The Presence of Those Selling Amulets, Practicing Sorcery, and Chanting Spells in the Mosque
One of the prohibited matters found in the mosques of the countries of the subcontinent and some other countries is the business of selling amulets and performing incantations in mosques. Accordingly, Ibn al-Hajj, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote in Al-Madkhal:
“Those who sell animal hair or writing sticks in the mosque will be stopped from doing so.”
And Imam Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned the prohibited acts related to mosques in Ihya Ulum al-Din, stating:
One reprehensible act is that on Friday (or any day), circles are formed and amulets, etc., are sold. And those who sell amulets use various kinds of deception and trickery. Any sale involving falsehood, deception, or concealment of defects is forbidden. Such deceptive and fraudulent matters are not only forbidden in the mosque but are forbidden everywhere, inside and outside the mosque.
This is the translation of Imam Ghazali’s words. Meanwhile, Allama Jamal al-Din Qasmi, may Allah have mercy on him, writes in his book “Islah al-Masajid”:
Some mosques have chambers where people who claim to have knowledge of the unseen and future events reside. Those who have lost necessities and items, and those who wish to know future gains and losses, keep coming to them. For their purpose, these people also pay money to those who recite incantations. Some come to these practitioners not because of actual diseases but merely due to imagination and doubts. The practitioner convinces the visitors that the cure for these diseases and satanic effects is nothing but his incantations and strange methods. Then such cunning people sometimes write something with menstrual blood, sometimes write on a woman’s abdomen.
In short, they perform many strange and crude acts. Our simple-hearted people consider such individuals as perfect practitioners and something else, and remain trapped in their deceit and fraud. They keep robbing their pockets, honor, and faith. Such people should be expelled from the mosques.
And further, Allama Qasmi, may Allah have mercy on him, writes that the regrettable thing is that all this is now prevalent among Muslims.
To the service of these people:
Perhaps they do not know that it is mentioned in the hadith that whoever holds reverence for an astrologer, his prayer is not accepted. And he falls into the category of disbelief.
And their indication is towards those hadiths, one of which is narrated in Sahih Muslim and Musnad Ahmad through the narration of Hazrat Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) from a respected wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), in which the Prophet said:
من أتى عرافا فسأله عن شيء لم تقبل له صلاة أربعين ليلة
“Whoever goes to an astrologer, a physiognomist, or a soothsayer and asks him something, his prayers for forty days will not be accepted.”
Another hadith is narrated in Sunan al-Arba’ah, Musnad Ahmad, Bazzar, and Mustadrak Hakim from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
من أتى كاهنا أو عرافا وصدقه بما يقول فقد كفر بما أنزل على محمد
“Whoever goes to a soothsayer (claiming to know past and future) or a physiognomist and believes in what he says, has denied the Shariah of Mustafa (peace be upon him).”
Similarly, in Musnad Bazzar, Mu’jam al-Tabarani al-Awsat, and Hilyat al-Awliya by Abu Nu’aym, it is narrated with a strong chain from Hazrat Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
ليس منا من تطير أو تطير له أو تكهن أو تكهن له أو سحر أو سحر له، ومن أتى كاهنا فصدقه بما يقول فقد كفر بما أنزل على محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم
“Whoever flies birds for omens or causes someone to do so, or whoever practices soothsaying and fortune-telling, or causes someone to do so, or practices magic or causes magic to be done, is not one of us. And whoever goes to a soothsayer who claims to know the unseen and believes in him, has denied the Shariah revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him).”
Whereas in Sahih Muslim, Abi Dawood, Nasai, and Musnad Ahmad, Hazrat Muawiyah bin Hakim (may Allah be pleased with him) says that he presented before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that in the era of ignorance they used to hold certain beliefs, for example, they used to go to soothsayers. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
فلا تأتوا الكهان
“Do not go to soothsayers.”
They said that they used to fly birds for omens. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
ذلك شيء يجده أحدكم فى نفسه فلا يصدنكم
“This is something that a person may have in his heart, but it should not prevent you from doing anything.”
Amarah
People with weak beliefs who exploit others and spread such superstitions should, according to Allama Muhammad Jamaluddin Qasmi (may Allah have mercy on him), not be allowed to stay in the chambers of mosques. And these people should also think that in the greed for earning, they should not adopt every lawful or unlawful means. Rather, they should strive to earn only through halal sources of livelihood. Because they are somewhat educated as well. Do these practitioners not read the Holy Quran? In Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 79, Allah Almighty says about such deceivers who make amulets and charms:
﴿فَوَيْلٌ لَّهُم مِّمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَّهُم مِّمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ﴾
“Woe to those who write the ‘scripture’ with their own hands, then say, ‘This is from Allah,’ to sell it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.”
And do they not know that sorcery and magic are acts of disbelief? And all these practices of divination, astrology, soothsaying are forbidden. From the study of the Quran, it is clear that one who learns and practices magic is a disbeliever. As Allah Almighty narrates in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 102, the statement of Harut and Marut that they said to those who came to them to learn magic:
﴿إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ﴾
“Indeed, we are a trial, so do not disbelieve.”
And further He said:
﴿وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَٰكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ﴾
“Solomon did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic.”
And in Surah Taha, verse 69, Allah says:
﴿وَلَا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَىٰ﴾
“No magician will prosper wherever he goes.”
And the destruction of magicians and charm-makers in the Hereafter is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 102, where Allah says:
﴿وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا لَمَنِ اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ ۚ وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا بِهِ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾
“And they knew that whoever purchased it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter. And how evil was that for which they sold their souls.”
In short, Imam Abu Hanifa, Malik, Ahmad bin Hanbal, and a large group of righteous predecessors have declared magic as disbelief. Imam Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) has some details but ultimately also declares the magician a disbeliever because Allah Almighty has declared it so.
And just like the Quranic verses, the Prophetic sayings are also a whip of admonition for such people. Thus, in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, Abi Dawood, and Nasai, it is narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
اجتنبوا السبع الموبقات
“Avoid seven destructive (major sins).”
And counting them one after another, the first was الشرك بالله and the second was السحر, i.e., magic.
And in Mu’jam Awsat, Musnad Bazzar, and Hilyat al-Awliya by Abu Nu’aym, it is narrated from Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and Hazrat Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) declared ليس منا and declared those people as outside Islam, two of whom are included here.
And in Sunan Tirmidhi, it is narrated mursal, which Imam Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) considered correctly to be mursal, that he said:
حد الساحر ضربه بالسيف
“The punishment for a magician is to be beheaded by the sword.”
And this is supported by a narration in Sahih Bukhari from Faruqi which states:
كتب عمر بن الخطاب رضى الله عنه إن اقتلوا كل ساحر وساحرة
“Kill every male and female magician.”
And in Muwatta Imam Malik, it is narrated regarding Umm al-Mu’minin Hazrat Hafsa bint Umar (may Allah be pleased with her) that one of her female slaves cast magic on her, and on her command, that magician was killed.
In short, besides these three companions, the punishment of a sorcerer has been narrated from Hazrat Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), Jundub bin Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him), and Hazrat Qais bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him). The fifth rightly guided Caliph Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, and Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on them), have also declared the punishment for a magician to be death.
The same applies to astrologers, fortune-tellers, physiognomists, diviners, soothsayers, and soothsayers. In fact, all of them are considered types of magicians. Thus, in Abi Dawood, Nasai, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, and Musnad Ahmad, it is narrated from Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet said:
من اقتبس شعبة من النجوم فقد اقتبس شعبة من السحر زاد ما زاد
“Whoever acquires any part of astrology has essentially learned magic, and the more he learns, the more his sins increase.”
In the chain of this hadith, one narrator is Hayyan bin ‘Alaa, whose authentication has not been confirmed by anyone except Ibn Hibban; except for him, all narrators in this chain are trustworthy.
Similarly, in Abi Dawood, Nasai, and Ibn Hibban, it is stated:
إن القيافة والطرق والطيرة من الجبت
“Flying birds, drawing lines on the ground, and physiognomy for divination are all superstition and magic.”
And Allama Haithami (may Allah have mercy on him) has counted all these acts as major sins.
In short, people involved in such acts should be removed from the chambers of the mosque and expelled outside. This is the sanctity and respect demanded by the mosque. Some people consider magic merely as an evil eye or deception of the gaze and deny its reality. A comprehensive and conclusive answer to their claims and the details of all the matters and ailments they mention have already been discussed by us. These can be seen in our published book “Conditions of Acceptance of Deeds,” Part One
. Therefore, there is no need to repeat them here.
