al-Ayn Haqq
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dār al-Taqwá lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
al-Ayn Haqq (The Evil Eye Is Real) is an Islamic legal and doctrinal treatise by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Muti (also known as Muhammad ibn Sanjab al-Athari) dedicated to the subject of the evil eye (al-ayn) and envy (al-hasad).
Scope and Contents
The author prepared the work to address the reality of the evil eye, presenting it as an established phenomenon attested by the Quran, the Sunnah, consensus (ijma'), and sound reason. The treatise compiles the statements of classical and contemporary Islamic scholars regarding the legal rulings (al-masa'il al-fiqhiyya) connected to the evil eye.
Key topics addressed in the book include:
- The distinction between destructive envy (hasad) and benign emulation (ghibtah), the signs and mechanisms of envy, and the fact that it can stem from both humans and jinn, as well as from righteous individuals.
- The legal ruling concerning someone who causes death through the evil eye.
- The definition, scriptural legitimacy, and forms of lawful incantation (ruqyah), along with therapeutic remedies for afflicted persons.
- The practice of performing ruqyah over animals, property, and inanimate possessions.
- Unlawful innovations and deviations introduced by practitioners of ruqyah (bida al-ruqat).
- Preventative measures against envy, with an emphasis on relying strictly on revealed texts rather than speculative empirical trials (mujarrabat).
Method and Reception
Rather than attempting an exhaustive compilation of all transmitted hadiths on the evil eye, the author focused on expounding legal and scholarly discussions, providing hadith verification and authentication (takhrij) for the narrations he cites.
The contemporary researcher Husayn ibn Ghazi al-Tuwayjiri praised the treatise as one of the finest writings produced on the topic, noting its careful attention to hadith referencing while highlighting eight narrations related to the subject that Ibn Abd al-Muti had not included. The work was published by Dar al-Taqwa in Shubra al-Khaymah.
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