Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Quick It Girl (Horoscopes and the Dangers)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Quick it Girl asked if she could request a blog specifically on Horoscopes. MashAllah, this one's for you sis =). Also if anyone wants me to write on a certain topic InshAllah I’m always open for requests.

Now lets first take a look at the definition of horoscopes. It is a prediction of someone's future based on the relative positions of the planets. In western culture shirk is widespread and its starting to become as common and frequent as breathing! There are numerous books on astrology, newspaper columns, magazines and the list goes on. As Muslim we must be critical of such things and avoid anything that could lead us into Shirk (disbelief). Astrology is clearly forbidden in Islam and so is horoscopes and superstitious objects (lucky rabbit foot, believing black cats bring harm, unlucky number 13).

There are many different categories of Shirk and horoscopes would be under Shirk by Deification. Which simply means giving divine names or attributes to any of Allahs creation. When people look to horoscopes to reveal their future it’s clearly going against the principles of Tawheed. No one knows the future except Allah Subhana wa Tala.

“Say: None in the heavens or earth knows the unseen except Allah.” [Soorah an-Naml 27:65]

With horoscopes they usually use vague words that could be applied to everyone’s daily life. They play on words and people can interrupt them to mean a variety of things. For an example they usually say, “There is love in the air” or “Your feeling stressed but relief will come”. People tend to believe them and in reality they’re just generalizing such words to make it seem truthful. We might ask ourselves is it permissible to read them even if we don’t believe in them? The answer is No, because it is a form of ignorance and its haram! Also in the hadith below we see the severity of indulging in such acts.

The Salaah (daily prayer) of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for forty days and nights.” [Reported by Hafsah and collected by Muslim (Sahih Muslim (English Trans.), vol. 4, p. 1211, no. 5440).]

Also in Ibn Taymiyyah's (R) great book, "Iqtida'us-Siratil-Mustaqeem". He states that by imitating the disbelievers is prohibited. If someone does it intentionally they may reach the level of Kufr. Now there’s a dispute amongst scholars whether or not the Shirk will be accountable if someone was unaware of doing those acts. Ibn Taymiyyah (R) took the stance that shirk in general is accountable. But Scholars such as Ibn Qayyum(R) said that only major shirk is accountable. Allahu Alim.

Now for any Muslim who reads their horoscopes whether for fun or for guidance should seek Allah's forgiveness and renew their Islam. To depend solely on Allah and to put their trust in Him in all their affairs. To turn away from anything that could be considered Shirk. "And to give up what appears to be doubtful for what is certain. Truth brings peace of mind and deception doubt."

14 comments:

  1. Wow, thanks so much Light of Islam!!! :) <3 This is awesome!!!!

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  2. Your welcome! It was a broad subject so was there a certain aspect that you were interested in Horoscopes that I didn't explore? Or did I pretty much cover it?

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  3. I like the colors of your blog! It feels like I'm reading golden knowledge, subhanAllah. xD

    Putting that aside, its a great post with Qur'an and hadeeth being quoted, mashaAllah.

    JazakAllah for the reminder!

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  4. Yep,this is what I wanted! :) Many muslims look at horoscopes and do palm reading. This was very helpful and cleared all my doubts!! <333

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  5. Salaam Aleikum,

    I was reading the top of the post and it got me laughing

    "In western culture shirk is widespread and its starting to become as common and frequent as breathing!"

    True, their breaths are also sinning...after eating pork and drinking alcohol, they always reek, even someone who had garlic is better of..

    Masha'Allah, nice post

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  6. Salaam Ukhti!

    Another good post again masyaAllah :) Reading horoscopes is nothing new now.. and sometimes we do it unknowingly. Have you heard about those quizzes on facebook- "Predict when you will die" or .. "Who will be your future soulmate.."- I think those are shirk too because it is predicting your future as well. People tend to take it for granted that it is *just* a quiz thus it is okay to do it.. I think not! Don't do it.. besides, who wants to know when you are going to die? Lol..such a morbid quiz!

    P.S. I love your new layout sis! You are so creative masyaAllah! I should change mine as well because it looks like a brother's blog haaha :)

    Take careee!

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  7. SirAdib-Thankk you, jazak Allah khair for your kind words!

    Saafir-Haha yes also in a literal since their breath can be sinful lol. Which I might add is quite repulsive. I can't stand the smell of it and the effects it has on people! Everyone that drinks and takes drugs are fighting battles within themselves and with Shaytan. If they were truley happy they wouldn't want to take something that would make them lose their mind!

    Asha- Wa alakyam salaam sister! Yeah those quizes could fall under the category of Astrology. I agree I would say its a lesser form of Shirk. Lol who comes up with this kinda of stuff?! It's just a way for people to busy their time on use-less matters. Jazak Allah khair! =) I changed it a few time's till I finally settled with this. I'm still hoping to find more of a Islamic background InshAllah! And your blogs cute :). But If your looking to change yours I recommend cutestblogsontheblock.com. And than just change your template so it will coordinate better.

    Thank you guy's for all the wonderful comments =)!
    Wa Salaam, May Allah reward you all greatly! Ameen.

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  8. Salamalaikom sister,

    Is it sinful to read characteristics of horoscopes? For example virgos are clever, cancers are sensitive etc.

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  9. Wa Alakyam Salam,

    MashAllah, your concern from staying away from the Haram is admirable. Ya Akhi, it's best to completely stay away from horoscopes all together. Whether its too see the characteristics of a person or just for fun. Allah created every person different with different attributes and traits. If we were to look into a horoscope and believe in them in any shape or form we would be going against the Laws of Allah. Hope I helped! BarakAllah feek, Wa Salam.

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  10. By Allah's grace, I've been directed to this blog.
    Actually I wanted to ask the same question which TiLKi asked.
    From last couple of days, without my notice (may be shaitan's direction) I was just learning about Horoscopes on Internet.

    Of course I was not looking how my fortune will be, I was reading the characteristics of a particular Sign.

    Somehow luckily, I asked myself, whether these horoscopes are allowed in Islam? Same thing I've searched in Google, and it directed me here.

    I found this post very useful. It seems your blog has lot more things in it..Insha Allah I'll try to read all. For Now Good Work whomever you are. I really appreciate your help.

    BTW, if you don't mind may I know whether you are a Islamic Scholor? Since other than Islamic Scholar's I don't believe in any other guys words blindly. I hope you understand.

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  11. I really liked this post. I think we should also try and put some links to sites that support our contention that the so called science of astrology is based on factually incorrect assumptions, is baseless, house of superstition... It was created to mislead people by certain members of the society for their vested interest.

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  12. Assalamu alaikum,

    Dear Sister..

    Thanks a lot for this post.

    It helped me to recognize my sin, even unknowingly I have read horoscopes and palm reading which was just for a fun; with out realizing it was a very big sin, SHIRK.
    Now from my heart I’m repenting for the sin I have did and praying to Allah for forgiveness.

    Please include me in your prayers also..this is my kind request.

    May Allah bless you all..

    Wa-salam.

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  13. Jazak Allah i found the answer i was looking for. i am still struggling on the fact that most people have shows on DM tv or on Sunrise which are based in islamic astrology which cannot be possbile. Whats your answer on that?

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Jazak Allah Khair =)