Is There Bad Omen In A Woman, A Horse And A House?

These hadiths are established and authentic, so it is obligatory to believe in them and to affirm what the Prophet ﷺ affirmed. Second: Are women, horses, and houses in origin an ill omen? The answer: No. The basic principle is that all created things were created by Allah for wisdom, and there is nothing in them that has an inherent ill omen that affects by itself independently.

So the Prophet ﷺ, negated the belief of the people of pre-Islamic Ignorance that things affect by themselves or that merely seeing them or encountering them brings evil.

Third: So what is the meaning of ill omen in these three? The people of knowledge mentioned that these three things are what most accompany a person: The house is his dwelling. The woman is the partner of his life. The horse was his mount in that time. So if the house is narrow or has many defects or bad neighbors, harm and hardship result from that. And if the woman is bad in character, or not righteous, or harmful to her husband, she is a cause of misery. And if the horse is weak or harmful or its owner does not benefit from it, harm occurs because of it. The Shariah referred to the harm that is consistently associated with these things as bad omen (shu'm).

Fourth: Are these three things excepted from the negation of omen-taking? Yes, the scholars mentioned that these three are excepted from a special aspect. The basic principle is that the Muslim does not take bad omens from things and does not leave his need because of illusions and imaginations. But if a person tried a house and found repeated harm in it, or a woman whose harm and lack of righteousness became apparent to him, or a mount from which he does not benefit and which brings him harm, then there is no blame upon him to part from that and replace it with another. And this is not from the forbidden omen-taking, because it is based on reality and apparent experience, not on illusions and superstitions.

Fifth: Is it permissible to take a bad omen from a woman because of the hadith? That is not permissible. So it is not permissible that it be said: every woman is an ill omen, or the category of women is ill-omened, or that the woman brings misfortune. This is from the belief of pre-Islamic Ignorance. Rather, Allah has placed in the righteous woman the greatest good.

The Result: It is not permissible to believe that women, horses, or houses are ill-omened in the origin of their creation. Omen-taking and pessimism regarding things are from the acts of pre-Islamic Ignorance, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade them. What is intended by ill omen in the hadith is what occurs of attendant harm and hardship in the house, the woman, or the horse. These three do not affect by themselves; rather, Allah may place in them causes for good or evil. If the harm of the house, the woman, or the horse becomes apparent, it is permissible to part from them, and that is not from forbidden omen-taking. The righteous woman is among the greatest blessings of Allah upon the servant, just as the righteous house and the beneficial mount are among the causes of happiness in the world.