In some TV channels some astrologers offer predictions about the life and future of the people contacting them on the phone. They ask the callers to reveal their full name and date and place of birth. Then they claim to use this information to infer knowledge of the future of the callers. If they find that the future life of the caller is insecure they advise the latter to make it secure by the help of parituclaru Qur’anic verses. I wanted to learn whether this practice is inline with the Islamic teachings? Can a Muslim believe in these things?
Answer
Islam does not discourage us form gaining any knowledge that can be useful for the humans. None can declare the discipline haraam as it has not been declare so in the basic sources of Islam. However, the discipline has not been recognized a scientific source of knowledge and therefore cannot be held useful for the development of human society and mental faculties of individuals. Unless and until the discipline is proved an acknowledged source of knowledge one should not indulge in it.
Mr. Moiz Amjad writes in his response to a query regarding palmistry which is a related practice:
God has given us our faculty to reason, understand and analyze. Islam wants us to make use of this faculty and take our decisions in the light of the guidance provided by our mind and then have faith in our Creator and Controller that He shall help us in life. Fields like palmistry have the potential of greatly affecting our personality. I have personally seen people, who are deeply involved in such fields, living their lives in superstitions and conjectures. They take their decisions, not on the basis of reason and faith, but on the basis of their (mostly inaccurate) assessments of the day, the week, the month and the year. I feel that such a behavior have rendered them completely devoid of any faith in God. Islam, on the other hand wants us to live a life of faith and reliance on God, rather than our baseless assessments about the future and about the character and quality of others.
In view of the foregoing explanation, I would not recommend a God-fearing person to involve in any such field, which is of no real utility for his life in this world or in the hereafter. Palmistry, in my opinion, belongs to this class of disciplines, till such time as its predictive nature is generally recognized to be accurate and scientific. (http://www.understanding-islam.org/related/text.aspx?type=question&qid=258&sscatid=320 )
In the light of the above discussion I would say that there is no basis of the practice of fortune telling itself. It is not knowledge and is considered occult practice. The belief and practice that one can improve and secure one’s future by the help of the Qur’anic verses is gross disrespect and ignorance to the status of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is the book of guidance regarding religious and moral conduct of man. It has nothing to do with the practice of enhancing one’s opportunities and making the worldly life better. If that were true the Muslims were the most flourishing nation in the world.
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