Sorcery: Between Reality and Illusion
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Mu'tazilah argued in their statement: The Mu'tazilah argued that sorcery is merely an illusion and not a reality, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Taha: 66] What is the response of the people of the Sunnah to this argument?
Is this illusion real or not? If a person is made to believe that ropes which are not moving are actually moving, did it affect him? Well; sorcery is a state where a person's mind is disturbed such that he sees inanimate objects: ropes and sticks that are not moving, and it is made to appear to him that they are moving, though they are not moving, but it is made to appear to him. Did it have an effect? So their evidence was actually evidence against them, yes.
Sorcery does not affect the essence of things, so it does not turn iron into wood or the like.
The questioner: Was the disagreement between the people of the Sunnah and the Mu'tazilah merely verbal?The Shaykh: No, it is not a verbal disagreement, but a real one, for sorcery has an effect; it makes a person sick, and it may corrupt his mind, and it may cause him to become insane, and it may even kill him, may Allah protect us from that.
seemed to him from their magic that they were moving
يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَىIs this illusion real or not? If a person is made to believe that ropes which are not moving are actually moving, did it affect him? Well; sorcery is a state where a person's mind is disturbed such that he sees inanimate objects: ropes and sticks that are not moving, and it is made to appear to him that they are moving, though they are not moving, but it is made to appear to him. Did it have an effect? So their evidence was actually evidence against them, yes.
Sorcery does not affect the essence of things, so it does not turn iron into wood or the like.
The questioner: Was the disagreement between the people of the Sunnah and the Mu'tazilah merely verbal?The Shaykh: No, it is not a verbal disagreement, but a real one, for sorcery has an effect; it makes a person sick, and it may corrupt his mind, and it may cause him to become insane, and it may even kill him, may Allah protect us from that.