Ringing in the ears in Islam: does it mean someone is mentioning you?

In many Muslim cultures, when your ear rings people say "someone is mentioning you": the right ear for good, the left for bad. Does ringing in the ears have any meaning in Islam?

The narration about ear ringing

Some books attribute these words to the Prophet ﷺ: "When the ear of one of you rings, let him remember me, send blessings on me and say: may whoever mentions me with good be mentioned with good." This narration appears in sources such as at-Tabarani, but hadith scholars graded it weak, and some criticised it even more severely. So it is not right to give ear ringing a religious meaning or to treat it as a definite sign.

Right ear and left ear

Reading a ringing right ear as good and a left ear as bad has no basis in the Quran or authentic hadith. It is a popular belief. Islam rejects treating events as good or bad omens by themselves (Sahih al-Bukhari 5757). See Are there bad omens in Islam?

Is sending blessings still good?

Of course. Even though ear ringing is not a sign, remembering the Prophet ﷺ and sending blessings on him is always good: "Whoever sends blessings on me once, Allah sends blessings on him ten times" (Sahih Muslim 408). What matters is doing it for the virtue of the salawat itself, not because you believe the ringing means something.

Medical causes of ear ringing

Ringing in the ears, called tinnitus, is usually brief and harmless. If it happens often or lasts long, it can come from:

• Exposure to loud noise
• Earwax build-up or an ear infection
• Blood pressure and circulation problems
• Stress, lack of sleep and tiredness
• Side effects of some medicines

If the ringing does not go away, or comes with hearing loss, dizziness or pain, see an ear, nose and throat specialist. Caring for your health is also a responsibility the religion asks of you.

In short

Ringing in the ears is not a religious sign, and the right and left ear distinction has no basis. Sending blessings in that moment is good, but for ringing that keeps returning, seeing a doctor is best.

And Allah knows best.