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What is the reason for the cessation of sustenance that afflicts every endeavor the questioner undertakes, leading him to be described as unlucky, despite his commitment to prayer and reading the Quran, and his desire for good for people?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

This is a form of forbidden ill omen and augury, based on the hadith: "Augury is polytheism." Allah has narrated to us in Surah Ya-Sin that the people of the city said to the messengers: "Indeed, we augur ill of you," which means they considered them a bad omen and that any affliction befalling them was due to them.

Al-Tabari clarified that "your omen is with you" means that your deeds, sustenance, and your share of good and evil are with you, and that it is not due to any ill omen from the messengers.

Ibn Hajar mentioned that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, liked optimism because ill omen is a bad presumption about Allah the Almighty without a verified reason, whereas optimism is a good presumption about Him.

Based on this, it is not permissible to harbor ill omens, for any calamities that occur are by Allah Almighty's decree. In such cases, one should say: "Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return," and "Allah has decreed, and whatever He wills, He does." There is no need to attribute this to luck, misfortune, or ill omens.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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