Will you give information about fortunetelling and visiting a fortuneteller by referring to hadiths?

The Details of the Question

Will you give information about fortunetelling and visiting a fortuneteller by referring to hadiths?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

Fortunetelling, which is definitely forbidden by our religion, is a kind of giving news about ghayb (what is unknown/unseen/hidden). In fact, the Quran states clearly that nobody but Allah can know ghayb and that neither prophets nor angels can give news about ghayb unless it is revealed to them by Allah.

"Say: None in the heavens or on earth, except Allah, knows what is hidden." (an-Naml, 27/65)

"Say: "I tell you not that with me are the Treasures of Allah, nor do I know what is hidden..." (al-An'am, 6/50),

"…If I had knowledge of the unseen, I should have multiplied all good..." (al-A'raf, 7/188)

The verses above are evidence for it.

The Prophet condemned those who went to the fortunetellers called "arraf" or "soothsayer", whobelieved in them and who supported them; he even described them as unbelievers.    

"If a person goes to an arraf and asks him/her something, his prayers of forty nights will not be accepted." (Muslim, Salam, 125)

A hadith mentioned in Abu Dawud is as follows:

"If a person goes to a soothsayer and confirms what he/she says, he/she will definitely be regarded to have denied what was sent down to Muhammad." (Abu Dawud, Tibb, hadith no: 3904).

The Prophet (pbuh) summarized the issue in one sentence:

“Soothsayers are not anything.” (Muslim, Salam 123)

That is, the words of those who claim to know the future are nonsense; they have no value and significance.

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