Nullifier 7 Sorcery
النَّاقِضُ السَّابِع: السِّحْر
Sorcery in any form including al-ṣarf (separation spells) and al-ʿaṭf (binding spells). The angels Hārūt and Mārūt themselves warned that learning sorcery is kufr. Al-Fawzān notes one important scholarly nuance.
The Arabic Text of the Nullifier
Al-Ṣarf and Al-ʿAṭf Two Named Types
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb specifically names these two types of siḥr:
- Al-Ṣarf (separation/repulsion spell): Magic that causes a person to turn away from someone they should naturally love most commonly, causing a husband to hate his wife or causing discord and separation in marriage. From the root ṣarafa to turn away.
- Al-ʿAṭf (binding/attraction spell): Magic that causes unnatural love or attraction between people causing a person to desire someone they would not naturally desire. From the root ʿaṭafa to incline toward.
The Definition of Siḥr
Al-Fawzān defines siḥr as: "Everything that has an unusual effect on bodies, hearts, or minds through hidden means involving the assistance of shayāṭīn (devils/jinn)." It works through:
- Verbal formulas involving invoking other than Allah (raqāyāt kufrriyyah)
- Written charms using symbols or invocations to the shayāṭīn
- Physical acts (burning, burying objects, tying knots) that involve invoking the shayāṭīn
The Quranic Proof The Warning from the Angels Themselves
Al-Fawzān highlights: the two angels themselves called learning sorcery an act of kufr. The Qurʾān does not merely imply this it is explicitly stated by the angels as a warning before anyone was taught anything. This makes the categorisation of siḥr as kufr Quranic, not merely scholarly.
Who Commits This Nullifier
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb specifies two categories:
- The one who performs siḥr the sorcerer themselves
- The one who is pleased with it (raḍiya bihi) the one who approves it, seeks it out, or commissions it to be performed. Commissioning a sorcerer is sufficient.
The Hadith Proof
An Important Scholarly Nuance Al-Fawzān's Honesty
Al-Fawzān notes that sorcery is the one nullifier among the ten on which there is not complete scholarly uniformity:
- If the sorcerer performs acts that are themselves kufr (disrespecting the Qurʾān, prostrating to shayāṭīn, writing verses in filth): kufr by unanimous consensus.
- If the sorcerer practices siḥr without these additional acts of kufr: The majority of scholars (jumhūr) still hold this is kufr, because it necessarily involves seeking the help of shayāṭīn which is shirk in al-istiʿānah. A minority view holds it is a grave sin (kabīrah) without reaching kufr.
Al-Fawzān sides with the majority position that siḥr itself is kufr.
What This Nullifier Does NOT Cover
- Ruqyah sharʿiyyah (Quranic recitation for healing) entirely permissible and encouraged
- Seeking protection from siḥr through Qurʾān and duʿāʾ this is recommended
- Using stars for navigation or agricultural timing permitted (vs. believing stars cause events, which is shirk)
- Removing siḥr from a victim through lawful means permissible; using counter-magic (siḥr to undo siḥr) is itself forbidden
Contemporary Examples Al-Fawzān Notes
- Going to a sorcerer for a "love spell" to attract a spouse commissioning siḥr
- Paying for talismans that invoke shayāṭīn for protection
- Those who "tie" and "untie" magic sorcerers and their clients both fall under this nullifier
- Fortune-tellers who use jinn or astrology (as a causal belief) covered here
- The angels warned it is kufr not a scholarly opinion but a Quranic statement (2:102)
- "Pleased with it" is sufficient commissioning or approving siḥr is enough
- Listed among the seven destroyers Bukhārī and Muslim
- Ruqyah is the opposite lawful healing through Qurʾān is recommended, not forbidden