BLACK MAGIC
The Existence of Black Magic in Compliance of the Quran and Sunnah
For many years, it had a matter of argument and discussion among many clusters and assemblies. But with research, many scholars have presented proof from Quran and Sunnah; some are here mentioned below:
Allah (SWT) says:
“And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Suleiman (AS), but it was not Suleiman who disbelieved, but it was the devils who disbelieved; Teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, “We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic].” And [yet] they learn from them that they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves if they only knew.”
(Al-Baqarah: 102)
“And they said: ‘No matter what sign you bring us with which to bewitch us; we will not be believers in you.”
(Al-A’raf: 132)
“And when they had thrown, Moses said: ‘What you have brought is [only] magic. Indeed, Allah will expose its worthlessness. Indeed, Allah does not amend the work of corrupters.”
(Yunus: 81)
“Say: ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak. From the evil of that which He created. And from the evil of darkness when it settles. And from the evil of the blowers in knots. And from the evil of an envier when he envies.”
(Al-Falaq: 1-5)
Narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar (RAA); Two men came from the East and addressed the people who wondered at their eloquent speech. On that, Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said: “Some eloquent speech is as effective as magic.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated from Aisha (RAA); “A man known as Labid ibn al-A’s am from the tribe of Banu Zurayq performed magic on Allah’s Messenger ﷺ until Allah’s Messenger ﷺ started imagining that he had done something which he had not done. One day or one night, while he was with me, he invoked Allah (SWT) for a long period and then said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter
I have asked him about? Two men came to me, and one of them sat near my head and the other near my feet. One of them said to his companion, ‘What is it that pains this man?’ The other replied, ‘He is under the effect of Matbob.’ The first one asked, ‘Who did it?’ The other replied, ‘Labid Ibn Al-A’s am.’ The first one asked, ‘What material did he use?’ The other replied, ‘A comb and the hairs stuck to it and the pollen of a male date palm.’ The first one asked,
‘Where is that?’ The other replied, ‘That is in the well of Daman!” So Allah’s Messenger ﷺ along with some of his companions went there and returned saying, ‘O Aisha, the color of its water is like the infusion of henna leaves, and the tops of the date-palm trees near it are like the heads of the devils.’ I asked, ‘O Allah’s Messenger? Why don’t you show it (to the people)?’ He said, ‘Since Allah (SWT) has cured me, I would not like to let evil spread amongst the people.’ Then he ordered that the well be filled up with earth.”
(Bukhari & Muslim)
According to Al Mu’tazilah, they have rejected the above Hadith on the grounds that it would undermine the status of Prophethood and cast doubt over its authenticity. They say accepting this Hadith and the likes of it would weaken the credibility of Islamic Law. They gave us an example that when the Prophet ﷺ said Jibreel (AS) had come to him, they said he had only imagined him coming and that he had only imagined the divine inspiration. According to Al Mazari, this is entirely untrue because the proof of the Message, which is the miracle of receiving divine Inspiration, is indicative of the Prophet’s truthfulness and his infallible character in conveying the message. Therefore, believing in something that has been invalidated by evidence is wrong.
(Zaad Al Muslim: 4/221)
According to Abu Al-Janki Al Yousifi, the Prophet’s ﷺ illness, which was a result of the effect of sihr done to him, did not affect the status of his Prophethood. This is because disease without any delirious effect in this life befell the Messengers at large and would even increase their status in the next life. Therefore, the fact that Prophet ﷺ imagined, as a result of the illness caused by sihr, that he had done something of life’s daily routine activities which he had not done and the fact that he completely recovered from the illness with the support of Allah (SWT), who revealed the site where the sihr was buried, means the message would not be affected by this at all as it was an illness like any other.
In reality, the sihr did not affect his reasoning but only his perception. The Prophet ﷺ imagining touching one of his wives, which he didn’t do; such acts of imagination are not harmful to a person’s health. Abu Hurairah (RAA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Avoid the seven deadly sins.” People asked, ‘What are they?’ The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Shirk (polytheism), Sihr (Magic), unlawful killing of a person, living on money from usury, usurping an orphan’s wealth, retreating at the time of Jihad and accusing innocent married women of fornication.”
(Bukhari & Muslim)
For our beloved Prophet, ﷺ mentions this quite explicitly never to practice Sihr or Black Magic. Indeed this is one of the most substantial evidence of our Prophet ﷺ warning for this grave sin, be avoided at all cost.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (RAA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “A person who has acquired knowledge of one of the sciences of Astrology, has acquired knowledge of one of the branches of sihr. The more his knowledge of Astrology is enriched, the more expansive his knowledge of sihr becomes.”
(Abu Dawood & Ibn Maajah)
What we revert from this Hadith is that our Prophet ﷺ denotes Astrology as one of the divisions of learning sihr. Hence Muslims should altogether avoid it even the Hadith is also evidence to show that sihr is real science that can be learned.
The concept is further elaborated in the following verse:
“And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Sulaiman (AS), but it was not Sulaiman who disbelieved, but it was the devils who disbelieved. Teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, “We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic].” And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if only they knew.”
(Al-Baqarah: 102)
These pieces of evidence are clearly explaining the fact that sihr is like a science, and can be learned and is equally forbidden. However, intricate and informative it is, Quran and Sunnah forbid it.
Imran ibn Husayn (RAA), narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “He is not one of us who practices “Tatayyur” (ominousness) or has it done for him; who practices “Takahhun” (soothsaying) or has it done for him or who practices “Sihr” (magic) or has it done for him. Whosoever has sought the services of a soothsayer and believed in what he has come with has in fact disbelieved in the Message sent upon Muhammad ﷺ.”
(Al-Haythami stated in Al-Majma’ (5/20), Al-Bazar and the chain of transmission includes authorities which fulfill the requirements of transmitting authentic traditions)
In another evidence, Prophet’s ﷺ warns against participating in soothsaying, magic or ominousness is a clear proof of its existence else Prophet ﷺ wouldn’t have warned against it.
Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (RAA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “He who drinks alcohol regularly, believes that the power of magic to harm an individual is independent of Allah’s intervention or severs relations with one’s kin will not enter Paradise.”
BLACK MAGIC (SIHR)
In true essence, to make something appear, which is not real means black magic. When a soothsayer, magician, or a sorcerer makes something appear, which entirely is unreal.
While the intention to perform the black magic is to deceive, alter, or make things appear. In real essence, it is an intervention in the course of fate, and alterations in the fabric of sequences.
However, many scholars agree on different aspects, and the definition of black magic may appear differently in places as for every fiqh or jurists have a difference of opinions. But, the intention remains the same behind the act and is purely deceiving and distorting the reality.
Al-Badawi said: “What is meant by sihr is that one seeks to be close with Shaytaan to achieve what man cannot accomplish by himself. Not just anybody can achieve this goal of acquiring the knowledge of magic; the soul of the person has to be as evil as Shaytaan. The knowledge of witchcraft is based on certain jewels and numbers, looking at star signs, astrology and taking objects and pictures of the person and applying them at the correct time and words of evil and immorality are used. In this, he seeks satanic help, and this is the way the person is afflicted in a strange way, which cannot be explained to the mind of man. This is against the laws of Islam. Sihr is made up of the effects of evil spirits and the reaction of the soul, whether it be weak or strong to combat the force.”
The Hanbali says: “Sihr is knots, speaking spells, writing, and acts that affect a person heart, body, or mind indirectly.”
Al-Badawi (RA) said: “What is meant by black magic is that one seeks to be close to the Shaytaan to achieve that which man cannot accomplish by himself. Not anyone can achieve the goal of acquiring the knowledge of magic; the soul of the person has to be evil and wicked as Shaytaan. The knowledge of witchcraft is based on certain jewels and numbers, looking at star signs, astrology, and taking objects and pictures of a person and then applying them at the correct time along with words of evil and immorality. In this, he seeks satanic help, and this is the way the person is afflicted in a strange way, which cannot be explained logically. All of this is against the laws of Islam.”
The Hanbali’s say: “Black magic is knots, speaking spells, writing, and acts that affect a person’s heart, mind or body indirectly.”
Ibn Qudama Al-Maqdisi (RA) said: “Black magic is a set of knots, incantations and words uttered or written, carried out in such a way as to affect the body of the subject, his heart or mind without coming into contact with him/her. The reality of black magic is that there are types that can kill, sicken, or thwart a man’s sexual intercourse with his wife. Other types can separate spouses and make them hate or love each other.”
(Al-Mughni)
Ibn Al-Qayyim (RA) said: “Black magic is a combination of the effects of evil spirits and the reaction of natural forces.”
(Zaad Al Ma’ad)
Notably, black Magic is an accord amid a sorcerer and Shaytaan, which specify that the sorcerer aims to fulfill the Shaytaan’s requests by committing certain illegitimate or polytheistic acts in return for the Shaytaan to assist and obey the sorcerer’s demands.
Below are some examples of the conditions that a sorcerer must fulfill:
However, it is clear that the Jinn do not indulge the sorcerer devoid of something in return, and the greater the sorcerer’s incredulity, the faster and more obedient the Shaytaan is to him/ her in carrying out the orders given.