Is there a cure that Islam has provided for sorcery? What is this cure? And what is your comment on the subject of the science of sorcery?

The Shaykh : So, is there a cure that Islam has provided for sorcery? What is this cure? And what is your comment on the subject of the science of sorcery?
If it is correct to call sorcery a science, then it is like the science of thievery, wickedness, and... the killing of people and shedding of their blood, and so on. In Islam, it is forbidden without a doubt, because the science of sorcery is based on cooperation between the devils of mankind and the devils of the jinn. Therefore, this sorcery is not practiced by anyone but one of two people: either a disbeliever, or a Muslim who is an open sinner who does not fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and does not follow His Shari'ah. In the authentic Sunnah, there are many hadiths warning against practicing sorcery and fortune-telling, which is the use of means by which they claim to uncover the unseen. It is sufficient to know the magnitude of the sin of the sorcerer in Islam that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: . The sorcerer is beheaded, and his life is not preserved or protected because of the severe harm that his sorcery causes to the Muslim community. Therefore, it is not permissible to learn this science, as we have explained earlier, and as some people imagine. I was actually asked about a hadith that says: "Learn sorcery but do not practice it." This is not a hadith; it is not even a fabricated hadith, but rather a poem:
"Learn sorcery but do not practice it *** Knowledge of the thing, and ignorance of it"
This is the speech of a poet who does not know what is forbidden and what is lawful; the least that can be said about him is that. As for what came in the Qur'an: , this is a specific case that occurred in a time when the sorcery of magicians had spread among people, and that was a cause for the mixing of the matters brought by the sorcerer with the miracles brought by the truthful Prophet. The wisdom of the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He) necessitated that He send down two angels from the sky to teach the general people of that time sorcery, so that the sorcerers would not be able to exploit them, because one of the strongest causes of exploitation is having exclusive knowledge of something, especially if that knowledge is not sought for the sake of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
Therefore, we take this lesson from the story of the monk and the boy from one aspect, and from the king and his sorcerer from another aspect. That king who dug the trench and tortured the believers and burned them with fire was a lying, tyrannical king. He had enslaved his people through a sorcerer he had. When this sorcerer grew old and aged, the king asked him to choose a clever boy from his people to teach him sorcery so that he would be his successor after him; that is, the king would exploit him just as he had exploited that sorcerer in his tyranny over his people. Then what happened in the story established in "Sahih Muslim" occurred: when the sorcerer's choice fell on that boy, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) inclined the boy's heart toward a monk who passed by him every morning when he set out to the sorcerer to learn sorcery from him. The boy was affected by the monk's words and relied on him, until a miracle occurred for him. Whenever he left his home on his way to the sorcerer, he would pass by the monk and stop with him to learn knowledge and wisdom from him. Because of this, he would be delayed in arriving at the sorcerer at the appointed time, and the sorcerer would beat him. Then, when he returned to his home in the evening and passed by the monk, he would be delayed in reaching his home, and his family would beat him. So he complained of his situation to the monk one day and said to him: "I am being beaten between my family and my teacher the sorcerer. I am delayed in reaching my family and they beat me; I am delayed in reaching the sorcerer and he beats me." The monk said: "If the sorcerer asks you: 'Why were you delayed?' say: 'My family delayed me.' And if your family asks you: 'Why were you delayed?' say: 'The sorcerer delayed me.'"

The questioner : Is it permissible, Professor, to lie like that?

The Shaykh : Yes, and you still... don't know if this is permissible or not, and it is in the hadith?
One day, the boy set out from the monk to the sorcerer, and the road was blocked. He looked out and saw a great living calamity that had cut off the road for the people, so they did not dare to kill it or pass it. He was like a person among this crowd.

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
He raised his hands saying: "O Allah, if the monk is on the truth, then turn this calamity away from us." He had not finished his words when it departed as if nothing had happened, and the people set out walking. But they noticed that the clearing of the road and the departure of the calamity happened after this young boy made that supplication, so they took...
Yes?

The questioner : ... the hadith says he struck it.

Another questioner : He struck it with a stone.

The Shaykh : He struck it with a stone? ...

The questioner : ... this beast...

The Shaykh : It has been a long time, right.
So they attached themselves to him, and they began to seek blessing from him, and news of him reached...
Yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Yes.
News of him reached the king's minister, who was blind, so he sent for him and said to him: "Cure me." He said: "Allah is the One who cures; if you wish, I will supplicate to my Lord to cure you." He said: "That you believe in my Lord." The minister used to believe in the king like Pharaoh, so the minister said: "I have believed in the Lord of the boy." The boy supplicated to his Lord, so Allah (Mighty and Majestic) cured him, and he returned with his sight. The minister entered upon the king, and when the king saw him with his sight, he said: "How is this?" He said: "My Lord cured me." He said: "Do you have a Lord other than me?" He said: "My Lord and your Lord who created me and created you." So he ordered him to be killed, after he had asked him where this trial came from, and his minister and right-hand man disbelieved in him, so this is a trial that will proceed; therefore, he wanted to uproot it. He did not stop with the minister until he pointed to the boy. After he knew the story of the boy, he killed the minister and brought the boy, and I have forgotten now.

The questioner : ... he tortured him until he pointed to the monk.

Another questioner : To the monk, yes.

The Shaykh: Yes.
So he pointed to the monk, and the monk had said to him: "You will be tested, so do not inform about me." Despite this, he was a boy with limited capacity, so he did not stop until he was forced to confess. The king sent for the monk and asked him to disbelieve in his Lord and believe in him, but he refused. So he sawed him with a saw until he fell to the ground in two pieces, and the monk did not turn back from his religion. Then it was the boy's turn, and he wanted to kill him in another way, so he ordered a group of his soldiers to take him to the top of a mountain and throw him from the peak of the mountain to the ground... When they climbed to the top of the mountain, he raised his hands saying: "O Allah, suffice me against them however You wish." The mountain shook from under their feet, and they all died on the slope of the mountain, killed. The boy descended walking until he reached before the king, so the king nearly went mad. He said to him: "How is this?" He said: "My Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) sufficed me against them." So he ordered another group of his soldiers and commanded them to take the boy and board with him in a small boat, and when they reached the middle of the sea, to throw him into the sea. When they took him into the sea, he said: "O Allah, suffice me against them however You wish." The small boat overturned with them all, and they drowned except him; he walked on the water until he reached the land and the king. The king was greatly angered by him, so the boy said to him: "You will not reach me unless you do what I command you to do." He said: "What is it?" He said: "That you make an appointment for the people to gather on a great day, then you take me and place me on the wood, you crucify me on the wood, then you take a spear from my quiver and stand far away from me, then you throw it at me saying: 'In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy.' If you do that, you will reach me and kill me, otherwise you will not be empowered over me." So the king announced an appointment for a great day, and the crowd of the people gathered, and the boy was placed on the wood, and the king stood before him far from him, and he took a spear from the boy's quiver and raised it saying: "In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy." And he threw it at him, and it hit him in his temple, so he placed his hand like this and surrendered his soul.
When the people saw that the king could not reach the boy except when the name of the boy's Lord was mentioned, they disbelved in the king and believed in the boy's Lord. So he became, as it is said today, the scapegoat. At that time, he ordered the digging of the trench. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned their story in the Qur'an as is well known. The people were between those who hesitated and those who retreated, and those who advanced without caring about the Fire. Until it was the turn of a woman who was carrying her young boy in her arms. When she saw the Fire, she feared for herself and her boy. She heard the boy calling out to her at the top of his voice: "Be patient, O my mother; for you are upon the truth." So she threw herself into the Fire with the boy. That is the story of the boy and the sorcerer.
The point is that it is known from previous history that kings used to exploit sorcerers. The story of the sorcerers of Pharaoh is mentioned in the Qur'an more than once. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) intended, in one of the earlier times, to make the knowledge of sorcery common among the people so that they could distinguish the prophetic miracle from the matter that is a source and effect of sorcery and charlatanism.
So the sorcerers, because of their knowledge of sorcery, when they saw the miracle of Moses, they distinguished it and did not say: "This is sorcery" either. And so they fell down prostrating and said: . For this wisdom, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent down two angels: . So although the angels came down with a good intention, they were informed by the Lord of the worlds that this knowledge might harm them, and it might be a great trial and affliction for them. So they would advise the learner: "Do not disbelieve." He (the Exalted) said: . For this reason, it is not permissible in Islam to engage in the knowledge of sorcery; because, as we said at the beginning of the discussion, it is only cooperation between the devils of mankind and the devils of the jinn. This is my comment on what is available regarding the knowledge of sorcery.
As for what the treatment is, there is only one thing, and that is returning to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with a humble, submissive heart, along with reciting the two chapters of protection specifically: , . This is if there is a person who is suspected of having been affected by something from the sorcery of these charlatans. As for going to a sorcerer of this type, it is associating partners with Allah and seeking help in fighting associating partners with Allah with similar associating partners with Allah, and this is a matter that is not permissible.