stop working. It may also strike a water pump or an earth tiller. The evil eye is real and strikes by the permission of Allah, Glorified and Exalted. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, mentioned the darkening one when it sets in, those who blow upon knots, and the envier when he envies because, in all three cases, the affliction is hidden. Night is a covering and a veil:
“By the night when it covers” [al-Layl: 1].
Evil lurks within it unseen. “Those who blow upon knots”—magic, too, is hidden and unknown. “The envier when he envies”—the person who casts the evil eye is likewise hidden. The evil eye may come from someone whom you consider among the people dearest to you, while you are among the people dearest to him, yet he still strikes you with it. This is why Allah singled out these three matters: the darkening one when it sets in, those who blow upon knots, and the envier when he envies. Otherwise, they are already included in His words, “from the evil of what He has created.”
If someone asks, “What is the way to be delivered from these three evils?”
We reply: The way to be delivered from them is for a person to attach his heart to his Lord, entrust his affairs to Him, truly rely upon Allah, and use the prescribed remembrances by which he fortifies and protects himself from their evil. Sorcerers, envious people, and the like have become so prevalent among people in recent times only because of their heedlessness toward Allah, their weak reliance upon Allah, Glorified and Exalted, and their infrequent use of the prescribed remembrances by which they may fortify themselves. We know that these prescribed remembrances are an impregnable fortress, stronger than the barrier of Gog and Magog. Regrettably, however, many people know nothing of these remembrances. Those who know them may often neglect them, and those who recite them may do so with inattentive hearts. All of this is a deficiency. Had people used these remembrances as prescribed by the Sharia, they would have been spared many evils. We ask Allah for well-being and safety.