Is the evil eye real?
Nabi ﷺ said it is. He also said what to do about it, and hanging a blue bead for protection is not on that list.
Someone gets a new car. Someone’s baby is beautiful. Someone’s business is doing well. And someone in the family says, quietly: do not post that. People will give it the eye.
Then somebody else rolls their eyes. That is superstition, they say. We are Muslims. We do not believe in that.
So which is it?
Is the evil eye real?
Yes. Nabi ﷺ said it plainly: the evil eye is real. He said it more than once, and it is in the most trusted books we have.
He said something even stronger: if anything could beat what Allah has written, it would be the evil eye. Nothing can beat what Allah has written. But that shows you how serious he was about it.
So this is not an old superstition that slipped into Islam. It is part of the deen.
What is it, exactly?
The evil eye is harm that comes from someone looking at you with jealousy. It can even come from someone who admires you but forgets to remember Allah. The Quran tells us to ask Allah to protect us from a jealous person when he is jealous. That is what this is.
Here is a story from the time of Nabi ﷺ that shows it.
One of the companions was having a bath. Another companion walked past and saw him. He was impressed and said: I have never seen skin as beautiful as this.
Right after that, the first man collapsed. People carried him to Nabi ﷺ.
Nabi ﷺ asked them: who do you think did this? They named the man who had admired him, and told Nabi ﷺ what he had said.
So Nabi ﷺ said to him: why would one of you kill his own brother? When you see something you like in your brother, ask Allah to bless it.
The man had not touched his friend. He had only looked and admired, without asking Allah to bless what he saw. Nabi ﷺ was telling him that this look was what put his friend on the ground, and a look like that can even kill. Brother here means his brother in Islam.
That story teaches the whole thing. The eye is real, even from a good person who means no harm. And when you like something you see, say a blessing, so your look does no harm.
What did Nabi ﷺ tell us to do about it?
He gave us four things. None of them cost money.
Say a blessing when you admire something. Mashallah means as Allah willed. The Quran gives the full line: Mashallah, la quwwata illa billah. There is no power except with Allah. Say it when you see your friend’s new car, your cousin’s baby, or your own success.
Recite the last three surahs. For the evil eye itself, Nabi ﷺ relied on the last two, al-Falaq and an-Nas. He used to ask Allah to protect him from the evil eye of jinn and of people, and once those two were revealed, he used only them. And every night before sleeping he added Surah al-Ikhlas: he cupped his hands, recited all three, blew into his hands and wiped over his body, three times.
Ask Allah to protect your children. Nabi ﷺ used to say over his two grandsons: I seek refuge for you both in the perfect words of Allah, from every devil, every harmful creature, and every harmful eye. He said Ibrahim (AS) used to say the same over his sons.
If it has already happened, ruqyah. Nabi ﷺ said ruqyah is for the evil eye and for a poisonous sting. He saw a girl with a mark on her face in his wife’s house and said: she has the eye, treat her with ruqyah. Ruqyah means reciting the Quran and the duas he taught over the person. That is all it is. The duas are listed below, word for word.
The duas Nabi ﷺ used, word for word
Tap any of these to read it slowly. Say the Arabic if you can. If you cannot yet, the meaning is a dua too.
When you admire something
مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ
Mashallah, la quwwata illa billah.
As Allah willed. There is no power except with Allah.
Quran 18:39
For the person you admired
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَهُ
Allahumma barik lahu. For a woman: Allahumma barik laha.
O Allah, bless him.
The hadith says to pray for blessing for the person. This is the usual wording.
Sunan Ibn Majah 3509
Over your children
أُعِيذُكَ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ التَّامَّةِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ وَهَامَّةٍ وَمِنْ كُلِّ عَيْنٍ لَامَّةٍ
U’idhuka bi kalimatillahi-t-tammah, min kulli shaytanin wa hammah, wa min kulli ’aynin lammah.
I seek refuge for you in the perfect words of Allah, from every devil, every harmful creature, and every harmful eye.
For two children say u’idhukuma, the way Nabi ﷺ said it over his two grandsons.
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2060; Sunan Abi Dawud 4737
Before you sleep
قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّٰثَٰتِ فِى ٱلْعُقَدِ وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلنَّاسِ مَلِكِ ٱلنَّاسِ إِلَٰهِ ٱلنَّاسِ مِن شَرِّ ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ ٱلْخَنَّاسِ ٱلَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ
Surah al-Ikhlas, Surah al-Falaq, Surah an-Nas.
Cup your hands, recite the three surahs into them, blow softly, then wipe over your head, face and the front of your body. Do it three times. Do the same over a child.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5017
Over someone who is unwell
بِاسْمِ اللَّهِ أَرْقِيكَ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ يُؤْذِيكَ مِنْ شَرِّ كُلِّ نَفْسٍ أَوْ عَيْنِ حَاسِدٍ اللَّهُ يَشْفِيكَ بِاسْمِ اللَّهِ أَرْقِيكَ
Bismillahi arqik, min kulli shay’in yu’dhik, min sharri kulli nafsin aw ’aynin hasid, Allahu yashfik, bismillahi arqik.
In the name of Allah I recite over you, from everything that harms you, from the evil of every soul and every envious eye. May Allah heal you. In the name of Allah I recite over you.
Jibril (AS) said this over Nabi ﷺ when he was unwell.
Sahih Muslim 2186
Over someone who is unwell, with your right hand on them
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ النَّاسِ أَذْهِبِ الْبَاسَ اشْفِهِ وَأَنْتَ الشَّافِي لَا شِفَاءَ إِلَّا شِفَاؤُكَ شِفَاءً لَا يُغَادِرُ سَقَمًا
Allahumma Rabban-nas, adhhibil-ba’s, ishfihi wa antash-Shafi, la shifa’a illa shifa’uk, shifa’an la yughadiru saqama.
O Allah, Lord of people, take away the harm and heal him, for You are the Healer. There is no healing but Yours, a healing that leaves no illness behind.
Nabi ﷺ wiped the person with his right hand while saying it. For a woman say ishfiha.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5743; Sahih Muslim 2191
What about the blue bead?
This is where most of us go wrong.
The blue eye on the wall. The bead on the baby’s wrist. The string on the car mirror. None of it comes from Nabi ﷺ. These things are older than Islam.
It is not only the bead. Salt circled over a child’s head. Chillies burned to see if they smell. A black thread on the wrist. An egg broken at the door. Every family has its own version, and none of it is from Nabi ﷺ either.
So remember the difference. The evil eye is part of the deen. Most of what people do to stop it comes from culture. And the deen already gave us something better.
Nabi ﷺ said that charms and amulets are shirk. One of his closest companions found a thread tied on his wife for protection. He pulled it off, broke it, and said: my family does not need shirk. Nabi ﷺ also said that he has nothing to do with anyone who hangs up an amulet.
Think about what the bead means. It means trusting a piece of glass to protect you, when only Allah can. The surahs say the opposite: I seek protection with the Lord of people.
The eye is real. The bead is not the answer. Allah is.
So should I hide my good news?
You do not need to hide it out of fear. Nabi ﷺ did not tell the companion to cover up. He told the other man to say a blessing.
But there is wisdom in not showing off. Yaqub (AS) told his sons not to walk into the city together through one gate, but through different gates. Scholars say he was worried the evil eye would hit them. But he also said that he could not protect them from what Allah had decided, and that he trusted Allah.
That is the balance. Be modest about what you have. Say Mashallah about what others have. And trust Allah to protect you. Not the hiding, and not the bead.
What to do
- Say Mashallah, and mean it, every time you admire something, your own or someone else’s.
- Recite the last three surahs before you sleep, the way Nabi ﷺ did, and say his dua over your children.
- If you think someone has been affected, recite the Quran and the duas of Nabi ﷺ over them. That is ruqyah.
- Take the bead down, and gently tell your family why, using the hadith.
What not to do
- Do not laugh at the evil eye. Nabi ﷺ said it is real.
- Do not hang a charm, a blue eye, or a thread and call it protection. Nabi ﷺ called it shirk.
- Do not pay anyone who says he can remove the eye with things Nabi ﷺ never taught.
- Do not shame the person who gave it. Nabi ﷺ corrected the man and cured his brother. He did not humiliate anyone.
One last thing
Nabi ﷺ said the evil eye is real. And he said the way to stop yourself from giving it is to say a blessing.
Not a bead. Not silence. Not hiding.
The same person who can harm with a look can bless with a word. Nabi ﷺ told us to choose the word.
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 5740; Sahih Muslim 2187; Sahih Muslim 2188; Sunan Ibn Majah 3509; Quran 112:1-4; Quran 113:1-5; Quran 114:1-6; Quran 18:39; Sunan Ibn Majah 3511 (sahih per al-Albani, daif per Zubair Ali Zai); Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2058; Sahih al-Bukhari 5017; Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2060; Sunan Abi Dawud 4737; Sahih Muslim 2186; Sahih al-Bukhari 5743; Sahih Muslim 2191; Sunan Abi Dawud 3884; Sahih al-Bukhari 5739; Sahih Muslim 2197; Sahih al-Bukhari 5738; Sunan Ibn Majah 3510; Sunan Abi Dawud 3883; Sunan Ibn Majah 3530 (sahih per al-Albani, daif per Zubair Ali Zai); Sunan an-Nasa'i 5067; Quran 12:67
SM
The teaching in this post comes from the Quran and the hadith listed above. I only put it in plain words. The tips on what to do and what not to do are my own advice. If you want to talk about anything in this post, write to me at salam@sunnahdaily.com.
For a ruling on your own situation, please speak to a qualified local scholar. You are welcome to email me about it as well, and I will help if I can, or point you to someone who can.