Across sub-Saharan Africa, millions of Muslims grow up surrounded by practices that have nothing to do with authentic Islam. From amulets sewn into leather pouches and tied around the waist, neck, and arms, to concoctions mixed into food and drink, these rituals blur the line between cultural tradition and the pure monotheism (tawhid) that Islam teaches. In a powerful conversation on The Deen Show, Dr. Sreeno Omar Berry, Vice Chancellor of the Islamic International Open University (IOU) and former government minister in The Gambia, shares his personal journey from wearing amulets to understanding that true protection comes only from Allah. His story is a wake-up call for every Muslim who has ever confused inherited custom with genuine faith.
Black Magic, Amulets, and the Danger of Shirk in Africa
In West Africa, marabouts prepare amulets using Quranic verses written in mystical numerical squares on paper, wrapped tightly in dried goat skin, and sewn shut. People pay enormous sums of money believing these objects can stop bullets, make them invisible, cause enemies to go mad, or make a spouse more loving. Dr. Omar Berry himself once wore these amulets and admits he would have fought anyone who told him the practice was un-Islamic. Yet Islam is unequivocal: depending on any created object for protection instead of Allah is shirk, the gravest sin in the religion. The tragedy is that these practices are so deeply woven into local culture that many sincere Muslims genuinely believe they are part of the deen.
“Islam considers this shirk because it is a way of believing something is more powerful in protecting you than God. You equate it with God, and in some cases you take that to be the sole source of your protection, forgetting that your Creator is the main source.”
- Tawhid vs. shirk: Islam teaches that only Allah has the power to protect, heal, and sustain. Relying on amulets, talismans, or fortune-tellers violates the very foundation of tawhid and can nullify a person’s faith.
- The Sunnah alternative: The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught specific supplications (adhkar) for protection — before sleep, after salah, when traveling, and when facing difficulty. These prophetic practices replace every amulet and talisman with direct reliance upon Allah.
- Education is the cure: Dr. Omar Berry credits Islamic education for freeing him and countless others from these practices. When Muslims study the Quran and Sunnah directly, cultural superstitions lose their grip.
- Satan’s deception: Sometimes these rituals appear to “work” because that is how Shaytan operates — creating the illusion of results to keep people trapped in shirk and far from authentic guidance.
Fitrah Speaks: Africans React to the Gender Ideology Question
“A woman has her own duty and a man has his own duty. A lady cannot do the duty of a man and a man cannot do the duty of a woman. Can a man become a woman? No. If you want to become a lady but you are a man, you have something wrong — something wrong in your family, something wrong in you.”
- The fitrah is universal: The Maasai people of Kenya, though not Muslim, responded to Western gender ideology with the same natural clarity that Islam calls fitrah — the innate human disposition that recognizes male and female as distinct, complementary creations of God.
- Africa is not confused: As Dr. Omar Berry confirmed, the idea of a man “becoming” a woman is not a serious topic of discussion in African communities. People who display cross-gender behavior are traditionally seen as individuals with psychological struggles, not as a new category of identity.
- Protecting children through Islamic education: The real danger arises when Western curricula and social media exposure reach African and Muslim youth without any Islamic filter. The IOU offers an Islamized education model that teaches science, psychology, and every academic subject through an Islamic worldview, safeguarding students from ideologies that contradict both faith and fitrah.
- Islamic psychology vs. Western psychology: Western psychology understands the human being only through the mind, while Islamic psychology addresses the soul — a dimension the secular framework cannot even perceive. This distinction matters profoundly when confronting modern identity confusion.
The Path Forward: Islamic Education as the Shield
Whether the challenge is amulets in West Africa or gender ideology imported through screens and school systems, the solution is the same: grounded Islamic education rooted in the Quran and Sunnah. The International Open University (IOU) founded by Dr. Bilal Philips offers free diploma courses, affordable bachelor’s and master’s programs, and a fully online platform accessible from a phone on a bus or a train. Dr. Omar Berry’s own transformation from amulet-wearer to university vice chancellor is living proof that when Muslims take their deen seriously through authentic knowledge, the confusion falls away and the straight path becomes clear. If you are ready to get serious about your faith and protect yourself and your family from the traps of shirk, cultural distortion, and imported ideologies, start learning today — because in Islam, seeking knowledge is not optional, it is an obligation upon every believer.
