Evidence for the Effect of the Evil Eye from the Standpoint of Rational Consideration

This section is not intended to establish the reality of the evil eye through rational argument or reflection. Praise be to Allah, I am not among those who give reason precedence over the revealed texts. Rather, I praise Allah Most High for having blessed me with the Sunnah and the way of the righteous predecessors, just as I praise Him for Islam. This position has been transmitted from the righteous predecessors—may Allah Most High join us with them. I merely wish to discuss some of the special properties inherent in created things, from which the occurrence of such effects may be inferred. I shall then discuss the approach of the righteous predecessors in this matter and refute the people of religious innovation by way of sincere counsel. May Allah facilitate this for us through His grace and generosity.

Among Allah’s mysteries in His creation are the properties He has instilled in His creatures, before which the intellect stands bewildered. You see a man before you succumbing to drowsiness, and suddenly you feel the need to sleep. Likewise, you see a man yawn, and you begin to yawn just as he does. This happens frequently, although the Muslim is encouraged to resist yawning as much as possible. You see a man stretching and tensing his body to shake off lethargy, and suddenly laziness begins to creep into you and all your energy vanishes to the winds. You see a man vomiting, and you are yourself overcome by vomiting without having induced it.

After all this, we cannot but affirm that human souls possess properties that neither the ignorance of an ignorant person nor the theorizing of an obstinate denier can discredit. Among those natural properties is the effect of the evil eye: it is real, and the gaze of one who casts it affects the soul of the envied person by Allah’s permission and decree.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “One of the expert physicians told me: ‘A nephew of mine became skilled in treating eyes with kohl and set himself up as an oculist—that is, he took up the profession and treated people. Whenever he opened a man’s eye, saw that it was inflamed, and treated it with kohl, he himself developed ophthalmia. This happened repeatedly, so he stopped seeing patients.’ I asked him, ‘What caused this?’ He replied, ‘It was the transference of the body’s natural state, for the human constitution is prone to imitation.’ He added, ‘I know another man who, whenever he saw an abscess at a certain place on someone’s body while that person was scratching it, would scratch the corresponding place on his own body, whereupon an abscess would appear there.’ I said: All this necessarily requires a predisposition in the constitution, with the underlying matter lying dormant and unmoving within it. It is then set in motion by one of these causes. These, then, are causes