The Jinn

Fortune Telling

 Human beings cannot gain control over the Jinn as this was a special miracle given only to Prophet Sulaymaan. In fact, contact with the Jinn in circumstances other than possession, or accident is most often made by the performance of sacrilegious acts despised and forbidden in the religion.The evil Jinn summoned in this fashion may aid their partners in sin and disbelief in God. Their goal is to draw as many others as they can into the gravest of sins, the worship of others besides or along with God. Once contact and contract with the Jinn are made by fortunetellers, the Jinn may inform them of certain events in the future.

The Prophet (pbuh) described how the Jinn gather information about the future. He related that the Jinn were able to travel to the lower reaches of the heavens and listen in on some of the information about the future, which the angels pass among themselves. They would then return to the earth and feed the information to their contacts.This used to happen a lot prior to the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh) and fortune-tellers were very accurate in their information.They were able to gain positionsin the royal courts and enjoyed much popularity and were even worshipped in some religions of the world.

After the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) began his mission the situation changed. Allaah had the angels guard the lower reaches of the heavens carefully, and most of the Jinn were chased away with meteors and shooting stars.The Prophet’s companion, Ibn ‘Abbaas, said, “When the Prophet (pbuh) and a group of his companions set out for the UkaadH market, the devils were blocked from hearing information in the heavens. Meteors were let loose on them, so they returned to their people. When their people asked what happened, they told them. Some suggested that something must have happened, so they spread out over the earth seeking the cause. Some of them came across the Prophet and his companions while they were in prayer and they heard the Qur’aan. They said to themselves that this must have been what blocked them from listening. When they returned to their people they told them, ‘Verily we have heard a marvellous Qur’aan. It guides unto righteousness so we believed in it. And we will never make partners with our Lord.’

Thus, the Jinn could no longer gather information about the future as easily as they could before the Prophet’s (pbuh) mission. Because of that, they now mix their information with many lies. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “They (the Jinn) would pass the information back down until it reaches the lips of a magician or fortuneteller. Sometimes a meteor would overtake them before they could pass it on. If they passed it on before being struck, they would add to it a hundred lies.”‘Aa’eshah, third wife of the Prophet (pbuh), reported that when she asked him about fortunetellers, he replied that they were nothing. She then mentioned that the fortunetellers sometimes told the things which were true. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “That is a bit of truth which the Jinn steals and cackles in the ear of his friend; but he mixes along with it a hundred lies.” 

The Jinns are also able to inform their human contact of the relative future. For example, when someone comes to a fortuneteller, the fortuneteller’s Jinn gets information from the man’s Qareenof what plans he had made prior to his coming. So the fortuneteller is able to tell him that he will do this or that, or go here or there. By this method, the real fortuneteller is also able to learn about a stranger’s past in vivid detail. He is able to tell a total stranger of his parents’ names, where he was born, the acts of his childhood, etc. The ability to vividly describe the past is one of the marks of a true fortuneteller who has made contact with the Jinn. Because the Jinn are able to traverse huge distances instantaneously, they are also able to gather huge stores of information about hidden things, lost articles and unobserved events. Proof of this ability an be found in the Qur’aan, in the story about Prophet Sulaymaan and Bilqees, the Queen of Sheba. When Queen Bilqees came to see hi, he asked the Jinn to bring her throne from her land. “An ‘Ifreet from among the Jinns said, I will bring it for you before you can getup from your place. Verily, I am strong and trustworthy for the assignment.”

Because of the sacrilege and heresy involved in fortunetelling, Islaam has taken a very strong stance towards it. Islaam opposes any form of association with those who practice fortunetelling, except to advise them to give up their forbidden practices. The Prophet (pbuh) laid down principles which clearly forbade any form of visitation of fortunetellers. Safeeyah reported from Hafsah (wife of the Prophet (pbuh)) that the Prophet (pbuh) said, “The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortuneteller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for 40 days and nights (Note: You are still obligated to pray those 40 days or nights).”The punishment in this tradition is for simply approaching a fortuneteller and asking him questions out of curiosity. This prohibition is further supported by Mu‘aawiyah ibn al-Hakam as- Salamee’s report in which he said, “O Messenger of Allaah, verily there are some people among us who visit oracles.” The Prophet (pbuh) replied, “Do not go to them.”Such a severe punishment has been assigned for only visitation because it is the first step to belief in fortunetelling.