What is the ruling on discussing matters related to weather conditions?
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The questioner : People talk a lot these days about weather forecasts or what will happen after a week or two. What is the ruling on discussing these matters, and to what extent can a person go in these predictions?
The Shaykh : Speaking about this, if it is based on scientific means that Allah the Exalted created and facilitated for people, there is no harm in that, with the reservation that the predictor may... this is the predictor. But if the prediction is mere guessing about the unseen without relying on the scientific means I mentioned earlier, then this is guessing about the unseen, and it is forbidden for a Muslim to speak of it. We all know now, without doubt, that the temperature and the pulse rate differ from person to person. But this doctor, as soon as he places the soft, gentle tube between the tongue and under the tongue, he discovers that this person's temperature is high or low. This is not predicting, nor is it sharing with the Lord of the Worlds in His knowledge of the unseen; rather, he is using this gentle means by which Allah the Exalted, by His power and grace, enabled humans to invent this delicate device to discover the temperature of this patient or this healthy person. Likewise, for example, the pulse device: he places it and knows whether the blood pressure is high, low, normal, or similar. All these are means by which the one who knows them reaches a result that is unknown to others. This is not predicting by guessing about the unseen, but rather using these means. However, it has happened repeatedly that this means may betray the user, even if this is actually rare, and the rare has no ruling. The issue now is: is this permissible or not? Of course, using this delicate device to discover the temperature or the pulse movement is permissible. But it is not so if I were to say now, and I am...The Shaykh : ...the Exalted, may Allah will it, and standing in this place, your temperature is normal. This is guessing about the unseen and is not permissible for me to say, or that your pulse is high or low. But this is the opposite of the first; this second example is guessing about the unseen and is not permissible. The first is not guessing about the unseen, but rather using the lawful cosmic means. And so are the other precise scales, such as knowing the general weather and the movements of wind and air, and the like. This is not guessing about the unseen. And more important than all of this is what has become known to all people today, considering the ease of reading and writing. And as is authentic in some hadiths, meaning the elimination of illiteracy as they say today, so any person, except for a rare few, can read in the newspaper. If that astronomical predictor says that in such a month, on such a day, the sun will be eclipsed or the moon will be eclipsed, this is not guessing about the unseen; this is using mathematical operations that our Lord the Exalted indicated in the Noble Qur'an. But if someone claims, and unfortunately this exists in the past and present, from some misguided people belonging to some Sufi paths, that so-and-so or...The Shaykh : ...so-and-so does this, reading what is in the Preserved Tablet. This is the guessing about the unseen, and this is disbelief that contradicts the saying of Allah the Exalted [An-Naml 27:65] (Blessed and Exalted is He). Perhaps I have answered your question.
The questioner : Is it permissible for you, for example, if you heard
The Shaykh : Al-Albani issuing a fatwa that smoking is forbidden. Is it permissible for you to transmit this statement?The Shaykh : It is permissible, yes.
The questioner : I say it is permissible, and I say it is not permissible, so pay attention now to the difference. If you say
The Shaykh : Al-Albani says such and such, then you are truthful. But if you say smoking is forbidden, it is not permissible, and you get enthusiastic, and if he asks you, “What is the evidence?” you are forced to say, “By Allah, it is like this.”The Shaykh : Al-Albani said it. Say it beforehand. So it is not permissible for you to say that it will be like this on Thursday, because you have no knowledge of it. But you can say that the astronomer so-and-so, or the radio, or the newspaper, or any news you transmit as you read it. In that case, you are not contradicting the Shari'ah.The Shaykh : Al-Albani said, "No, say it beforehand." So it is not permissible for you to say that on Thursday such and such will happen, because you have no knowledge of it. But you can say that the astronomer so-and-so, or the radio, or the newspaper, or any news you convey as you read it; in that case, you are not contradicting the Shari'ah.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Speaking about this, if it is based on scientific means that Allah the Exalted created and facilitated for people, there is no harm in that, with the reservation that the predictor may... this is the predictor. But if the prediction is mere guessing about the unseen without relying on the scientific means I mentioned earlier, then this is guessing about the unseen, and it is forbidden for a Muslim to speak of it. We all know now, without doubt, that the temperature and the pulse rate differ from person to person. But this doctor, as soon as he places the soft, gentle tube between the tongue and under the tongue, he discovers that this person's temperature is high or low. This is not predicting, nor is it sharing with the Lord of the Worlds in His knowledge of the unseen; rather, he is using this gentle means by which Allah the Exalted, by His power and grace, enabled humans to invent this delicate device to discover the temperature of this patient or this healthy person. Likewise, for example, the pulse device: he places it and knows whether the blood pressure is high, low, normal, or similar. All these are means by which the one who knows them reaches a result that is unknown to others. This is not predicting by guessing about the unseen, but rather using these means. However, it has happened repeatedly that this means may betray the user, even if this is actually rare, and the rare has no ruling. The issue now is: is this permissible or not? Of course, using this delicate device to discover the temperature or the pulse movement is permissible. But it is not so if I were to say now, and I am...The Shaykh : ...the Exalted, may Allah will it, and standing in this place, your temperature is normal. This is guessing about the unseen and is not permissible for me to say, or that your pulse is high or low. But this is the opposite of the first; this second example is guessing about the unseen and is not permissible. The first is not guessing about the unseen, but rather using the lawful cosmic means. And so are the other precise scales, such as knowing the general weather and the movements of wind and air, and the like. This is not guessing about the unseen. And more important than all of this is what has become known to all people today, considering the ease of reading and writing. And as is authentic in some hadiths
Among the signs of the Hour is the shortening of the roads and the spread of the pen.
من أشراط الساعة تقارب الطرق وانتشار القلمSay, "None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah
قل لا يعلم من في السماوات والأرض الغيب إلا للهThe questioner : Is it permissible for you, for example, if you heard
The Shaykh : Al-Albani issuing a fatwa that smoking is forbidden. Is it permissible for you to transmit this statement?The Shaykh : It is permissible, yes.
The questioner : I say it is permissible, and I say it is not permissible, so pay attention now to the difference. If you say
The Shaykh : Al-Albani says such and such, then you are truthful. But if you say smoking is forbidden, it is not permissible, and you get enthusiastic, and if he asks you, “What is the evidence?” you are forced to say, “By Allah, it is like this.”The Shaykh : Al-Albani said it. Say it beforehand. So it is not permissible for you to say that it will be like this on Thursday, because you have no knowledge of it. But you can say that the astronomer so-and-so, or the radio, or the newspaper, or any news you transmit as you read it. In that case, you are not contradicting the Shari'ah.The Shaykh : Al-Albani said, "No, say it beforehand." So it is not permissible for you to say that on Thursday such and such will happen, because you have no knowledge of it. But you can say that the astronomer so-and-so, or the radio, or the newspaper, or any news you convey as you read it; in that case, you are not contradicting the Shari'ah.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you, if Allah wills.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.