‘Ā’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her—said: “Glory be to Allah! The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, married me in Shawwāl, consummated the marriage with me in Shawwāl, and I was the most beloved of his wives to him.” How, then, can it be claimed that whoever marries in Shawwāl will be unsuccessful?

They also regarded Wednesday as inauspicious, yet Wednesday is merely one of the days of the week; it carries no bad omen whatsoever. Some of them even drew ill omens from people’s faces: if a man saw a face he disliked, he grew pessimistic. It went so far that if a shopkeeper opened his store and the first person to enter was one-eyed or blind, he would immediately close up and say, “There will be no provision today.”

Such pessimism, in addition to being minor shirk (associating partners with Allah in a lesser form), brings nothing but anguish upon a person; he suffers at every sight he encounters. Were he to place his trust in Allah and abandon these superstitions, he would be safe and his life would become clear and happy.

As for the phrase, “and upon their Lord they depend,” it means that they rely upon Allah alone in every matter, placing no dependence on anyone else, for He—exalted is He—has said: “And whoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him” (Surah al-Ṭalāq 65:3). Whoever is sufficed by Allah has been spared every concern.

This magnificent hadith, then, sets out the qualities of those who will enter Paradise without reckoning or punishment: they do not ask for ruqyah, they do not cauterize themselves, they take no omens, and they depend upon their Lord. The proof-text for the chapter is the phrase, “and upon their Lord they depend.”

At that point ‘Ukkāshah ibn Miḥṣan—may Allah be pleased with him—stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to make me one of them.” He hastened toward goodness and was the first to seek it, whereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, “You are one of them.”