Identifying the locations of underground water by signs
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, regarding those who claim to identify the locations of underground water, he says: Rather, what is this foolishness?
Answer:
This exists; this is also part of qiyafah (tracking). They know the soil and the trees, they know the color of the earth, and they use these to infer the presence of water. They have knowledge of these matters; they look at the trees, they look at the soil, they look at the color of the mountain, the color of such and such, and they say, "This has water, and this does not have water." This is a known matter and does not fall under matters of creed, because this is a prediction based on signs present in the earth. Present in the earth,[Adh-Dhariyat 51:20], He the Exalted said: [Al-Hijr 15:75] So this is a known matter and does not fall under matters of creed.
The southerners now know the locations of oil. They know it initially, no, through machines and through expertise and analysis of the soil and analysis of the earth. These are matters that Allah the Exalted has made known to those who know them and unknown to those who do not know them.
Honorable Shaykh, regarding those who claim to identify the locations of underground water, he says: Rather, what is this foolishness?
Answer:
This exists; this is also part of qiyafah (tracking). They know the soil and the trees, they know the color of the earth, and they use these to infer the presence of water. They have knowledge of these matters; they look at the trees, they look at the soil, they look at the color of the mountain, the color of such and such, and they say, "This has water, and this does not have water." This is a known matter and does not fall under matters of creed, because this is a prediction based on signs present in the earth. Present in the earth,
And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]
وَفِي الْأَرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَIndeed in that are signs for those who discern.
إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْمُتَوَسِّمِينَThe southerners now know the locations of oil. They know it initially, no, through machines and through expertise and analysis of the soil and analysis of the earth. These are matters that Allah the Exalted has made known to those who know them and unknown to those who do not know them.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في الكهان ونحوهم — islamhouse.com (59:47)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.