ABSTRACT
One of the cultural syndromes affecting the Muslim communities is the ‘Evil Eye.’ In Arabic, the word Al ‘Ayn means the one who put the evil eye on another. It is mainly envy and jealousy that stimulate the evil eye to cause harm. One does not need to be in the presence of the envious person to cast the evil eye and even a blind person can still direct the evil eye to the person to afflict that person. According to Islamic tradition, the evil eye is a reality and from two sources: the evil eye from mankind and the evil eye from Jinn. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah suggested that the evil eye is like an arrow which comes from the soul of the one that emits the evil eye towards the one who is envied. According to Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen, the origin of the evil eye is from envy that is because the one who causes the evil eye has in his heart envy for the servants of Allah and he does not love any good for anyone. Envy is a psychological state in which an individual shows resentment and wishes for the deprivation of a blessing from another person. In other words, to want for oneself what someone else has or possesses. Envy has both positive and negative connotations in Islamic literature. Envy that is free from malice is also referred to as positive desire. However, envy is harmful socially, psychologically and spiritually. There are several causes and motives of envy including enmity, pride, supremacy, fear, love of leadership and authority, and evil nature of the soul. The Fatwa of the Scholars of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’ stated that anyone who casts an evil eye on another is an envier, but not every envier is necessarily a caster of the evil eye. This chapter examines evil eye from an Islamic perspective including evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah. The effects, signs and symptoms and issues and problems relating to evil eye and envy will also be examined.
