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."