WHAT IS A TAWEEZ AND TAWWUZ

 WHAT IS A TAWEEZ AND TAWWUZ

Tawwuz simply means to seek protection with Allah. Halal protection can be sought in 2 ways – verbally, by saying surahs like surah falaq and surah naas, or in written form, where the text is written on paper, and then wrapped up in a cloth and hung around the neck of the person, or tied to the arm. Haram forms of taweez are those that contain words of shirk. These can also be written or verbal. Mufti Taqi allows the writing of taweezes with 3 conditions: • It should be possible to understand the contents of the taweez • The taweez should not involve calling on others besides Allah – (it should only contain verses of the quran, Allah’s names and attributes) • The person with the taweez should acknowledge that it is not the taweez that helps him, but Allah. (takmilatu fathul mulhim 4:316)

SALAFI VIEWS ON TAWEEZ

Salafis believe that all forms of taweez are shirk. Thus, in Makkah, they yank the taweezes off the necks of people who are doing tawaaf. The main proof that salafis use to show that all forms of taweez are shirk is a hadith from the wife of Ibn Masood (ra), in which she quotes him as saying that the Prophet (saw) said taweez are not allowed. However, the full version of this hadith tells us that the taweez this hadith refers to was from a jewish woman and probably of a non-arabic source, and so the contents of the taweez were unknown. There was a risk that words of kufr were in the taweez, so ibn masood (ra) refused to allow it and told his wife to say a verbal taweez of the words ‘اذحب الباس رب الناس ...”. (takmila fathul mulhim 4:318) Thus, this hadith can only be used to prove that shirk-based taweezes are haraam, and cannot be used as proof that non-shirk taweezes are also haraam.