The origin of talisman is not unambiguous but it generally agreed upon that they originated from various cultures and traditions within the Middle East among nomadic people.
Typically, talismans are magical gemstones or minerals. Some believe that these stones house magic and power for protection. Check out this site taweez for more info.
In pre-Islam Arabian times, talismans were a prominent symbol of governmental as well as heavenly power. Strictly speaking the term amulets could be used for items produced during pre-Islamic Arabia whereas talismans were often carved prominently into temples throughout the region.
During pre-Islamic Arabia, mountains and other large rocks represented powerful gods such as Allah to the tribes residing within these regions. The awe generated by these mighty entities superseded the power of men in society. Children would perform a sacred ceremony with small chips of mountain crystal desecrating their foreheads before they reached puberty to protect them from demons and unseen spirits always seeking to do harm to infants or children. The mountain crystal was placed on the forehead and remained there for a year. (Conley, 1980) Some Talismans were also made from parts of animals like buffalo leather or sheep skin that were believed to have powers too.
The word ‘Taleem means knowledge and in ancient times the people protected themselves from their enemies with talismans that were dipped in fragrant plants or herbs. This would be hung on a door, chimney or entrance of the house. So this helped to give them peace and security from demon chants of other tribes as well as different animals and insects that could disperse disease.
Talismans in pre-Islamic times were a pagan relic from Arabia and life was centered around tribal worship, Arabians. There existed minor cults of deities who would serve as the patron deity for small tribes. This is before Islam introduced its monotheistic beliefs that brought uniformity to mankind and introduced Islamic law.
It was believed that some items have the power to communicate with personal gods and control a person(s) fate. For example there are several people who hang talismans in their wards make such as taweez amulets etc, a man can also become lucky if he has a religious symbol or if he holds coins in his mouth at the time of uttering auspicious words.
Arabia has always been a desert land with many legends and myths. Some of these legends point to significant events in preislamic times of Arabic society. The first is of Jadd bint-i Shu’aib who found an amulet on Mount Hira with drawn images and strange words on it that she entrusted the care for her son, Hasib. This turned out to be a talisman through which Allah deflected evil from anyone who carries it.
One of most famous amulet in preislamic Arabian Peninsula region is Habbaqih El Makh. The Bedouin Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and his son, the Prophet Muhammad, found a huge stone in the desert of Medina. The stone was split into two halves, one white and one black. When they rubbed the two pieces together they discovered that they were both inscribed with lines of writing which appeared like something had been drawn on it with a piece of charcoal.
There is one amulet that stands out above all others – Tabal is one such amulet, written of in ibn Ishaq’s famous biography on Muhammad . It is said to be a black stone (possibly a topaz) with the word ‘Allah’ inscribed on it. At one point, the narrative states that when Abu Bakr, who was carrying Tabal, would pray in battle and his enemies would hear his voice coming from the amulet. The result was an increase in the number of Muslims fighting for him.