Wearing ring over which Quran was recited as amulet
Fatwa No: 327748

Question

Assalaamu alaykum. My husband is a very good man, he would hardly ever miss his obligatory prayers and fasts, recites Quran almost daily, and enforces this practice in our home. Recently, we were struck with a mild financial difficulty for which we had to fork out a lot of money from our savings that went in vain; in addition, my husband had a car accident in which, by the grace of Almighty, he was safe, but there was a financial toll again. My husband's brother told him to recite chapters from the Quran (including verses from Surah Al-Baqarah, the two last chapters, and the names of Allaah) daily as a protection, and he told him to incorporate it in his daily recitation. My husband did that. His brother also asked my husband to wear a silver ring (that he will send from overseas) on which he has recited some verses from the Quran. The ring does not have any written inscription on it. My questions are:
1) Is it permissible to wear such ring for the purpose of protection and warding off evil/effects of magic/wrong doings by other people who may be involved? (His argument is that, since it has Quranic verses recited on it, it should be effective, and those are Allaah's verses, so it is not Shirk [polytheism].)
2) What is the islamic ruling on wearing Quranic verses (either in written form or recited upon a piece of jewelry like a pendant or ring) around the neck/finger and so on. My husband has not worn it yet since it is coming from overseas and has not reached us yet. Kindly help us in this matter as I am extremely worried and do not want to do an act that would affect our Afterlife. May Allaah reward you. May Allaah reward you.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There are legitimate means to protect oneself from the evil eye and envy, such as Ruqyah (healing through Quranic recitation and supplications), Thikr (expressions of remembrance of Allaah), and supplications that were recited by the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam. We have previously underlined them in fataawa 88660 and 88705.

Wearing silver jewelry, even if Quranic verses have been recited over it, is not from among these means. We did not find any statement of the Muslim scholars indicating that one should recite the Quran over something and then wear it for that purpose. Rather, the difference of opinion among the scholars was regarding the amulets containing written Quranic verses. The preponderant view to us is to forbid all kinds of amulets given the general indication of the relevant religious texts underlining the prohibition in this regard. Please, refer to fatwa 91549.

Therefore, it is impermissible for your husband to wear this ring. People often wear silver rings and the like because of their belief that silver itself wards off the evil eye and magic, and not because Quran has been recited over it; otherwise, what is the point of wearing a silver ring in particular? There is no doubt that this is considered Shirk; it may be a major or minor Shirk depending on the belief harbored by the person.

Shaykh Haafith Al-Hakim wrote:

"The objects in reference, to which the hearts of most common Muslims incline, mostly fall into the category of minor Shirk; however, if the person places his confidence in them and believes with certainty that they can bring about benefit or harm, then it would constitute major Shirk; may Allaah safeguard us. This is because this person has relied on other than Allaah. Whoever places his trust in a sea-shell, canine tooth, ring, wolf's eye, thread, eagle's body part, string, or the soil of a grave... Allaah will leave his affair to that which he has placed his trust in..." [Maʻaarij Al-Qabool]

Allaah knows best.

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