The back door of ideas

Bismillah, alhamdulillah. In a recent shopping trip to a book store in Sharjah in the UAE I came across this book in the English section. The book was called “Palmistry Made Easy” by a J S Bright, the author of a previous book called “dictionary of Palmistry” and a practicing palmist – the fancy word for a fortuneteller.

I was only mildly surprised to find such a book in a well known store in conservative Sharjah. In a smilar vein books and articles on Feng Shui occur from time to time in the English press in even more strict Saudi Arabia. What twenty years ago was unthinkable has transformed itself into the common.

Saudi Arabia usually presents an air of impenetrability when seen from the outside but seen from the inside the picture is quite different. It has become quite porous and increasingly vulnerable to the storm of ideas that is happening in the world outside. The promotion and ready take up of English as a language especially by the young has provided a fertile ground for many ideas. Many, such as palmistry, represent an anti-thesis to the core principles of Islam. Speaking about fortunetellers the Prophet Muhammad (S) said:

“عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَنْ أَتَى عَرَّافًا فَسَأَلَهُ عَنْ شَيْءٍ لَمْ تُقْبَلْ لَهُ صَلَاةٌ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً“

Whoever came to a fortuneteller and asked him about something then his prayer will not be accepted for forty days. (Muslim)

Anyone who actually believes that a fortuneteller has the independent ability to know the future has committed major shirk, which takes a person out of Islam. Going to such a person for fun without believing in him/her results in a person’s reward for prayer being cancelled for almost 6 weeks.