In the context of the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakim (may Allah be pleased with him), regarding which we have previously discussed its beginning until we reached his statement (may Allah be pleased with him): "I said,"

The Shaykh : In the context of the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakim (may Allah be pleased with him), regarding which we have previously discussed its beginning until we reached his statement (may Allah be pleased with him): "I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I am a recent convert from the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and Allah the Exalted has brought Islam' He said this to clarify his state before and his state after, and to speak of Allah's blessing upon him, for he was in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance where they did not know what was right or deny what was wrong, except for what was customary among them. And Allah made this Islam the clear light and the great criterion, distinguishing the truth from falsehood, the beneficial from the harmful, faith from disbelief, and the oneness of Allah from associating partners with Allah, among other things by which Allah has bestowed upon this community through Islam. Then he said (may Allah be pleased with him): 'And among us are men who visit the fortune-tellers' He said: The fortune-tellers were men upon whom the jinn, who are devils, would descend with what they heard of the news of the heavens, and then they would inform the people of what the devils had told them, adding to the true news many things of lies. So if they were truthful in one out of a hundred, the people would take them as judges. That is why people visit them and seek their judgment, the fortune-tellers. A fortune-teller is a man to whom a devil comes and informs him of what he heard of the news of the heavens, and adds to this news many things of lies. People come to them saying, 'What is our situation? What is our future?' regarding general or specific future matters, and they inform them of what they heard from the news of the devils. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Do not visit the fortune-tellers. Do we think that Mu'awiyah or any other of the Companions, when the Messenger (peace be upon him) told them not to do it, would do it? No, we do not think so. They are not in the state of many people today, who are repeatedly forbidden from something but do not comply, or who interpret the prohibition as being for dislike, or for etiquette, or contrary to the first choice, or the like. Do not visit them, do not visit them. Then know that the fortune-teller is the one who informs about the unseen in the future. If a person comes to him, there are three states. The first state: he comes to him to ask him and does not believe him. It is established in Sahih Muslim that his prayer is not accepted for forty days; his prayer is not accepted. The second state: he comes to him to ask him and believes him. This is disbelief. The reason for his disbelief is that his belief in him entails the denial of the statement of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He: Because the fortune-teller informs about the unseen in the future, so if you believe him, its content is that it is a denial of this verse, and thus it is disbelief. For this reason, it came in the hadith: meaning he asked him. The third state: he asks the fortune-teller in order to disbelieve him, and he only asks him as a test. This is permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) asked Ibn Sayyad about what he had concealed for him, and he said: "The smoke" meaning the smoke. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: If he asks him to expose him and reveal his lie and state to the people, then there is no harm in it; rather, it may be praiseworthy and required because of the refutation of falsehood therein. Then he asked another question. The hadith is: 'And among us are men who take omens' He said: Taking omens is pessimism regarding things. This taking of omens is that a person becomes pessimistic. The Arabs used to be most pessimistic about birds. The bird is stirred up; if the bird flies, if it turns to the right, it has a state, or to the left, it has a state, or forward, it has a state, or if it returns, it has a state, according to the conventions and superstitions of the Arabs. So they would take omens, meaning they would make the birds the ones who send them or turn them back. If the bird flew, for example, to the left, they would say, 'That's it, this is not suitable, I will not travel.' If it flew to the right, they would say, 'This is a blessed journey; the right is from the rightness and blessing, go.' And so on were their conventions. So they were most pessimistic about birds. They might also be pessimistic about days, or about months, or about the sounds they hear, or even about people. Indeed, there are people now who, when they leave their house, the first thing that happens is that they meet a person with an ugly appearance, and they say, 'That's it, this is a bad day,' and they become pessimistic. And if the first person they meet is a handsome man, they say, 'This is a good day,' and they become optimistic. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: And if a person relies on taking omens, his state becomes bitter, and perhaps the jinn will make him hear what he dislikes so that he remains constantly in sorrow and worry. But do not be pessimistic. The Arabs used to be pessimistic about the month of Shawwal regarding marriage. They would say that whoever marries in the month of Shawwal will not be successful; that is what the Arabs would say. So Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) used to say: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married me in Shawwal" He contracted the marriage with her in Shawwal and entered into conjugal relations with her in Shawwal. And she said: "Who is more favored by him than I am?" Undoubtedly, Aisha was the most beloved of women to him after he married her; she was the most beloved of women to him, and yet he contracted the marriage with her in Shawwal and entered into conjugal relations with her in Shawwal. The Arabs, due to their ignorance and foolishness, say that whoever marries in Shawwal will not be successful. And we now see a world where people marry in Shawwal and there is nothing but good among them. So the important thing is that it is obligatory for you to erase taking omens and pessimism from your heart. Make yourself constantly optimistic. Make the world always wide before you. Make the path before you always open. For the Messenger (peace be upon him) liked good omens, disliked taking omens and pessimism, and liked good omens. So make yourself constantly optimistic, and what Allah wills will happen. But being happy and joyful, with the world wide before you and the path open, and always optimistic and always broad-minded, that is the good. As for pessimism and contraction, and a person making his mind dwell on everything, the world will become narrow for him. And this is among the beauties of Islam that it abolished taking omens and established good omens, because good omens are good and taking omens is evil. And Allah grants success.
The student : There are people who cooperate with the jinn in order to teach ...

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : This is not from fortune-telling, but one must look at what this jinn has brought him. Then, regarding the jinn, is every jinn just? It may be a lying jinn. That is the problem.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : What?
The student : ... with the newspapers, with the magazines ... on such a day, the situation is such ...