Short answer
No, not as a ritual. Circling salt, red chillies, eggs or alum around a person and burning or throwing them, or hanging lemons and chillies at the door, has no basis in the Quran or Sunnah. If you believe the object itself removes harm, it is shirk. The Sunnah way is ruqyah, dua and, where known, the washing of the one who gave the eye.
These customs are baseless and must be left. Believing that an object wards off or removes harm by itself is shirk, and hanging objects as protection falls under the forbidden amulet (tamimah). Ruqyah with the Quran and authentic duas is the permitted remedy.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
In many South Asian, Arab and Turkish homes, nazar is "taken off" by circling a handful of salt or dried red chillies around the person's head seven times and throwing them in the fire, rolling an egg over the body, melting alum (phitkari) or lead and reading its shape, or hanging a lemon and green chillies at the door or on a car. These come from folk custom, not from the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ said that spells, amulets and love charms are shirk. Scholars explain that this covers anything a person hangs or uses believing it brings benefit or removes harm, when Allah has not made it a means. If someone believes the chillies or the egg themselves take the eye away, that is shirk. Even without that belief, it ties the heart to an object, teaches children superstition, and replaces the Sunnah with something empty. Reading shapes in melted lead or alum is a form of fortune telling and is also forbidden.
What the Sunnah gives instead:
- Ruqyah: recite al-Fatihah, Ayat al-Kursi, al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and al-Nas, then blow lightly over the person. The Prophet ﷺ said there is no harm in ruqyah as long as it contains no shirk.
- Washing: if you know who gave the eye, ask them politely to wash and pour the water over the affected person.
- Dua: such as the dua against the evil eye.
Some raqis recite over water and add a little salt, the way water is used for ruqyah. Scholars who allow this do so because the healing is sought through the recitation, not the salt. That is different from circling and burning things. If you are unsure about a method someone uses, ask a trustworthy mufti before going along with it, and see a doctor for any illness.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Israa 17:82
وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلْقُرْءَانِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌۭ وَرَحْمَةٌۭ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۙ وَلَا يَزِيدُ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًۭا ﴿٨٢﴾
And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.
Healing is sought through the Quran, not through objects.
Quran, Surah Yunus 10:107
وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ ٱللَّهُ بِضُرٍّۢ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُۥٓ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يُرِدْكَ بِخَيْرٍۢ فَلَا رَآدَّ لِفَضْلِهِۦ ۚ يُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ﴿١٠٧﴾
And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful
Only Allah removes harm, which is why charms are rejected.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3883
Graded sahih... إن الرقى والتمائم والتولة شرك ...
"Spells, amulets and love charms are shirk."
Objects and rituals relied on for protection fall under this warning.
Sahih Muslim 2200
Sahih... لا بأس بالرقى ما لم يكن فيه شرك ...
"There is no harm in ruqyah as long as it contains no shirk."
Ruqyah is the permitted remedy, with the condition that it is free of shirk.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha, on ruqyah and amulets. Amulets and charms with unknown content or believed to act by themselves are forbidden.
- Fatawa Mahmudiyya, Chapter on beliefs, customs and ruqyah. Deobandi fatwas reject customs of removing nazar with chillies and similar objects as baseless.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.