Nazar, or the “evil eye,” is a particular cultural phenomenon widely prevalent among Pakistani Americans and other South Asian diaspora communities. Deeply ingrained in certain societies and transmitted through centuries, the evil eye belief continues to be active around the world—in native cultures as well as among immigrant groups. Rooted in the fear of envy, the evil eye belief is a widespread superstition according to which envious people can cause harm by a mere glance at coveted objects or their owners.
A collection of nazar amulets. While “the evil eye” is a folk belief common to many cultures, it is notably prevalent amongst the Pakistani American community, in which there is therefore a market for nazar amulets, or eye-shaped protective charms employed to counteract such curses. (Roman 1963/Dreamstime.com)
The phenomenon of the evil eye is considered to be one of several supernatural origins of disease or the cause of any sudden, hazardous event and misfortune. Considered primary among several superstitions regarding traditional health beliefs, the evil eye is not always a conscious or intentional effect of the covetous, envious, or admiring gaze of a human or spirit that marks with malice another person, animal, crop, or object; nonetheless, it is believed to cause immense harm.
Urdu Nazar, meaning literally “seeing or sight,” has come to mean “evil eye” or “evil glance” in popular use among Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians, and other South Asian peoples. In popular Hindi usage, nazar carries the meaning of a detrimental effect on a person or object seen with a malevolent gaze or afflicted by an evil eye. This concept of nazar, also called buri nazar in local parlance, has direct associations with Sanskrit dristi or sight, which in time has also acquired pejorative meanings on the Indian subcontinent.
The foremost example of a powerful malevolent or damaging gaze (dristi dosa) in the Hindu culture is that of Sani (Saturn), which causes all kinds of destruction, diseases, and ailments. The folk belief regarding the damaging gaze of evil eyes prevalent throughout South Asian cultures stem from their close associations with West Asian and Mediterranean cultures, especially medieval Islamic traditions.
The concept of the evil eye is an established notion in Islamic cultures and is purportedly endorsed by the Qur’an, the holy Islamic text. In the Hadith, a collection of traditions containing the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, the influence of the evil eye is established as a fact that can affect a person’s destiny. Even the Qur’an endorses the belief that one can project harm or misfortune on another by admiring that person or that person’s possessions with jealousy, envy, or even excessive pride. Most concerns about the evil eye revolve round humans but also can pertain to malevolent spirits, ghosts, or jinns; even animals like snakes are believed to be the carrier of the evil gaze and, as such, are potentially dangerous and destructive.
Elaborate strategies are deployed to deflect the evil eye. These strategies aim at redirecting a potentially damaging gaze, as well as removing the effect and cleansing the body or mind affected by the nazar. One such strategy is to chant an auspicious protective phrase, Chasm-e-baddoor (literally meaning “let the evil eye be far away”), to protect the good luck of a loved one; another is the use of a nazar battu, that is, the creation of an intentional flaw or blemish to mar the perfection of a person or object; still another is the use of a protective charm to ward off the evil eye.
Obsessed with the evil effects of nazar, South Asian cultures display their fears of the evil eye belief in a variety of ways—the most important among these are wearing tawiz or small metal tubes, beads, or amulets, as well as dotting children with traditional cosmetics. The tawiz are protective charms worn on the body of a person or an animal to prevent and cure the harmful effects of nazar. The tawiz may contain sacred verses, designs, or formulas from the Qur’an written on paper or inscribed on tiny pieces of metal or beads as symbols of Islamic faith. Paper inscriptions containing the healing power of the sacred word are usually folded and encased in very small metal containers that are often cylindrical, rectangular, or triangular in shape.
Many nonwritten forms of tawiz also abound. The tawiz are believed to have curative powers that have the ability to invoke God’s word and cleanse the body afflicted by the evil eye. The simplest protective charm, however, is fumigation by swinging a small burning censer inside rooms and doorways of houses and shops; the Hand of Fatima, a hand-shaped talisman used to ward off the evil eye, also serves the same protective purpose. In some regions, a demon-like evil eye mask is also often prominently displayed above the front door or on the wall to discourage onlookers and passers-by from casting an evil glance upon the house.
These various kinds of talismans, or nazar battus, attract immediate attention and deflect the harmful gaze of the evil eye by tempting it to mark the bait and not the original person, coveted animal, or the intended object of the gaze. An example of a widely used and iconic nazar battu is found in the crude paintings on trucks in Pakistan, India, and other parts of South Asia. The traditional jutti or Indo-Pakistani shoe and a stylized demonic mask with huge canines and two sharply pointed horns along with the slogan “Buri nazar waale, tera munh kala” (O ye with evil eyes, let your face be blackened) often appear as part of truck decoration in India and Pakistan, used to ward off jealous attention and prevent the casting of a harmful glance.
Children are believed to be especially susceptible to the gaze of the evil eye—even the excessively admiring and affectionate gaze of their own mothers is said to attract the evil eye and make children vulnerable to harm. Thus a deliberate ugly mark or black dot is often made on the forehead, cheek, or neck of a child with a special kind of homemade black soot known as kajal or surma to protect children from nazar caused by excessive motherly love. Prepared from native and natural resources, the soot for kajal or surma is collected on a small metal plate held over the flame of a castor seed oil lamp and is typically worn on the side of the forehead or the cheeks to create a sense of imperfection that denigrates the “perfect” person and results in warding off the evil eye.
Protective amulets are often worn or tied around arms or waists to ward off evil glances. Mothers ritualistically spit at their children or lightly bite the little fingers of their left hands to protect them from the deleterious effects of the nazar by making them unfit for others’ envy or attention. Black or red threads or knotted strings are tied around a child’s waist along with beads, amulets, or tawiz containing protective phrases, sacred words, verses from the Qur’an, or mystical formulas, as well as patterns made of arrays of letters and numbers that have the power to invoke the sacred power of the scriptures to negate the effect of the evil eye. Besides children, mothers of sons, pregnant or childbearing women, valued domestic animals, houses, and important household objects or components of livelihood like tools, tractors, or trucks may also be protected with charms in a variety of ways.
Sutapa Chaudhuri
See also Evil Eye; Folk Medicine; Good Luck Charms; Superstitions
Further Reading
Aquaro, George. 2004. Death by Envy: The Evil Eye and Envy in the Christian Tradition. New York: iUniverse.
Dundes, Alan, ed. 1992. The Evil Eye. A Casebook. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Elworthy, Frederick Thomas. 2004. The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition. Mineola, NY: Dover.
Knipe, David M. 2003. “Drsti.” In South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia, edited by Margaret A. Mills, Peter J. Claus, and Sarah Diamond, 172–174. London: Routledge.
Mills, Margaret A. 2003. “Islam.” In South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia, edited by Margaret A. Mills, Peter J. Claus, and Sarah Diamond, 294–297. London: Routledge.