Nazar aka the envying eye...

So in our cultures, and this is not just Muslim but South Asian as I have heard my Hindu friends talk about it too...when one looks at you with an eye of envy, sometimes their envy can cause your enviable quality to dampen or be affected adversely. It doesn't have to be an enemy's envy..can even be your own appreciation of yourself...anyway, when one praises you or you praise yourself, sometimes, that specific quality you praise or clothes you praise or hair you praise or whatever, gets damaged or spoiled...we then say that "nazar lag gayi" which is literally translated as "someone's sight has hit you or their envy has hit you"...

So in Islam, there are certain verses that are prescribe to protect oneself from other people's envy and jealousy and in our Asian culture in general, there are other spiritual ways of taking this envy off oneself..almost an exorcism but in a very light sense.

Some people just recite the surahs and blow it on themselves..usually a mother does it for her children, some people blow their prayers on a glass of water and then throw the water, some use red peppers...heehe, yeah red peppers.

My mama does the red pepper one. She takes 5 or 7 (always an odd number) peppers, recites the four Quls (verses from the Quran), each three times and after each verse, she takes the peppers, in her right hand, and goes around my head three times in a clockwise direction..then she proceeds to the next verse. After all verses are recited three times each, she takes her hand and passes the peppers into her left hand from under her right leg...then, she throws them onto the fire on the stove...and hence, the evil eye burns...heehee

If the peppers smell, then you don't have "nazar" on you but if they don't smell whilst burning, all their fragrance has been used to dampen the "nazar" and it means that there is still some left on you. So you keep doing it, after taking a break of some days, till the peppers smell!

Believe you me, it works...psychology, spirituality, divinity or whatever the reason..it bloody works!!!

Disclaimer: Children should not try this activity at home...:oP