I wear this ta‘vīz for some reason. Is it okay to wear it? My grandmother told me that it is beneficial to wear it. But, I am still not sure and would like to confirm. Please clarify.

Generally, the basic reasons for which a person wears a ta‘vīz are protection and earning the blessings of God. It is thought that certain words – Qur’ānic or other – if written in the ta‘vīz would protect a person from evil and attract the blessings of Allah.

It needs to be submitted that Islam does not recognize any ta‘vīz as a means of protecting oneself from harm, or for waiving away any evil or misfortune, or to attract well-being and happiness. All of these come from God alone. A true Muslim should seek refuge from evil, misfortune and harm by pleading to the Almighty, and he or she should desire happiness, well-being and joys by asking from the Almighty. That was the way of the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and indeed, the way of all other prophets. Beyond that, even reciting the Qur’ān without understanding it cannot be helpful, for the Qur’ān is a message that invites the reader to reflect on what it says, with the intent of implementing its teachings in his or her everyday life.

Thus we have no account of the Prophet (sws) using a ta‘vīz for the attainment of certain aims, and neither did he ever issue any such items to others – and we must not forget that he was an example for us all. Added to this is, obviously, the argument that the Prophet (sws) never allowed religion to become a slave of magic and sorcery. In fact, if at all, such references are found in religion, they have been on the part of the disbelievers and not the believers. For example the Qur’ān says:

And the unbelievers would almost trip you up with their eyes when they hear the Message and they say: ‘Surely he is possessed!’ But it is nothing less than a Message to all the worlds. (68:51-52)

 Even though the context of these verses is beyond the scope of the issue at hand, it is worthwhile to notice how both the Messenger of Allah, through whom the revelation of the Qur’ān was carried out, and the verses of Allah have been declared free of being carriers of magic and sorcery. So, how can it be imagined that certain ‘divine’ words can do magic simply by hanging them over a mirror or wearing them around the neck, etc.?

In the end, I would like to share the concern that, at times, it does become very difficult for us to shun tradition; nevertheless, in the end, one has to make a choice between tradition and religion.