بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Soothsayers, Astrologers, and Physiognomists (2) — In the Light of Hadith

“Hazrat Ibn ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Whoever acquires any portion of علم النجوم (astrology), he has acquired a portion of magic; and the more he learns of astrology, the more he increases in magic.’” (سنن ابوداؤد)

Benefits:
In this Hadith, astrology has been described as a branch of magic. In Islam, learning magic has even been described as leading to disbelief (kufr), which clearly shows how dangerous astrology and soothsaying are in the Islamic perspective and how grave a crime it is to learn them.

The astrology referred to here is that which involves predicting future events and linking them to the movements of stars. Apart from this, there is the science of astronomy (‘Ilm al-Falak), through which the timings of sunrise, sunset, and the zenith are determined; this is a permissible and legitimate field of knowledge.

“Hazrat Abu Mas‘ud al-Badri رضي الله عنه narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute, and the payment given to a soothsayer.” (صحیح بخاری ، صحیح مسلم)

Benefits:
The prohibition of the price of a dog means that buying and selling dogs is unlawful. According to the majority of scholars, this ruling is general and includes all types of dogs—whether hunting dogs, trained dogs, or those kept for the protection of fields and property—even though keeping such dogs may be permissible. This is because a dog is considered inherently impure (najis), regardless of its type.

Some scholars hold that buying and selling those dogs which are permitted to be kept—such as hunting and guard dogs—is permissible. However, the opinion of the majority is stronger based on the evidence, since the Hadith states the prohibition in general terms.

Whatever a prostitute earns is unlawful, and there is no scholarly opinion permitting it. Likewise, the earnings of soothsayers, astrologers, and others who deceive people by claiming knowledge of the future and collect money from them are also unlawful. Just as it is unlawful for them to take such earnings, it is equally unlawful to give them payment—because when taking is not permissible for them, giving is also not permissible.