The Meaning of Writing in the Sand, and Is It a Cause of Leaving the Religion?
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The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The meaning is that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) had made it a means for some of the prophets, and in some reports it is not mentioned in the hadiths that it was Yunus (peace be upon him), that he had a means by which he could know some of the hidden things by striking the sand. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) linked the success of the sand writer to matching the miracle of that prophet. This, as the scholars say, is from the category of suspending the impossible. He (peace be upon him) said:, and without a doubt, this matching cannot be achieved; because first, that prophet had this as a special miracle for him, and second, he did not leave behind a book to be used as a means to know the method of striking the sand to discover something of the unseen through this method. So it is from the category of suspending the impossible. A prophet among the prophets used to write, and whoever matched his writing to the writing of that prophet, that one is the successful one, and this is an impossible matter.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How is it two lines? I did not understand?
The questioner : He writes many lines, ... two lines, two lines, and if two lines remain at the end, this is a sign of success, and if one line remains, this is a sign of ... .
The Shaykh : A sign of success in what?
The questioner : The matter that this man ... the sand writer ... came for.
The Shaykh : ... the unseen, meaning?
The questioner : So is this, meaning, in a report from the Prophet by this method, or is this from the method of ...?
The Shaykh : No, this is not a specific method from the Messenger in this. How can he leave us a method while he links the success of the sand writer to matching the writing of that prophet? And this is a style, meaning, from the styles of the Messenger (peace be upon him). Otherwise, we read in the Noble Qur'an His saying (the Exalted):[Al-Jinn 72:26-27], so it is not possible to reach the unseen matters by adopting means that our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) has not prescribed. So whether this image—which I am hearing for the first time—or other images practiced by these sand writers or astrologers; the important thing is that they try thereby to reach knowledge of some of the hidden things, if they are not, as I believe, deceiving people and misleading them; meaning: they know that they do not have a transmitted method, for example, that connects to that prophet; by this method they know some of the hidden things. They know that they are ... deceiving people and misleading them seeking immediate material gain. So this practice is not permissible. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said in some other hadiths: Sunan al-Bayhaqi 15:740, and it seems that he (peace be upon him) is pointing to the previous verse with this hadith; which is His saying (the Exalted): [Al-Jinn 72:26-27]. So this witness or diviner or sand writer is not a messenger to whom Allah can reveal something of His knowledge of the unseen (Blessed and Exalted is He). For this reason, practicing this striking of the sand or any other means involving deception of people is disbelief by such a noble verse.
The questioner : Is it a cause of leaving the religion?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Is it a cause of leaving the religion?
The Shaykh : This differs between practical disbelief and creedal disbelief. If he considers it permissible in his heart, it is disbelief that is leaving the religion. And if he believes that it is not permissible, just as the one who takes riba eats riba and the thief steals, and so on; all these are in the same position. Whoever considers something of the forbidden things permissible in his heart is a disbeliever with the disbelief of apostasy. And whoever limits his permissibility to the action without the permissibility in the heart, it is the disbelief of sin and not the disbelief of apostasy.
The questioner : ... is this narration combined with the other narrationSunan an-Nasa'i 5669Da'if (Darussalam)?
The Shaykh : What is the ...?
The questioner : The other narration?
The Shaykh : I understood you. There is no contradiction between the two narrations if you assume his saying:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 135Hasan (Darussalam) that it is heart-based disbelief; in that case, no objection or problem arises in the hadith; because the hadith would be explicit that he does not disbelieve, so it is understood in that case that his disbelief is practical disbelief and not creedal disbelief; so there is no contradiction then. Clear?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... creedal disbelief, so the hadith is not directed toward him, but rather it is directed toward the one whose disbelief is practical. Clear?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The meaning is that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) had made it a means for some of the prophets, and in some reports it is not mentioned in the hadiths that it was Yunus (peace be upon him), that he had a means by which he could know some of the hidden things by striking the sand. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) linked the success of the sand writer to matching the miracle of that prophet. This, as the scholars say, is from the category of suspending the impossible. He (peace be upon him) said:
So whoever matches his writing to the writing of that prophet, that one is the successful one
فمن وافق خطُّه خطَّ ذاك النبي فذاك هو المصيبThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How is it two lines? I did not understand?
The questioner : He writes many lines, ... two lines, two lines, and if two lines remain at the end, this is a sign of success, and if one line remains, this is a sign of ... .
The Shaykh : A sign of success in what?
The questioner : The matter that this man ... the sand writer ... came for.
The Shaykh : ... the unseen, meaning?
The questioner : So is this, meaning, in a report from the Prophet by this method, or is this from the method of ...?
The Shaykh : No, this is not a specific method from the Messenger in this. How can he leave us a method while he links the success of the sand writer to matching the writing of that prophet? And this is a style, meaning, from the styles of the Messenger (peace be upon him). Otherwise, we read in the Noble Qur'an His saying (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 يظهر على غيبه أحدًا إلا من ارتضى من رسولWhoever comes to a diviner or a fortune-teller and believes in what he says; he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad
من أتى عرَّافًا أو كاهنًا فصدَّقه بما يقول ؛ فقد كفر بما أُنزل على محمدand He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone (27) Except whom He has approved of messengers
فلا يُظهر على غيبه أحدًا إلا من ارتضى من رسولThe questioner : Is it a cause of leaving the religion?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Is it a cause of leaving the religion?
The Shaykh : This differs between practical disbelief and creedal disbelief. If he considers it permissible in his heart, it is disbelief that is leaving the religion. And if he believes that it is not permissible, just as the one who takes riba eats riba and the thief steals, and so on; all these are in the same position. Whoever considers something of the forbidden things permissible in his heart is a disbeliever with the disbelief of apostasy. And whoever limits his permissibility to the action without the permissibility in the heart, it is the disbelief of sin and not the disbelief of apostasy.
The questioner : ... is this narration combined with the other narration
his Salah will not be accepted for 40 days
لم تُقبل له صلاة أربعين يومًاThe Shaykh : What is the ...?
The questioner : The other narration?
The Shaykh : I understood you. There is no contradiction between the two narrations if you assume his saying:
then he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad.
فقد كفر بما أُنزل على محمدThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... creedal disbelief, so the hadith is not directed toward him, but rather it is directed toward the one whose disbelief is practical. Clear?
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.