Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The saheeh
ahaadeeth indicate that it is haraam to go to fortune-tellers and
soothsayers, and to ask them questions and believe them. For example, the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes
to a fortune-teller and asks him about something, his prayer will not be
accepted for forty days.” Narrated by Muslim (2230).
And he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever has intercourse
with a menstruating woman or with a woman in her back passage, or goes to a
fortune-teller and believes him, has disbelieved in what Allaah revealed to
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).” Narrated by
Ahmad (9779), Abu Dawood (3904), al-Tirmidhi (135) and Ibn Maajah (939).
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.
Al-Baghawi
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The fortune-teller is the one who
claims to have knowledge of things by means of certain practices which will
lead him to know where stolen and lost items are, etc. Quoted in
al-Zawaajir ‘an Iqtiraafal-Kabaa’ir (2/178).
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The fortune-teller (al-‘arraaf):
it was said that this refers to the soothsayer (al-kaahin), who is
the one who foretells the future.
And it was
said that this is a general term which includes soothsayers, astrologers,
geomancers and the like, who claim to have knowledge of the unseen by means
of certain practices that they use. This is a more general meaning and is
indicated by the derivation of the word, which is derived from ma’rifah
(knowledge), so it applies to all those who deal with these things and claim
to have knowledge of them. End quote from al-Qawl al-Mufeed ‘ala
Kitabal-Tawheed (2/48).
Trying to
find out the identity of the thief in the manner described is a kind of
soothsaying and fortune-telling which is haraam, as it relies on using the
services of the jinn and trusting them. You should not be deceived by the
fact that the fortune-teller recites Qur’aan, because this is just a trick
that these followers of falsehood use.
See question
no. 21124 for information on the signs of witches (practitioners of
witchcraft), fortune-tellers and soothsayers.
Secondly:
Some
scholars are of the view that the one who claims to have knowledge of stolen
things, or who claims that the jinn will tell him about them is a kaafir.
Ibn Nujaym (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Bayaan al-Mukaffiraat:
Going to a soothsayer and believing him when he says, I know where stolen
things are, and what I say is based on what the jinn tell me. End quote from
al-Bahr al-Raa’iq (5/130). And he is guilty of kufr by saying, what I
say is based on what the jinn tell me, because the jinn, like humans, do not
have knowledge of the unseen, as Allaah says of them (interpretation of the
meaning):
“So when
he fell down, the jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they
would not have stayed in the humiliating torment”
[Saba’
34:14]
This was
stated in his footnote to al-Bahr al-Raa’iq.
With regard
to going to a fortune-teller and asking him something, this is subject to
further discussion.
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Asking fortune-tellers and
the like falls into different categories:
1 – Merely
asking him a question. This is haraam because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a fortune-teller and
asks him something, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days.” The
fact that he will be punished for asking him indicates that it is haraam,
because there is no punishment except for doing something haraam.
2 – Asking
him and believing him and accepting what he says. This is kufr, because
believing him with regard to knowledge of the unseen represents disbelief in
the Qur’aan, where Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say:
None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghaib (Unseen) except Allaah”
[al-Naml
27:65]
3 – Asking
him in order to test him and find out whether he is telling the truth or
lying, not in order to accept what he says. There is nothing wrong with
this. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked Ibn
Sayyaad: “What am I hiding from you?” He said: al-Dukh. He said: “Be quiet!
You can never go beyond your station.”
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked him about something
that he was thinking of in order to test him, and he told him of it.
4 – Asking
him in order to demonstrate his inability and lies, so he tests him about
some things. This may be obligatory or required. End quote from al-Qawl
al-Mufeed (2/49).
The scholars
of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked: Sometimes we lose
some money or gold in the house, and we think that it has been stolen. So we
got to one of the people (a “mukhbir”) and we tell him the story and explain
that to him, and he promises to help us. Sometimes we get the lost item back
and sometimes we do not. What is the ruling on our going to these people?
They
replied: It is not permissible to go to him because he is a soothsayer, and
it is narrated in saheeh reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) forbade going to soothsayers and the like and asking
them questions and believing them. End quote.
Fataawa
al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (1/410)
They were
also asked(1/411): You said in the previous question that going to a
“mukhbir” is not permissible because he is a soothsayer. I would like to
point out here that the people to whom we go are known for their adherence
to the teachings of Islam. They do not recite anything except Qur’aan and
hadeeth with regard to matters such as those that I have mentioned in my
question. What is the ruling on our going to them?
They
replied: Simply reciting Qur’aan and hadeeth will not show them where the
lost item is or bring it back. Whoever goes to someone who claims to know
where lost items are just by reading Qur’aan and ahaadeeth is going to a
soothsayer and charlatan, even if he claims to be righteous and religious.
He may make an outward show of reciting Qur’aan and hadeeth in order to
mislead and deceive, but inwardly they are soothsayers and fortune-tellers.
End quote.
Thirdly:
The who one
goes to the fortune-teller and asks him something has to repent to Allaah
and regret what he has done, and resolve not to do it again. He should not
accuse anyone of stealing on the basis of what the fortune-teller and his
helpers among the jinn say, because the jinn tell lies. They may accuse an
innocent person in order to spread corruption among the Muslims. Repentance
in this case is required from the one who went to the fortune-teller and
asked him, and it is also required from the one who told him to do that,
because they have all fallen into sin. See question no.
32863 with regard to
repentance from asking fortune-tellers and believing them.
The Muslim
should beseech Allaah and turn to Him when problems and calamities befall
him, because all things are in His hand, as he says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Is not
He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls
on Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth,
generations after generations? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? Little
is that you remember!”
[al-Naml
27:62]
It is not
appropriate at all for a Muslim to put his religious commitment at risk for
the sake of finding something that he has lost, because the most precious
thing that the Muslim should guard is his religious commitment, and he
should do whatever he can to protect it as it is more precious than money or
anything else. And it should never be the other way round, under any
circumstances whatsoever.
And Allaah
knows best.
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