I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators used by Muslim, except for Dukhayn, who is Ibn ʿAmir al-Hujari, Abu Layla al-Misri. Yaʿqub ibn Sufyan and Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy, and al-Hakim authenticated a report of his (4/384). Al-Hakim also transmitted it (4/219) through another route from Yazid ibn Abi Mansur.

The hadith has another route, narrated by Mushrah ibn Haʿan from him. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say:

“Whoever hangs an amulet, may Allah not bring it to completion for him; and whoever hangs a cowrie shell, may Allah grant him no peace.”

However, the chain leading to Mushrah is weak, containing an unknown narrator. For this reason, I cited it in the other book (1266).

Benefit

An amulet consists of beads which the Arabs used to hang upon their children, claiming that they protected them from the evil eye. Islam invalidated this, as stated in Ibn al-Athir’s al-Nihayah.

I say: This misguidance remains widespread among Bedouins, farmers, and some city dwellers. Similar to it are the beads that some drivers place before them in their cars, hanging them from the mirror! Some hang a sandal at the front or rear of the car, while others hang a horseshoe on the front of a house or shop—all of this, they claim, is to ward off the evil eye. There are also other such practices, which have become widespread and all-pervasive because of ignorance of the oneness of God, and of the polytheistic and pagan practices that contradict it—practices for no other purpose than to invalidate and eradicate which the messengers were sent and the Scriptures revealed. To Allah is the complaint concerning the ignorance of Muslims today and their remoteness from the religion.

For some, the matter has not stopped at mere violation; rather, they have gone so far as to seek nearness to Allah Most High through such practices! Thus, Shaykh al-Jazuli, the author of Dala'il al-Khayrat, says in the seventh litany for Sunday (p. 111, Bulaq edition):

“O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as long as the doves coo, and provide protection...”