superstitions

"Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abi Umama ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf heard his father say, "My father, Sahl ibn Hunayf did a ghusl at al-Kharrar. He removed the jubbah he had on while Amir ibn Rabia was watching, and Sahl was a man with beautiful white skin. Amir said to him, 'I have never seen anything like what I have seen today, not even the skin of a virgin.' Sahl fell ill on the spot, and his condition grew worse. Somebody went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and told him that Sahl was ill, and could not go with him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to him, and Sahl told him what had happened with Amir. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Why does one of you kill his brother? Why did you not say, "May Allah bless you?" (ta baraka-llah) The evil eye is true. Do wudu from it.' Amir did wudu from it and Sahl went with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and there was nothing wrong with him.""

"...a series which was dedicated to the redressing of appalling ignorance and misrepresentation of a vast continent ended up just being another expensive propaganda for the racial-religious superiority of seductive superstition imported into or forced down the throat of African continent"...If the references to Islam still remains veiled they become transparent when Soyinka writes...but let it not be done as a continuation of the game of denigration against the African spiritual heritage/...perpetrated by Islam;s born again revisionist of history..."

".. Should Islam embark on a period of enlightenment and modernization? Does Islam need a Voltaire to call Muslims to break free of Superstition, to use their mind not emotions, to take note, as he did in 1800s, that "Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense."

"A'isha reported that a Jew from among the Jews of Banu Zuraiq who was called Labid b. al-A'sam cast spell upon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) with the result that he (under the influence of the spell) felt that he had been doing something whereas in fact he had not been doing that. (This state of affairs lasted) until one day or during one night Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) made supplication (to dispel its effects). He again made a supplication and he again did this and said to 'A'isha: Do you know that Allah has told me what I had asked Him? There came to me two men and one amongst them sat near my head and the other one near my feet and he who sat near my head said to one who sat near my feet or one who sat near my feet said to one who sat near my head: What is the trouble with the man? He said: The spell has affected him. He said: Who has cast that? He (the other one) said: It was Labid b. A'sam (who has done it). He said: What is the thing by which he transmitted its effect? He said: By the comb and by the hair stuck to the comb and the spathe of the date-palm. He said: Where is tbap He replied: In the well of Dhi Arwan. She said: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) sent some of the persons from among his Companions there and then said: 'A'isha. by Allah, its water was yellow like henna and its trees were like heads of the devils. She said that she asked Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as to why he did not burn that. He said: No, Allah has cured me and I do not like that I should induce people to commit any high-handedness in regard (to one another), but I only commanded that it should be buried."

""...Superstitions are not reduced in monotheism, but concentrated in to one God or his apostle. Historically speaking monotheism has shown itself to be ferociously intolerant in comparison to polytheism..."

"Ibn 'Abbas reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The influence of an evil eye is a fact; if anything would precede the destiny it would be the influence of an evil eye, and when you are asked to take bath (as a cure) from the influence of an evil eye, you should take bath."

""...The images of Islam that emerge from critical literature indicate a translation of colonial perceptions of Islam as a primitive and regressive superstition, either imposed by force or else singularly deformed to suit the defective ethical standards of Africans."

"..Is there an enlightened Muslim man or woman who can stand with Voltaire and say, "To think of virgin as a virtue--and not a barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge -- is an infantile superstition"? Where is the biting criticism from within? Or is it the West that should be listening to the critical voice of Voltaire and examining itself and it's committment to moral principles? As Thomas L. Friedman has written, Westeners should hold Arabs and Muslims to the same high moral standards as Westeners hold for themselves. .."

""...there is a great danger in stumbling upon this state.In a good many cases there is the danger of the brain being deranged, and, as a rule, you will find that all those men, however great they were, who had stumbled upon this superconscious state without understanding it, groped in the dark, and generally had, along with their knowledge, some quaint superstition. They opened themselves to hallucinations. Mohammed claimed that the Angel Gabriel came to him in a cave one day and took him on the heavenly horse, Harak, and he visited the heavens. But with all that, Mohammed spoke some wonderful truths. If you read the Koran, you find the most wonderful truths mixed with superstitions. How will you explain it? That man was inspired, no doubt, but that inspiration was, as it were, stumbled upon. He was not a trained Yogi, and did not know the reason of what he was doing. Think of the good Mohammed did to the world, and think of the great evil that has been done through his fanaticism! Think of the millions massacred through his teachings, mothers bereft of their children, children made orphans, whole countries destroyed, millions upon millions of people killed!"

"..Closed groups who live in superstitious conviction that mutilation is good for a child, can not be expected to be open about such matters. As a result of their conviction, the parents perceive mutilation of their own child not as a criminal..."

"Abu Sa'id reported that Gabriel came to AJlah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Muhammad, have you fallen ill? Thereupon he said: Yes. He (Gabriel) said:" In the name of Allah I exercise you from everything and safeguard you from every evil that may harm you and from the eye of a jealous one. Allah would cure you and I invoke the name of Allah for you.""

"... Soyinka, the authentic African visionary, is clearly surprised that there are still individuals who hold that religion, Islam especially, has any relevance to a new vision of Africa as this continent faces challenge of the twenty-first century. Islam may after all not only be alien to Africa, it is also alien to our era. It is not only an imported superstition, it is also an antiquated superstition, a tale that is full of fury and violence but signifying nothing. ..."

".. Islam is in need of enlightenment. Islamic societies still wrestle with the Dark Ages (prejudice, restricted thought, superstition) that strapped Christian societies before the Reformation and Age of Reason questioned central tenets. But it is unlikely that this movement will rise up from within the Islamic world. Writers, academics, and journalists who voice their criticism are forced to take refuge in the West. Their works are banned in their own country.."

"Abu Huraira reported so many abidith from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and he reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The influence of an evil eye is a fact."

"Margaret: You all know what day this is. Friday the 13th. Frank: She's right, and--nah, doesn't mean a thing. Hawkeye: Don't say that, Frank. I once spent Friday the 13th in a haunted house with a friend. I was never more frightened in my life. Potter: You see a ghost? Hawkeye: No, her husband materialized out of nowhere."

"Tyler: Yeah. Don't look at October! But look at tomorrow's date! It's Friday the 13th! The unluckiest date of all! If you walk under a ladder or past a black cat, terrible things will happen! George: Oh, come on Tyler! Ladders and black cats! What else do we avoid on this Friday the 13th? Tyler: Well, if you spill salt, you should always throw a bit over your shoulder! Janet: Don't put new shoes on the table, avoid walking on the cracks in the pavement, that sort of thing. Tyler: Don't make woodland animals out of marzipan. Janet: What? Tyler: Don't dance on linoleum, don't throw hedge clippings at sparrows, don't whistle within six foot of a carpet warehouse, and at all costs whatever else happens, don't play the trombone on a bus. Cassie: I told you to hide!"

"Ruby: Hmm, odd. Today is Friday, maybe it's not just any Friday. Misery: That doesn't explain why I'm suddenly Mother Nature's new best friend. (Ruby looks at the calendar, July 13 is circled.) Ruby: I was right. Today is Friday the 13th. Misety: Wait. I remember my nanna telling me a story about this date. (Misery is remembering the story 'till the end) Ruby: I get it. Bad luck is normal for you, Misery. So Friday the 13th is actually a good luck day for you. Poe: Plus, the full Moon has been out all day. Perhaps that magnifies the effect. (The Moon blinks) Ruby: It's a chance for you to experience a whole new side of life, Misery. One that isn't fraught with disaster. (Poe screams before dodging a falling furniture) Ruby: The rest of us will just haave to stand on our toes."

"He was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away."

"It's Friday the 13th. my favorite holiday. Keep it weird."

"Robert Langdon: By the 1300s, the Templars had grown too powerful. Too threatening. So the Vatican issued secret orders to be opened simultaneously all across Europe. The Pope had declared the Knights Templar Satan worshipers and said God had charged him with cleansing the earth of these heretics. The plan went off like clockwork. The Templars were all but exterminated. The date was October 13th, 1307. A Friday. Sophie Neveu: Friday the 13th..."

"Some say the Jersey Devil was born on the 13th day of the 13th month of the 13th year of the 13th century on Friday the 13th, and he was the 13th baby of the 13th witch in the 13th coven."

"Some of the truths, now called “exploded superstitions,” will be discovered to be facts and the relics of ancient knowledge and wisdom...."

"Superstition! A fatal flaw for a regime whose legitimacy comes entirely from religion."

"Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation: all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, though religion were not; but superstition dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy in the minds of men: therefore atheism did never perturb states; for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking no further, and we see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus Cæsar) were civil times: but superstition hath been the confusion of many states, and bringeth in a new "primum mobile," that ravisheth all the spheres of government."

"For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs—as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions."

"It seems that these men are primitive enough to have a marked tendency toward superstition—ascribing things they don’t understand to supernatural intervention."

"Peter would find out that that was superstition, a reasoning from effect to cause, totally invalid. It was in a class with the belief that if you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while you were sitting in the outhouse, the devil would get you."

"Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible..."

"Science of to-day — the superstition of to-morrow. Science of to-morrow — the superstition of to-day."

"Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe — that the world is a cosmos and a chaos. ... The divinities of heathen superstition still linger in one form or another in the faith of the ignorant, and even intelligent men shrink from the contemplation of one supreme will acting regularly, not fortuitously, through laws beautiful and simple rather than through a fitful and capricious system of intervention. ... The scientific spirit has cast out the demons, and presented us with nature clothed in her right mind and living under the reign of law. It has given us, for the sorceries of the alchemist, the beautiful laws of chemistry; for the dreams of the astrologer, the sublime truths of astronomy; for the wild visions of cosmogony, the monumental records of geology; for the anarchy of diabolism, the laws of God."

"Reason shapes the future, but superstition infects the present."

"To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions they demand, is to fall into superstition."

"It is easy to see how superstition, with its false glosses, mocks God, while it tries to please him."

"The superstitions of today are the scientific facts of tomorrow."

"Plutarch saith well to that purpose: "Surely," saith he, "I had rather a great deal men should say there was no such man at all as Plutarch, than that they should say that there was one Plutarch, that would eat his children as soon as they were born as the poets speak of Saturn. And as the contumely is greater towards God, so the danger is greater towards men."

"In human life, you will find players of religion until the knowledge and proficiency in religion will be cleansed from all superstitions, and will be purified and perfected by the enlightenment of real science."

"In doing practically only the things which He testifies He cares nothing about, superstition neglects those which He has ordained and said are pleasing to Him or even openly rejects them. Therefore those who (in order to worship God) establish religions which have their source in their own minds, only worship their own dreams."

"To seek God’s truth, wretched people do no rise above their nature, as would be fitting, but they measure His greatness according to the weakness of their senses. They do not understand Him at all as He has given Himself to be known, but imagine Him as they have made Him by their presumption. In doing this they open a deep gulf in which, once opened, no matter which way they turn they must always fall to damnation. For no matter what they try to do after that to serve God, they cannot hold Him in their debt since they do not honor Him but, in His place, they honor what they have imagined in their heart. This way the vain pretext which many are accustomed to claim to excuse their superstition is struck down. For they think that every feeling of religion—of whatever kind, even when it is all mixed up—is sufficient; but they do not reflect that the true religion ought to be conformed to what is pleasing to God according to His everlasting rule, and further, that God remains ever like Himself and is not an imaginary thing which changes according to the wishes of each person."

"There is a superstition in avoiding superstition, when men think to do best, if they go furthest from the superstition, formerly received; therefore care would be had that (as it fareth in ill purgings) the good be not taken away with the bad; which commonly is done, when the people is the reformer."

"Inclinations of illusion make weak men superstitious and superstitious men weak. ... The illusion that leads them to mistake the subjective for the objective, to take the voice of inner sense for knowledge of things themselves, also makes the tendency to superstition comprehensible."

"“Superstition” is simply a derogative term for a belief about the supernatural that you don’t share. Why should it be socially acceptable to make fun of psychics and not priests? What’s the difference between crossing yourself or hanging a mezuzah outside your door and avoiding black cats? Believing that you’ve been abducted by aliens or that Elvis is alive is, on its face, no sillier than believing that Christ rose from the dead or that God parted the Red Sea so that Moses and his followers might traverse it. People who believe that God heeds their prayers have probably waived the right to mock people who talk to trees and guardian angels or claim to channel the spirits of Native Americans."

"The true wisdom of man consists in the knowledge of God the Creator and Redeemer. This knowledge is naturally implanted in us, and the end of it ought to be the worship of God rightly performed, or reverence for the Deity accompanied by fear and love. But this seed is corrupted by ignorance, whence arises superstitious worship."

"You cannot apply the rules of logic to religious superstition."

"You must distinguish between truth and falsehood; you must learn to be true all through, in thought and word and deed. In thought first; and that is not easy, for there are in the world many untrue thoughts, many foolish superstitions, and no one who is enslaved by them can make progress. Therefore you must not hold a thought just because many other people hold it, nor because it has been believed for centuries, nor because it is written in some book which men think sacred; you must think of the matter for yourself, and judge for yourself whether it is reasonable. Remember that though a thousand men agree upon a subject, if they know nothing about that subject their opinion is of no value."

"He who would walk upon the Path must learn to think for himself, for superstition is one of the greatest evils in the world, one of the fetters from which you mast utterly free yourself."

"Three sins there are which work more harm than all else in the world — gossip, cruelty, and superstition — because they are sins against love. Against these three the man who would fill his heart with the love of God must watch ceaselessly... Superstition... has caused much terrible cruelty. The man who is a slave to it despises others who are wiser, tries to force them to do as he does. Think of the awful slaughter produced by the superstition that animals should be sacrificed, and by the still more cruel superstition that man needs flesh for food."

"In moments of great anxiety there is a sort of natural superstition about the heart, which the reason rejects in cooler moments."

"Through it [Science] we believe that man will be saved from misery and degradation, not merely acquiring new material powers, but learning to use and to guide his life with understanding. Through Science he will be freed from the fetters of superstition; through faith in Science he will acquire a new and enduring delight in the exercise of his capacities; he will gain a zest and interest in life such as the present phase of culture fails to supply."

"It was idiotic to be superstitious."

"Primitive superstition lies just below the surface of even the most tough-minded individuals, and it is precisely those who most fight against it who are the first to succumb to its suggestive effects."