Has someone ever complimented you on how beautiful your child is, only for your child to fall down flat on its face moments later?

Have you ever driven your new car out for the first time and ended up in a car accident minutes later?

Has anyone ever admired your smooth skin only for you to break out in spots hours later?

Envy. That fierce flame that rages deep in the heart of every envier. The flame that no amount of smiles and fake compliments can hide.

Envy (“hasad” in Arabic) is one of the most damaging diseases of the heart. It is when you see something good that someone else has, but you wish that they didn’t have it.

Beauty, wealth, children, a nice house, a good car, a talent, a skill, success, promotion…

Envy is destructive because it leads to The Evil Eye, known as “al-ain” in Arabic, “nazar” in Urdu/Turkish/Farsi and “mata jahat” in Malay.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “The Evil Eye is real, and if anything were to overtake the Divine Decree (Al-Qadar) it would have been the Evil Eye.” [Muslim]

The Evil Eye takes place when an envier has such raging envy in their heart that it causes harm to the person or object being envied.

It is a piercing arrow that leaves the soul of the envier and hits the person being envied. Sometimes it affects the envied, sometimes it doesn’t.

When it does affect the envied, the harm is proportionate to the hatred, malice and anger in the heart of the envier.

At its lowest end it can cause a dinner plate to smash, items to break or clothing to rip.

At its highest end it can cause divorce, miscarriage, serious injury or even death.

Yes, the Evil Eye can kill. There are many accounts in Islamic texts whereby people have actually lost their lives and limbs as a result of being afflicted by the Evil Eye.

I knew a family whose son was very handsome in his childhood.

That boy would fall and hurt himself so many times in a day that his mother said:

“If the school was to examine my son’s body, they would call in social services to investigate whether we have been abusing him.”

There are three simple ways that we can protect ourselves and our children from the Evil Eye:

1. The Morning and Evening Supplications

These are a set of small twice-daily supplications which only take about 10 minutes to say.

The Prophet (pbuh) said that if you say them twice daily, they will protect you against all type of hidden and open harm.

Hidden harm means envy, Evil Eye, jealousy, black magic, jinn possession, nightmares, etc.

Open harm means falling over, cutting your hand, being attacked on the street, having a car accident, being robbed, etc..

The morning ones should be said anytime after Fajr (dawn) or as soon as possible at the start of your day. Ideally, say them before you leave your house for the day.

The evening ones should be recited anytime after Asr (late afternoon time) but before sunset. After the sun sets, much evil is unleashed.

Recite them, encourage your families to say them and blow them over young children.

The first time you look at them, take a few moments to read what they mean and what benefits they will bring you.

And yes, these words are so powerful that I have even known people to benefit from them who are not Muslim – as long as they believe the words to be true.

I have given below an online link to these supplications and there are also several apps that you can download on your mobile devices by searching for “Morning and Evening Remembrance Supplications”

2.Do not share or spread any good news about yourself except to the small number of people who rejoice at your good fortune

Sadly, this includes families and relatives since sometimes it is those closest to you who envy you most and cause you the most harm.

I do wonder about the people who share on social media every single good thing that happens to them: new job, good exam results, an evening out.

I wonder whether these people lock the doors and windows of their houses at night, yet open widely the doors to their lives inviting every envier and sick person to shoot arrows of Evil Eye at them.

I sure hope they have said their morning and evening duas and these duas protect them from the Evil arrows.

3. Stay away from enviers or only share bad news with them

Stay away from enviers and keep your family away from them. At all costs.

And if you have no choice but to mix with them, limit it as much as you can and only share with them the worst possible news about yourself or your family.

Enviers have this world view that everyone else’s life is perfect but their own life is full of problems.

Since they are unhappy inside they cannot bear to see anyone else happy.

Sharing bad news with enviers can cool some of their burning envy and take the steam out of their Evil arrows.

If you are an envier, I have a secret to share with you…

The envy of every envier appears on his or her face and in his or her eyes. No amount of smiles and fake compliments can hide your envy.

I remember I was in a prison once when the brother-in-law of this prisoner named Martin was granted bail.

When Martin found out, his face momentarily dropped, and then he acted as if he was happy at the news.

But it was too late. All the other prisoners noticed it, with one even saying to me, “Martin has a sick heart.”

So if you are an envier, before you worry about treating your bodily diseases and illnesses, concentrate on your heart and ask Allah to cure you of this destructive disease.

Do you have any stories to share of how the Evil Eye affects people? Why don’t you share them below?

The Morning and Evening Supplications can be found here in English, Arabic and transliterated.

My story and why I blog can be read here.

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