Magic in Islam?

And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah . And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew. (Surah Baqarah Ayah 102)

In this verse of Surah Baqarah, Allah swt is narrating another act of disbelief committed by Bani Israel in the time, when Allah swt sent Suleman as a prophet to Bani Israel. Allah swt blessed Suleman as with the most powerful kingdom, which no one else was given. Even Jinns and animals were in his control. It was the time of great worldly advancement. Instead of recognizing the miracles/powers of Suleman A.S as the blessings of Allah swt, deviant Jews at that time considered Suleman A.S as a magician and started to believe that all his powers and miracles were due to magic. This is why they also got inclined to learning black magic and they used to go to satans (among humans and jinns) to learn black magic from them. 

To test them more, Allah swt, sent two angels, Harut and Marut, in Babylon. These angels taught magic to people with the permission of Allah swt but they always warned them (about the harmful consequences of learning it) before teaching them. But these warnings did not prevent them from learning magic. They learned magic to cause separation between husband and wife in order to create societal corruption. But their magic did not harm anyone except with the will of Allah swt. In this way, they sold their Imaan and akhirah for the petty worldly gains.

From this verse, we learned that:

1) When a nation disobeys Allah swt, Allah swt tests them through more temptations which are harder to resist. As Bani Israel refused to accept Suleman A.S as their prophet and found magic fascinating, Allah tested them through the two angels to show them that magic is indeed different from miracles given to Suleman A.S. So, whenever we feel tempted to commit a wrong action/sin, we should turn to Allah, do istighfaar as these evil temptations are punishment from Allah swt for disobeying Him.

2) Practicing or teaching black magic is major kufr/disbelief. So, we should stay from it completely. Subhanallah think about even though we do not practice magic, we are so much fascinated by it. Harry Potter, TV shows and movies based on vampires and witches; and fairy tales make us and our children desensitized to the evilness of magic. We are so much influenced by these shows, cartoons and movies that we don't even fully accept the sinful nature of magic shown in them. Therefore, we should seek Allah's help to remove the love of these from our heart.

3) No matter how strong the magic is, Allah swt is the most Powerful. If we seek protection from Allah through Ayatul Kursi, four quls, last two verses of surah baqarah and stay clean, inshAllah no magic can affect us. Remember, no one can harm us without the will of Allah swt. 
Unfortunately, in this time, we tend to blame every misfortune that befalls on us as an act of magic of our enemy. Ignorant Muslims seek protection from magic through magic. Instead of turning to Allah, the deviant Muslims turn to evil eye necklace and bracelets (ta'weedh). May Allah guide them, Ameen!
In order to stay protected from evil eye, magic or any other kind of evil, we should regularly read morning and evening Adhkaar for protection, stay connected with Quran and keep ourselves and our houses clean and most importantly, we should trust in Allah swt and have firm belief in Him.

Surah Baqarah Ayah 93

And [recall] when We took your covenant and raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have given you with determination and listen." They said [instead], "We hear and disobey." And their hearts absorbed [the worship of] the calf because of their disbelief. Say, "How wretched is that which your faith enjoins upon you, if you should be believers."


In this ayah, Allah swt is narrating about another display of disobedience and arrogance of Bani Israel.

Why the hearts of Bani Israel absorbed the love of calf and they started worshipping it?

After being saved from Pharoah and seeing people of Pharoah getting drowned in sea, Bani Israel came to live in the Plain of Sinai. Then Musa as went to Mount Sinai to receive Torah from Allah swt. In Musa as absence, a wicked man named Samirri among them built a gold calf for them and inspired them to worship that calf instead of worshipping Allah swt. Their iman was so weak that they forgot about all the blessings of Allah swt and started doing shirk by worshipping calf. The love of calf settled in their hearts so deeply that it superceded the love of Allah swt. This happened because despite all the blessings of Allah swt, they never truly recognized the greatness of Allah, they did not have any desire to seek His pleasure and they only cared about their own desires.

From this we learn:

1) We should check what's our ijl (calf)? What is distracting us from worshipping Allah swt? Different people have different distractors in their lives which do not allow them to focus in Salah or do His dhikr. Lets check our distractors and try to minimize them. Are they TV shows, songs, dramas, cooking, parties, shopping, studies, hobbies? Lets check what are we thinking about in our Salahs? What things make us to offer our prayers in a rush? What things make us delay or miss our prayers? What are we thinking about when we are alone? What things stop us from reading and learning Quran?

2) As Bani Israel inclined towards worshipping calf, Allah swt filled the love of calf in their hearts. So Allah swt facilitates for the person whatever he/she is inclined towards or desires. If a person desires to seek guidance and earn His pleasure, Allah swt guides him/her. But if a person desires only to gain worldly comforts and pleasure, Allah swt will give him/her dunya. So we should check what do we desire? What are we striving for? Are all our efforts purely for earning dunya? Do we ever take out time for this deen? 
There is nothing wrong in seeking worldly comforts and pleasure but we should make sure that deen is #1 on our list. Our worldly endeavors should never make us compromise our religion/ Allah's commands. Yes, there is nothing wrong in acquiring worldly education, but if we miss our Salah or fasts because of it, it is indeed blameworthy. Buying big homes and new cars is not a sin but if we take mortgage for it or involve yourself in haram jobs, then it is a sin in the eyes of Allah. 

May Allah swt make us focused in our Salahs and facilitate the path of guidance for us which will directly lead us to Jannah, Ameen!

 

Surah Baqarah Verse 61

And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions." [Moses] said, "Would you exchange what is better for what is less? Go into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked." And they were covered with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allah [upon them]. That was because they [repeatedly] disbelieved in the signs of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing.

In this verse, Allah swt is narrating to us the ungratefulness of Bani Israel that even after being saved from the enslavement of Pharoah and receiving the blessings in Plain Sinai (Mann o salwa, shade of clouds in the hot weather), they still desired for worldy pleasures. They demanded to Musa as that they are bored with mann o salwa and they want to eat cucumbers, onions, leafy vegetables, garlic and lentils. 

Subhanallah, our attitude is so similar to Bani Israel. We have the blessings of Islam, Quran and Sunnah but instead of learning Quran and Sunnah, all our focus is on seeking worldly pleasures and comfort. We should remember that our true purpose of life is not only to eat, drink and chill. Allah swt has created us to worship Him as He deserves to be worshipped. This is true for women too. We have this Eastern mentality that the responsibilities of women are only limited to cleaning and cooking. Yes, women should clean, cook and take care of their family but they should also take out time for learning this Book of Allah. If women will gain the correct understanding of this Book then they will be able to become good mothers and raise righteous children.

This does not mean that we should stop eating and drinking. In fact it is a sin to place restrictions on ourselves regarding foods thinking of it as an act of righteousness. We should avoid excessiveness in this matter. We should eat and drink in moderation and be grateful to Allah swt for His blessings. We should always remember that we have a higher purpose in life which is to gain knowledge of Quran and Sunnah and to worship Allah swt. But unfortunately, we have forgotten this true purpose of our creation. We are only striving for buying a big house, a brand new car, latest model of I Phone, latest fashion clothes, etc. We compete with each other in the # of dishes we serve in parties. Our lives now merely revolve around these worldly goals. We should always ask this to ourselves:
 "Would you exchange what is better for what is less? 

Are we ready to exchange the eternal pleasures of Hereafter with the temporary pleasures of this world? 

Why did Allah swt narrate Bani Israel's stories in Quran?

Subhanallah have we ever wondered why this Quran is filled with so many stories of Bani Israel (descendants of Yaqub A.S)? What do we have to do with what Bani Israel did?

Bani Israel were the chosen people of their time. Allah swt blessed them with numerous worldly blessings (freedom them from the enslavement of Pharoah, lands, kings, etc.) and religious blessings (religious scriptures, prophets, religious supremacy, etc.). But they were not grateful to Allah swt, were arrogant, disobeyed Allah swt and His messengers, killed some of the messengers (Yahya a.s. and Zakariyah a.s.) and conspired to kill Eesa a.s. This is why Allah swt took away their religious supremacy from them and sent the last messenger (Prophet Muhammad saw) from the descendants of Ismael a.s.

In the same way as Bani Israel were the chosen people of their time, we (Muslims) are the chosen people of this time We have the blessings of Islam, Quran and Sunnah. All these stories of Bani Israel in Quran are there to teach us lessons so that we take heed from them and do not repeat the same mistakes which they did. We should check ourselves how grateful are we to Allah swt for this blessing of Quran. Subhanallah, we place Quran on the highest shelves but it ranks the lowest in our lives! Do we use Quran to obtain guidance from it or just consider it as a means of adding barakah in our lives. We get so furious when somebody attacked the honour of our Prophet saw but do we really implement his Sunnah in our daily lives? What about our Salahs? We perform them as chores without feeling any connection with Allah swt. Despite doing all this we complain Allah swt for inflicting all these trials on the Muslim Ummah. These trials are in fact, the wake-up calls for us. Allah wants to give us a second chance to realize our sins, seek sincere Tawbah and reform ourselves by connecting ourselves directly with the book of Allah swt. We can only seek guidance from Quran if we will try to understand it and implement it in our lives.

May Allah swt enable us to become His grateful and obedient servants and make all the trials as a means of getting closer to Him, Aameen!

Surah Baqarah verses Ayahs 30-39

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."

And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful."

They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."

He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed."

And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.

And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."

But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."

Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.

And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs - those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally."

 

 In these verses, Allah swt tells us the story of the creation of Adam a.s and makes us aware of our biggest enemy. The story of the creation of Adam as is full with lessons for us. I will share some of the lessons here:

1) When Allah swt told angels that He is about to create human beings, angels did not understand the purpose of creation of mankind and asked Allah swt about the purpose/ benefit of this new species which might create corruption on earth because of their free-will. But Allah swt told angels that I am well aware of the benefit of creating mankind, which you cannot understand. 

From this we understand that:

a) Even angels are not aware of unseen and they only know what Allah swt tells them. 

b) According to authentic tafseers, Allah knew that the mankind will create corruption on earth but among them, there will be righteous, pious, martyrs, prophets and truthful. Although the angels do tasbeeh of Allah swt all the time, the tasbeeh or the righteous deeds done by humans despite their free-will is superior in the eyes of Allah swt. This is so because angels are programmed to do tasbeeh and obey Allah swt but humans have been given freedom to make their own choices. Moreover, human are constantly influenced by the evil of their nafs and the whisperings of Shaitaan. Therefore, if humans are able to obey Allah swt overcoming all these challenges, Allah swt values their efforts and reward them immensely. Subhanallah!

2) Allah swt taught Adam as names of all the things relevant to him and his progeny and told him to tell these names to angels who did not know them. In this way Allah swt have made us superior to angels by granting us knowledge to ponder, to recognize Allah swt, to distinguish between right and wrong and to make correct choices. Also by asking all the angels to prostrate Adam as, Allah swt further established the superiority of knowledge.

 

3) When Allah swt asked all the angels to prostrate Adam A.S., all the angels prostrated except Iblees. Iblees was a Jinn, a devout worshipper who used to stay in the company of angels. He disobeyed Allah swt because of his arrogance. He thought he was superior to Adam A.S as he was made out of fire. This single act of disobedience expelled him from the mercy of Allah swt.

From this we learn:

a) We should constantly check ourselves if we feel arrogant of our knowledge and worship because arrogance wastes all our good deeds.

b) Shaitan refused to do one sajdah to a man and as a result, he was cursed by Allah swt. Think about how many sajdahs do we deny to Allah swt. How many Salahs do we skip and miss just because of our procrastinationa and involvement in worldy matters? Imagine how much sins are we accumulating by not guarding our prayers! 

c) Shaitan thought that he was superior than Adam as because he was made of fire while Adam as was made of clay. This is why Shaitan lost his high status with Allah swt. We should know that it is not our race, color, tribe or country of origin which makes us superior over other. Rather, it is taqwa which makes one superior in the eyes of Allah swt. Only Allah knows how much taqwa a person has.

 

4) Shaitan misled Adam as and his wife in Jannah by first assuring them that he is their well-wisher and he can guide them to attain eternal life and possessions that will never deteriorate. This is how Shaitan made Adam a.s and Hawwa a.s to disobey Allah swt and as result, they were sent down to earth from Jannah. 

a) We should be aware of Shaitan's tactics and whispering to mislead us. SHaitan comes to us as a well-wisher. remember that any thoughts of disobedience to Allah swt are from Shaitaan. Indeed Shaitaan is our biggest enemy so we should take him as an enemy. may Allah save us all from the whispering of Shaitaan.

b) As Adam as was removed from Jannah due to his fisobedience, we should know that disobedience to Allah swt results in blessings of Allah swt being taken away from us. Therefore, in order to guard our blessings, we should obey Him and be grateful to Him.

5) After realizing his mistake, Adam as immediately repented to Allah swt and Allah swt taught him this beutiful dua:

 

 

 

 

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”

 

a) Due to Adam as's sincere dua, Allah swt forgave him. This is how Adam as was different from Shaitaan. Shaitaan disobeyed Allah swt but he never asked for repentance. However, Adam as immediately accepted his mistake and asked for repentance.  So, we should never become hopeless of Allah swt's mercy. If we will sincerely ask for his repentance, he will forgive us, inshallah.

b) Ability (tawfeeq) to repent also comes from Allah swt as do the acceptance of repentance.

c) Indeed, salvation lies in turning to Allah swt.

 

In the end, Allah swt, explains us the true purpose of our life. Indeed, we are here in this world to live and enjoy for a short period of time. In this life, we all will be tested in various ways. In order to pass all the tests successfully, we should all follow all the commands of Allah swt. Whoever will accept the guidance given by Allah swt and lead his/ her life according to Allah's will, there will be no fear (of future) or grief (of past) for him/her in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

I will end this post with a portion of a masnun dua:

" O Allah make the Holy Quran the delight of my heart, the light of my soul and the relief of my sorrows and griefs" Ameen!