Introduction

Wahhāb ibn ʿAbd al-Salām Bāly is a contemporary Moroccan scholar trained in the traditional Islamic sciences, with particular expertise in ʿaqīdah and the areas of Islamic jurisprudence concerned with the unseen world, possession, and spiritual harm. His work in this field is situated within a long tradition of classical Islamic writing on siḥr, ʿayn (the evil eye), and possession by jinn, a tradition that includes significant contributions by Ibn al-Qayyim in al-Ṭibb al-Nabawī and Ighāthat al-Lahfān, by Ibn Taymiyyah in his fatāwā on jinn and magic, and by earlier scholars of the Mālikī school who addressed the legal and practical dimensions of these phenomena. Bāly wrote this work in response to a perceived need among ordinary Muslims for reliable, Sharīʿah-grounded guidance on a subject that was, on one side, treated with credulous credulity by those who sought out sorcerers and fortune-tellers, and on the other dismissed entirely by those influenced by a rationalism that has no place in the Islamic intellectual tradition.

The book proceeds in a systematic fashion through the major topics its title announces. It opens by establishing the Islamic ruling on siḥr: that practising magic is a form of disbelief or at minimum a major sin, depending on the school of jurisprudence and the precise nature of the act, and that seeking the assistance of magicians is strictly forbidden. Bāly grounds these rulings firmly in the Quran, noting that the Quran itself speaks of the magic of the sorcerers of Pharaoh's court, describes the two angels Hārūt and Mārūt and the harm that people brought upon themselves by learning from them, and instructs believers to seek refuge in Allah from the evil of those who blow on knots. He then turns to the effects of siḥr on its victims, drawing on both classical juristic discussions and the authenticated aḥādīth, including the well-attested narration that the Prophet himself was affected by magic and that the remedy was revealed to him through divine guidance. Subsequent chapters address the means by which a Muslim may protect himself, including the daily recitation of the Muʿawwidhatayn, Āyat al-Kursī, and the morning and evening adhkār, and the ruqyah treatments by which siḥr may be lifted from one who has been afflicted.

The scholarly significance of this work lies in its refusal to occupy either of the extremes that have distorted Muslim engagement with this subject. Bāly does not sensationalise or promote a culture of fear; he is at pains to note that many ailments attributed to siḥr or jinn possession have natural causes and require medical attention. Nor does he dismiss the phenomena as pre-modern superstition; he insists, with the full weight of Quranic text and mutawātir hadith, that siḥr is real, that possession occurs, and that the believer who denies this is at odds with the revealed sources. This balanced, text-anchored approach has made the book widely used by imams, Islamic counsellors, and individuals seeking reliable guidance, and it has been translated into several languages since its Arabic original appeared.

Readers approaching this text should bear in mind several points of orientation. The book is addressed primarily to practising Muslims who accept the authority of the Quran and the authenticated Sunnah; its arguments are drawn from those sources and will be most fully appreciated by readers who share that commitment. Those who wish to pursue the subject in greater depth will find it profitable to read this work alongside Ibn al-Qayyim's discussion of the prophetic medicine and Ibn Taymiyyah's fatāwā on possession, which provide the classical juristic background that Bāly presupposes. It is also important to approach the practical sections, particularly those dealing with ruqyah, with the understanding that the recommended recitations and supplications are means within a framework of tawakkul on Allah, not independent sources of power, and that no Muslim should allow concern about siḥr to displace trust in Allah or lead to excessive preoccupation with the unseen world.