Omens

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Belief in a bad omen is polytheism (shirk)." [Tirmidhi]

Many things are taken as good or bad omens all over the world. Superstitious people don't like to have black cats cross their paths, or walk underneath ladders, or are afraid of the number 13, and so forth and so on. Every culture has its own list of omens. 

The problem with believing that something such as a stone, cat, or any other object, can change your fortune, means that you are ascribing to it powers that belong to Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) alone. Giving Allah's attributes to other than Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) is shirk in His attributes (shirk fee asma wa sifaat). Allah is the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. Nothing happens except with His Knowledge and His Will. If some harm comes to you, it does not come because of the omen nor can it be avoided by avoiding the omen. Only asking Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) for His protection can avert it.

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