The Ruling on Seeking the Help of Sorcerers to Uncover Crimes and Lost Property

Question:
Does going to what is called the *maluth* or *mahlus*—which involves heating a piece of iron in fire, such that if the accused licks it with his tongue and it does not burn him, he is considered innocent, but if it burns him, he is considered guilty—contradict the belief in the oneness of Allah (tawhid) for someone who has lost property or had a family member killed? Or is this considered a means of revealing the crime and identifying the criminal, such that it is analogous to police dogs and falls under permissible means?

Answer:
There is no doubt that this practice is invalid and abominable, and it is not permissible to do it. In fact, this is a means of burning tongues and harming Muslims. This is something that has no basis, as far as we know, in the Shari'ah of Allah or in the words of the scholars. Rather, it is one of the superstitions and the works of sorcerers who want to consume the wealth of people through falsehood. There is no doubt in the prohibition of this practice and that it is abominable. It is not of the same kind as police dogs.
As for the owner of the lost property, he can take another path by following the known tracks among the Arabs, which the Shari'ah has mentioned, so that he may find his lost property, his runaway slave, or something similar to that.
As for the victim whose killer is unknown, he can also be identified through other means, by asking those who have knowledge of the incident, those who were around the scene of the incident, and similar methods.
As for using this iron, it is an invalid thing with no basis. This is not analogous to police dogs, because police dogs have other means of identifying criminals through smell and scent.