The Story of Haaroot and Maaroot – II

Magic is a reality and not mere illusion; some people consider tricks
of the hand or deceptions of the eye to be magic, but magic is much
more than that; it is a reality, and could lead one to hate what he
used to love, such as the case which Allaah informs us of in the
abovementioned verse where it can separate man from his wife. Indeed
the goal that the devil strives hardest to achieve is to separate man
from his wife, as in the narration of Jaabir ibn 'Abdullaahwho stated
that the Prophetsaid:"Satan places his throne on the water, then he
sends his troops to people; the closest devil in position to him is
the one who causes the most mischief and trials amongst people. One of
them )i.e., from his troops( comes to him and says: `I continued to
whisper to so and so until he committed such and such a sin.` Satan
responds: `I swear by Allaah! You have not done much.` )This process
continues( until one )devil( comes and says: `I continued to whisper
to him until I made him separate from his wife.` Thereupon, Satan
brings him close to him and hugs him, saying: `Yes! You are the
one.`"]Muslim[ Meaning, that he is the one who has achieved the
greatest accomplishment. This separation is caused by either magic or
by any other means.
Some magicians use magic to bewitch the eyes of people and make them
believe that they are seeing something that they are not, as Allaah
says regarding the magicians of Pharaoh what means:"…And they
presented a great ]feat[ of magic."]Quran 7: 116[ People thought, as a
result of their magic, that they were seeing snakes instead of ropes
and sticks.
Some people claim that there is a prophetic narration that is as
follows: "Learn magic but do not teach it to others." This is a
fabrication; such words were never uttered by the Prophet.
The Islamic ruling regarding the magician is that he is to be
beheaded, as the Prophetsaid:"The punishment for the magician is that
he must be beheaded."]At-Tirmithi & Al-Haakim[ This is because such a
person is an apostate, even if he fasts, prays and claims that he is a
Muslim, because his practice of magic invalidates any good deeds he
may perform.
There are two ways of being relieved from the effects of magic:
- The incorrect way is to go to magicians for this purpose; this is
prohibited because the Prophetsaid:"He who approaches a magician and
believes what he says will have his prayers rejected for forty
days."]Muslim[ Thus, it is prohibited to approach them or to seek
their assistance in removing the effect of magic done on one by
others.
- The correct way is by reciting the legislated Ruqyah )i.e. the Quran
and certain prophetic supplications(. Examples of this would be the
Chapters Al-Faatihah, Al-Ikhlaas, Al-Falaq, An-Naas and the Verse of
the Throne, or Ayat Al-Kursi, which is the two-hundred and fifty fifth
verse of Chapter Al-Baqarah. An example of a prophetic supplication
that is useful in this regard is:"Allaahumma Rabban-naas,
athhibil-ba's, wash'fi, Antash-Shaafi, laa shifaa'a illaa shifaa'uka,
shifaa'n laa yughaadiru saqama ]O Allaah! The Lord of mankind! Remove
this disease and cure )him or her(. You are the Great Curer. There is
no cure but through You, which leaves behind no
disease[.'']Al-Bukhaari[
One may also recite Quranic verses in water and add to it seven dried
and crushed Lote-tree leaves. This method is confirmed to have been
practiced by some of the Salaf such as Wahb ibn Munabbih.
Some people recite the verses that address the issue of magic, like
those found in Chapters Al-A'raaf, Yoonus, and Taa Haa over this water
and then add the crushed leaves to it, then they recite Chapters
Al-Ikhlaas, Al-Falaq, An-Naas and some authentic Prophetic
supplications over it. They then wash their body with this water. This
is a method that has been proven to be beneficial by experience.
The Prophetwas bewitched by Labeed ibn Al-A'sam, who had strong
relations with the Jews, and the Jews requested his assistance due to
him being renowned for his experience in magic.
The Prophetwas afflicted by this magic for six months. Hewould think
that he was sleeping with his wives while in fact he was not.
Hepersevered through this period, and when he feared that it would
affect his zeal for worship, hesupplicated to Allaah, asking Him to
remove it from him.
'Aa'ishahnarrated: "Magic was done on the Prophetso he began to think
that he was doing things that he was not actually doing. One day,
heinvoked )Allaah( for a long period and then said:"I feel that Allaah
has inspired me as how to cure myself. Two persons came to me )in a
dream( and sat down, one by my head and the other by my feet. One of
them asked the other: 'What is the sickness of this man?' The other
replied: 'He has been bewitched.' The first asked: 'Who has bewitched
him?' The other replied: 'Labeed ibn Al-A'sam.' The first one asked:
'What materials did he use?' The other replied: 'A comb, the hair
gathered on it, and the outer skin of the pollen of a male date-palm.'
The first asked: 'Where are they?' The other replied: 'In the well of
Tharwaan.'"
So the Prophetheaded out towards the well. He later returned and said
to me:"The date-palms )i.e., the ones on the well( are like the heads
of devils."I asked: 'Did you take out those things with which the
magic was done?' Hereplied:"No, for I have been cured by Allaah, and I
am afraid that this action may spread evil amongst the people."Later
on the well was filled up with earth." ]Al-Bukhaari[
The hair that was on the comb was taken, and a knot was made in which
the magic was placed; then, the hair that contained the magic was
placed inside the outer skin of the pollen of a male date-palm, and
this was placed under a rock, inside the well. When some
Companionswent to remove this magic from the well, they found that its
water was the colour of Henna, due to the effect of magic on it.
The Prophetwas inspired by Allaah as to where the location of the
magic was; it was removed and the knot was undone, so the magic was
ruined.
The question of 'Aa'ishahwas an indirect way of asking why the
Prophetdid not punish the man who bewitched him, and heexplained why,
saying:"I am afraid that this action may spread evil amongst the
people."Meaning, that since the punishment of being a magician is
execution by beheading, and because people did not know that he
practiced such evil, nor did they witness him doing it on the
Prophetthen punishing him would have encouraged people to accuse
anyone of doing magic, even if they were innocent, and justify it by
quoting this action of the Prophet.
Hewas very careful not to execute anyone whose crime was not obvious
to everybody, and it is for this same reason he refrained from killing
Ibn Salool, who was the head of hypocrites, despite him knowing that
he was being a disbeliever, a liar and a hypocrite.
Hedid not kill him because it would not have been clear to people why
he killed him, due to this Ibn Salool pretending to be Muslim.
One may ask: "How could the Prophetbe bewitched when he was conveying
the message?"
The answer is that the magic never affected any aspect of his mind,
memory or mission; it only affected his relations with his wives.
Another question that might be asked is: "Does the fact that hewas
bewitched not contradict being protected by Allaah? Allaah Says what
means:"…And Allaah will protect you from the people…"]Quran 5: 67[
The answer is that the protection referred to in this verse was
against certain matters only, such as being killed before conveying
the message fully, or being prevented from conveying the message in
any way.
In fact, proof of the fact that such protection was limited is that
hewas afflicted greatly by the disbelievers: they offended and beat
him, and besieged him and his followers. Healso suffered hunger and
fell into a pit that the disbelievers had dug for him. They did all
these things but were unable to prevent him from conveying the message
of Allaah.
Some magic is performed by blowing into knots and other materials
which magicians compile, which makes the bewitched person believe he
is performing actions that is not actually doing; another type makes a
person incapable of having sexual intercourse with his wife; another
type makes the wife imagine that her husband is a beast or a snake
whenever he tries to approach her sexually; there is another type that
makes the husband imagine that his wife has a foul stench whenever he
attempts to approach her sexually, even though she may be clean and
smell pleasant.
There are women who resort to magic in order to make their husbands
divorce his other wife or wives, so that she can have him all to
herself - and this is one of the greatest ways of oppressing others.
One may ask: "There are deadly types of magic; are they incurable?"
The answer is that they are curable, unless the effects of this magic
coincide with the designated time of the person's death. If that is
the case, then nothing can help him. Allaah Says what means:"But never
will Allaah delay a soul when its time has come. And Allaah is
Acquainted with what you do."]Quran 63: 11[
The one who bewitches others and thereby causes their death must be
sentenced to death, because such a person killed a soul intentionally
and without due right.
Some people wear amulets, claiming that they protect them from magic,
but they only add to the evil and make them weaker in faith.
In Islam, ends do not justify means; there are people who resort to
magic in order to reconcile, for example, between two disputing
people. This is prohibited, even if people claim that they have good
intentions and are only using it for a good purpose.This is refused in
Islam because the means used are evil, and regardless of the sought
result, using magic remains prohibited.