Soothsayers

These people also have some superior traits, but they possess no personal purification. Nor do they make any effort to obtain such. Therefore, they cannot receive inspirations. By reinforcing their abilities with certain instruments (in order to aid concentration) and depending on false information provided by jinn, they struggle to obtain unusual information. They use instruments and techniques such as glass crystals, numerology, stars, astrology, dice, palmistry, domino blocks, cards, water in a vessel, coffee grinds, tea leaves, birds, flowery and persuasive discourse, to name a few.

Such people also make use of jinn. It would be a good idea to further investigate this subject, due to its importance. The eavesdropping that is mentioned in the Qur’an and the Hadith is a method used by non-Muslim jinn and devils to obtain divine information.[10] Muslim jinn do not attempt to eavesdrop because they meet their needs through the Qur’an and the Hadith. Jinn who are not of the believers do not aim to satisfy their needs. They simply want to produce alternatives to the divine message and to lead people astray. Soothsaying, sorcery, fortune telling, performing séances, Masonic rites, Satanism, occultism, esoterism, theosophy, ufoism, etc. are all parts of an overall plan. Movements like Zen Buddhism, Kabbala, and Freemasonry depend on and aim at similar goals.

However, the advent of the Prophet (pbuh) destroyed what they depended upon. The verses given above (15:16-18, 72:8-9) clearly explain that jinn’s means of stealing information from Heaven has been eliminated. Moreover, we can infer what deters them is not so much the flaming fires, rather it is the light of the Qur’an and the prophethood. The Prophet (pbuh) orders believers to remember God and seek refuge in Him when intending sexual intercourse or to use the restroom, in order to be protected against Satan.[11] The Prophet (pbuh) also said in one of his hadiths that jinn who saw the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions pray and heard them recite the Qur’an admitted that it is the Qur’an that prevented them from obtaining information from Heaven.[12] Elmalili Hamdi Yazir (1877-1942) makes the following interpretation: “In short, the flaming fires cut off the information from Heaven and guard the doors to Heaven like sentries. This tells of the light of truth that burns their spirits, their lies, indulgences, and disbelief. They are the flaming verses and miracles that glow in the Muhammadan sky, which frightened man-devils and jinn-devils, making them dumbstruck. Jinn who experienced these events did not attempt to talk of the future as they did before, they avoided telling lies, and admitted that they do not know about the morrow.”[13]

It is important to add here that during periods like the one we are living at present, when the light of the Qur’an and prophethood do not shine in the skies of humanity – a humanity that has failed to live properly – jinn and the devils will be able to lead people astray and put more energy into their efforts. It is certain that they cannot obtain any divine information, therefore whatever they say will be lies and fabrications. The way to fight such efforts is by putting the Qur’anic and prophetic light back into the life of humanity. To digress from the point a little, in relation to the above-mentioned flaming fires, some people have tried to explain such occurrences with the phenomenon of shooting stars. But these could well be a phenomenon that is as yet unable to be detected by current scientific methods. We may be able to understand the issue more comprehensively if and when new methods and techniques that involve unknown dimensions of matter are developed.[14]

We have adorned the lower Heaven with lamps, and We turned them into missiles launched against the devils. (Qur’an 67:5)

 It has been explained that the verse above is talking about fortune-tellers and astrologists. Thus, any attempt to predict the future that relies on several false concepts and therefore deceives people by attributing that which should be attributed to God (He is omniscient and omnipotent) to the position and characters of the stars, is an abuse of scientific authority. Therefore, things like fortune-telling and astrology become a means of and an excuse for leading people to a denunciation of the Unity and an acceptance of false ideas. Fortune-tellers, astrologists and the like do what the devils do.[15] The final verses of the Qur’an state that people should seek refuge in God from the evils of both jinn and humanity (114:6).

Now let us turn back to examining the different categories that people are divided into, looking at the fifth and final category.

[10] Qur’an 15:18, Bukhari, Medicine, 46, Morals, 117, Tawhid, 57; Muslim, Salam, 123; Musnad, VI, 87.

[11] Tirmidhi, Jum‘a, 73; Ibn Maja, Tahara, 9; Muslim, Nikah, 116.

[12] Bukhari, Tafsir, 72/1, Adhan, 105; Muslim, Salat, 149; Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 72/2.

[13] Yazir, Hak Dini Kur’an Dili, VIII, 5403

[14] For further explanations on the Qur’anic commentaries see: Yazir, Hak Dini Kur’an Dili, 5/3051, 3049; 7/5206; 8/5382, 5404

[15] For more in-depth explanations see: ibid, VII, 5206.