up being successful in your hunting!” The king freed the man immediately, and gave him great gifts in return for what had happened.^[1]

Dear Islamic brothers, you heard how the superstitious king tied a one-eyed man in the sun for the entire day after considering him to be an ill omen. Despite this, the king was more successful than usual. Whatever superstitious inclination anyone has concerning any person, animal, day or month (even though these things have absolutely no basis in Islam whatsoever) can be uprooted if we derive lessons from this story. Remember, those who fall for superstitions consider everything to be a bad omen. They fall victim to listening to the words of small-minded people, put themselves in difficulty and make the lives of others miserable. Considering another Muslim to be “bad luck” can lead to becoming an individual full of hate. Making people superstitious is a weapon of Satan, which causes disputes and destroys tranquillity. In Islam, no person, place or time is a cause of misfortune; these are all baseless superstitions.

The Imam of the Ahl al-Sunnah, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was once asked this question:

A certain person is considered unlucky. If people see him in the morning or on the way to work, they believe a worry of some sort is inbound. After seeing this person, others believe a problem will definitely occur, no matter how unlikely it may be. They even convince themselves these problems take place when nothing of the sort occurs at all.  If they pass by this person outside, they return home, wait for him to pass, and then set off for work. The question is, how is it for them to believe in such things and act in response to them? Is it disliked by Shari’ah?

The great imam went on to say in reply: