What is the ruling on wearing a blue bead for protection against the evil eye and envy? An expert has said that if someone gives you the evil eye, his eyes send out harmful waves. However, if you wear the blue bead, the blue color absorbs these harmful waves, and they cannot harm you.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Wearing a blue bead is impermissible. It is just like wearing amulets. It may even constitute a major or a minor form of Shirk (polytheism), according to the belief of the person wearing it.

The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that the evil eye is true. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas both, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that Hasad (envy) is true, and that the evil eye causes harm, and if there had been something to precede fate, it would have been the evil eye. [Saheeh Muslim]

People who are affected by an evil eye have certain symptoms and there are Sharee‘ah-approved ways of treating such patients.

You said that some experts say that if a person gives another person the evil eye, the eyes of the first person send out waves that harm the second person. This may be true. Ibn Al-Qayyim said that sensible people throughout history have believed in the evil eye, although they may differ concerning the rationale behind its harmful effect and the way it occurs. Some of them said that the eye sends poisonous harmful powers, whereas others said that the eye sends out a harmful invisible power that infiltrates the body of the victim.

No one can deny the effect of spirits upon bodies, as we witness many cases supporting this.

The belief that this blue bead absorbs harmful waves due to its blue color is incorrect, and it is not supported by any proof. Muslims must not believe in this opinion for the following reasons:

1-      The evil eye causes harm by the permission of Allaah The Almighty, as indicated by An-Nawawi .  He said that Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'ah (people of the Mainstream Sunni majority) have agreed upon the fact that the evil eye works with the permission of Allaah and according to what He has predestined. 

2-      Wearing amulets is impermissible, as previously stated.

3-      If a Muslim believes that the blue bead absorbs the harmful waves of the evil eye, then he actually believes that it can do this independently, without the permission of Allaah The Almighty. This is a concept that leads to Shirk (disbelief).

In conclusion, we say that Muslims should not pay attention to what “experts” say concerning this blue bead. They should protect themselves by Sharee‘ah-approved Ruqyah (Quranic treatment) and Du‘aa’ (supplication). If a person is affected by the evil eye, he should treat himself with the Quran and the Sunnah, as mentioned in the relevant Fatwa.

Allaah Knows best.