Tatayyur (taking omens of ill luck)

Tatayyur is taking an omen of ill luck, the omen itself being tiyara; the pre-Islamic Arabs did it, and Islam abolished it. ¹

An Arab who set out on an errand would startle a bird in its nest; if it flew to the right he went on, calling it the right-flier, and if to the left he turned back, calling it the left-flier. Islam abolished this and returned the matter to God's fixed ways and decree. ²

Whoever believes that what he sees of a bird's state causes or affects the outcome has committed unbelief, as it is sharing in God's management. Whoever knows that God alone manages but feels some dread of evil and seeks refuge in God and goes on in trust is not harmed; if he settles his mind on it, he has done wrong. The Prophet told Muawiya ibn al-Hakam that such things are felt in the breast and should not turn them back. ²

A good omen is lawful; it is hope in God, while tiyara is ill opinion of God, and the believer is ordered to think well of God. ^{2 3}

The detail is in the entry on evil omen (shu'm). ³

The speaker describes the omens the Arabs took from birds before Islam, by the direction in which the bird flew, and says that Islam replaced them with the prayer of istikhara. ⁴

The speaker says that Muslims should stop laughing at people and give up the superstitions that hold the nation back, while other nations build their societies and cure their diseases; religion, he says, addresses enlightened minds. ⁵ He says that the nation's renewal is not achieved by sorcery, by asking about someone's mother, or by claims that an uncle of someone envies him, and that the Companions did not resort to any of these. ⁶