“…قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ : “لاَ عَدْوَى وَلاَ طِيَرَةَ وَلاَ هَامَةَ وَلاَ صَفَرَ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘There is no ‘Adwa (no contagious disease is conveyed without Allah’s permission), nor is there any bad omen from birds, nor is there any Hamah, nor is there any bad omen in the month of Safar….” [Bukhari]
Safar is the second month in the Islamic calendar. During the Jahiliyya days (Years of ignorance before the coming of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) people used to believe the month of Safar was a month of bad luck, therefore, they would avoid any events of celebration. This belief is incorrect. We do not believe there is bad luck in any day or month in the year.
As Muslims, we believe an illness being contagious does not have the power to harm others unless it is willed by Allah. Merely by sitting with one who has chicken pox or a disease, does not mean certainly we will get it too.
We do not deny that an illness can spread, and certain people are more prone to this than others. Hence, as a matter of caution they are told to avoid such circumstances. However, we believe it was passed because Allah willed for it to happen. An illness cannot spread nor harm anyone unless it is the decree of Allah. Therefore, we make our faith strong that whatever is supposed to happen, then it will be! regardless with who we sit.
Abdullah ibn Masood r.a said: Your imaan is not complete until you have full faith in your heart, that whatever is to come to you will never miss you, and whatever is to miss you, will never come to you.
There is no such thing as taking omens from flying birds or even bad luck, such as; seeing a black cat or walking under a ladder. The thing that brings us bad outcome is our actions, as mentioned in the Quran:
قَالُوا طَائِرُكُم مَّعَكُمْ ۚ أَئِن ذُكِّرْتُم ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ
They said, “Your omen is with yourselves. Is it because you were reminded? Rather, you are a transgressing people.” [36:19]
The above is an edited summary of Jumuah speech by Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Nawab delivered on 18/10/19. Link to the full speech https://saleemnawab.com/jumuah-bayans/ (audio no.53)
