The Narratives – Mohamed Miah

No, I’m not superstitious. But if you’d asked me when I was younger, my answer might have been different.

Growing up in a South Asian household, superstition was just part of everyday life. It wasn’t something people thought too deeply about—it was just there, woven into conversations, habits, and warnings passed down. “Touch wood,” they’d say after talking about something good, as if a piece of timber could protect fate. If someone had a run of bad days, it was “unlucky”. If things worked out well, it was down to “good luck”. I heard all the usual ones too—don’t cut your nails at night, don’t sweep after Maghrib, all sorts of nonsense.

I used to go along with it. Not necessarily because I believed it, but because it was normal. Everyone around me said these things, and when you’re young, you don’t question the small details of life—you just absorb them. That was until I truly learned my faith.

Islam taught me that it’s not luck—it’s Allah. Nothing happens by chance. There is cause and effect, and there is Qadr (divine decree). We make choices, we take action, and Allah is the one who decides the outcome. If something doesn’t go my way, it’s not bad luck—it’s a lesson, a test, or simply something that wasn’t meant for me. If something works out well, it’s not good luck—it’s a blessing, a reward, or an answered dua.

Superstition is about fear and control, about trying to manipulate what we can’t understand. Faith is about trust. It’s knowing that whether things go my way or not, Allah is the best of planners. Now, if something goes wrong, I don’t call it bad luck. If things go right, I don’t credit luck either. Instead, I say Alhamdulillah and remind myself,

Tawakkul over fear. Faith over fiction.