❖ The Ruling on the Magician (Sāḥir) and the Soothsayer (Kāhin)
Written by: Imran Ayoob Lahori
◈ Magic and Apostasy
Magic is a form of disbelief (kufr), and the one who practices it is considered an apostate (murtadd), deserving the same punishment as an apostate.
Reference: الروضة الندية: 627/2
◈ Qur’ānic Evidence
وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَٰكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ [البقرة: 102]
"Sulaimān (عليه السلام) did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic."
◈ Reports from Companions and Successors
① Jundub (RA):
حد الساحر ضربة بالسيف
"The punishment of the magician is striking him with the sword."
References: ضعيف: الضعيفة: 1446 ، ترمذي: 1460 ، حاكم: 360/4
② Bajālah ibn ʿAbdah:
ʿUmar (RA), about one month before his death, wrote:
أن اقتلوا كل ساحر و ساحرة
"Kill every male and female magician."
Bajālah said: "We killed three magicians in one day."
References: صحيح: صحيح أبو داود: 2624 ، أحمد: 190/1
③ Ḥafṣah (RA): She ordered the killing of one of her slave girls for practicing magic.
References: موطا: 871/2 ، عبد الرزاق: 18747
◈ Statements of Scholars
- Imām al-Nawawī (رحمه الله): Magic is prohibited, and scholars have agreed it is a major sin.
Reference: شرح مسلم: 432/7 - Ḥanafīs: Magic is disbelief.
References: تبيين الحقائق: 393/3 ، الأم للشافعي: 256/1
◈ Juristic Disagreement on the Punishment of the Magician
- Imām Aḥmad (RA), Imām Mālik (RA): The magician should be executed.
- Imām al-Shāfiʿī (RA): Executed only if his act of magic reaches the level of kufr; otherwise, not executed.
- Imām al-Nawawī (RA): The magician should not be executed; if he repents, his repentance is accepted.
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (RA): The magician should be executed.
- Ibn Ḥazm (RA): There is no explicit text commanding the killing of the magician.
References: نيل الأوطار: 638/4 ، شرح مسلم للنووي: 432/7 ، المحلى بالآثار: 419/12 ، تحفة الأحوذي: 853/4 – 854
Preferred Opinion (الراجح): The view of Imām al-Shāfiʿī (RA) is the strongest.
References: الروضة الندية: 628/2 ، السيل الجرار: 374/4 ، نيل الأوطار: 641/4
◈ Case of Labīd ibn Aʿṣam (the Magician of the Prophet ﷺ)
It is narrated that Labīd ibn Aʿṣam cast magic upon the Prophet ﷺ, yet the Prophet ﷺ did not order him to be killed.
References: بخاري: 3175 ، 3268 ، مسلم: 2189
This does not contradict the earlier evidence because:
① The incident may have occurred before the ḥadd (punishment of execution) for magic was prescribed.
② At that time, the Jews were strong, so execution might have caused greater tribulation. After Allah weakened them, the Rightly Guided Caliphs began executing magicians.
References: الروضة الندية: 628/2 ، السيل الجرار: 374/4 ، نيل الأوطار: 641/4
