“The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for 40 days and nights.”(Saheeh Muslim)
There are among mankind, people who claim knowledge of the unseen and the future. Fortune-tellers use various methods and mediums from which they claim to extract their information. Practitioners of occult arts, which claim to reveal the unseen and predict the future, can be divided into two main categories: Those who have no real knowledge or secrets but depend on telling their customers about general incidences which happen to most people. They often go through a series of meaningless rituals, then make calculated general guesses. Some of their guesses, due to their generality, usually come true. Most people tend to remember the few predictions that come true and quickly forget the many which do not. This tendency is a result of the fact that after some time all the predictions tend to become half-forgotten thoughts in the subconscious until something happens to trigger their recall. The second group are those who have made contact with the Jinn. This group is of most importance because it usually involves the grave sin of Shirk, and those involved often tend to be highly accurate in their information and thus present a real Fitnah (temptations) for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Some people have attempted to deny the reality of the Jinn about whom the Quran has devoted a whole chapter, Soorah al-Jinn (Chapter 72). By relying on the literal meaning of the word Jinn which comes from the verb Janna, Yajunnu: “to cover, hide or conceal”, they claim that the word Jinn really refers to “clever foreigners”. Others have even stated that a Jinn is a human who does not have a true mind in his head but he has a fiery nature. But, the reality is that the Jinn represent another creation of God, which co-exists with man on the earth. God created the Jinn before He created mankind, and He also used a different set of elements than those used for man. God said: “And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud. And the jinn We created before from scorching fire.” (Quran 15:26). They were named Jinn because they are hidden from the eyes of mankind. Iblees (Satan) was in the company of the Angels who were commanded by God to prostrate to Adam. When he refused to prostrate and was asked why, he said: “He said, ‘I am better than he is. You (God) created me from fire and You created him from clay!” (Quran 38:76). Hazrat Aisha (RA) reported that the Prophet, may God praise him, said, “The angels were created from light and the Jinn from smokeless fire.” (Saheeh Muslim). God also said, “And when We told the angels to prostrate to Adam, they all prostrated except Iblees. He was of the Jinn.” (Quran 18:50). Therefore it is incorrect to consider him a fallen angel or the like. The Jinn may first be divided into three broad categories in relation to their modes of existence. The Prophet said: “There are three types of Jinn: One type which flies in the air all the time, another type which exists as snakes and dogs, and an earthbound type which resides in one place or wanders about.” (At-Tabaree and al-Haakim)The Jinn may be further divided into two categories in relationship to their faith: Muslims (believers) and Kaafirs (disbelievers). God refers to the believing Jinn in Soorah al-Jinn as follows: “Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of Jinn listened and said, ‘Verily we have heard a marvelous Quran. It guides unto righteousness so we have believed in it. And, we will never make partners with our Lord. He, may our Lord’s glory be exalted, has not taken a wife nor a son. What the foolish ones among us used to say about God is a horrible lie.” (Quran 72:1-4). “And there are among us Muslims and others who are unjust. Whoever accepts Islam has sought out the right path. As for those who are unjust, they will be fuel for the Hell fire.” (Quran 72:14). The disbelievers among the Jinn are referred to by various names in both Arabic and English: Ifreet, Shaytaan, Qareen, demons, devils, spirits, ghosts, etc. They try to misguide man in various ways. Whoever listens to them and becomes a worker for them is referred to as human Shaytaan (devil). God said: “Likewise, we have made for every Prophet an enemy, Shaytaans from among mankind and the Jinn.” (Quran 6:112). Every human has an individual Jinn accompanying him referred to as a Qareen (i.e. companion). This is a part of man’s test in this life. The Jinn encourage his lower desires and constantly try to divert him from righteousness. The Prophet referred to this relationship as follows, “Everyone of you has been assigned a companion from the Jinn.” The Sahaabah asked, “Even you, O Messenger of God?” And the Prophet replied, “Even me, except that God has helped me against him and he has submitted. Now he only tells me to do good.”(Saheeh Muslim). Prophet Sulaymaan (AS) (Solomon) was given miraculous control over the Jinn, as a sign of his prophethood. God said: “And, we gathered for Sulaymaan his army from the Jinn, mankind and the birds.” (Quran 27:17) and they were all kept in order and ranks. But this power was not given to anyone else. No one else is allowed to control the Jinn and no one can. The Prophet said, “Verily an Ifr-eeit from among the Jinn spat on me last night trying to break my Salaah. However God let me overpower him and I wanted to tie him to one of the columns in the masjid so that you all could see him in the morning. Then, I remembered my brother Sulaymaan’s prayer: ‘Oh my Lord, forgive me and bestow on me a kingdom not allowed to anyone after me.’ (Quran 38:35). Man cannot gain control over the Jinn as this was a special miracle given only to Prophet Sulaymaan. In fact, contact with the Jinn in circumstances other than possession, or accident is most often made by the performance of sacrilegious acts despised and forbidden in the religion. The evil Jinn summoned in this fashion may aid their partners in sin and disbelief in God. Their goal is to draw as many others as they can into the gravest of sins, the worship of others besides or along with God.
The Prophet, may God praise him, laid down principles, which clearly forbade any form of visitation of fortune-tellers. Safiyyah reported from Hafsah (wife of the Prophet) that the Prophet(SAW) said, “The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for 40 days and nights”(Saheeh Muslim) . The punishment in this Hadeeth is for simply approaching a fortune-teller and asking him questions out of curiosity.
Once contact and contract with the Jinn are made by fortune-tellers, the Jinn may inform them of certain events in the future. The Prophet described how the Jinn gather information about the future. He related that the Jinn were able to travel to the lower reaches of the heavens and listen in on some of the information about the future, which the angels pass among themselves. They would then return to the earth and feed the information to their human contacts. This used to happen a lot prior to the prophethood of Muhammad (SAW) and fortune-tellers were very accurate in their information. They were able to gain positions in the royal courts and enjoyed much popularity and were even worshipped in some regions of the world. After the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) began his mission the situation changed. God had the angels guard the lower reaches of the heavens carefully, and most of the Jinn were chased away with meteors and shooting stars. God described this phenomenon in the following Quranic statement made by one of the Jinn, “We (the Jinn) had sought out the heavens but found it filled with strong guardians and meteors. We used to sit on high places in order to listen, but whoever listens now finds a flame waiting for him.” God also said, “And We have guarded it (the heavens) from every cursed devil, except the one who is able to snatch a hearing and, he is pursued by a brightly burning flame.”(Quran 15:17). Ibn Abbaas (RA) said, “When the Prophet and a group of his companions set out for the Ukaadh market, the devils were blocked from hearing information in the heavens. Meteors were let loose on them, so they returned to their people. When their people asked what happened, they told them. Some suggested that something must have happened, so they spread out over the earth seeking the cause. Some of them came across the Prophet and his companions while they were in Salaah and they heard the Quran. They said to themselves that this must have been what blocked them from listening. When they returned to their people they told them, ‘Verily we have heard a marvellous Quran. It guides unto righteousness so we believed in it. And we will never make partners with our Lord.’” Thus, the Jinn could no longer gather information about the future as easily as they could before the Prophet’s mission. Because of that, they now mix their information with many lies. The Prophet said: “They (the Jinn) would pass the information back down until it reaches the lips of a magician fortune-teller. Sometimes a meteor would overtake them before they could pass it on. If they passed it on before being struck, they would add to it a hundred lies.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, At-Tirmidhi). Aisha (RA) reported that when she asked God’s messenger about fortune-tellers, he replied that they were nothing. She then mentioned that the fortune-tellers sometimes told them things, which were true. The Prophet said: “That is a bit of truth which the Jinn steals and cackles in the ear of his friend; but he mixes along with it a hundred lies.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim). Once while Umar ibn al-Khattaab (RA) was sitting, a handsome man, Sawaad Ibn Qaarib passed by him. Umar (RA) said: “If I am not wrong, this person is still following his religion of pre-Islamic times or perhaps he was one of their fortune-tellers.” He ordered that the man be brought to him and asked him about, what he suspected. The man replied, “I have never seen a day like this where a Muslim is faced with such accusations.” Umar (RA) said, “Verily I am determined that you should inform me.” The man then said, “I was their fortune-teller in the time of ignorance.” On hearing that Umar (RA) asked, “Tell me about the strangest thing which your female Jinn told you.” The man then said, “One day, while I was in the market, she came to me all worried and said, ‘Have you not seen the Jinns in their despair after their disgrace? And their following of she-camels and their riders.” Umar (RA) interjected, “It is true.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari). The Jinns are also able to inform their human contact of the relative future. For example, when someone comes to a fortune-teller, the fortune-teller’s Jinn gets information from the man’s Qareen (the jinn assigned to every human being) of what plans he had made prior to his coming. So the fortune-teller is able to tell him that he will do this or that, or go here or there. By this method, the real fortune-teller is also able to learn about a stranger’s past in vivid detail. He is able to tell a total stranger of his parents’ names, where he was born, the acts of his childhood, etc. The ability to vividly describe the past is one of the marks of a true fortune-teller who has made contact with the Jinn. Because the Jinn are able to traverse huge distances instantaneously, they are also able to gather huge stores of information about hidden things, lost articles and unobserved events. Proof of this ability can be found in the Quran, in the story about Prophet Sulaymaan (AS) and Bilqees, the Queen of Sheba. When Queen Bilqees came to see him, he asked the Jinn to bring her throne from her land. “An Ilfreet from among the Jinns said, I will bring it for you before you can get up from your place. Verily, I am strong and trustworthy for the assignment.
The Islamic Ruling on Fortune-telling: Because of the sacrilege and heresy involved in fortune telling, Islam has taken a very strong stance towards it. Islam opposes any form of association with those who practice fortune-telling, except to advise them to give up their forbidden practices. The Prophet, may God praise him, laid down principles, which clearly forbade any form of visitation of fortune-tellers. Safiyyah reported from Hafsah (wife of the Prophet) that the Prophet(SAW) said, “The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for 40 days and nights”(Saheeh Muslim) . The punishment in this Hadeeth is for simply approaching a fortune-teller and asking him questions out of curiosity. This prohibition is further supported by Mu’aawiyah Ibn al-Hakam asSolamee’s Hadeeth in which he said, “O Messenger of God, verily there are some people among us who visit oracles. The Prophet replied, “Do not go to them”. Such a severe punishment has been assigned for only visitation because it is the first step to belief in fortune-telling. If one went there doubtful about its reality, and some of the fortune-teller’s predictions come true, one will surely become a true devotee of the fortune-teller and an ardent believer in fortune-telling. The individual who approaches a fortune-teller is still obliged to make his compulsory Salaah throughout the 40 day period, even though he gets no reward from his prayers. If he abandons the Salaah all together, he has committed another major sin.
(The authors write regularly on Islamic topic exclusively for the opinion pages of “Kashmir Horizon”. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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