Is it true that there are lands that are inauspicious that ruin their owners? Also, is it true that a place which was previously owned by a Hindu has the ghosts of their dead relatives?
All good and bad fate is from Allah Almighty. There can be no bad omen in something by default. The meaning of something to be inauspicious can be said, for example, when that place is really far away from a mosque, or there are many hypocrites and non-Muslims in that area. If this is the meaning of the land being inauspicious, then that understanding that is correct, but if it is said that the wealth is reduced because a so-and-so person is residing in that place, or because someone died in that house, then this is wrong. It is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari:
إِنَّمَا الشُّؤْمُ فِي ثَلاَثَةٍ فِي الْفَرَسِ وَالْمَرْأَةِ وَالدَّارِ
“Evil omen is in three things: The horse, the woman and the house.”
[Sahih Bukhari Hadith 2858]
It does not mean that there is bad-omen is in these things. But the meaning can be found from the hadith that is mentioned after, narrated by Suhail bin Saad رضی اللہ عنہ:
إِنْ كَانَ فِي شَىْءٍ فَفِي الْمَرْأَةِ وَالْفَرَسِ وَالْمَسْكَنِ
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said “If there is any evil omen in anything, then it is in the woman, the horse and the house.”
[Sahih Bukhari Hadith 2859]
It is also mentioned in Sunan Abi Dawud:
لاَ هَامَةَ وَلاَ عَدْوَى وَلاَ طِيَرَةَ وَإِنْ تَكُنِ الطِّيَرَةُ فِي شَىْءٍ فَفِي الْفَرَسِ وَالْمَرْأَةِ وَالدَّارِ
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: There is no hamah, no infection and no evil omen; if there is in anything an evil omen, it is a house, a horse, and a woman.
[Sunan Abi Dawud 3921]
So the meaning is that if there is anything such as Bad Omen, then it would be in these three things, and if isn’t in these things, then there no bad-omen in anything. This Hadith is similar to the Hadith:
ولو کان شئ سابق القدر سبقته العین
“If anything would precede the destiny, it would be the influence of the evil eye.”
[Sahih Muslim 2188]
That’s why Hazrat Aisha رضی اللہ عنھا rejected the apparent meaning and said that, the Holy Prophet ﷺ did not mean that there is bad-omen in these 3 things, rather he meant that the illiterate people say that there is bad-omen in these 3 things. The meaning of inauspicious is explained in some Hadith: A land that is inauspicious means the neighbours are wicked. Inauspicious women means she is insubordinate to her husband, and an inauspicious horse means it is mischievous. This means that when these three things go against the rules of Sharia or the habit of nature, then they will be parted from. This is the only meaning of Bad-Omen. Mulla Ali Qari writes in his Mirqāt:
الشؤم فی الاحادیث المستشھد بھا محمول علی الکراھة التی سببھا ما في الاشیاء من مخالفة الشرع او الطبع کما قیل شؤم الدار ضیقھا وسوء جیرانھا وکذا شبھة في سکناھا وبعدھا عن الجماعة بحیث تفوته الصلوۃ مع الامام وشؤم المراۃ عدم ولادتھا و سلاطة لسانھا وغلاء مھرھا ونحوھا من حملھا الزوج علی ما لا یلیق بارباب التقویٰ وشؤم الفرس ان لا یغزِيَ علیھا او یرکب علیھا افتخارا و خُیَلاء۔
The word “omen” that has been seen in various hadiths is applied to the dislike whose cause is something in those things that oppose the sharia or natural dispensation, like the saying “The omen of the house is its narrowness and lack of good”. Similar things are mentioned about the obscurity of its shelter and its distance from the congregational mosque such that they cause its resident to miss the prayer in congregation. The omen of the woman is the her lack of giving birth, the impudence of her tongue, the high price of her dowry, and anything else that the husband does not understand to be befitting of taqwa. The omen of the horse is that it will not be broken or ridden upon due to pride and haughtiness.
[Mirqāt-ul-Mafātīḥ sharḥ Mishkāt-ul-Maṣābīḥ, Vol. 7, Sharḥ of Hadith #4586]
There is no such thing as a ghost, as mentioned in Hadith,
لاَ عَدْوَى وَلاَ غُولَ وَلاَ صَفَرَ
There is no transitive disease, no ghoul, no safar.
[Sahih Muslim 2222b]
This hadith shows that there is no such thing as a ghost, and if there are ghosts, they cannot cause any damage. The souls of those who died as Kuffār also cannot cause any harm as they are imprisoned. It is Satan that troubles people. If the residents start praying, read the Quran, recite Bismillah while locking the door at night, and recite Ayat-ul-Kursi before sleeping, and recite Bismillah before opening the door in the morning, Then In Sha Allah they will be free from the mischief of Satan. واللہ تعالی اعلم
Summarized from Ref: Fatawa Amjadiyya: Vol4 Page 107-109
Written by Mufti-e-Azam Hazrat Sadrush-Shariah Muhammad Amjad Ali Azmi رحمة الله عليه.
Translated by Shazad Shafi
