Islamic Talisman for Protection

A talisman  or Islamic Talisman for Protection is an object that is imbued with protective powers. In the world of Islam, they bear Qur’anic inscriptions, astrological signs, and religious narratives. Many Muslims believe that an object that is inscribed with the word God (Allah) will protect the person who reads, touches, or sees it, and that the word of God has the power to ward off evil. The surface of a talismanic object can be covered with prayers, signs, numbers, and decorative motifs, and the object is carried in a pocket, or rolled and placed in an amulet case; some talismans are worn as clothing.

The most efficacious talismans are those that are inscribed with prayers that evoke the name of God and the prophet Muhammad and his companions. The ninety-nine names of God, verses from the Qur’an, and sayings of the Prophet (hadith), for example, are appropriated and regenerated into texts that are meant to be good omens. Talismans that contain inscriptions with the names of prophets and religious figures have the power to protect an individual from hardship and danger by acting as conduits between these holy figures and anyone carrying the talisman. This is also true of devotional manuals by religious leaders (shaikhs) with passages stating that whoever reads them will be protected from demons and supernatural beings (jinn). The written story about a prophet can be protective as well, with pictorial representations of that prophet and of the omens associated with him.