A person draws many lines on the ground and begins to hold two lines, then two lines. If two lines remain, this is a sign of success; if one line remains, this is a sign of failure.
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The questioner : He draws many lines on the ground and begins to hold two lines, then two lines. If two lines remain in the end, this is a sign of success; if one line remains, this is a sign of failure?
The Shaykh : A sign of success in what?
The questioner : In the matter for which this man came to ask this sand reader.
The Shaykh : From the perspective of discovering the unseen, meaning?
The questioner : Yes. Is there a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this method, or is this one of the methods of the fortune-tellers?
The Shaykh : This is not a specific method from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). How could he leave us a method while he attributes the success of the sand reader to the fact that the line matches that of the Prophet? Moreover, this is one of the methods of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Otherwise, we read in the Noble Qur'an the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Jinn 72:26-27].
It is not possible to reach knowledge of the unseen except by adopting means that our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, has not prescribed. Whether it is this image, which I am hearing for the first time, or other images used by these sand readers or astrologers, the important thing is that they attempt thereby to gain knowledge of some of the unseen. If they are not, as I believe, deceiving people and misleading them—meaning, they know that they do not have a transmitted method that connects to that Prophet in this way to know some of the unseen—they know that they are deceiving and misleading people in pursuit of immediate, perishable material gain.
Therefore, this practice is not permissible. And so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in some other hadiths:Sunan al-Bayhaqi 15:740. It seems that he (peace and blessings be upon him) is referring in this hadith to the previous verse, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Jinn 72:26-27].
This fortune-teller, diviner, or sand reader is not a messenger to whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, can reveal something of His knowledge of the unseen. Therefore, practicing this type of sand reading or any other means involving deception of people is disbelief, as indicated by this noble verse.
The Shaykh : A sign of success in what?
The questioner : In the matter for which this man came to ask this sand reader.
The Shaykh : From the perspective of discovering the unseen, meaning?
The questioner : Yes. Is there a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this method, or is this one of the methods of the fortune-tellers?
The Shaykh : This is not a specific method from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). How could he leave us a method while he attributes the success of the sand reader to the fact that the line matches that of the Prophet? Moreover, this is one of the methods of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Otherwise, we read in the Noble Qur'an the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(26) [He is] Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone (27) Except whom He has approved of messengers, and indeed, He sends before each messenger and behind him observers
عالم الغيب فلا يُظهر على غيبه أحدًا * إلا من ارتضى من رسولIt is not possible to reach knowledge of the unseen except by adopting means that our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, has not prescribed. Whether it is this image, which I am hearing for the first time, or other images used by these sand readers or astrologers, the important thing is that they attempt thereby to gain knowledge of some of the unseen. If they are not, as I believe, deceiving people and misleading them—meaning, they know that they do not have a transmitted method that connects to that Prophet in this way to know some of the unseen—they know that they are deceiving and misleading people in pursuit of immediate, perishable material gain.
Therefore, this practice is not permissible. And so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in some other hadiths:
Whoever goes to a diviner or a fortune-teller and believes in what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad.
من أتى عرافا أو كاهناً فصدقه بما يقول فقد كفر بما أنزل على محمدand He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone (27) Except whom He has approved of messengers
فلا يُظهِر على غيبه أحدًا * إلا من ارتضى من رسولThis fortune-teller, diviner, or sand reader is not a messenger to whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, can reveal something of His knowledge of the unseen. Therefore, practicing this type of sand reading or any other means involving deception of people is disbelief, as indicated by this noble verse.