One who believes that there is anyone controlling the universe other than Allaah is a kaafir

 

If a person says that there is anyone controlling the universe other than Allaah, is he a kaafir?.

Praise be to Allaah.

The Muslims believe that Allaah is the only controller of the
universe; He is the only One Who controls the affairs of all created things.
This comes under the idea of Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (Oneness of Divine
Lordship), which is the belief that there is no creator but Allaah, no
sovereign except Allaah, no controller of the affairs of creation except
Allaah. The one who believes anything other than that is a kaafir. 

The mushrikeen who worshipped idols and statues used to
affirm that Allaah was the one who controlled the affairs of all created
things.  

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say (O Muhammad): ‘Who provides for you from the sky and
the earth? Or who owns hearing and sight? And who brings out the living from
the dead and brings out the dead from the living? And who disposes the
affairs?’ They will say: ‘Allaah.’ Say: ‘Will you not then be afraid of
Allaah’s punishment (for setting up rivals in worship with Allaah)?’”

[Yoonus 10:31]. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas
were asked: Is the one who believes that there is anyone controlling the
universe other than Allaah a kaafir? 

They replied: The one who believes that is a kaafir, because
he has ascribed a partner to Allaah in His Lordship (ruboobiyyah). Indeed,
he is a worse kaafir than many of the mushrikeen who ascribed partners to
Allaah in His Divinity (uloohiyyah). 

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send
blessing and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
End quote. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd
al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah
(1/4). 

And Allaah knows best.

Does the one who goes to a fortune teller and asks him about something become a kaafir?

 

How can we reconcile between the two following hadeeths? 


1 – “Whoever goes to a fortune teller and asks him about something and believes him, his prayers will not be accepted for forty days.” Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh. 


2 – “Whoever goes to a soothsayer and believes what he says has disbelieved in that which was revealed to Muhammad.” Narrated by Abu Dawood. The first hadeeth does not point to kufr whereas the second hadeeth does.

Praise be to Allaah.

There is no contradiction between the two hadeeth. What is
meant by the hadeeth “ Whoever goes to a soothsayer and believes what he
says has disbelieved in that which was revealed to Muhammad” is that the one
who asks a soothsayer a question, believing that he tells the truth and that
he knows the unseen, has committed an act of kufr, because he has gone
against the Qur’aan in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say: “None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghaib (Unseen) except
Allaah” [al-Naml 27:65]. As for the second hadeeth, “Whoever goes to a
fortune teller and asks him about something and believes him, his prayers
will not be accepted for forty days”, which was narrated by Muslim, it does
not contain the words “and believes him”. 

Thus we learn that if a person goes to a fortune teller and
asks him anything, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days, and if he
believes him, then he has committed an act of kufr. 

And Allaah is the source of strength. May Allaah send
blessings and peace on our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
End quote. 

Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azez ibn baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ghadyaan 

Ruling on taking lightly the matter of ruling in accordance with the sharee’ah of Allaah and not applying it

 

Many Muslims take lightly the matter of ruling according to something other than the sharee’ah of Allaah. Some believe that taking this matter lightly does not have any impact on their adherence to Islam, and others think it is permissible to rule according to something other then that which Allaah has revealed and do not care about the consequences of that. What is the ruling on this?.

Praise be to Allaah.

This matter is subject to further discussion, which is that
the one who rules according to something other than that which Allaah has
revealed, knowing that it is obligatory to rule according to that which
Allaah has revealed and that he is going against sharee’ah, but he thinks
that this is permissible and that there is nothing wrong with it and that it
is permissible for him to rule according to something other than the
sharee’ah of Allaah, is a kaafir in the sense of major kufr, according to
all scholars. This applies to ruling in accordance with man-made laws which
have been invented by men, be they Christians or Jews or anyone else, if he
claims that it is permissible to rule according to them, or that they are
better than the rulings of Allaah, or that they are equal to the rulings of
Allaah, and that man has the choice: if he wishes he may rule according to
the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and if he wishes he may rule according to man-made
laws. The one who believes that is a kaafir according to scholarly
consensus, as stated above. 

But if a person rules according to something other than that
which Allaah has revealed because of his whims and desires or because of
some worldly interest he may achieve, knowing that he is disobeying Allaah
and His Messenger, and that he is committing a great evil and that what he
should do is rule according to the laws of Allaah, he is not guilty of major
kufr because of that, but he has committed a great evil, major sin and minor
kufr, as stated by Ibn ‘Abbaas, Mujaahid and other scholars, and he has
committed thereby a lesser form of kufr, wrongdoing and evil, but it is not
major kufr. This is the view of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning): 

“And
so judge (you O Muhammad

صلى الله عليه وسلم)
among them by what Allaah has revealed”

[al-Maa’idah 5:49] 

“And whosoever does not judge by what Allaah has revealed,
such are the Kaafiroon (i.e. disbelievers — of a lesser degree as they do
not act on Allaah’s Laws)”

[al-Maa’idah 5:44] 

“And whosoever does not judge by that which Allaah has
revealed, such are the Zaalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers — of a lesser
degree)”

[al-Maa’idah 5:45] 

“And whosoever does not judge by what Allaah has revealed
(then) such (people) are the Fâsiqûn [the rebellious i.e. disobedient (of a
lesser degree)] to Allaah”

[al-Maa’idah 5:47] 

“But no, by your Lord,
they can have no
Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad
صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
judge in all disputes between them,
and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept
(them) with full submission”

[al-Nisa’ 4:65] 

“Do they then seek the judgement of (the days of)
Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allaah for a people who have
firm Faith”

[al-Maa’idah 5:50]. 

So the rule of Allaah is the best of rules, and it is the one
that must be followed; in it are the best interests of the ummah and its
happiness in this world and in the Hereafter, and the best interests of the
entire world, but most people are unaware of that. Allaah is the One Whose
help we seek, and there is no power and no strength except with Allaah, the
Most High, the Most Great. End quote. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz. 

He went to a fortune teller then he repented, but he found that what the fortune teller told him is coming true, day after day!

 

One of my friend did a big mistake, he went to a furtune teller before starting his medical studies. After that he got knowledge and he repented sincerely towards Allah, and made Taubah for his sin. But the problem here is that whatever the Fortune teller informed him is coming true day by day. He want to remove his thinkings from this but unable to act such. He started offer praying. Whats the solution for such problems according to Islam. What you advice him about this.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

It is not permissible to go
to soothsayers and fortune tellers, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a fortune-teller and
asks him about something, his prayer will not be accepted for forty nights.”
Narrated by Muslim (2230). 

And he (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever has intercourse with a
menstruating woman or with a woman in her back passage, or goes to a fortune
teller and believes what he says, has disbelieved in that which Allaah
revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).”
Narrated by Abu Dawood (3904), al-Tirmidhi (3904) and Ibn Majaah (936);
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah. 

The kufr mentioned in the
hadeeth is to be understood in the sense of minor or lesser kufr, according
to many scholars, unless he believes that the witch or soothsayer has
knowledge of the unseen or he believes his claims to have knowledge of the
unseen. 

For more information please
see the answer to question no. 8291. 

The one who has fallen into
any of these matters must repent to Allaah, by regretting what he has done
and resolving not to do it again. 

Secondly: 

As for what the fortune
teller told him coming true day after day, this doesn’t matter, and it does
not affect the shar’i ruling in such cases at all. This may be due to one of
two things: 

1 – That the fortune teller
used general words and phrases that reflect things that happen to all
people, such as saying “you will go through some trials, then you will find
relief” or “you will be blessed with some wealth” or “you will get married”
and so on, and the person thinks that the fortune teller is telling the
truth because of that. 

2 – The fortune teller told
him of something true that would happen in the future, then it happened as
he said it would. This is something that the shaytaan snatched for him from
the heavens, then passed it on to the fortune teller, who added lies and
false things to it. If the incident that he spoke of happens, people believe
everything he said. This is what the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) pointed out when he explained this matter. Al-Bukhaari
(6213) and Muslim (2228) narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with
her) said: Some people asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) about soothsayers. The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to them: “They are
nothing.” They said: O Messenger of Allaah, sometimes they tell us something
that turns out to be true. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “That is a word from the jinn that the jinni
snatches, and he cackles it into the ear of his familiar as a hen cackles,
but they mix more than a hundred lies with it.” 

al-Bukhaari (4701) narrated
from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:  “When Allaah decrees a
matter in heaven, the angels beat their wings in submission to His words,
making a sound like a chain striking a rock. When the fear is banished from
their hearts, they say, What is it that your Lord has said? They say: The
truth, and He is the Most High, the Most Great. Then the one who is
listening out hears that, and those who are listening out are standing one
above the other” – Sufyaan [one of the narrators] demonstrated with his
hand, holding it vertically with the fingers outspread. – “So he hears what
is said and passes it on to the one below him, and that one passes it to the
one who is below him, and so on until it reaches the lips of the soothsayer
or fortune-teller. Maybe the meteor will hit him before he can pass anything
on, or maybe he will pass it on before he is hit. He tells a hundred lies
alongside it, but it will be said, Did he not tell us that on such and such
a day, such and such would happen? So they believe him because of the one
thing which was heard from heaven.” i.e., he is believed because of the one
true word that was heard from heaven and passed on to the fortune teller. 

If we assume that the
fortune teller told him something that did actually happen, such as if he
told him about where a lost item was to be found, or some such, and this is
what happened, if the questioner did not know it, then it is not “unseen” in
absolute terms, rather it was “unseen” to the one who did not see it or know
it. The fortune teller is able to see such things, either by himself or with
the help of his helpers among the devils of mankind and the jinn, as is well
known. 

To sum up: So long as your
friend has repented to Allaah, then he should not pay any attention to what
the fortune-teller said or be afraid of what he said. Some of the things he
mentioned may happen, or they may not. Usually they do not happen, because
the ratio of truth – if the fortune teller receives information from the
jinn – is no more than 1%. 

For more information please
see the answer to question no. 32863. 

And Allaah knows best.