Shu'um (ill omen) and tatayyur (taking omens)

In language shu'um is evil and a man described as mashum is one without blessing; tashaum is the expectation of evil. The Arabs, when setting out on an errand, would stir a bird that sat before them, and if it flew to the left they turned back, and if to the right they went on. ¹ The law forbade this with the words there is no tiyara and no hamah. The technical sense does not depart from the lexical one. ¹

Fal is a word or act that gives good cheer; it is the opposite of tiyara, as when a sick man hears "O Salim" or a seeker "O finder". The Prophet liked to hear "O guided one, O successful one" when he went out. ²

Some Hanbalis hold tashaum and omen-taking disliked, but not fal, citing the report of Buraydah that the Prophet took no omen from anything, but when he came to a land he asked its name. Ibn Mufliḥ thought it better to hold it forbidden. Some scholars hold omen-taking and tashaum among the grave sins, and their belief forbidden, on the words that one who takes omens or has them taken for him is not of us, and that omen-taking is an association (shirk), since it attributes effect to what has none. ^{2 3} The Prophet explained fal as a good word, a fair saying; it is mostly about good news, while tiyara concerns only what grieves, and fal is sometimes used figuratively for good news. ³

The hadith says that ill omen lies in three things: the horse, the woman and the house. Some scholars read this as meaning that a woman's ill omen is barrenness, a horse's that it is not ridden in war or is restive, and a house's that the neighbour is bad or that it is far from the mosque. ⁴ Aisha denied that the Prophet said this, saying he said only that the people of ignorance took omens from such things; Malik, Ibn Qutayba and some hadith scholars took it at face value, and Ibn Qutayba held that since the people of ignorance refused to give up omens, they remained in these three things. ⁴

The Shafi'is and Hanbalis disliked naming a child with a name that carries an omen, whether of good or of ill, such as Barakah, Ghanima, Nafi', Yasar and Harb, on the report of Samura: do not name your boy Yasar, Rabah or Najih. The prohibition is not absolute, since Umar mentioned a servant named Rabah who gave permission at the Prophet's room. ⁴