The Book of Greetings

كتاب السلام

Chapter 35: The Prohibition Of Soothsaying And Going To Soothsayers

'Urwa reported from 'A'isha that she said that people asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) about the kahins. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to them

It is nothing (i. e. it is a mere superstition). They said: Allah's Messenger, they at times narrate to us things which we find true. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: That is a word pertaining to truth which a jinn snatches away and then cackles into the ear of his friend as the hen does. And then they mix in it more than one hundred lies.

'Abdullah. Ibn 'Abbas reported

A person from the Ansar who was amongst the Companions of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) reported to me: As we were sitting during the night with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), a meteor shot gave a dazzling light. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: What did you say in the pre-Islamic days when there was such a shot (of meteor)? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best (the actual position), but we, however, used to say that that very night a great man had been born and a great man had died, whereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: (These meteors) are shot neither at the death of anyone nor on the birth of anyone. Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, issues Command when He decides to do a thing. Then (the Angels) supporting the Throne sing His glory, then sing the dwellers of heaven who are near to them until this glory of God reaches them who are in the heaven of this world. Then those who are near the supporters of the Throne ask these supporters of the Throne: What your Lord has said? And they accordingly inform them what He says. Then the dwellers of heaven seek information from them until this information reaches the heaven of the world. In this process of transmission (the jinn snatches) what he manages to overhear and he carries it to his friends. And when the Angels see the jinn they attack them with meteors. If they narrate only which they manage to snatch that is correct but they alloy it with lies and make additions to it.

Chapter 37: Killing Snakes Etc.

Ibn 'Umar reported

I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) commanding the killing of dogs and the killing of the striped and the short-tailed snakes, for both of them affect the eyesight adversely and cause miscarriage. Zuhri said: We thought of their poison (the pernicious effects of these two). Allah, however, knows best. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar said: I did not spare any snake. I rather killed everyone that I saw. One day as I was pursuing a snake from amongst the snakes of the house, Zaid b. Khattab or Abu Lubaba happened to pass by me and found me pursuing it. He said: 'Abdullah, wait. I said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) commanded (us) to kill them, whereupon he said that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) forbade the killing of the snakes of the houses. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri with the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording.

'Abdullah reported that Abu Lubaba had informed him that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had forbidden the killing of the snakes found in the house.

Chapter 32: The Plague, Ill Omens, Soothsaying And The Like

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters except for the fact that no mention has been made of the account of 'Ata b. Yasir as in the previous hadith.

'Amir b. Rabi'ah reported

'Umar went to Syria and as he came to Sargh, information was given to him that an epidemic had broken out in Syria. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf narrated to him that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had said: When you hear of its presence in a land, don't move towards it, and when it breaks out in a land and you are therein, then don't run away from it. So 'Umar b. Khattab came back from Sargh. Salim b. 'Abdullah reported that 'Umar went back, along with people on hearing the hadith reported on the authority of 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf.

Chapter 33: There Is No 'Adwa, No Tiyarah (Evil Omens), No Hamah. No Safar, No Nawa', And No Ghoul, And No Sick Camel Should Be Brought To A Healthy Camel

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no trahsitive disease. Thereupon a desert Arab stood up. The rest of the hadith is the same and in the hadith transmitted on the authority of Zuhri' the Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said: There is no transitive disease, no safar, no hama.

Abu Salama h. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no transitive disease, but he is also reported to have said: A sick person should not be taken to one who is healthy. Abu Salama said that Abu Huraira used to narrate these two (different ahadith) from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), but afterwards Abu Huraira became silent on these words:" There is no transitive disease," but he stuck to this that the sick person should not be taken to one who is healthy. Harith b. Abu Dhubab (and he was the first cousin of Abu Huraira) said: Abu Huraira, I used to hear from you that you narrated to us along with this hadith and the other one also (there is no transitive disease), but now you observe silence about it. You used to say that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: There is no transitive disease. Abu Huraira denied having any knowledge of that, but he said that the sick camel should not be taken to the healthy one. Harith, however, did not agree with him, which irritated Abu Huraira and he said to him some words in the Abyssinian language. He said to Harith: Do you know what I said to you? He said: No. Abu Huraira said: I simply denied having said it. Abu Salama sad: By my life, Abu Huraira in fact used to report Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said: There is no transitive disease. I do not know whether Abu Huraira has forgotten it or he deemed it an abrogated statement in the light of the other one.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no transitive disease and he also reported along with it: The ill should not be taken to the healthy.

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no transitive disease, no ghoul, no safar.

Chapter 34: (Evil) Omens And Al-Fa'l, And That Which May Be Regarded As Inauspicious

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no transitive disease, no hama, no divination, but I like good omen.

Sahl b. Sa'd reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

If bad luck were to be in anything, it is found in the woman, the horse and the abode.

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

If bad luck were to be in anything, it is found in the land, in the servant and in the horse.

Chapter 35: The Prohibition Of Soothsaying And Going To Soothsayers

'A'isha reported

I said: Allah's Messenger, the kahins used to tell us about things (unseen) and we found them to be true. Thereupon he said: That is a word pertaining to truth which a jinn snatches and throws into the ear of his friend, and makes an addition of one hundred lies to it.

Safiyya reported from some of the wives of Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) having said

He who visits a diviner ('Arraf) and asks him about anything, his prayers extending to forty nights will not be accepted.

Chapter 37: Killing Snakes Etc.

Salim, on the authority of his father. reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying

Kill the snakes having stripes over them and short-tailed snakes, for these two types cause miscarriage (of a pregnant woman) and they affect the eyesight adversely. So Ibn 'Umar used to kill every snake that he found. Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir and Zaid b. Khattab saw him pursuing a snake, whereupon he said: They were forbidden (to kill) those snakes who live in houses.

Nafi' reported that Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir al-Ansari (first) lived in Quba. He then shifted to Medina and as he was in the company of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar opening a window for him, he suddenly saw a snake in the house. They (the inmates of the house) attempted to kill that. Thereupon Abu Lubaba said

They had been forbidden to make an attempt to kill house snakes and they had been commanded to kill the snakes having small tails, small snakes and those having streaks over them, and it was said: Both of them affect the eyes and cause miscarriage to women.

Chapter 32: The Plague, Ill Omens, Soothsaying And The Like

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Sa'd b. Malik, Khuzaima b. Thabit and Usama b. Zaid.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of 'Abdullah b. Harith with a slight variation of wording.

Chapter 33: There Is No 'Adwa, No Tiyarah (Evil Omens), No Hamah. No Safar, No Nawa', And No Ghoul, And No Sick Camel Should Be Brought To A Healthy Camel

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no infection, no safar, no hama. A desert Arab said: Allah's Messenger, how is it that when the camel is in the sand it is like a deer-then a camel afflicted with scab mixes with it and it is affected by sub? He (the Holy Prophet) said: Who infected the first one?Note: The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.