Are we allowed to read our star signs

Are we allowed to read our star signs

Question

Are we allowed to read our star signs ?

Answer

Praise be to Allah. Al-Bukhaari said in his Saheeh: Qutaadah said: “Allah created these stars for three purposes: to adorn the heavens, to stone the devils and as signs by which to navigate. Whoever seeks anything else in them is mistaken and does not benefit from them, and he is wasting his time and effort in seeking something of which he has no knowledge.” (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Baab fi’l-Nujoom, 2/240) The study of the stars is divided into two kinds: 1- Study of the influence of the stars (astrology) 2- Study of the positions and movements of the stars (astronomy) Study of the influence of the stars (astrology) is divided into three categories: 1 – The belief that these stars have a real influence in the sense that they create events and evil. This is major shirk (shirk akbar), because whoever claims that there is another creator alongside Allaah is a mushrik in the sense of major shirk, for he is regarding a created thing that is subjugated as a creator which subjugates. 2 – Making this a reason to claim to have knowledge of the unseen, so from the movements and changes in the stars he deduces that such and such will happen because such and such has happened to such and such a star. For example, he may say that one person’s life will be miserable because he was born under this star, and that another person’s life will be happy because he was born under that star. This person is taking knowledge of the stars as a means to claim that he has knowledge of the unseen, and claiming to have knowledge of the unseen is kufr (disbelief) which puts one beyond the pale of Islam, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Say: None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghayb (Unseen) except Allah”[al-Naml 29:65] The grammatical structure used in the original Arabic – starting with the negation laa (translated here as “none”) followed by the word illa (“except”) – is one of the most emphatic ways of expressing exclusivity. So if a person claims to know the unseen, he is effectively disbelieving what the Quran says. 3 – If he believes that the stars are the cause of good or bad things happening, this is minor shirk (shirk asghar), i.e., when something happens he attributes it to the stars (and only attributes it to the stars after it has happened). The basic principle is that whoever believes that one thing is the cause of another when Allah has not made it so, is overstepping the mark and not acknowledging Allah as He should be acknowledged, because the One Who makes things happen is Allah alone. For example, if a person seeks healing from a piece of string (tied around his wrist), and says, “I believe that healing is in the hand of Allaah and this string is simply the means,” we would say to him, “You have saved yourself from major shirk but you have fallen into lesser shirk, because Allaah has not made string a clear means of healing. By doing this you have transgressed against His position of Controller and Sustainer, by making something a means to something else when Allah has not made it so.” The same applies to one who regards the stars as the cause of rainfall when this is not the case. The evidence for that is the hadith narrated by al-Bukhaari (801) and Muslim (104) from Zayd ibn Khaalid al-Juhani who said: “The Messenger of Allah SAWs (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led us in praying Fajr at al-Hudaybiyah, following rainfall during the night. When he had finished praying, he turned to the people and said, ‘Do you know what your Lord has said?’ They said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said, ‘This morning one of My slaves became a believer in Me and one became a disbeliever. As for the one who said, “We have been given rain by virtue of Allaah and His mercy,” he is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars. But as for the one who said, “We have been given rain by such and such a star,” he is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.’” So the one who attributes rain to the stars is saying that the stars caused the rain. Study of the positions and movements of the stars (astronomy) is divided into two categories: 1 – If their movements are used to define things that serve a religious purpose, this is something that is necessary. If that helps in the case of religious obligations, then learning it is obligatory, such as using the stars to determine the direction of the qiblah (direction of Makkah). 2 – If their movements are used to define things that serve a worldly purpose, there is nothing wrong with that. This is of two types: (a) Using the stars to work out directions, such as knowing that the pole lies to the north, and that the Pole Star, which is close to it, revolves around the North Pole. This is permissible. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And landmarks (signposts, during the day) and by the stars (during the night), they (mankind) guide themselves” [al-Nahl 16:16] (b) Using the stars to work out the seasons, through learning the phases of the moon. Some of the salaf regarded this as makrooh while others permitted it. The correct view is that it is permissible and there is nothing makrooh in it, because there is no shirk involved in it, unless one learns it in order to attribute rainfall or cold weather to it, and says that this is what is causing that. That is a kind of shirk. But simply knowing the time of year from it, whether it is spring or autumn or winter, there is nothing wrong with that. See al-Qawl al-Mufeed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him), 2/102.

Ruling on going to astrologers and believing them

Is it permissible to go to astrologers and to believe what they say, or not? Al Nasa'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 Allah. 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 Allah (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 Allah be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allah (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 Allah, I am still close to the time of Jaahiliyyah [i.e., I am new in Islam]. Allah 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 Allah (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 Allah be pleased with her) said: “Some people asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about soothsayers. He said, ‘They are nothing.’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, sometimes they say something and it comes true.’ The Messenger of Allah (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 Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (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 Allah knows best

i. IslamQA.info

Meteorites and shooting stars may be called “stars” (nujoom) and “heavenly bodies” (kawaakib) in Arabic

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Going to horoscope pages and channels in order to refute them
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Ruling on going to astrologers and believing them

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Do the recording angels ever leave a person under any circumstances?
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The Number of Angels With Each Person
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ii. IslamHouse.com

What is said regarding astrology
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Islam’s position on Magic and Astrology
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Seeking rain through lunar phases of stars
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iii. IslamWay.net and IslamWeb.net

Polytheistic and Lawful astrology
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Islam and fortune telling
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