Identifying and Dealing with Magicians

The social reality of magic in Muslim communities includes not only its victims but its practitioners — those who offer magical services for various purposes. Wahid Abdussalam Bali addresses the question of how Muslims should identify and respond to those who practice magic, drawing on Islamic legal principles and the guidance of the scholarly tradition while acknowledging the practical complexities of contemporary situations.

The Islamic legal ruling on magic practice is severe and well-established. The classical scholars were unanimous that practicing magic (sihr) — in the sense of using jinn, satanic rituals, and prohibited means to affect other people — is a major sin (kabira) and in most formulations constitutes kufr (disbelief). The Hanafi, Maliki, and some within the Shafi'i school hold that the practicing magician who believes that magic can harm or benefit independent of Allah's will is a kafir whose repentance, if sincere and verifiable, removes this status. The Hanbali school holds the same. The legal consequences in classical Islamic jurisprudence were correspondingly severe — including in certain formulations the death penalty for the confirmed practicing magician. In contemporary non-Islamic jurisdictions, these legal penalties cannot be applied, but the religious condemnation of magical practice remains full force.

Identifying a practicing magician requires careful discernment, as false accusations are a serious wrong. Bali presents behavioral and practical signs that may indicate magical practice rather than legitimate spiritual treatment: producing written materials with incomprehensible symbols, numerical squares (wafq), or inverted letters; asking for personal items belonging to target persons (hair, clothing); requiring the patient to perform specific actions at specific times or places that are not part of any Islamic practice; claiming to communicate with jinn or spirits; producing results (correct information about a stranger, apparent physical effects) through obviously non-Islamic means; and charging fees for services that the Prophet indicated should be provided freely or for minimal compensation.

The question of how Muslims should respond to neighbors or community members known to practice magic is addressed with practical wisdom. Bali advises maintaining distance and not seeking the services of such a person for any reason — even for ostensibly permitted purposes, since such interactions normalize the relationship and may inadvertently involve one in prohibited activity. He also discusses whether one should report such a person to Islamic authorities in contexts where they exist, concluding that when the practice has caused demonstrable harm to others, reporting it to relevant authorities (whether Islamic courts or civil authorities) is both appropriate and obligatory.

For those who have been victims of magic, Bali addresses the question of whether and how to seek to identify the person responsible. He notes that identifying the magician is not in itself necessary for treatment — ruqyah is effective regardless of whether the source of the magic is known — and that efforts to identify the responsible party can lead into further involvement with prohibited practices (consulting fortune-tellers or other magicians to identify the perpetrator). The better course is to focus on treatment and protection through legitimate Quranic means while leaving the matter of accountability to Allah.

Bali closes this concluding chapter with a broader perspective on the place of magic in the Muslim community. The prevalence of magic in many Muslim societies — despite Islam's explicit and severe prohibition — reflects a deficit of genuine religious knowledge and sincere faith. When people genuinely understand that there is no harm and no benefit except by Allah's permission, that all affairs are in His hands, and that the prescribed forms of protection and reliance on Him are fully adequate — they will have no need for magic and no susceptibility to it. The ultimate cure for the problem of magic in Muslim communities is not primarily legal enforcement but religious education and the cultivation of genuine tawhid in the hearts of the community.