By Prof Shahul Hameed
The Quran is unambiguously clear about the prohibition of sihr or magic, as it is an act of kufr (disbelief). Those who practice sihr believe in some demonic powers and may be their worshipers. They often use their illusions to mislead people or to harm others. Sometimes these sorcerers claim to have some sort of occult power, and in this way they exploit the simple-minded people. Magic in this sense of sorcery, witchcraft, fortune-telling, etc. is forbidden or haram in Islam.
Quran says:
Sulayman (the prophet) did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things as came down at Babylon to the two angels, Haaroot and Maaroot, but neither of these two angels taught anyone such things till they had said, “We are only for trial, so disbelieve not by learning this magic from us.”
(Al Baqarah 2:102)
Here, learning magic is described as disbelief itself, as evidently the practitioners of magic pretend to have the knowledge of the Unseen and power beyond normal human power; while such knowledge and power are not accessible to any one except Allah Almighty.
Many fortune-tellers take advantage of the ignorance of people, using stratagems like throwing seashells, reading palms, staring into crystal balls, and so on. “If they get it right one time, they get it wrong ninety-nine times, but ignorant people remember only the one time when these liars get something right,” one of our scholars points out.
Usually people go to them to find out about the future, whether they will be successful in marriage or business, or to help them find something they have lost, and so on. The ruling given by our scholars about seeking a fortune-teller is that one must be taken to be a kafir (a disbeliever) if one believes what the fortune-teller says, on the basis of the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him):
“Whoever goes to a fortune-teller or a soothsayer and believes in what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad” (Ahmad).
If a person does not believe that the fortune-teller has knowledge of the Unseen, but goes out of curiosity or whatever, he is not a kafir, but his prayers will not be accepted for forty days, according to the Prophet (peace be upon him):
“Whoever goes to a fortune-teller and asks him about something, his prayers will not be accepted for forty nights” (Muslim).
There are so many superstitions and undesirable practices related to magic and sorcery, which no Muslim can accept or condone. Obviously these are the handiwork of Satan, whom we must keep aloof of by depending fully on Allah’s guidance and the Sunnah of the Last Prophet.
However, in ordinary language, the word magic is used in many meanings: It often means “black magic” or sorcery as said before; but it could also mean just a sleight of hand used for entertainment. The so-called magic shows generally belong to this category and doing such acts for the purpose of entertainment is not prohibited by Islam; this is as long as they do not violate any of the dictates of Islam in any way and people are not made to believe that the entertainer has any supernatural powers.
Apart from this, the idea of “white magic” is misleading and it is better avoided so that we keep away from the chance of accepting wrong beliefs about life and the world. This means that it is easy for us if we are really sensible people to avoid practices of magic and there is no chance to be misled by some by going after what is called “white magic.”
In addition, what some call white magic is still an indirect way of depending on unnatural power and ability, which is not given to all humans. Thus, it is not fair to have this indirect hidden power, through which the person depends and feels supported by other beings that Almighty the Creator. This might definitely lead to shirk (associating others with the One and Only Deity).
Telling lies for good purposes
It must be made clear that a Muslim must always strive for the truth, as Allah Himself has commanded us to be truthful, in so many verses of the Quran. The eminent scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi writes: “Telling lies … is a sign of hypocrisy, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘The hypocrite has three characteristics: he tells lies, breaks his promise, and breaches the trust’ (Al Bukhari and Muslim).”
Also, Allah Almighty says in the Quran:
Only they invent falsehood who believe not Allah’s revelations, and only they are the liars. (16:105)
Telling lies is completely rejected in Islam, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) warned Muslims against such evil trait, saying, “Stick to truthfulness, for it leads one to righteousness, and the latter leads to Paradise. Thus, when one sticks to truthfulness and shows keenness in it, Allah considers him as an absolutely truthful man. And avoid telling lies, for it leads to excessiveness, and this leads to Hell-Fire. Thus, when one persists in telling lies, Allah considers him as a liar.”
Therefore, truthfulness is a conduct that can be acquired by keenness and persistence in telling the truth — even if it requires a lot of effort. A Muslim should strive to accomplish such a noble characteristic so that he can set a good example to the coming generations.
According to Al Tirmithi, there are only three conditions where not telling the truth is permitted:
1. In case of war.
2. In case of fixing relations between people. By this it is meant, for example, that if two friends have a misunderstanding, a person can tell each one that the other is speaking good of him/her, while it did not happen. This is in order to get people closer and end any misunderstanding.
3. Between husband and wife. Here, for example, a husband can tell his wife that he loves her, while he doesn’t. This is, of course, to have the relation and family going on and not to break the family ties.
Such points might need further details from the Shariah aspect.
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