Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari said in his Saheeh: Qutaadah said: "Allaah created these
stars for three purposes: to adorn the heavens, to stone the devils
and as signs by which to navigate. Whoever seeksanything else in them
is mistaken and does not benefit from them, and he is wasting his time
and effort in seeking something of which he has no knowledge." (Saheeh
al-Bukhaari, Baab fi'l-Nujoom, 2/240)
The study of the stars is divided into two kinds:
1- Study of the influence of the stars (astrology)
2- Study of the positions and movements of the stars (astronomy)
Study of the influence ofthe stars (astrology) is divided into three categories:
1 – The belief that these stars have a real influence in the sense
that they create events and evil. This is major shirk (shirk akbar),
because whoever claims that there is another creator alongside Allaah
is a mushrik in the sense of major shirk, for he is regarding a
created thing that is subjugated as a creator which subjugates.
2 – Making this a reason to claim to have knowledge of the unseen, so
from the movements and changesin the stars he deduces that such and
such will happen because such and such has happened to such and such a
star. For example, he may say that one person's life will be miserable
because he was born under this star, and that another person's life
willbe happy because he was born under that star. This person is
taking knowledge of thestars as a means to claim that he has knowledge
of the unseen, and claiming to have knowledge of the unseen is kufr
(disbelief)which puts one beyond the pale of Islam, because Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Say: None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghayb (Unseen)
except Allaah"[al-Naml 29:65]
The grammatical structure used in the original Arabic – startingwith
the negation laa (translated here as "none") followed by the word illa
("except") – is one of the most emphatic ways of expressing
exclusivity. So if a person claims to know the unseen, he is
effectively disbelieving what the Qur'aan says.
3 – If he believes that thestars are the cause of good or bad things
happening, this is minor shirk (shirk asghar), i.e., when something
happens he attributes it to the stars (and only attributes it to the
stars after it has happened). The basic principle is that whoever
believes that one thing is the cause of another when Allaah has not
made it so, is overstepping the mark and not acknowledging Allaah asHe
should be acknowledged, because the One Who makes things happen is
Allaah alone. For example, if a person seeks healing from a piece of
string (tied around his wrist), and says, "I believe that healing is
in the hand of Allaah and this string is simply the means," we would
say to him, "You have saved yourself frommajor shirk but you
havefallen into lesser shirk, because Allaah has not made string a
clear means of healing. By doing this you have transgressed against
His position of Controller and Sustainer, by making something a means
to something elsewhen Allaah has not made it so." The same applies to
one who regards the stars as the cause of rainfall when this is not
the case. The evidence for that is the hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari
(801) and Muslim (104) from Zayd ibn Khaalid al-Juhani who said: "The
Messenger of Allaah SAWs (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
led us in praying Fajr at al-Hudaybiyah, following rainfall duringthe
night. When he had finished praying, he turned to the people and said,
'Do you know what your Lord has said?' They said, 'Allaah and His
Messenger knowbest.' He said, 'This morning one of My slaves became a
believerin Me and one became a disbeliever. As for the one who said,
"We have been given rain by virtue of Allaah and His mercy," he is a
believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars. But as for the one who
said, "We have been given rain by such and such a star," heis a
disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.'" So the one who
attributes rain to the stars is saying that the stars caused the rain.
Study of the positions and movements of the stars (astronomy) is
divided into two categories:
1 – If their movements are used to define thingsthat serve a religious
purpose, this is something that is necessary. If that helps in the
case of religious obligations, then learning it is obligatory, such as
using the stars todetermine the direction of the qiblah (direction of
Makkah).
2 – If their movements are used to define thingsthat serve a worldly
purpose, there is nothing wrong with that. This is of two types:
(a) Using the stars to work out directions, such as knowing that the
pole lies to the north, and that the Pole Star, which is close to it,
revolves around the North Pole. This is permissible. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And landmarks (signposts, during the day) and by the stars (during
the night), they (mankind) guide themselves"
[al-Nahl 16:16]
(b) Using the stars to work out the seasons, through learning the
phases of the moon. Some of the salaf regarded this as makrooh while
others permitted it. The correct view is that it is permissible and
there is nothing makrooh in it, because there is no shirkinvolved in
it, unless onelearns it in order to attribute rainfall or cold weather
to it, and says that this is what is causing that. That is a kind of
shirk. But simply knowing the time of year from it, whether it is
spring or autumn or winter, there is nothing wrong with that.
See al-Qawl al-Mufeed byShaykh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah
have mercy on him), 2/102.
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