Consulting Healers and Showing Them Hands for Predictions

Author: Maulana Abu al-Hasan Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani (Hafizahullah)

Question:

Is it permissible to consult a healer (aamil) for predictions by showing them your hand or seeking treatment from them? Please clarify this issue in light of the Quran and Sunnah.

Answer:
It is absolutely forbidden to seek treatment or to ask about one’s fate by showing one's hand to those who make claims like “Ask whatever you want” or “All your desires will be fulfilled.” These individuals, who present themselves as astrologers or fortune-tellers, are condemned in Islamic teachings. The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

من اتي عرافا فساله عن شيء لم تقبل له صلاة اربعين ليلة

“Whoever visits a fortune-teller and asks him about anything, his prayer will not be accepted for forty nights.”
[Sahih Muslim, Book of Peace, Chapter on the Prohibition of Fortune-telling: 2230; Musnad Ahmad: 3/28, 5/380]
In another hadith, it is mentioned:

من اتي كاهنا فصدقه بما يقول فقد كفر بما انزل علي محمد صلي الله عليه وسلم

“Whoever visits a soothsayer and believes in what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).”
[Abu Dawood, Book of Fortune-telling and Superstition, Chapter on Fortune-tellers: 4/390; Tirmidhi: 135; Ibn Majah: 639]

These authentic narrations make it clear that visiting fortune-tellers, astrologers, fake healers who claim to reveal people's destinies, and similar individuals is haram (prohibited). Believing in their claims constitutes disbelief (kufr) in the teachings revealed to Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Therefore, it is essential to avoid such practices completely and to encourage others to stay away from them as well.
 
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