Outline
- Introduction
- Why Do People Seek Help from Sorcerers and Fortune-Tellers?
- #1: Weakness of Īmān
- #2: Materialism and Love of the World
- #3: Haltered and Jealousy
- #4: Sense of Insecurity
- Conclusion
Introduction
Alhamdulillah… All perfect thanks and praises are due to the Almighty Allah, the One and Only. I send perfect peace and blessings upon Sayyindinā Muḥammad, his household, his companions and all those who follow his guided path till end of time.
This article is Part 2 of our series, which discusses sorcery and fortune-telling from Islamic and social perspectives. It comes in, at a time, when Muslim communities around the world have emerged to be more obsessed with sorcery and fortune-telling, either by practising it or seeking help from its practitioners. This is despite their knowledge that the Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam has constantly warned us against sorcery and fortune-telling and the evil they cause to societies.
Part 1 explored sorcery and fortune-telling in Islam. If further elaborated on the differences and commonalities between the two and illusionism. In fact, it also indicated the ruling of sorcery and fortune telling in Islam. Finally, it concluded by identifying what it means to seek help through sorcery and fortune-telling. Part 2 today, seeks to explore the factors that influence people’s decision to go and seek sorcerers and fortune-tellers’ help. Four crucial factors are identified.
It’s important, before we continue with our discussion, to note that reading Part 1 will help you in understanding this part better. Please click here to read it. Next… why do people seek help from sorcerers and fortune-tellers?
Why Do People Seek Help from Sorcerers and Fortune-Tellers?
Sorcerers scare you to gain credibility
People resort to sorcerers to overcome the various challenges of life. Many of them, if not all, are aware that Allah is the Solver of all problems, especially those related to spirituality and the unseen (ghayb). They’re also aware that He is our only Helper in embracing the challenges of life. They are also aware that it’s evil to resort to sorcery. Maybe some of them know the consequences of seeking help from sorcerers and fortune-tellers. But they lose focus when in the state of desperation.
In other words, people turn to sorcery to run away from the reality of life. They turn to sorcery because they forget, or pretend ignorance, that man (son of Adam) is given superiority over jinn, whom they turn to for sorcery. They refuse to accept life with its built-in tests, trials and tribulations. Therefore, they take things into their own hands.
“In this Quran, We have set out all kinds of examples for people, yet most of them persist in denying the truth” (Qur’an, 17:89).
Among several possible reasons, for which people resort to sorcerers and fortune-tellers, I’m indicating the most crucial four of them. Weakness of īmān tops crucial factors.
#1: Weakness of Īmān
Weakness of iman leads to sorcery, and sorcery in return weakens the iman further
The present world is a home, but a temporal one. That’s why it’s full of tests, trials and tribulations. It’s through its journey that proper īmān (faith) is developed. Thereafter, a strong īmān is identified and separated from a weak one. Then, a true īmān is distinguished from a false one.
During tests, trials and tribulations, the son of Adam becomes desperate. This desperation is guided depending on how much of his trust is put in Allah. It also depends on how often he ruminates himself to count the countless blessings Allah has bestowed upon him. Additionally, it depends on how soon he recomposes himself with contentment and patience. One’s faith weakens, when he fails to seek divine guidance for the problem he faces at any time. His faith further declines when he loses patience and fails to appreciate Allah’s bounties upon him. He further loses to the devil when he perceives tests as punishment, rather than means of strength.
That’s where and when he becomes a cheap victim to the devil and to evil. That’s where he’s deluded to pursue and attain the desired wishes of life to its fullest. He’s deluded to pursue enjoyment to its fullest ignoring the fact, that enjoyment can only be attained to its fullest in the Paradise.
Once the īmān is weakened, man starts rejecting the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Moreover, he starts questioning Allah’s decisions and Wisdom. He then challenges Islam. In fact, instead of reflecting on what he might have done wrong that has possibly landed him in misery –despite this life being a home for tests, trials and tribulations, he puts all blames on others and on Allah.
History tells us, that none of the companions of the Prophet Muḥammad ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam rejected, for a bit, anything revealed in the Qur’an, nor any teaching issued by the Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam. That was as a result of the solidness of the īmān they carried in their hearts, raḍiya Allāhu ‘anhum. To that effect, no narration relates to any of them dealing with siḥr or had been a sorcerer. When our īmān drops, we forget our responsibilities in this life. And we fail to realize, appreciate and uphold our purpose in life. We then become materialistic to the maximum.
It’s important to note that weakness of īmān leads to resorting to sorcery. In return, seeing sorcerers and fortune-tellers weakens the īmān further to the lowest level possible.
Therefore, among the reasons why people seek sorcerers’ help is materialism and love of the temporal world.
#2: Materialism and Love of the World
Sorcery and fortune-telling are all about worldly gains; materialism
One of the reasons people seek help from sorcerers and fortune-tellers is materialism. Materialism is the interest in and desire for money, possessions, etc. rather than spiritual or ethical values. This is equal to love of the temporal world. Materialism and love of the temporal world render the son of Adam to worship anything (other than Allah) that he wrongly thinks could attain his wished desires and desired wishes. Once desires are worshiped, all forbidden become permissible.
“Did you ever consider the case of him who took his desire as his god, and then Allah caused him to go astray despite knowledge, and sealed his hearing and his heart, and cast a veil over his sight? Who, after Allah, can direct him to the Right Way? Will you not take heed?” (Qur’an, 45:23)
Once this takes place, nothing a sorcery goer does should be surprising to us. Upon reaching this stage, a sorcery goer seeks help from sorcerers and fortune-tellers to possess everything that the soul may desire in this world, i.e., wealth, fame, power, beauty, attraction, sex, etc.
No wonder, then, we see (some of) the most influential people in the lives of the masses are reported to have dealt with sorcery and fortune-tellers. This includes celebrities, athletes, politicians, public speakers, fake religious leaders, etc. Most of these lose everything gained through sorcery the moment the effect of the sorcery finishes. They don’t just lose everything; they are also subjected to all sorts of humiliations, pains and unusual death.
Upon observing sorcery goers, as well as their ending, you realize that sorcery and fortune telling is all about worldly gains. None has anything to do with the next life. No one practises, deals with or seeks to deal with sorcerers does so to attain the Hereafter (Ākhirah)! In other words, no one practises sorcery because he wants to go to the Paradise. This is simply because, the jinn who are invoked during sorcery and their allies (the sorcerers) are aware that, their activities will nullify any share of blessings and good rewards awaiting mankind and jinkind in the Hereafter. In relation to this, Allah says in Sūrah al-Baqarah: 102:
“And indeed they knew that the buyers of it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter. And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their own selves, if they but knew.”
Thus, some choose to be rich all they wish in this life. Some choose to be knowledgeable all they ever imagined in this life. Some choose to be honorable all possible in this life. Some choose to be rulers in this life. The list is endless… In the end, they can only attain what could have been theirs and would have come to them, even if they didn’t deal with sorcery. But they refused to endure the journey of life with a little bit of patience and gratification.
When people compete for the gains of this temporal life, one of the common heart diseases you see among them is hatred and jealousy. And the more jealousy and hatred they develop, the more they engage in sorcery activities.
#3: Hatred and Jealousy
The more hatred you develop, the cheaper victim you become into sorcery and fortune-telling
Besides weakness of īmān and materialism, hatred and jealousy have been two of the main factors that push people to resort to sorcerers and fortune-tellers. Some people just can’t stand to see in front of them anyone (they perceive to be) better than them, be it financially, socially, or intellectually. Of course, they are made to forget that people are created to be different in all aspects of life, even in the amount of bounties Allah bestows upon them. Since the devil has easy control over people with hatred and jealousy, as their īmān has weakened, he fuels more hatred and jealousy in their hearts to instigate more separation and unrest in human communities. The more kindness you show a person with hatred and jealousy, the more hatred he pays you with. There’s nothing you can do to change them. The best you should do is to seek refuge in Allah from evil, and He will distance all evil from you.
One thing many sorcery goers forget is, that it’s these sorcerers who create more conflicts among us in the families and communities. Two neighbours may be seeing the same sorcerer, who instigates each of them against the orther. This is true and real. And it happens among co-workers, siblings, bosses and their subordinates, spouses, and you know the rest better. As you may be innocently leading a normal life somewhere, some one, elsewhere, is busy; calculating and working on how to take you to sorcery, just to see your downfall.
It’s unfortunate, that people who do this fail to understand, that they gain nothing but loss. The incur loss upon loss. The only thing they gain is that they please Iblīs at the expense of serving their purpose in life, for which they were created; that is to worship Allah alone, and not associate anyone or anything with Him in His divinity. As you’ve observed, people with hatred and jealousy suffer from insecurity, and that alone is another factor, for which some people see sorcerers and fortune tellers.
#4: Sense of Insecurity
You are good enough without the help of sorcerers and fortune-tellers
Nothing causes the son of Adam to lose his mind as much as sense of insecurity does. This is because one of the greatest blessings Allah has bestowed upon mankind is security. However, the best form of security is the inner security.
Possessing all sorts of worldly possessions with lack of inner-security means you still have a lot to fix. However, possessing inner-security while lacking any of the worldly possessions give you happiness and satisfaction. (This takes us back to the first factor discussed earlier; weakness of īmān.)
Inner security is attained when you develop the belief that, no single cent or penny will enter your pocket or go out of it, without the will and permission of Allah, the Almighty. Once you have this, you enjoy a good sleep. You also enjoy seeing your days filled with countless blessings.
Inner-security prevents you from greediness, oppression, injustice, telling lies, and all the other major moral inadequacies.
Failure to achieve this renders you to sense of insecurity. Sense of insecurity leads one to desperation. Desperation comes in different forms. But the type of desperation, for which people see sorcerers include being desperate for attraction. For that, a lady who fails to see her natural beauty seeks sorcery to be seen pretty, the man who fails to see his natural strength seek to be seen strong and undefeatable, the businessman seeks to prosper at the expense of faith, and moral conduct, the lonely seeks to be loved without him socializing, and the list continues.
Conclusion
Think of someone who frequents to sorcerers and fortune-tellers, you will find out, that one of the reasons mentioned in this article is among factors which influence him to do so. The first and most important thing to do, to avoid going to sorcery, is to work on strengthning our faith and trust in Allah. Once this is rightly fixed, the remaining can be easily handled, inshā Allah.
Sorcery can never earn you what is not destined for you. However, you can always attain what’s divinely destined for you through righteous ways, without the need to resort to sorcery or robbery. The effort some Muslims put into sorcery, if it is to be used righteously, they would get what they get through sorcery (because it’s destined for them). They will also get, in addition to that, the company and the Ultimate Pleasure of Allah.
In Part 3 of this series, we’ll discuss some reasons the Muslim should quit seeing sorcerers and fortune-tellers, inshā Allah. We’ll also get to know the short-term, as well as long-term effects of seeing sorcerers. Stay tuned! In the meantime, what are the other reasons, based on your experience, readings or stories heard, that lead people to seek help from sorcerers and fortune-tellers? Please share your thoughts in the comment area below.
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Until our next article, I leave you in Allah’s protection.
Allah knows best.
Allāhu Hāfiz 🙂
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