Can the cause of the distress my friend is experiencing—from leaving his job and lacking psychological and material comfort to familial disputes—be bad omens, especially after he contracted to purchase an apartment for marriage, or could his fiancée be the reason, or are these matters merely divine decree and destiny?

We advise the questioner to continue in obedience to Allah and to strive in seeking suitable employment while making abundant supplications. As for the hadith, "Ill omens are in three things," it was narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, and there is disagreement regarding its meaning. Its apparent meaning is that ill omens in a house and a woman occur after settling in and marrying. Some scholars have gone to say that Allah, by His custom, ordains that whoever dwells in a certain house may be afflicted by harm, or whoever marries a certain woman may be afflicted by harm, without the house or the woman having an intrinsic effect. Others are of the view that the meaning is that people find these things ill-omened due to their constant association with them, and whoever feels this, the Shari'ah permits them to abandon them. The questioner should not abandon his fiancée or the house he contracted for on account of this reason; rather, he should rely upon Allah and seek refuge in Him.