evil eye - Minor shirk

I have a colleague at work, and whilst I was talking to him he told us
that he has an amulet that he got from some people who say that they
are Shaykhs who treat people in the neighbourhood. He says that
written inside it is Aayat al-Kursiy and he put it in a piece of
leather and tied it and hung it on his chest. We had a discussion,
myself, him and some of our colleagues. We advised him to burn the
paper ortake it to a trustworthy person to undo it and neutralize it,
but he refused on the grounds that they are Shaykhs and that no one is
allowed to see what is inside this thing, and it is beneficial. My
reactionwas to try to make him fear Allaah and I did not realize what
I was saying; I said: "If you die with this thing on you, you will go
to Hell." To be honest, I regretted it after I said it, and I am
afraid that Allaah may cancel out my good deeds, like the man who said
to a sinner, "Allaah will not forgive you," but Allaah said: "Who is
the one who swore by Me that I will not forgiveSo and so? I have
forgiven So and so and I have cancelled out your good deeds". Now I am
worried about this matter and I hope that you can advise me and tell
me what I should do.May Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It is not permissible to wear amulets even if they are from the Holy
Qur'aan, because of the general meaning of the words of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): "Whoever wears an amulet,
may Allaah not fulfil his need, and whoever wears a sea-shell, may
Allaah not give him peace." Narrated by Ahmad (17440); classed as
hasanby Shu'ayb al-Arna'oot inTahqeeq al-Musnad.
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever
wears an amulet has committed shirk." This hadeeth was classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami'.
If amulets contain Qur'aan, then there is a difference of scholarly
opinion concerning them. The more correct view is that they are not
allowed, because of the general meaning of the evidence, and so as to
ward off the means (thatmay lead to shirk). And that is also because
of the disrespect to which they are exposed in mostcases, because the
wearer sleeps wearing the amulet, and enters the toilet wearing it,
andso on.
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah (1/212): The scholars are
unanimously agreed that it is haraam to wearamulets if they contain
something other than Qur'aan, but they differed concerning those that
contain Qur'aan. Some of them allowed wearing them and some of them
did not allow that. The view that it is not allowed is more correct,
because ofthe general meaning of the ahaadeeth and so as to ward off
the means (that may lead to shirk). End quote.
This has been discussed in detail in the answer to question no. 10543 .
All of this applies if we accept that the amulet asked about here does
not contain anything other than Aayat al-Kursiy or other words of
Allaah. But it may also include witchcraft and kufr. It is strange
that that practitioners of witchcraft put the wordsof Allaah with
their kufr and falsehood, so as to conceal their evil and deceive the
people.
It seems from your colleague's concern that no one should look inside
the amulet and his refusal when you asked him for the amuletso that
you could see what was inside it, that your colleague is either
ignorant of what is really inside the amulet or he knows that what
isinside is not only the words of Allaah.
Based on that, you have to advise this colleague of yours and warn him
against wearing anything the contents ofwhich he does not know, and
wearing amulets altogether.
His saying that no one is allowed to see what is inside it is not
correct, rather this is one of the lies of the practitioners of
witchcraft and charlatans, and is a way in which they scare the people
so that they will not see what is inside the amulets of the names of
devils or writing that has no meaning.
Secondly:
As for your saying "By Allaah, if you die with this thing on you, you
will go to Hell", if what you meant is that the one who does that
deserves to go to Hell, based on what you have heard about the
Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbidding that,
and his warning of Hell to the one who did that, whilst also knowing
that we cannot know whether any specific person will go to Paradise or
Hell, except those who are mentioned in the Wahy (Revelation), and
that believers in Tawheed who commit sin are subject to the will of
Allaah, and if He wills He will punish them and if He wills He will
forgive them – if that is what you meant, then there is no sin on you
in sha Allaah.
Similarly, if your intention was to warn him of the punishment of
those who take such matters lightly and persist in doing them, there
is no sin on you forthat, in sha Allaah.
In Musnad al-Imam Ahmad (19498) it is narrated that al-Hasan said:
'Imraan ibn Husayn told me that the Prophet(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) sawa ring, I think he said of brass, on a man's
upper arm. He said: "Woe to you, what is this?" He said: It is for
pain in the shoulder and hand. He said: "It will only increase you in
weakness. Take it off, forif you die with it on you,you will never
succeed." [Classed as da'eef by al-Albaani in al-Da'eefah (1029)].
In Sunan Abi Dawood (4669) it is narrated that Ibn al-Daylami said: I
went to Ubayy ibn Ka'b and said to him: I am rather confused about
al-qadar (the divine decree); tell me of something by means of which
Allaah may take away that which is in myheart. He said: If Allaah
punished the inhabitants of His heavens and the inhabitants of His
earth, He would punish them and would not be unjusttowards them. If He
were to bestow mercy on them, His mercy would be better for them than
their good deeds. If you were to spend the equivalent of Uhud in gold
for the sake of Allaah, Allaah would not accept it fromyou unless you
believed in al-qadar and knew that whatever befalls you could not have
missed you and whatever missed you could not have befallen you. If you
die believing something other than this, you will go to Hell. He said:
Then I went to 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood and he said something similar.
Then I went to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamaan and he said something similar.
Then I went to Zayd ibn Thaabit and he narrated something similar to
me from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami' (5344).
Al-Qaari said concerning the words "you will go to Hell": this is a
warningand a threat! End quote from Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi.
But if what you meant was that this specific person is one of the
people of Hell because ofthis action of his, this is amistake on your
part. We cannot testify that any specific person will be in Paradise
or in Hell, unless there is a text thattestifies to that.
Note: Wearing an amuletmay be minor shirk or it may be major shirk,
depending on the situation of the one whouses it. If he believes that
it can bring benefit and cause harm in and of itself, then this is
major shirk. If he believes that it is a means, then this is
minorshirk, because he is regarding something that is not a means as a
means. If a person dies in a state of minor shirk without having
repented, is he subject to the will of Allaah, or will he not be
forgiven, as in the case of major shirk? There are two scholarly
points of view:
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: Do the
words of Allaah, "Verily, Allaah forgives not that partners should be
set up with Him (in worship)" [al-Nisa' 4:48] include minor shirk?
He replied: The scholars differed concerning that. Some of them said
that it includes all kinds of shirk, even minor shirk such as swearing
by something other thanAllaah; Allaah will not forgive him. But with
regard to major sins, such as drinking alcohol and zina, they are
subject to the will of Allaah; if Allaah wills He will forgive them
and if He wills He will punish them.
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said different things. On one occasion
he said: Allaah does not forgive shirk even if it is minor. And on
another occasion he said: That which Allaah does not forgive is major
shirk.
Whatever the case, we must beware of shirk altogether, because the
general meaning may include minor shirk too, because He says "Verily,
Allaah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him" meaning
any partner, therefore it suggests any kind of shirk. End quote from
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (2/203).
As for what you have to do, you have to repent to Allaah from your
taking such wording lightly, and not do that again in the future.
And Allaah knows best.