His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) is a beaming beacon of Divine guidance and support. His Holiness (aba) represents the highest level of a connection with God in today’s world and thus he is the spiritual leader for tens of millions across the world, and champions the message of fulfilling the rights owed to God, and fulfilling the duties we each owe to our fellow human beings. Over the course of his Friday Sermons, addresses on various occasions, meetings with different organizations and children’s classes, His Holiness (aba) imparts invaluable knowledge and insight on a remarkably vast array of topics.
The Review of Religions is honoured to present some of these ‘Rays of Wisdom’ from His Holiness (aba) taken from various sources, for the benefit of its readers.
Is the ‘Evil Eye’ Real?
In certain cultures, there is a concept of the ‘evil eye’, where someone, fueled by malice or jealousy, casts an evil look upon another to ruin their good fortune or cause them harm. There are some who deeply believe in this concept and do their best to avoid any aspect of the evil eye at all costs. There are others who write this off as nothing more than superstition. Once, someone asked His Holiness (aba) whether the evil eye is a real thing, and if so, how one can safeguard against it.
His Holiness (aba) replied:
‘The fact is that when it comes to those who cast an evil eye, it is not as simple as them casting a malevolent glance and something happening as a result. One should pray to Allah the Almighty in order to protect against the evil eye and to be safeguarded against those who harbour jealousy; pray that Allah the Almighty protects us from the evil of those who harbour jealousy.
The reality is that, on account of their jealousy, people who are jealous adopt certain ploys to cause harm to others. They devise some sort of plan in an attempt to cause harm. It is not done simply by casting an evil eye; however, those who cast an evil eye are certainly those who harbour jealousy about something in their hearts. Hence, you should recite istighfar [1] and recite: “there is neither might nor any power except with Allah.”
Aside from this, there is no actual reality to the notion that a person can cause harm to someone simply by casting an evil eye. In fact, when someone casts an evil eye, it means that they harbour jealousy and, as a result, take practical measures to inflict harm. This is what one should strive to protect themselves against.
Otherwise, you should not be worried that if someone simply casts an evil eye, then your face will become deformed, the growth of your height will become impeded, you will lose your mind or that you will become mentally upset – no. Sometimes people are able to psychologically mesmerise others to such an extent that they become influenced by them. If you recite, “there is neither might nor any power except with Allah”, and you have faith in Allah, then you will be fine.
As far as jealousy is concerned, Allah the Almighty teaches a prayer in the last chapters of the Holy Qur’an, “And [I seek refuge] from the evil of the envier when he envies.” [2]
However, the Promised Messiah (as) has written that in certain instances, jealousy can be justified; not jealousy for the sake of causing harm, rather envy in the context of praising someone and thinking to yourself that this person is performing such virtuous deeds, and so you should do the same. This is a different variation of jealousy where a person thinks to themselves that they should perform the same level of good deeds as another. This, in other words, is known as envy; when a person praises the actions of another in their heart and takes them as an example and attempts to emulate them. It becomes a sort of competition. Some people might call this competition jealousy, but in reality, it’s not jealousy; it’s competition, and it is permissible to compete in doing good works.’ [3]
ENDNOTES
1. Prayer for seeking forgiveness from God – ‘I seek forgiveness from Allah, my Lord, for all my sins, and turn to Him.’
2. The Holy Qur’an, 113:6.
3. Meeting with Khuddam from South West Region, USA – 12th January 2025.
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