According to the Quran, Possession, bewitchment and evil eye do not exist! Literal analysis of Surah 113 (part 2)

Part 2 – Idolatry and Irrationality

According to the Quran, Possession, bewitchment and evil eye do not exist!

Literal analysis of Surah 113

This second part is devoted to the continuation of our Literal Exegesis of Surah 113. As we mentioned in the previous article, we have demonstrated that the referring verse S2.V102 totally invalidates belief in witchcraft and magic.⁽¹⁾ Quranic criticism totally rejects these superstitions while Islamic Exegesis validates and institutionalizes them. This same conflict is therefore found regarding the subject of Surah 113.

In fact, the Koran continues its monotheistic and rational criticism and will deconstruct three of the most common superstitions in the Koranic era and, unfortunately, still in our time.(2) vs3-5 of Sura 113 thus refer to the belief in ownership, the spell, the evil eye.

Thematically, this is to indicate that irrationality is linked to idolatry polytheistic while antithetically the vs1-2 highlight the link between monotheism And rationality ; cf. Part 1: https://oumma.com/selon-le-coran-possession-envoutement-et-mauvais-oeil-nexistent-pas-analyse-litterale-de-la-sourate-113/

– Here first of all is our literal translation of Surah 113, as recently published(3):

In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Merciful

Say: I take refuge with the Lord of the Dawn at his rising
against the evil of what He created,
against the evil of a dark night when it grew stronger,
against the evil of those who blew on the knots,
against the evil of an envious man when he has coveted.

***

– In these words: “ against the evil of a dark night when it grew stronger “, v3. Based on the above, reference is made here to the ancient fear of Men who, enveloped by the night, imagined it populated by evil creatures, the glow of dawn then freeing the world from this grip.

It is from this archaic background that the belief of the polytheistic Arabs was born regarding the influence of occult forces on the reason and bodies of Men, a belief that is almost universal. Moreover, if the hapax ghāsiq effectively qualifies the beginning of the dark night: the “ dark night », the verbal hapax waqaba does not mean to deepenbecoming dark, expanding and other meanings falsely induced by the exegetical idea of a simple physical description of the darkening night.

Semantically, literally the verb waqaba means break into escape, to hide, sink and, figuratively speaking about a misfortune: invade, surround, envelop, surround.

In connection with the false beliefs that the Koran denounces, we are therefore led to think that by “ against the evil of a dark night/ghāsiq when she got stronger/waqaba » is given the image of all the psychic states and profound physical alterations that Men in their ignorance attributed to various processes of possession due to evil beings, jinns, sorcerers and others.

We have seen so many baseless superstitions that the Koran rationally rejects in the name of faith in the oneness of God, which implies that no element of divine creation can hold the slightest particle of occult power. Also, ” Say: I take refuge with the Lord of the Dawn at his rising (the rational monotheistic revelation)”, the only Master and the only holder of power, ” against evil » of ignorance and superstitions.

These consist of believing that certain disorders and evils which affect us come from cases of mental possessions which you qualify as “ dark night when it grew stronger ” in U.S. It will be noted that the term ghāsiq is indeterminate, without the article: “ a dark night “, which indicates that it is not a question of there night itself, but of a particular darkness describing the obscuration of inner states according to the beliefs of the polytheistic idolatrous Arabs.

– In these words: “ against the evil of those who blew on the knots “, v4. This verse therefore mentions the second of the irrational magical beliefs rejected in this surah. This is to designate thus the spell, beliefs and practices widespread almost universally. We note that the term an–naffāthāt/those who blow suppose that according to Arab belief only women used this magic.

Curiously, probably because of the exegesis of this surah, in the hadith concerning the person who is said to have bewitched the Prophet with the help of a knotted cord, we see that it is a man, a Jew named Labīd ibn al–A’ṣam. At the very least, this proves that in II^e century this practice of witchcraft, and witchcraft in general, was attributed to both men and women.⁽⁴⁾

According to our commentators, for this black magic technique the sorcerer made a certain number of knots while blowing or sputtering on them, meaning of the verb naffatha, as if to infuse it with his power. This curse is then deemed to bewitch the one against whom it is directed and it is from this belief that the v4 testifies.

The Exegesis has particularly validated the operating reality of this type of bewitchment and thus founded the Islamic belief in this superstition, the eleven knots of Labīb are still tied in our minds. The circle was closed, the hermeneutic knot strangled the frail solitary reason. Obviously, just as previously, this surah and this verse deny any reality to witchcraft as to all other forms of occult powers and reject these beliefs and practices relating to shamanism and paganism and, indeed, charlatanism.

That the Arab idolaters could have believed in this is understandable, that a monotheistic believer has faith in it is much more problematic, because only God has the power to influence the course of events and beings. That a contemporary Muslim still persists in believing in it in the name of his faith reflects pietistic schizophrenia, a pathology of the soul and spirit.

As we have said, the Koran is firmly opposed to belief in witchcraft and magic since the monotheistic faith as it defines it calls for a rational reading of the world, the only paradigm capable of combining Faith And Reason.

– In these words: “ against the evil of an envious man when he coveted “, v5. This is the third belief that we are asked to flee in order to take refuge in God against all the unfounded superstitions which construct the irrationality of the relationship between Men and the World. THE ” wrong/sharra » in question can be identified with what popular cultures, again almost universally, call the evil eye.

Indeed, this assumes as real the fact that a simple look emanating from a person with ill intentions, most often out of envy: “ the evil of an envious person/ḥāsid “, can destroy in one way or another the things or beings that he ” coveted/ḥasada “.

In fact, the belief in the evil eye is based on a very old theory about the nature of the gaze. For the Egyptians, the Greeks and the cultures of the Near East, the gaze comes from the eye like the rays of the Sun making it the one that sees everything. In this way, the sun is the eye of the day, the moon the eye of the night and their rays are what these two stars see by, by analogy it is therefore the same with the human eye.

Thus, since the gaze for them came from the eye, according to this “logic” it was assumed to have power over things: the evil eye ! However, why should we be obliged to remember that rationally and physiologically the gaze is not a phenomenon which goes from the eye towards the object looked at, but the reverse, i.e. the passive perception by the eye of the light refracted by the thing looked at.

This being said, and as previously, the Exegesis has ratified the belief in the evil eye in defiance of its Koranic condemnation by inscribing it in stone in the Hadith.

Let us cite among many sayings: “ The evil eye is a reality »⁽⁵⁾ and this anti-monotheistic affirmation and moreover contradictory with the orthodox belief in Predestination seems to have been fully endorsed: “ If anything can forestall predestination, it’s the evil eye » !⁽⁶⁾

To imagine that people can intervene in the order of God’s creation and against the power of His determination is opposed to true faith in God and His Almighty power. That the first exegetes and the generations of Muslims after them were able to believe in such ignorance only reflects the mentalities and the level of knowledge of their times.

That current Muslims persist in believing in the evil eye makes one wonder if they are not all victims of an evil eye making them mistake exegetical bladders for the lanterns of reason! We will consult again our critical analysis: Witchcraft and Magic according to the Koran and in Islam.(7)

– In the end, in this surah which declares occult forces to be unfounded, v2denied all reality to three superstitions deeply anchored in the imagination of Men: ownership, v3, the spell, v4, the evil eye, v5. Believers are thus asked to seek support only in God and to fear only Him and to erase all fear.

He is the only one who holds power over His creation, any other belief is only illusion, misguidance and pretension. Despite everything, what the Koran cited in order to better deny it was interpreted as implying a Koranic validation of the phenomena of magic and witchcraft. While the Quran asks to take refuge in God from all these superstitions, i.e. rejecting them in the name of the monotheistic faith, we wanted to understand that this was about protecting ourselves in God against the reality of these evil practices, God then being like a counter-power. But, for those who want to use both their faith and their reason, how can we admit that God can be evil and its cure at the same time!

Furthermore, we repeat, the fact that the Quran mentions witchcraft practices and common superstitions and the fact that many men believe in their effectiveness is absolutely not proof that the Quran has thus validated their reality and efficiency, quite the contrary, we will have shown it. What the Koran condemned, the Exegesis refused and, consequently, it validated the talismanic practices intended to combat the imaginary misdeeds of witchcraft and magic, in particular by the recitation of suras 113 and 114 said then al–mu’awwidhatān/both talismanic or protective.

To tell the truth, the persistence of these archaisms unfortunately distracts Muslims from the path of rationality and progress to which the Koran called them and still calls them. Islam, the fruit of the mentality of Men, has endeavored to reduce this revealed revolution and to impose beliefs and superstitions as constitutive of our faith…

Dr al Ajami

(1) https://oumma.com/selon-le-coran-la-sorcellerie-et-la-magie-nexistent-pas-analyse-litterale-de-s2-v102-103/

(2) The fourth of these beliefs is considered by Sura 114 which, from this point of view, is complementary to Sura 113. We will shortly publish our analysis of Sura 114.

(3) Literal translation of the Quran – the original message – by Dr al Ajamî: https://www.alajami.fr/produit/le-coran-le-message-a-lorigine/

(4) It seems that this was noticed since according to certain versions of this story it was the daughters of Labīd ibn al–A’ṣam who blew on the knots…

(5) Hadith reported by Muslim.

(6) Hadîth authenticated and reported by Ibn Ḥanbal.

(7) https://oumma.com/selon-le-coran-la-sorcellerie-et-la-magie-nexistent-pas-analyse-litterale-de-s2-v102-103/

Literal translation of the Quranic text

“The Quran – The Message at the Origin”