THE FUTILITY OF TANJIIM (ASTROLOGY)

The Futility of Tanjiim (Astrology)

"When the night covered him over with darkness he (Prophet Ibrahim a.s.) saw a star. He said: 'This is my lord.' But when it set, he said: 'I like not those that set.'

When he saw the moon rising up, he said: 'This is my lord.' But when it set, he said: 'Unless my Lord guides me, I shall surely be among the erring people.

When he saw the sun rising up, he said: 'this is my lord. This is greater.' But when it set, he said: 'O my people! I am indeed free from all that you join as partners in worship with Allah'." [6:76-78]

When one thinks of "comparative religions", one tends to limit the "religions" to that of Judaism and Christianity. There are however, many people who entertain the belief that their lives are influenced by the heavenly bodies, that is, the stars, the sun, the moon, the planets, etc. They believe that these heavenly bodies exercise degrees of power over everyday events, and that Future events can be foretold and thereby can be avoided or taken advantage of as the case may be, and is known as "Tanjiim" or "Astrology".

This form of belief was upheld by the Sabians, to whom Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) was sent. The Sabians made the sun, the moon and the stars into gods and worshipped them.

This form of Astrology is Kufur (disbelief). It attributes power to other than Allah (s.w.t), and by doing so it nullifies Tawheed-ul Asmaa' Was-Sifaat (the Unity of Allah's Names and Attributes). By the assertion of this belief, the planets, stars and galaxies are given some of Allah's Unique Qualities, such as Qadar (destiny).

Those who practice this form of astrology are in Kufur, because they claim knowledge of the future which is known only to Allah (s.w.t):

"And with Him are the Keys of the Ghaib (all that is hidden, the Unseen), None Knows but He" [6: 59].

"Say: 'None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghaib except Allah'..." [27: 65].

Astrology is classified as Haram (forbidden) as the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) stated:

"Whoever acquires knowledge of any branch of astrology, has acquired knowledge of magic. The more he increases in that knowledge, the more he increases in sin." [Reported by Abu Hurairah and collected by Abu Dawud and Ahmad] Not only is the practice of astrology Haram, but so too is visiting an astrologist and listening to his predictions; buying books on astrology or reading one's horoscope are also Haram (the horoscope section in "The Daily Telegraph" now occupies half a page!)

Since astrology is mainly used for predicting the future, those who practice it are considered to be fortunetellers. Anyone who seeks his horoscope comes under the ruling contained in the Prophet's statement:

"The Salah (prayer) of whoever approaches a fortuneteller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for forty days and nights." [Reported by Hafsah and collected by Muslim]

If someone approaches and asks the astrologist, and he is doubtful about the truth or falsehood of the astrologist's information, then he has committed a form of Shirk, because he has doubted whether or not others have knowledge of the Ghaib and the future besides Allah (s.w.t).

If someone believes in the horoscope's predictions, whether spoken or written by an astrologist, then he is committing Kufur. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said:

"Whoever approaches an oracle or fortuneteller and believes in what he says, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad." [Reported by Abu Hurairah and collected by Ahmad and Abu Dawud]

Muslims are advised to stay away from these charlatans. Any ring or chain or such like, which carries a sign or signs of the zodiac on them should not be worn, even if the wearer does not believe in them. They are all part of a man-made system which is bent on promoting Kufur. Do not ask a fellow Muslim what his "star-sign" is or even try to guess it.

By Br. Khalid Sayfullah