What du'as protect from harm?

What the scholars list

Shaykh Ibn Baz, in his answer on protection from magic, gathers the main ones and calls each of them "from the causes of well-being from every evil":

• The three surahs — al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and al-Nas — three times morning and evening, and three times at sleep with the breath blown into the cupped hands and wiped over the head, face and chest.
• "Bismillah alladhi la yadurru ma'a ismihi shay'un fi al-ardi wa la fi al-sama', wa huwa al-Sami' al-'Alim" — three times morning and evening. He reports the Prophet's ﷺ promise that whoever says it three times in the morning will not be harmed until evening, and whoever says it three times in the evening will not be harmed until morning.
• "A'udhu bi kalimat Allah al-tammat min sharri ma khalaq" — three times morning and evening.
• Ayat al-Kursi — after every prayer and at sleep.
• "Allahumma inni as'aluka al-'afiyah fi al-dunya wa al-akhirah", and the general plea: Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min al-sharri kullihi, min kulli da', min kulli ma yadurruni.

He adds the principle behind all of it: the Muslim is commanded to seek refuge with Allah from evil, magic and otherwise, and the transmitted ta'awwudhat are better than anything a person invents.

When fear has a face

IslamWeb (fatwa 157439) answers the same question with the du'as the Prophet ﷺ used in specific danger. When he feared a people, he said:

"O Allah, we place You before them, and we seek refuge in You from their evil."— Sunan Abi Dawud and al-Nasa'i, from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari

And the young believer in the story of the people of the trench, facing a king who meant to kill him, said simply: Allahumma ikfini-him bima shi't — "O Allah, suffice me against them as You will." Muslim narrates it. IslamWeb also points to the Qur'anic du'as of the prophets, among them Rabbana la taj'alna fitnatan li al-qawmi al-zalimin and Rabbi najjini min al-qawmi al-zalimin, and to the words Ibrahim عليه السلام said when he was thrown into the fire and which the Prophet ﷺ said when the enemy gathered: Hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma al-wakil — "Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs."

For protection from the evil eye in particular, IslamWeb (fatwa 71124) names the mu'awwidhat as the best: the Prophet ﷺ told 'Abdullah ibn Khubayb to recite al-Ikhlas and the two mu'awwidhat three times morning and evening, and said they would suffice him from everything. He also taught Fatimah رضي الله عنها:

"O Ever-Living, O Sustainer, by Your mercy I seek relief. Set right all my affairs, and do not leave me to myself for the blink of an eye."— Sunan al-Nasa'i and al-Hakim, who graded it authentic

Why recitation is protection

Shaykh Ibn Baz grounds the whole practice in two verses: Qul huwa li alladhina amanu hudan wa shifa' —

"Say: it is, for those who believe, a guidance and a healing" (Qur'an 41:44)

and wa nunazzilu min al-Qur'an ma huwa shifa' wa rahmah li al-mu'minin (Qur'an 17:82). The Qur'an and du'a, he says, contain healing from every evil by Allah's permission.

The Prophet's ﷺ own habit at night, narrated by 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها and cited by Ibn Baz, shows the method: he would recite al-Ikhlas and the two mu'awwidhat into his palms, blow, then wipe whatever he could reach of his body, beginning with his head, face and chest — doing this three times each night.

Al-Mu'allimi, commenting on "Bismillah alladhi la yadurru…", explains what the protection actually rests on. The phrase does not mean the mere sound of the Name wards off harm — people mention Allah's name constantly and are still harmed. It means that the one who remembers Allah as the Shari'ah prescribes, with truthful humility and firm certainty, earns a blessing (barakah) that surrounds him, and nothing harms him while that blessing is with him. He notes the hadith's own story supports this: its narrator Aban had been struck by a partial paralysis, and explained that he had not said the words on that particular day.

Conditions that make it work

Shaykh Ibn Baz, asked whether this "weapon" has conditions, answers that it does:

• Trust in Allah — the heart must rely on Him, not on the words as a mechanism.
• Belief in the Messenger ﷺ — accepting that he spoke the truth.
• Sincerity and following the Sunnah — the du'a is said as transmitted, not altered.
• Certainty that Allah alone benefits and harms — He is the One who gives and withholds.

Al-Mu'allimi's point belongs here too: the remembrance must be kamil — complete, in accordance with what is legislated, with genuine humility and strong conviction.

What is not a protection

Shaykh Ibn Baz is explicit that hanging amulets — written papers, beads, shells, wolf bones, talismans — is not permitted, whether hung on children or on the sick, and whether the writing is Qur'anic or not. The hadiths on this are general and make no exception, and permitting written amulets opens the door to the others. He classes it as minor shirk, because it is a form of attaching the heart to something other than Allah. The permitted alternative is what the Prophet ﷺ did: ask Allah for well-being, take lawful medicine, and recite Qur'an and good du'as — for he said, "There is no harm in ruqyah as long as it is not shirk."

In practice

Recite the three surahs three times morning and evening, and at sleep with the breath and wiping. Say "Bismillah alladhi la yadurru…" and "A'udhu bi kalimat Allah al-tammat…" three times morning and evening. Read Ayat al-Kursi after each prayer and before sleep. When a specific fear appears, use the Prophet's ﷺ words for that moment — Allahumma inna naj'aluka fi nuhurihim, or Hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma al-wakil. And ask for al-'afiyah itself, for the Prophet ﷺ said: "Ask Allah for well-being in this world and the next."

Key takeaways

• The protection the scholars name is a fixed set: the three surahs, "Bismillah alladhi la yadurru…", "A'udhu bi kalimat Allah al-tammat…", and Ayat al-Kursi — each with its own time and number.
• The words work through Allah's decree, not as a mechanism: al-Mu'allimi ties their effect to remembrance done as prescribed, with humility and certainty.
• Ibn Baz sets conditions: trust in Allah, belief in the Messenger ﷺ, sincerity, and following what was transmitted.
• Hanging amulets — even those containing Qur'an — is not permitted; the Prophet ﷺ prohibited them without exception.
• For a specific fear, the Sunnah supplies specific words, including Hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma al-wakil and Allahumma ikfini-him bima shi't.

Further reading

• al-Adhkar by Imam al-Nawawi, the chapter on what to say when fearing a people
• Hisn al-Muslim by Sa'id al-Qahtani, recommended by IslamWeb for transmitted du'as

And Allah knows best.