206

[688] Muslim, Salam, 124

[689] Abu Dawud, Tıbb, 24

[690] Contamination

[691] Safar, according to Ibn al-Asir, is a snake. “The Arabs used to think that there was a snake in their bellies called safar, which would bite them when hungry and cause them pain.” It has also been said that this is a disease that is believed to be found in the abdomen of man or animal and spread; it is also said that this refers to the month of safar itself, and that it is believed that it will be jinxed when it enters safar. (Ibrahim Canan, Qutub-i sitte translation and commentary, Akçağ publications 11/468)

[692] Jinx believed to come to the house when an owl lands on a roof

[693] Bukhari, Tıbb 54; Muslim, Salam 101

[694] Muslim, Salam, 107-108, 1744-1745

[695] Sahih Muslim and its Translation, vol. 7, pg. 87

[696] Aynī, Umdat al-Qari, XI, 396; Ibn Qutayba, Uyunu al-Akhbar, 1147

[697] Attributed, based on

[698] Abu Dawud, Musnad, 215 1537; Ibn Hajar, Fath al-bari VI, 47

[699] Ali Celik, Asr’ı Saadette Islam, Beyan Publications, Volume 4, pg.55

[700] Tribulation, torment, torture

[701] Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad VII, 168