A warning regarding the hadith of the one who visits a fortune-teller and believes him
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah the Exalted bless you. Some scholars say that the meaning of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) statement, “he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him),” is that this is minor shirk (associating partners with Allah) that does not take one out of the religion, because it is based on a shubhah (doubtful matter), namely that he believed it. It is based on a shubhah, meaning the belief of the one who went to the sorcerers and believed them. The Shaytan (Satan) listens to the recitation. Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that if his prayer is not accepted for forty days, he specified a duration because of the length of his prayer, which indicates that he did not commit a disbelief that takes one out of the religion.
Answer:
This is a statement, but the Messenger’s statement is general. Who is it that specifies the Messenger’s statement? It is not specified except by the Messenger’s statement. The Messenger’s statement is not specified except by another explicit text. As for specifying it with the statement of a scholar, this is not permissible. What this person mentioned from the words of the scholars requires evidence. The Messenger’s statement is general, and it is obligatory that the hadith be passed on as it came and not be subjected to ta'wil (figurative interpretation) with this interpretation.
As for the fact that his prayer is not accepted for forty days, this applies to the one who goes but does not believe. That is, in Sahih Muslim, it is stated that the one who visits a fortune-tellerSunan an-Nasa'i 5669Da'if (Darussalam), and it does not say “and believes him.” It applies merely to going to him, even if he did not believe him. But if he believes him, he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad, because he believed in disbelief. The one who believes in disbelief is a disbeliever. The result is that it is not permissible to interpret the Messenger’s statement without evidence, nor to specify it without evidence.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah the Exalted bless you. Some scholars say that the meaning of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) statement, “he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him),” is that this is minor shirk (associating partners with Allah) that does not take one out of the religion, because it is based on a shubhah (doubtful matter), namely that he believed it. It is based on a shubhah, meaning the belief of the one who went to the sorcerers and believed them. The Shaytan (Satan) listens to the recitation. Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that if his prayer is not accepted for forty days, he specified a duration because of the length of his prayer, which indicates that he did not commit a disbelief that takes one out of the religion.
Answer:
This is a statement, but the Messenger’s statement is general. Who is it that specifies the Messenger’s statement? It is not specified except by the Messenger’s statement. The Messenger’s statement is not specified except by another explicit text. As for specifying it with the statement of a scholar, this is not permissible. What this person mentioned from the words of the scholars requires evidence. The Messenger’s statement is general, and it is obligatory that the hadith be passed on as it came and not be subjected to ta'wil (figurative interpretation) with this interpretation.
As for the fact that his prayer is not accepted for forty days, this applies to the one who goes but does not believe. That is, in Sahih Muslim, it is stated that the one who visits a fortune-teller
his Salah will not be accepted for 40 days
لم تقبل له صلاة أربعين يوما
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في النُّشرة — islamhouse.com (53:25)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.