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Diseases,Medicines,Treatment |
Back to Diseases,Medicines,Treatment |
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| Fatwa By : |
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid |
| Language |
English |
| Reference By |
Islam Q&A |
| Addition Date |
07/09/2013 |
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Will the
repentance of a witch be accepted?
Will the repentance of a witch (practitioner of witchcraft) be accepted by
Allah? Because I heard that a witch asked the Sahabah about repenting after
the death of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and no
one answered her. What did they say to her? Would her faith benefit her before
Allah? Why do the scholars issue fatwas about the acceptance of the witch’s
repentance in this case?.
Praise be to Allah.
Learning witchcraft and practicing it constitute kufr. Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“They followed what the Shayateen (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in
the lifetime of Sulayman (Solomon). Sulayman did not disbelieve, but the
Shayateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came
down at Babylon to the two angels, Haroot and Maroot, but neither of these
two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, ‘We are for trial,
so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).’”
[Al-Baqarah 2:102]
A practitioner of witchcraft may do something that makes him an apostate, so he
commits kufr and should be executed for his apostasy. Or he may practice
witchcraft by doing something that does not constitute kufr. In that case there
is a difference of scholarly opinion, but the correct view is that he should
also be executed if it is proven that he is a practitioner of witchcraft. This
is what the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did and enjoined other
to do. If he is executed, he should not be washed or shrouded or buried in the
Muslim graveyard.
There should be no hesitation in executing the practitioner of witchcraft,
whether we say that he is a kafir or not, because this is what is proven from
the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Executing him prevents the spread of evil and serves as a deterrent to his
fellow practitioners of witchcraft.
If a practitioner of witchcraft repents sincerely to Allah, then Allah will
accept his repentance. This is between him and his Lord, before the matter
reaches the courts. But if the matter reaches the Islamic court, then the qadi
should execute him without asking him to repent, so as to rid society of his
evil. But it is not permissible for any individual to carry out the hadd
punishment by himself, rather the matter must be referred to the authorities.
There follow some fatwas of the scholars on this matter:
1. Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If a practitioner of witchcraft repents sincerely to Allah, that will benefit
him before Allah, for Allah accepts repentance from the mushrikeen and
others, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins”
[As-Shoora 42:25]
“And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be
successful”
[An-Noor 24:31]
But in this world it is not accepted. The correct view is that he is to be
executed. If it is proven to the court that he is a practitioner of witchcraft,
then he should be executed, even if he says, “I have repented.” His repentance
between him and Allah is valid, if he is sincere, and that will benefit him
before Allah, but according to the Islamic ruling he is to be executed, just
as ‘Umar executed the practitioners of witchcraft, because their evil is great.
They may say, “We have repented,” but they may be lying, and the people will be
harmed and may not be safe from their evil because of the repentance that they
show. So they should be executed, and their repentance will benefit them before
Allah if they are sincere. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baz, 8/111
2. The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
The correct view according to the scholars is that the practitioner of
witchcraft should be executed without being asked to repent, because of the
seriousness of their evil. Some scholars are of the view that they should be
asked to repent, and that they are like any other kafirs who should be asked
to repent. But the correct scholarly view is that they should not be asked to
repent because their evil is so great, and because they conceal their evil and
their kufr; they may claim to have repented but they are lying, and may cause a
great deal of harm to people as a result. Hence the scholars were of the view
that the one who is known and proven to be a practitioner of witchcraft should
be executed even if he claims that he has repented and that he regrets what he
has done; he should not be believed.
Hence it is narrated that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the
commanders of the troops telling them to execute every practitioner of
witchcraft they found, so as to guard against their evil. Abu ‘Uthman al-Nahdi
said: “We executed three practitioners of witchcraft.” This is how it was
narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhari from Bajalah ibn ‘Abdah. [It was also narrated
by Abu Dawood with a sahih isnad, and the original report is in al-Bukhari].
And it is narrated in a sahih report that Hafsah executed a slave woman of
hers because she found out that she was engaging in witchcraft. And when the
great Sahabi Jundub ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a
practitioner of witchcraft playing with his head – making the people think that
he was cutting off his head and putting it back – he approached him without him
realizing and killed him, and said: “Now put your head back if you are telling
the truth!”
Conclusion: the evil of the practitioners of witchcraft is great, hence it is
obligatory to execute them. If the authorities know that they are practitioners
of witchcraft, and that is proven with shar’i evidence, then they have to
execute them, so as to protect society from their evil and corruption. End
quote.
3. The Shaykh also said (8/111):
If he is executed, the funeral prayer should not be offered for him, and he
should not be buried in the graveyard of the Muslims; he should be buried in
the graveyard of the kafirs. He should not be buried in the graveyard of the
Muslims, the funeral prayer should not be offered for him, and he should not be
washed or shrouded. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.
4. He also said:
The ruling on the practitioner of witchcraft who is known to make people
imagine things, or whose actions result in harm for people, such as causing
people to see things that are not there, making a man beloved to his wife or a
wife beloved to her husband, or the opposite, which causes harm to people, if
that is proven by means of evidence in the Islamic court, then this
practitioner of witchcraft must be executed and his repentance should not be
accepted even if he repents.
We have quoted above the report narrated from ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with
him), who ordered his commanders to kill the practitioners of witxhcraft so as
to prevent their mischief on earth and to stop them disturbing the Muslims and
causing harm to people. As soon as they are found out, then it is obligatory
for the Muslim leaders to execute them even if they say “We have repented”,
because there is no guarantee. If they are sincere in their repentance, that
will benefit them before Allah, because of the general meaning of the verse in
which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He
knows what you do”
[As-Shoora 42:25]
If a person comes to the authorities without having been found out and tells
them that he has repented, and that in the past he used to do such and such,
but he has repented to Allah and he seems outwardly to be good, then his
repentance should be accepted, because he has come voluntarily, seeking
goodness and announcing his repentance without having been found out and
without anyone making any claims against him. So if he comes in a manner that
does not suggest any kind of trickery, then his repentance should be accepted,
because he has come repenting and expressing regret, like any other kafir who
may have a bad past, then Allah blesses him by enabling him to repent without
being forced do that by anyone and without anyone making any claims against
him. End quote. Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baz (8/81,
82) 5 – The scholars of the Standing Committee said: If
the practitioner of witchcraft does any act of kufr in his magic, then he is to
be executed as a hadd punishment for his kufr. If it is proven that he killed
by means of his magic someone whose life is protected by shariah, then he
should be executed as a qasas punishment. If he did not do any act of kufr or
kill anyone by means of his magic, then there is a difference of scholarly
opinion with regard to executing him for his witchcraft. But the correct view
is that he should be executed as a hadd punishment for his apostasy. This is
the view of Abu Hanifah, Malik and Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on them),
because his magic ipso facto means that he is a kafir, because the verse
(interpretation of the meaning):
“They followed what the Shayateen (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in
the lifetime of Sulaymaan (Solomon). Sulayman did not disbelieve, but the
Shayateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic
[Al-Baqarah 2:102]
indicates that all practitioners of witchcraft are kafirs. And it is proven in
Sahih al-Bukhari that Bajalah ibn ‘Abdah said: ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may
Allah be pleased with him) wrote saying: Execute every practitioner of
witchcraft, male or female, and we executed three practitioners of witchcraft.
And it was narrated that Hafsah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be
pleased with her) ordered that a slave girl of hers who had put a spell on her
be executed, and she was executed. Narrated by Malik in al-Muwatta’. And it is
proven that Jundub said: The punishment for the practitioner of witchcraft is a
blow with the sword. Narrated by at-Tirmidhi who said: the correct view is that
it is mawqoof. Based on this, the ruling on the practitioner of
witchcraft asked about in the question is that he should be executed according
to the correct scholarly view. The one whose job it is to confirm that
witchcraft has taken place and to carry out the punishment is the ruler who is
charge of the Muslims’ affairs, so as to ward off mischief and close the door
to chaos. End quote. Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah,
1/551-553 6 – Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: Is this
execution a hadd punishment or killing him because of his kufr?
Both are possible, based on the details about the kufr of the practitioner of
witchcraft that we have discussed above. But based on the above discussion we
say: if a person’s witchcraft constitutes kufr, then his execution is that of
an apostate, but if his witchcraft does not constitute kufr, then it comes
under the heading of protection against serious harm, and it must be
implemented as the ruler sees fit. Conclusion:
Practitioners of witchcraft must be executed, whether or not we say that it is
because of their kufr, because they make people sick and may even kill them,
they cause separation between husband and wife, and vice versa, and they may
bring about reconciliation between enemies and thus attain their goals. One of
them may bewitch a person to make him like him and get what he wants from him,
such as if one of them bewitches a woman in order to have his way with her, and
because they spread mischief on earth. So it is obligatory for the authorities
to execute them without asking them to repent, so long as that is done to ward
off their harm and the great damage they may cause. The hadd punishment has
nothing to do with being asked to repent; when the offender is caught the hadd
punishment must be carried out. End quote. Majmoo’ Fatawa
al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 9/508, 509. This is a commentary on Kitab
al-Tawhid. 7 – Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen also said: The
view that (practitioners of witchcraft) should be executed is in accordance
with the principles of shariah, because they spread mischief on earth and
their mischief is one of the greatest forms of mischief. So executing them is
obligatory for the ruler, and it is not permissible for the ruler to fail to
execute them, because if such people are left alone and their actions become
widespread, they will cause mischief in their own land and in the land of
others. But if they are executed the people will be safe from their evil and
the people will be deterred from indulging in witchcraft. End
quote. Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthyameen (9/509). This is a
commentary on Kitab al-Tawhid. And Allah knows best.
Islam Q&A
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