The question/claim: "Is wearing a blue evil-eye bead, hanging a horseshoe, or carrying an amulet a protection of the religion? Or are these a cultural belief?"
What does the Qur'an say? — refuge is in God alone
The Qur'anic way of guarding against harm rests not on an object but on seeking refuge in God:
"Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak…" (113:1)
"Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind… from the evil of the sneaking whisperer." (114:1, 114:4)
"Say: Nothing befalls us except what God has decreed for us; He is our Protector. In God let the believers put their trust." (9:51)
Concept ≠ object: the evil eye vs. the bead
- The evil eye (ʿayn) as a concept is affirmed in the religion: an authentic hadith states "the evil eye is real" (Bukhārī, Medicine; Muslim, Salām). So believing in it is not superstition.
- But the means of protection taught by the Qur'an and Sunnah is seeking refuge in God, supplication, and reciting al-Falaq / an-Nās (ruqyah) — not assigning protective power to an object (a blue bead, a charm).
- The blue bead / horseshoe / charm has its origin in pre-Islamic Mediterranean–Anatolian folk belief. Ascribing protective power to the object is theologically problematic (giving to other-than-God what belongs to God).
An honest limit
- Certain: the evil eye as a concept has a place in the religion; protection is taught through refuge in God, supplication and the Qur'an (which Sūra 17 calls a "healing").
- Cultural: believing the bead itself protects is folk custom, not a Qur'anic command.
- Amulets are a contested matter: even for an amulet containing a Qur'anic verse, scholars differ — some permit it, others forbid it (citing the prohibition of tamīma). An amulet with talismans/symbols is by consensus problematic.
Conclusion: the Qur'anic way to guard against the evil eye is seeking refuge in God; the protective power of the blue bead is a cultural, not religious, belief. We do not deny the concept of the evil eye; we say that tying it to an object is not religion.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal) + authentic hadith (the evil eye: Bukhārī, Medicine; Muslim, Salām). With a text/interpretation distinction; not a fiqh fatwa.