Typesofevileye:fromhumans,fromjinn—andwhatthesourcessayaboutanimals

Two types in the classical books — and a third from practice

Ibn al-Qayyim divides the evil eye into two kinds in Zad al-Ma'ad (4/149): the human eye and the jinn eye. Some practitioners add a third from their experience: an effect that can come from certain animals.

1. The human eye

This is the eye cast by people. It usually happens through looking — the gaze itself. But it does not require sight at all. It can happen through speech, description, imagination, or remembering a thing one has heard about, or even through touch or smell. The senses are merely instruments that picture the admired thing to the caster's soul; it is then the soul — according to how corrupt and how strong it is — that does the harm to the one described.

This is why hiding something from view is not, by itself, full protection: a blessing that is talked about can be struck by someone who never saw it.

2. The jinn eye

The eye and envy can also come from the jinn. It is authentically reported from Umm Salamah that the Prophet ﷺ saw in her house a girl with a discoloured mark (saf'ah) on her face and said:

Al-Baghawi explains: the "look" here means a look from the jinn — an eye from their gaze, "sharper than the tips of spears". And Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reports that the Prophet ﷺ used to seek refuge "from the jann (jinn) and from the eye of man" (cited by Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad 4/149).

Ibn al-Qayyim comments on the verse of al-Falaq — "and from the evil of an envier when he envies" — in Bada'i' al-Fawa'id (2/371): the verse covers the envier among both jinn and mankind. Shaytan and his party envy the believers for what Allah has given them of His favour, just as Iblis envied our father Adam — and he is an enemy to Adam's descendants:

Ibn al-Qayyim adds a useful distinction: waswasa (whispering) is more characteristic of the devils among the jinn, and hasad more characteristic of the devils among mankind — though each does both. Both kinds of devil are envious whisperers, so seeking refuge from the evil of the envier covers them all together.

3. What the sources say about animals

Some practitioners hold that some animals can harm people through their gaze. The evidence cited is as follows — presented here as the source presents it, so you can see its actual weight.

• Two kinds of snake named in hadith: al-abtar (the short-tailed) and dhū al-ṭufyatayn (the one with two black lines on its back). The Prophet ﷺ said of them that "they take away the sight and cause miscarriage" — Bukhari 3297. Ibn al-Qayyim writes (Zad al-Ma'ad 4/149) that it was well known of a certain kind of viper that when its gaze fell on a person he would perish; some are so strong in nature that they cause miscarriage, others damage the sight. (In its original context, the hadith is an instruction about killing these harmful snakes found in homes.)
• A report about dogs: it is related from Ibn Abbas that dogs are of the jinn, and that if they surround you at food you should throw them something, "for they have souls" — that is, eyes (al-Tamhīd 14/229). This is a companion report, not a Prophetic hadith.
• A practitioner observation about cats: one raqi of long experience relates that in his practice he has found cases of harm from the stares of cats in particular, usually at mealtimes when a hungry cat watches every bite a person raises to his mouth. His practical advice is simply kindness: feed the animal so it is not left hungry and staring.

Take the animal section for what it is: a hadith about two harmful snakes, a related report, and one practitioner's observation. The core of the matter — established by clear texts — is the human eye and the jinn eye, and the protection for both is the same: the adhkār and the ruqyah that the Sunnah teaches.