Why would Allāh allow anyone to be bewitched?
Why does Allāh allow any evil at all?
As we move closer to the main point of starting this series which is to discuss the occurence of occultic practices in many marriages and the consequences, I think it is pertinent to briefly mention why Allāh allows certain things happen.
Allāh created humans for the sole reason of worship. Almost every other thing we enjoy of comfort are geared towards helping us worship Allāh. As a matter of fact, comfort and its’ opposite (hardship) are both branches of one important thing Allāh uses to checkmate the commitment of worshipers to worship – tests and trials. Allāh says
“…and We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned”.
Tests and trials are integral part of every success story. Ask a PhD holder how many exams he had to write to reach his goal. If the exams are too literal, then ask him how many hurdles he had to overcome to reach where he is. Ask every successful business mogul the many heartaches he had to endure to reach such lofty heights. The weak sees trials as deterrents, the determined see them as temporary delays on the road to success. Trials and tests make the eventual goal worthwhile and makes you worthy of the achievment. It is not so different from worshiping Allāh. Anyone can claim to be with Allāh, but it is stress and pressure that separates chaffs from grains!
Trials and tribulations in life can be a test of fitness, like Allāh says
“Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.
Q 29v 2-3
Or a test of patience, like Allāh says
“…And We have made some of you [people] as trial for others – will you have patience?…”
Q 25:20. Imagine a woman whose husband has been bewitched by her co-wife. Will she bear it with patience (where some basic aspects of the marriage are still functional) or will she be pushed to fight sorcery with sorcery, embracing disbelief like her co-wife?
Or it could be just to teach you the Omnipotence of Allāh, that He is the doer as He pleases, perhaps that will humble you. Allāh says
“And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things.”
Q 6:17
Or it could be a consequence of your negligence and wrong decisions، like it happened when some of the companions flouted the battle plan of the Rasul and abandoned their designated posts, so the enemies used that to their advantage and dealt a heavy blow upon the Muslims. Allāh says:
“[Remember] when you [fled and] climbed [the mountain] without looking aside at anyone while the Messenger was calling you from behind. So Allah repaid you with distress upon distress so you would not grieve for that which had escaped you [of victory and spoils of war] or [for] that which had befallen you [of injury and death]. And Allah is [fully] Acquainted with what you do”
Q 3:153
Or it could also be a consequence of sinful ways and disobedience to Allāh، like Allāh says
“And Allah presents an example: a city which was safe and secure, its provision coming to it in abundance from every location, but it denied the favors of Allah . So Allah made it taste the envelopment of hunger and fear for what they had been doing
Q 4:112.
So, a person may come under the effect of a spell or charm as a trial to him or his loved ones due to any of the reasons listed above. You will recall that the Rasul himself was tried with a sickness that came from sorcery. Indeed there is a lot of lessons for us to learn in that occurence:
- We learn that Allāh spares no one with His trials. In fact faithfuls get greater trials as the trials of the prophets are the greatest.
- If not for the incident some persons will have felt too spirutual to be afflicted by the evil of charms and sorcery so will not take necessary precautions such as daily adhkār and post salat adhkar.
- We also learn some symptoms of a person who is under the influence of sorcery, such as mild or total loss of control over one’s mind and actions and seeing things that aren’t really there among many others.
- We also learn how quite feeble and weak the plot of sorcerer’s are such that the effect can be undone by reciting simple chapters and verses of the Qur’an and authentic prayers from the Rasul.
- And that where possible, finding and destroying the items used to conjure the spell also serves for removing the effect of the spell,
Etc.
In all these, we should take all necessary precautions to save ourselves from trials that come from our negligence (like people who do not say the adhkar and leave their houses barren without praying in it or reciting the Qur’an in it) and wrong choices (like marrying a woman from a family known with sorcery), and stay away from sins so Allāh doesn’t repay our disobedience with trials. Then after all these, whatever trial that comes we bear with patience and let it build for us our eemān so we come out of every trial stronger.
May Allāh protect us and our loved ones from the evil of witchcraft and sorcery.
A. Haroun writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
