Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Witchcraft and the Occult: Difference between revisions

The hadith literature are replete with references to witchcraft and the occult. The belief in the "evil eye" عين الحسودة is particularly prominent. According to this ancient and widespread belief, the act of envying what another person can put the "eye" upon them in a metaphysical sense, bringing misfortune of various kinds to the person who is on the receiving side of the envy. This eye can be warded off by, according to the idiosyncrasy of the superstition, by giving the person who is envious the object of their envy, using charms made to look like the eye itself (among them the so-called خمسة or hamsa), prayers, scripture reading, or various forms of magic. The belief itself is widespread in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies and is attested to widely in ancient Greek literature, where it was part of the metaphysical world of the ancient Greeks. The [[hadith]] tradition paints the prophet [[Muhammad]] himself as contending with the evil eye via prayers. Like with the evil eye, the tradition is unanimous in recognizing the reality of سحر "sahr" as in magic or witchcraft, which is envisioned as a black, malevolent force in league with [[shaytan]].