Sorcery

Sorcery is a major sin because the sorcerer must necessarily disbelieve and the accursed Devil

has no other motive for teaching a person witchcraft than that he might thereby ascribe associates

to Allah.

Allah, the Almighty, says,

{Solomon did not disbelieve but Satan disbelieved, teaching men magic, and such things as came

down at Babylon to the angels Harut and Marut. But neither of these taught anyone (such things) without

saying, 'We are only for trial,' so do not blaspheme.' They learned from them the means to sow discord

between man and wife. But they could not harm anyone except by Allah's permission. And they learned

what harmed them, not what profited them. And they knew that the buyers of (magic) would have no share

in the happiness of the Hereafter.} (AI- Baqarah: 102)

Thus, you might find some people who are astray delving in learning sorcery and thinking that

it is just unlawful. Actually, they do not consider what they do as disbelief, but it is! They embark

on learning all kinds of sorcery: Pure sorcery, increasing or decreasing the love between a man

and a woman, making a man important and the like.

All of these practices are done by means of some unknown words, most of which lead to

unbelief.

The penalty for a sorcerer is to be killed. This is because he is an unbeliever. The Prophet

(pbuh) said,

"Avoid the seven heinous sins.”1

And he mentioned sorcery.

"The penalty for a sorcerer is the sword.”2

Bijalah Ibn Abah related, 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us one year before his

death and said,

"Kill every sorcerer (male or female).”3

Wahb Ibn Munabbih said, "I read in a book: 'Allah the Almighty says, 'There is no god but Me. He is not of

Me who practices sorcery, or asks someone to practice with him. The one who foretells or the foretold, the

one who seeks an omen or for whom an omen is sought.” 4

`Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said, A for tuneteller is a sorcerer, a sorcerer is a

disbeliever."

Abu Musa AI-Ashari, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Prophet (pbuh) said,

1 Reported before.

2 Reported by Tirmidhi.

3 Reported by Abu Dawud.

4 Reported by AI- Haythami in "Majma' Az-Zawa'id to Al-Bazzar

"The drunkard, the one who severs the ties of kinship, and whoever believes in sorcery will not enter

Paradise.”1

Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (pbuh) said,

"Incantations, amulets and spells are Shirk (polytheism).”2

These are treated as Shirk because the ignorant believes that these things can affect what has been

predetermined by Allah. However, AIKhattabi said, "Incantations or healing words are permitted if they

consist of the Qur'an or the Most Beautiful Names of Allah."

The Prophet (pbuh) used to recite (incantate) AI-Hasan and AlHusain by saying,

"I seek refuge for you in Allah's Perfect Words from every Devil, beast or envious .” 3

1 Reported by Ahmad.

2 Reported by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and Ahmad.

3 Reported by Bukhari.