- The hadith of Asmā bint Umays (may Allah be pleased with her).
Asmā bint Umays reported that she said, “O Messenger of Allah, Ja‘far’s children are afflicted by the evil eye. May I have ruqyah performed for them?” He replied, “Yes. If anything could outstrip the divine decree, it would be the evil eye.” (1)
- The hadith of Āmir ibn Rabīah (may Allah be pleased with him).
Abd Allah ibn Āmir ibn Rabīah related from his father, who said: “Sahl ibn Hunayf and I set out in search of a secluded place, and we found a sheltered spot beside a pool. Each of us felt too shy to bathe while the other could see him. Sahl therefore concealed himself from me, and once he thought himself hidden, he removed the cloak of coarse cloth that he was wearing and entered the water. I looked at him and admired his physique, and because of this I afflicted him with the evil eye. A violent fit seized him while he was in the water. I called to him, but he did not answer me. I therefore went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him what had happened. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Get up!’ He then went to Sahl, lifted his garment above his shin, and waded into the water toward him. When he reached him, he struck him on the chest and said, ‘O Allah, remove its heat, its cold, and its persistent pain.’ He then said, ‘Rise,’ and Sahl rose. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) then said, ‘If any of you sees something in himself, his property, or his brother that he admires, let him pray for blessing, for the evil eye is real.’” (2)
(1) *Sahīh* (authentic): Recorded by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhī (2059)—who graded it *hasan sahīh* (sound and authentic)—Ibn Mājah (3510), al-Humaydī (348) in my critical edition, and Ibn Abī Shaybah (23581). All transmitted it through Sufyān, from Amr ibn Dīnār, from Urwah ibn Āmir, from Ubayd ibn Rifāah, from Asmā, with the same report. Ibn Abī Shaybah also recorded it (23583): Abd al-Rahīm narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishāq, from Abd Allah ibn Abī Najīh, from Abd Allah ibn Thābit, the client of Jubayr ibn Mutim, from Asmā. However, this chain is weak. I could find no biographical entry for Abd Allah ibn Thābit. Ibn Abī Najīh is trustworthy but practiced *tadlīs* (concealment in transmission). Ibn Ishāq is *sadūq* (generally trustworthy) but also practiced *tadlīs*, and here he narrated using the ambiguous formula *an* (“from”). I could not identify the shaykh from whom Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated here. Two of his shaykhs were Abd al-Rahīm ibn Sulaymān and Abd al-Rahīm ibn Abd al-Rahmān al-Muhāribī, both of whom were trustworthy. It is most likely Ibn Sulaymān. However, Muhammad ibn Ishāq was not among the shaykhs of either man. Allah knows best.
(2) Weak: Recorded by Ibn Abī Shaybah in *al-Musannaf* (23594)—whose wording is quoted here—and through him by Abū Yalā in his *Musnad* (13:152–153, no. 7195), as well as by al-Nasā'ī in *al-Sunan al-Kubrā* (7511) and al-Diyā al-Maqdisī in *al-Ahādīth al-Mukhtārah* (213). All transmitted it through Muāwiyah ibn Hishām, from Ammār ibn Ruzayq, from Abd Allah ibn Īsā, from Umayyah ibn Hind, from Abd Allah ibn Āmir ibn Rabīah, from his father. Its narrators have been deemed trustworthy, except for Umayyah ibn Hind, who was graded *maqbūl* (acceptable); two narrators transmitted from him. He alone reports two details in this hadith that I do not believe are reliably preserved through him: first, its attribution to Āmir ibn Rabīah; and second, the Prophet’s supplication, “O Allah, remove its heat …” Allah knows best. Ibn Mājah (3506) recorded through the same chain only the end of the hadith: “The evil eye is real.”