Ruling on going to astrologers and believing them

 

Is it permissible to go to astrologers and to believe what they say, or not?
Al-Nasaa’i narrated that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The prayer of the one who goes to them and believes them will not be accepted.” Is this correct? Please explain to us what was narrated from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and what the scholars have said.

Praise be to Allaah. 

There are many ahaadeeth
which state that this is haraam, such as the hadeeth narrated from Safiyah
bint Abi ‘Ubayd from one of the wives of the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), who narrated that he said: “Whoever
goes to a soothsayer and asks him about something and believes him, his
prayer will not be accepted for forty days.” (Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh).

 Qusaybah ibn
al-Mukhaariq said: “I heard the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: ‘Al-‘ayaafah,
al-tiyarah and al-turuq [kinds of augury] are all part of al-jabt
[witchcraft or idolatry].’” This was narrated by Abu Dawood with a saheeh
isnaad. Abu Dawood said: Al-‘ayaafah,
al-khatt and al-turuq are all kinds of augury, whereby a bird
is released and is watched to see whether it flies to the right or to the
left. If it flies to the right it is taken as a good omen and if it flies
to the left it is taken as a bad omen. Al-Jawhari said: al-jabt
is a word which may be applied to idols, soothsayers, magicians,
astrologers etc.

 It was narrated that
Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever
seeks knowledge from the stars is seeking one of the branches of
witchcraft…” Narrated by Abu Dawood with a saheeh
isnaad.

 It was narrated that
Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, I am
still close to the time of Jaahiliyyah [i.e., I am new in Islam]. Allaah
has brought Islam to us, but there are among us men who go to soothsayers
(fortune tellers).’ He said, ‘Do not go to them.’ I said, ‘And
there are men among us who practise augury [watch birds for omens].’ He
said, ‘That is something which they make up. Do not believe them.’”
(Narrated by Muslim).

 It was narrated from
Abu Mas’ood al-Badri that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the price of a dog, the fee of a
prostitute and the payment of a soothsayer. (Narrated by al-Bukhaari and
Muslim).

 It was reported 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. He said, ‘They are nothing.’ They said, ‘O
Messenger of Allaah, sometimes they say something and it comes true.’
The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: ‘That is a word of truth that the jinn snatches and whispers into
the ear of his familiar, but they mix a hundred lies with it.’”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim).

 It was narrated from
Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to
a soothsayer and believes what he says, or has intercourse with a woman in
her back passage, has nothing to do with that which has been revealed to
Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).” (Narrated by
Abu Dawood).

 … The scholars have
stated that it is haraam to deal with such matters or to go to find out
about them or to believe in them. It is haraam to pay them money, and
anyone who is suffering from any of these things must hasten to repent
from it. And Allaah knows best.