{"fatawa":{"id":7273,"title":"Meaning of the hadeeth \u201cNo haamah and no Safar and no naw\u2019 and no ghoul\u201d","slug":"meaning-of-the-hadeeth-no-haamah-and-no-safar-and-no-naw-and-no-ghoul","order":"","question":"I read a strange hadeeth which says that there is no haamah, no Safar, no naw\u2019 and no ghoul. What do these words mean?","answer":"Praise be to Allaah.\r\n\r\nIbn Muflih al-Hanbali said: \r\n\r\nIn al-Musnad, al-Saheehayn and elsewhere it is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: \u201cNo haamah and no Safar.\u201d Muslim and others add the words, \u201cNo naw\u2019 and no ghoul.\u201d \r\n\r\nHaamah (pl. Haam) [owl]: the people of the jaahiliyyah used to think that when someone died and was buried, an owl [haamah] would come out of his grave. The Arabs used to think that the bones of the deceased turned into owls which flew, and they said that if someone was murdered, an owl would come out of his head, and it would keep saying, \u201cGive me to drink, give me to drink,\u201d until the slain person was avenged and his killer was killed. \r\n\r\nSafar: it was said that they used to have superstitions concerning the month of Safar, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: \u201cNo Safar\u201d. And it was said that the Arabs used to believe that there was a snake in the stomach which would harm a person when he had intercourse, and that this was contagious, so the Lawgiver denied that. Maalik said: the people of the Jaahiliyyah would regard Safar as not being sacred one year and as sacred the next year. \r\n\r\nNaw\u2019: (pl. al-Anwaa\u2019) (a star which sets at the rising of another): this refers to twenty eight lunar mansions or phases, as in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): \r\n\r\n\u201cAnd the moon, We have measured for it mansions\u2026\u201d\r\n\r\n[Yaa-Seen 36:39].  \r\n\r\nEvery thirteen nights, one of these stars sets in the west at dawn, and another rises in the east, so that at the end of the year they will all have come and gone. The Arabs used to believe that when one set and the next one rose, there would be rain, which they attributed to them (these stars), so they would say, \u201cWe have rain because of such and such naw\u2019 (star which sets at the rising of another).\u201d \r\n\r\nIt is called naw\u2019 because when the star which is setting sets in the west, the one which is rising appears (naa\u2019a) in the east, i.e., it rises and emerges. And it was said that naw\u2019 means setting, which is the opposite. \r\n\r\nBut in the case of those who believe that rain came by the will of Allaah and say, \u201cWe have rain at the time of such and such naw\u2019\u201d meaning that Allaah usually causes rain to come at this time \u2013 there is some dispute as to whether saying this is haraam or makrooh. \r\n\r\nGhoul (pl. gheelaan) means a kind of jinn or devil. The Arabs used to think that the ghoul lived in the wilderness and would appear to people, and that it could take on different shapes and colours, and that it would make them lose their way, seeking to kill them. The Lawgiver rejected and denied this idea altogether. \r\n\r\nAnd it was said that this was not denying that ghouls exist, rather it was a denial of the Arabs\u2019 belief that they could change shape and colour and make people lose their way, hence the meaning of \u201cno ghoul\u201d is that they cannot make people lose their way. This is borne out by another hadeeth, \u201cThere is no ghoul but there is sa\u2019aali\u201d This is in Muslim and elsewhere. Sa\u2019aali is a magician among the jinn, but among them there are magicians who base their magic on confusion and illusions\u2026 al-Khallaal narrated from Taawoos that a man accompanied him, then a crow cawed and the man said, \u201cGood, good.\u201d Taawoos said to him, \u201cWhat good is there in this, and what evil? Do not come with me!\u201d \r\n\r\n(al-Aadaab al-Shar\u2019iyyah, 3\/369, 370) \r\n\r\nIbn al-Qayyim said: \r\n\r\nSome scholars said that the words \u201cno healthy person should be exposed to a sick person\u201d were abrogated by the words \u201cThere is no \u2018adwa (contagion).\u201d This is not correct. This is an example where what is negated is different than what is affirmed. What the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) denied when he said \u201cThere is no contagion and no Safar\u201d was the belief of the mushrikeen which was based on their beliefs of shirk. With regard to the Prophet\u2019s prohibition of exposing healthy people to sick people, there are two interpretations: \r\n\r\n(1) The fear that people may attribute what Allaah has decreed to \u2018adwa (contagion), which may confuse those who hear of this and make them believe in \u2018adwa. There is no contradiction between the two reports.\r\n\r\n(2) That this refers to exposing the sick person to the healthy person, which may be the means by which Allaah creates disease, so the exposure is the cause, but Allaah may divert its effects by means of other causes which oppose it or prevent the effect of the sickness. This is pure Tawheed, unlike that which the people of shirk believe in. \r\n\r\nThis is similar to the denial of intercession on the Day of Resurrection mentioned in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): \r\n\r\n\u201cwhen there will be no bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession\u201d\r\n\r\n[al-Baqarah 2:254] \r\n\r\nThis does not contradict the unambiguous mutawaatir ahaadeeth which say that there will be intercession on the Day of Resurrection, because what Allaah is denying here is the kind of intercession that was known among the mushrikeen, where an intercessor would come forward and intercede without being given permission. The intercession which is affirmed by Allaah and His Messenger is that which comes after His permission is given, as in the aayahs (interpretation of the meaning): \r\n\r\n\u201c\u2026Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission?\u2026\u201d\r\n\r\n[al-Baraqah 2:255] \r\n\r\n\u201cand they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased\u201d\r\n\r\n[al-Anbiyaa\u2019 21:28] \r\n\r\n\u201cIntercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits\u201d\r\n\r\n[Saba\u2019 34:23] \r\n\r\nHaashiyat Tahdheeb Sunan Abi Dawood, 10\/289-291) \r\n\r\nAnd Allaah is the One Who grants strength to do what is right.\r\n\r\nSheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid","status":1,"created_at":"2014-10-25T20:51:56.000000Z","updated_at":"2014-10-25T20:51:56.000000Z","language_id":1,"fatawacate_id":30,"parent_id":7272,"author_id":"","books":[],"articles":[],"videos":[],"audios":[],"author_name":"","category_name":"Commentary on Hadeeth","category_slug":"","get_date":"2014-10-25"},"translations":[],"fatawa_books":[],"fatawa_articles":[],"fatawa_videos":[],"fatawa_audios":[],"url":"http:\/\/islamland.com\/eng\/api\/fatawas\/7273"}