On the authority of Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There is no contagion, no bad omen, no hama, and no Safar.” Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim (1).

Muslim adds: “and no nawʾ, and no ghūl” (2).

—

“No contagion (la ʿadwā)”: ʿAdwā is derived from iʿdāʾ, meaning for an illness to pass from the one who is afflicted to someone else. What is denied here is the pre-Islamic belief that disease spreads by its own nature, apart from the decree of Allah.

“No tiyarah”: Tiyarah is to assume ill fortune from birds, names, words, places, or persons. The particle la may be taken as a negation or a prohibition; as negation it is more emphatic.

“No hama”: The hama—pronounced with a light m—is the owl, from which they used to take bad omens. The hadith rejects and invalidates that superstition.

“No Safar”: Some said Safar refers to a worm in the belly that infects livestock and people and was thought more contagious than mange; the hadith negates that claim. Others said it refers to the month of Safar, which they held to be unlucky; the hadith abolishes that notion as well.

“No nawʾ”: Its explanation will come in its proper place, Allah willing.

“No ghūl”: A ghūl is a class of jinn or devils that people imagined would mislead travelers and destroy them. The hadith refutes this and makes clear that they have no power to mislead or destroy anyone.