BY BROTHER MOOSA RICHARDSON

Transcription by: Sister Umm Yousuf min Sri Lanka

إن الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا ، من يهده الله فلا مضل له ومن يضلل فلا هادي له ، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله أمــــا بـــعــــــــد :ـ

فإن أصدق الحديث كلام الله ، وخير الهدي هدي محمد ، وشر الأمور محدثاتها، وكل محدثة بدعة ، وكل بدعة ضلالة ،وكل ضلالة في النار

All praise is due to Allaah we thank Him and seek His assistance. We seek refuge in Him from the evil of our ownselves and the consequences of our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah has guided then there is no one to lead him astray and whoever Allaah has allowed to stray no one can guide him after that. I openly testify that there is no deity worthy of worship other than Allaah, Who is alone without any partners and that Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم is His servant and final Messenger.

To proceed, verily the best speech is the Book of Allaah and the finest guidance is the guidance of Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم , and the most evil of affairs are the newly invented matters in the religion, every newly invented matter in the religion is an innovation, every innovation is straying, every straying is in the Hellfire.

As for what follows this evening we have a very important discussion, a very important topic that needs to be discussed and understood properly.

An issue that not only is important because it is related to our beliefs, and a very important part of our beliefs, but also that it relates to believing and disbelieving that are only that if a person errs in his understanding and application of this topic, will he be violating the correct aqeedah and falling into a contradiction to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم ? Not only that but a lack of understanding in this issue and improper implementation of what is required from a Muslim in this issue can lead a person outside the religion of Islaam. So it is not an easy affair, not a simple one, not one to be put on the back burner, not one to be considered as an issue that is not relevant in these days and times, rather it is an issue of the utmost concern the utmost urgency that each and every Muslim understand the stance that is required from him in this issue and apply it in his life and the lives of his families accordingly.

The enemy of mankind the enemy of goodness, Iblis (la’nathullahi alaihi) he has many different tactics, and many different ways that he tries to use to lead the children of Adam astray. He is qatheef, he is filthy in his nature, he is crafty and he is our sworn enemy, and he has sworn by Allaah عزّ وجل he has taken an oath by the Honour of Allaah عزّ وجل, fa bi izzathi la uwwiyannahum ajmaiien. He said swearing by the Honour of Allaah “I am going to lead all of them astray” and he has even given us as has come in the Qur’aan an indication about his determination in leading mankind astray. He said,

ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَائِلِهِم قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

“I am going to sit and wait along Your straight path addressing Allaah (عزّ و جل) then I am going to come to them the Children of Adam from in front of them and from behind them, and on their right and from their left as well…”, he will come to us from each and every angle, as he has sworn by Allaah, he will do this. The meaning of this is that Shaytaan will not cast off the slightest opportunity to lead mankind astray. And will come directly at you with direct invitations to make shirk and to disbelieve in Allaah, and to reject the Qur’aan and to fall into affairs which will lead you to the Hellfire and he will come from behind you with sneakier and more crafty attempts, he will come from your right and your left and from every angle, and he will not rest. He will not become satisfied with leading only a few people astray, he will not become satisfied with leading most of the people astray. He will not become satisfied with to himself until he has accomplished his goal, until he leaves every last one of the people astray. Our sworn enemy this is his case.

From the very time of conception of a child at the time of intercourse, Muslims are taught to seek refuge in Allaah from his evil. We are taught a dua from the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم. At the time of conception, that when a man goes to his wife he seeks refuge in Allaah عزّ وجل and he says,

بِسْـمِ اللَّهِ اللَّهُـمَّ جَنَّبْنَـا الشَّـيْطَانَ وَجَنَّبِ الشَّيْطَانَ مَا رَزَقْتَنَا

“O Allaah! Keep the shaytaan away from us and keep the shaytaan away from what we might conceive.” Showing the importance, even from that time we begin our efforts and our responsibility as protectors and nurturers of children, from the time of conception. Then when a child is born we learn from the Messenger of Allaah صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم that this evil enemy of ours, this crafty and creative enemy of ours uses a tactic or comes at this time a time of weakness for the newborn child, when the child is first born the shaytaan comes and pricks him inside, because the shaytaan is an opportunist because, the shaytaan is filthy, because he will not pass up the slightest the smallest opportunity that he can find to harm the children of Adam. So we realize the goal of your enemy, realize the determination of your enemy, realize that his ways and his paths to try to lead you astray are so many. And we have been taught as well that when we come into the house to mention the name of Allaah, Why? so that the shaytaan will not enter into our houses with us. Again, protectings our house, protecting our lives protecting our children again from the harms of that sworn enemy. And so the shaytaan will say if we have sought refuge in Allaah and mentioned His name, “ We have no chance to stay here in this house tonight.”

And the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم from his many ways of guidance and his love for this Ummah he has shown us how we can take steps to protect us from this sworn enemy. He has told us to bring our children into the houses at the time of Maghrib before the sunset, bring them in and close the doors and mention the name of Allaah over the doors because the shaytaan as he mentions spreads out at that time in great numbers. The devils are plentiful and many at that time. So we bring our children in at that time. At the time when the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم told us we are in danger because of the many devils that would be spread out at that time.

The scholars mentioned as a point of benefit that the reason we are specifically to bring the children inside and we are all afraid of the devil at this time, and none of us are safe from him, we are all to be cautious and seek refuge in Allaah from the shaytaan at that time specifically and through out the day, but why specifically are we told to bring the children inside and to keep them behind closed doors at that time? Because as the Ulema say, they don’t have the supplications and the remembrance of Allaah (عزّ و جل), that will keep them protected from the shaytaan. Like older children will have, like older people have. Children are susceptible because why? it is not easy for children to keep the remembrance of Allaah, they are playful and they lose the remembrance of Allaah and they don’t memorize many supplications. So that being the case we take care of them, and hold true to our responsibility as parents, and take every step and precaution that we can to protect them from this sworn enemy. So as parents we are to protect ourselves and we are to protect our flock, from everything that becomes known to us, that it is one of the plans of shaytaan to harm us or our children and he has as we mentioned many different ways, many we recognize and many we are not able to recognize.

Unfortunately or sadly enough due to a great heedlessness a great amount of heedlessness that has befallen many of the Muslims all over the world they fail to recognize one of the shaytaan’s most obvious ways of entrance into the Muslim households. One of the most obvious ways that shaytaan will enter into your house is by bringing clear disbelief in the form of a book, in the form of a movie, in the form of some material that you bring into your own house with your own hands. And you become in essence someone who is aiding the plan of the shaytaan, to lead your family astray.

The heedlessness which has overcome many of the Muslims is a sad one. It is shocking to some and others they know the reality of the Muslim Ummah that they are in general very far from understanding the basics of their religion, to be able to identify something that is so obvious and something so harmful and something so clear and open as the plan of shaytaan and unfortunately many of them are argumentative and many of them will not heed the reminder. We ask Allaah سبحان وتعلىto open our hearts to let us recognize the evil that the shaytaan brings by way of magic, by way of disbelief into the houses of the Muslims, and we pray that Allaah (عزّ و جل) grants us the humbleness and the lack of pride and arrogance to be able to recognize this and to take appropriate steps after recognizing this danger. For verily we are going to be asked about our guardianship each one of us as the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم has mentioned is a guardian, is a shepherd and he will be accountable, questioned about his flock. The Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم said, “All of you are shepherds and you will all be accountable for your flock.” The Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم further said, “There is no servant, no Muslim servant who has been given any flock to take care of, has been made a shepherd over any flock, and he does not convey the naseehah does not advice them and protect them from evil, except that he will not smell the fragrance of Paradise.” A Hadith collected by Imaam Muslim in his saheeh and Bukhari as well in his saheeh. So we are required as parents to take care of our flock, to take care of our children, to take care of our children using all of the ways of defence against the shaytaan that the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم has taught us.

From the first and foremost ways we defend our flock is by gaining knowledge of the religion of Allaah (عزّ و جل). And how many Muslims have fallen short of this obligation, to where they do not recognize clear affairs of Tawheed and Shirk., clear affairs of Tawheed and polytheism. To the point where these affairs will enter into their houses and they are in heedlessness and they do not recognize them as a danger let alone as something that can take them and their families outside of Islaam. It is ignorance in the religion, ignorance, a grave ignorance, harmful ignorance that has led to many of the Muslims being in this state. So this lecture we are hearing this evening, Insha Allahu ta ala will give us some sort of a cure for this ignorance we have in this affair and we ask Allaah (عزّ و جل) to guide us to acting by way, acting upon the knowledge that we hear this evening in a way that is pleasing to Him.

From the many ways that the shaytaan misleads the people and leads them astray is that he entices them to do things which are prohibited. Specifically and firstly, to disbelieve in Allaah (عزّ و جل). And disbelieving in Allaah (عزّ و جل) can be done from a number of ways. The shaytaan can come to them directly and convince them to reject Allaah (عزّ و جل), and convince them to worship him. Others he can come to them and beautify for them the act of disobedience. The act of going against Allaah’s orders, and abandoning the obligations that are upon him as a Muslim. So that each and every time a black spot will be put on his heart, each and every act of disobedience to the point that his heart becomes like a cup turned over and cannot contain any guidance. So now when the shaytaan comes he is needed to harden his heart first and to listen to the call to misguidance now because of the Muqaddimah he gave him or the prelude to this call and inviting to disobedience first and hardening his heart with that disobedience, now he will listen to the call to disobedience. And the reminder and the call back to Allaah will not benefit him. with a hardened dead heart.

The shaytaan uses many different things. One of the things that he does for people and that we are going to talk about this evening is that he beautifies for him the acts of disbelief in Islaam something that takes a Muslim outside his religion, the act of Magic. Performing magic or being pleased with the performance of magic, white magic or black magic as they divide it into good magic, bad magic all of it is disbelief in Allaah (عزّ و جل), all of it is from the plan of the shaytaan. All of it is from his craftiness and his eagerness to lead the Children of Adam away from the path of Allaah (عزّ و جل), away from the Tawheed, away from the Sunnah of the Prophet a صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّمway from the pure and upright deen.

Allaah (عزّ و جل) has said in His Book “وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ and Sulayman had not disbelieved.” Some people attributed to Sulayman that he was a magician. So Allaah responds to this false accusation by saying, “وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيْاطِينَ كَفَرُواْ يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ rather it was the devils who disbelieved due to their teaching the people magic.” The first thing you understand from the verse Surah al Baqarah the 102 verse is that teaching people magic is disbelief. Allaah has clearly shown us in this ayah وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيْاطِ َفَرُوايُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ that the shaytaan, the devils, the shayaatin have disbelieved teaching the people magic. Later on in the same verse Allaah tells us of two angels that were sent down to the people of Babel, to test them to see who will be patient upon the obedience to Allaah (عزّ و جل) and who will disbelieve and reject the deen of Allaah and will fall into an affair which will put them outside the religion of Allaah

Allaah (عزّ و جل) from his wisdom tried these people by sending two angels to them to offer them to teach them magic. And they said, “وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولاَ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلاَ تَكْفُرْ and those two angels did not come to anyone except that they first said, verily we are only a fitnah that it is a trial for you فَلاَ تَكْفُرْ so do not disbelieve, do not commit kufr.” We understand from this now the same verse later in this verse that learning magic is kufr. Learning magic has been described in the book of Allaah right here in this ayah as kufr, disbelief. So from the first part of the ayah, teaching magic is kufr, from the later part of the ayah learning magic is kufr. And the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم had further admonished us about the affair of magic confirming the ruling that is mentioned in the Qur’aan that it is kufr, by saying “(Arabic)…be aware of the seven grave sins. The seven grave sins, ash shirku billah, wa sihr, wa qatlun nafs” and he went on to name seven. The first one he mentioned, the first grave sin is what? Shirk, the second one Magic the third one, killing a person who is not to be killed.

Jundub ibn Kaab al Asdi, one of the illustrious companions of the Messenger of Allaah صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم had narrated or had taken from the Messenger of Allaah صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم and understood from him the ruling on the magician, and how he is to be treated under Islaamic Law. Is he to face capital punishment or is he to be exiled from the land or what? Jundub said, “(Arabic) the ruling on the magician is, that he is to face capital punishment.” He is to be killed under Islaamic Law. And that is collected by Imaam at Tirmidhi in his sunan.

And Umar رضي اللّه عنـه the second khalifah, he ordered in his time as the Muslim ruler he ordered that all of the magicians and the witches, the male and female magicians, he apprehended and killed in his time. And Alhamdulillah, during the time of Umar رضي اللّه عنـه there were not many however they had some three witches and they had killed all three of them, based on his order. And Hafsah رضي اللّه عنها she had found that she had a servant girl who had been putting magic spells on her. And so she had complained of this and ordered the servant girl to be killed, and she was. All of these hadeeths they talk about capital punishment being applied to the magicians.

Firstly as a clarification they are applied in the Muslim lands under the Muslim ruler and they are from the ways that Islaam has legislated the kind of laws and government that is to be upheld in a society ruled by Islaam.

Secondly we understand from these narrations the grave nature of magic, that magic is something that leads to capital punishment. The person involved in some sort of magic faces capital punishment. We see therefore that indeed it is a grave sin. And some of the scholars would not even allow the repentance of a magician to have any impact on the judgment laid upon him, as opposed to other acts of disbelief. So long as a person openly announces his taubah he will be forgiven and he will be allowed to be excused from the punishment. So long as he makes taubah, so long as he repents. However those whose apostasy was severe and disgusting like the apostasy of the magician like the apostasy of those who ridicule the Qur’aan and those who ridicule the sunnah of the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم those who make fun of the deen, truly they can have in their hearts no kind of eeman no kind of faith. And thus their apostasy is indeed a severe one. And the scholars said, in a Muslim government such people that when tried for those crimes we will ask Allaah to forgive them if they make taubah, however we will apply capital punishment as the judgment on them despite their repentance. And that is because the magician is such that he is a severely harmful individual to the Muslim society, splitting up families, and harming people from where they know not, assisting the shaytaan when attacking and harming the Muslims from many different angles that the people could never come to know.

And magic as we have learned from the life of the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم is not something for us to take lightly and say, “I don’t believe in magic, I don’t believe we should concern ourselves with magic, because it may be based on old tales based on old fashioned stories that people told.” The Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم himself, had magic put on him, by one of the enemies of Islaam by Labid. Labid ibn A’sam, a Jew had put magic on the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم to the point where the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم was made to believe that he had done somethings that he had not even done. As narrated by Aa’ishah رضي اللّه عنها and is found in Sahih al Bukhari, magic is real and magic is harmful. If the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم the best of mankind in the remembrance of Allaah, the closest of mankind to the Lord of the Throne, the most beloved of all the people on the earth to Allaah (عزّ و جل), was allowed by Allaah to be affected by magic. A lesson that we can take from this is that what? we are not safe no matter how pious no matter how active we are in worship, no matter how much remembrance we have on our tongues, no matter how much reliance we have on Allaah, are we closer to Allah than the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم? Have we reached a station higher than his? No one could ever claim that. No one could ever think that, so then we should realize that magic is real and not feel safe from it and not feel as if it is an insignificant issue, that it is not something that can affect us, but rather feel and know truly that it is real. The Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم he told us as narrated by Aa’ishah رضي اللّه عنها “(Arabic) two angels came to me (this is when he had the magic put on him) and one sat near his head and the other sat near his legs. So one of them said, “What is this man complaining about?” So the other one said, “….he has been the subject or object of magic. He has had magic put on him.” So then one asked the other, “(Arabic) ….Who is it that put the magic on him?” And the other replied, “Labid ibn A’sam”that Jew who put the magic on the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم. And then the angels discussed how Labid did that magic, where did he put the object that he used to put the magic on the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم. It was put in a well called Dhi Arwan and thrown down into the well. And this was narrated to us by the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم, showing us that magic is indeed real, and has affected the very best of creation, the most beloved of the creation to Allaah (عزّ و جل).

So then our stance on magic should be a firm one. That it is real, it is disbelief in Allaah (عزّ و جل), it is not a light one, it is not something that is simple, and we have a book that is written by one of the great scholars of Islaam called ‘The ten things that nullify your Islaam’. There are many things that nullify a person’s Islaam. However, there are the most common ones that the Muslims fall into more often than others. One of them being magic, and this one specifically was singled out in this book the ten things most commonly the Muslims fall into most commonly that cause them to leave Islaam. And he said Magic, the seventh one Magic. Like al-'atf and as-sarf like magic used to bring two people together and like magic that causes two people to be separated from each other. You could say that they are good and bad magic or perhaps white and black magic both of them. “(Arabic)……….Anyone who does that magic or is pleased with it has disbelieved.” And he mentioned some of the proofs that we have mentioned already.

In explanation of this text, one of our scholars Shaykh Saalih al Fawzaan he went on to explain that what I am going to read, a short passage from his book an explanation of the ten things that violate your Islaam or that nullify ones Islaam. He said the seventh kind of apostasy mentioned is magic, the practice of magicians. It is of two types, Genuine and illusionary. The first type, Genuine Magic consists of the magician blowing on tied knots. Murmuring phrases and words over them, seeking assistance from the devils within these words, the hanging of charms or the writing of the names of devils on talismans and the likes. This is what genuine magic is. It is something that has an effect on the targeted person either by him being killed, becoming sick or his mind being affected. The second type, Illusionary Magic is when things are manipulated in a way that causes someone to think that when he sees it is actually that way while this is not true. A man is made to think that the magician has done some of the following things. That, he has turned a rock into an animal, or that he has killed someone and then brought him back to life, by chopping his head off for example, and then replacing it. Or he has pulled a car along by his hair or by his teeth. Or that a car ran him over and did not harm him. Or that he entered into a fire and was not harmed. Or that he ate fire or that he stabbed himself with a piece of iron, or that he stabbed himself in the eye with an iron skewer or that he ate a piece of glass and the likes. And we all know these things are seen on circus programmes.

And when the magician comes out he will cut someone in half, he will eat fire, he will blow fire out of his mouth and the likes from the things here that have been described by the shaykh. He goes on to say, ‘All of these things are fake tricks that have no truth in them. And they are like the magic of Firawn’s magicians. Allaah the Most High has said about their magic, يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِن سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَى “Musa was made to believe that their staffs, the sticks that the magicians had were moving about like snakes.” And Allaah the Most High has said, “ سَحَرُواْ أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ And they put magic on the eyes of the people, tricking the eyes of the people and sort to frighten them.” So the shaykh goes on to say this is illusionary magic. They call it al qamrah., a trick that the magician does to peoples eyes, sleight of hand perhaps. When the qamrah wears off, things return to their normal state. The shaykh goes on to say magic is disbelief, and the proof is the statement of Allaah Most High, السِّحْر وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيْاطِن َكفرُوايُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ َ However the devils have disbelieved in teaching the people magic.” Both learning and teaching magic are disbelief in Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic. This is also one of the signs of apostasy. The magician is an apostate. If he was first a believer and then he practiced magic, then he has apostated from the religion of Islaam. He is to be killed without requesting him to repent, according to some of the scholars, since if he repented openly he is known as a person who deceives the people, and the knowledge of magic would still remain in his heart, even after he repented.

And those are the end of the words of the Shaykh Saalih al Fawzaan and we want to clarify further now the difference between genuine and illusionary magic. It does not mean that one of them is disbelief and the other is not. Even illusionary magic is disbelief in Allaah (عزّ و جل). Even sleight of hand magic, illusionary magic is disbelief in Allaah (عزّ و جل). And the proof for that is the action of Jundub ibn Ka’ab al Azdi that companion who clarified to us the ruling on the magician what is to be done with the magician in an Islaamic state. In his time there were some of the rulers of Bani Umayyah that used to sadly enough be entertained by an illusionary magician, an illusionist. Someone doing sleight of hand magic, and Jundub ibn Ka’ab came and saw the gathering where there was some of the rulers and some of these magicians entertaining them. We have in this case a man who was standing there pretending to cut the head of another man off and kill him and then he would place the head back and he would be alive without any harm. When Jundub saw this he unsheathed his sword and chopped the head of the magician off, right there. Really, without it being a trick or without being magic. And he announced to the rulers, “If he was truthful then let him bring his own self back to life.” If he is truthful. Jundub understood the ruling in Islaam in a Muslim state is that the magician faces capital punishment. The one who practices genuine magic by blowing on knots and seeking the assistance of devils and all of that and as well the one who practices illusionary magic, the illusionist, sleight of hand magic. Both are considered to be kufr, disbelief in Islaam and both are subject to the capital punishment in a Muslim society.

After understanding this that magic in both forms genuine magic and illusionary magic is disbelief and that the one who does it has disbelieved in Allaah and has left Islaam and the one who is pleased with it not hating the evil in his heart has left Islaam, as understood from this hadith or from a separate hadith from the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم who said, “ (Arabic) whoever amongst you sees an evil thing then let him change it with his hand, he must change it with his hand and if he is not able to do it then he must change it with his tongue, by admonishing and forbidding, and if he is not able to do that he must change the evil by hating it in his heart and that is the lowest kind of faith there is.” In one narration, “there is not even a mustard seeds worth of faith beyond that.”

So the person who is pleased with magic without performing it, what is the ruling on him based on this hadith? He is pleased with magic and he does not feel any harm in his heart by being entertained by magic, he has left Islaam. He has disbelieved not having even a mustard grain of faith in his heart. And this is why you find the scholars saying, (Arabic)“Whoever has done magic or has been pleased by magic he has not done the magic but he is pleased with it he likes to watch it he has not performed it, but he is only watching it he has disbelieved and he has left Islaam. He has left the lowest possible kind of faith and that is to hate the evil things in his heart.”

Having said that we want to introduce some ideas related to a series of books that are very popular amongst the people today sadly enough amongst them are the Muslims that have allowed themselves and their children to read some of the books from the series or all of them and to buy DVD’s or movies that enact the things that are in these books or to play video games or to be obsessed with the latest obsession that is called Harry Potter. The series of Harry Potter books. The people who track the sales of books have announced as you all know this is the highest selling series of books by far ever and it breaks records and it goes off the charts every time a new book comes out. Recently they released I believe a seventh book or the latest in the series and of course when they release the book they have to do it along with the theme of the book that is magic and evil and dark arts and all those things, so when do they release the book? at midnight They release the book at midnight in the middle of the night causing the people to form lines late at night to come out in the middle of the night to wait for the book to wait for 12 o clock exactly when the book will be released, to get their copy of Harry Potter, the latest in the Harry Potter series. Books being 700 pages in length 800 pages easily, books that are written with a very nice style, that attracts people (Arabic) and the shaytaan has conquered the people by way of these books and caused them to forget the remembrance of Allaah (عزّ و جل).(Arabic) And verily there are some kinds of speech some kinds of writings as well there is magic. Even in the way the books are written there is some kind of magic which causes this result, which causes this phenomenon that the people love the books series so much. People of all ages and all genders and all orientations and all nationalities are reading these books. The books are translated into more than forty languages, reaching all corners of the earth.

We found sadly wallahu musta’an that the Friday night that the most recent book was released at midnight of course there is a Muslim school that has children attending early in the morning on Saturday for the weekend, and some of the children had the book already. Which means the previous night they were amongst those people who were standing in line waiting for the release of the book. Showing the vigilance not only the heedlessness that some Muslims have but the vigilance that they will have over such an affair. They are so concerned for being the first to get that kufr, the first to get that disbelief and to have it in their homes and to have it in the hands of their children. Truly the shaytaan has conquered such people and has caused them to be so heedless that he has used them as a tool to bring outright disbelief directly into their homes.

Let me introduce to you Harry Potter. Who is Harry Potter? And who are his shuyook and who are his thalaameed?. Who are his teachers and who are his students? Who are his peers? Give him a proper biography. So we know who it is that we are dealing with and who has been made to be this obsession or this phenomenally exciting focus on the series of books. Harry Potter a young man a young white boy at the age of puberty now, he has gone through some years of his life who lives in a normal society and has been drawn into a darker side or a darker parallel existence that is the world of magic. That exists as in the books alongside of our world. And most people are heedless to it and most people don’t care about it and most people don’t try to learn it.

In this series of books such people are called Muggles. They are called Muggles and they are made to be people who do not care about magic and people who do not want to learn magic, the everyday people who are not part of the fantastic parallel world of magic that goes on. They are portrayed throughout the books throughout the series as foolish, simple, clueless beings with no real intellect. They are not to be given much importance or significance, foolish people who do not engage in magic. That is one of the first attacks on morality that comes in this series of books, one of the first. So Harry begins to attend a school a witch school or a witchcraft school that has grades that a person goes through he is given a magic wand, he is given magic items, his clothes and his books and his things are enchanted and given magical powers. He is a person who learns the ways to call out certain phrases in Latin and enchant things and cast spells and curses for and against people. He becomes in all sense of the word a magician, something that we consider to be an extreme form of disbelief in Islaam.

Harry Potter the young man has friends in the book and has teachers. One of his teachers is named Albus Dumbledore, an old man resembling Santa Claus long white beard, glasses. Of course at the pinnacle of the use of magic and the best in the use of magic and doesn’t need certain things that the other magicians use because of his mastery and his great knowledge a true sign of wisdom and a trap for people who read the books to believe that such a person has reached the level of success a level of achievement in his field. He doesn’t need a wand to cast spells he doesn’t need a cloak to become invisible He can see through other peoples spells that are not on his level or close to his level. This is Harry Potter’s teacher. He casts spells as I mentioned without a wand, he has a Phoenix a bird made of Fire and he sends to bring messages to people or to get information for him, and Harry Potter has a feather from this man’s Phoenix inside of his magic wand that gives him extra powers according to this series of books.

Another of his teacher’s named Trelawney who teaches at this magic school is one who claims that he is a kaahin someone who can see into the future. Someone who foretells what is going to come. And we learn from the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم that this is another severely dangerous form of disbelief one that will render a persons salaah unacceptable for a period of forty days. Whoever goes to a soothsayer and asks him about something then his salaah, he will not have any salaah accepted from him for a period of forty days. And in one narration, “And he has disbelieved in what has been sent down to Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم.”

So here is his teacher who at one time teaching the art of making prophecies or talking about future events he goes into a trance in one of the books, and he begins speaking with another voice, which is a sign of the possession of Jinn. And later he does not remember anything about what had happened. The prophecies that he spoke of are honoured in the book series and they are kept in a special department in the magic school inside of crystal balls, for people to come and study the prophecies. They need interpretations so he speaks of prophecies he talks about the future in sometimes puzzling manners and these prophecies are left in the library, a large library in the school for students of magic to come and study them and to perhaps reach a kind of interpretation that will allow them to benefit from what is going to happen in the future.

These are Harry Potter’s mentors or teachers. This is also what your children learn. These are basically the teachers of your children as well if they are reading these books. Harry Potter has a number of friends from magicians and different shape shifters and animals and jinn and undead creatures and people who come to him at different stages in the story perhaps soothsayers, perhaps any evil sorcerers, perhaps enemies trying to harm him. From a number of different kinds of creatures, human and non human one of them when I say this I will probably see on the faces of some of the children Allahu musta’an a sign of recognition of the name. And that is Moaning Myrtle. Moaning Myrtle a character in the book, one of Harry Potter’s friends. Moaning Myrtle let me tell you about the companionship of Harry Potter. And a person is upon the deen of his companions. Harry Potter befriends a ghost or perhaps a spirit of a dead girl, named Moaning Myrtle. She lives in the septic pipes under the toilet in a girls’ bathroom. Close friend of Harry Potter. She lives where? In the septic tank that is where the actual waste goes down under the toilet. She lives in the septic pipe under the toilet in a girls’ bathroom. Harry Potter visits her frequently, to get advice, to consult her, to get tips on solving magical mysteries and different things. Where does he go to visit her? To the girls’ bathroom, to visit Moaning Myrtle, who lives in the septic pipe of a toilet in the girls’ bathroom. One account in the book called the Order of the Phoenix has Harry encounter a large pool of an unknown liquid of different colours, and textures, bubbling and frothing and he is seeking enlightenment, about a certain mystery he is trying to solve. So he removes his clothes and begins to take a bath naked in this pool of whatever, bubbling, frothing material. And Moaning Myrtle shows up at this place leaving her post at the toilet to show up at this bubbling bath, where Harry Potter is naked and for some reason taking a bath trying to hear what a magical egg will tell him under the surface of this liquid. She complains to him after introducing herself while appearing to him floating above the liquid here and Allaah’s refuge is sought. She complains that he has not been by to see her in ages. That her good friend, has not come by the toilet in the girls’ bathroom to visit her in such a long time. And he apologizes for not keeping close ties with her and offers some excuses that he has been busy and so she goes on to offer him some additional tips and pointers and how to solve the mystery of this egg that he is trying to hear the voices from under this liquid he has chosen to take a bath in.

In another book this close friend of Harry’s, Moaning Myrtle she offers kindly that if Harry ever dies and he needs a place to stay that he is more than welcome to come and stay in the toilet in the girls’ bathroom. And this is what our children are reading. These are the tales and adventures of Harry Potter. Of course I am not going to mention the great heroic episode of him fighting a dragon, but look at the kind of things that you will be reading, reading a book about Harry Potter. So that second story about her inviting him is just to give you an idea that these are actually found in these books, its from one of the Harry Potter books, called The Chamber of the Secrets. She has invited him that if he dies and needs a place to stay as an undead person, he can feel free to join her in the toilet in the girls’ bathroom.

So now you have a little idea about Harry Potter. There is also a trick in this book where they try to convince the reader to differentiate between good and bad magic, between white magic or positive magic, helpful magic and dark arts. The dark magic, black magic, evil magic that is harmful. So they convince you they try throughout the whole series of the books to convince you that there is good magic and bad magic. However the line between them becomes murky many times throughout the book. Of course as Muslims on our deen holding to the guidance that Allaah sent us we are not convinced even from the get go that there is a difference between good and bad magic. That both kinds of magic if we accepted that there is good and bad magic both are disbelief and both will take a person outside of Islaam. But even the people who try to convince you that dark magic is evil and white magic is good they say and this is taken from the summary of the Magic used in the Harry Potter series, the dark arts differ from the other forms of magic, in the intent of the wizard using it. Most magic is relatively neutral. It can be used for good or bad. Some magic however is evil in its intention through and through. Spells of this kind are often called curses. Curses are spells that are often intended to cause harm to another person. This intention to do harm places that spell into the realm of the dark arts. So the same spell according to them becomes black magic or dark arts with the intention of the person casting the spell. So in actuality it is the same spell being done, but sometimes it is considered dark arts and sometimes it is considered white magic, depending on the intention. So perhaps they are going by the hadith. However when you look at this theory when you investigate it you find clearly that it is just a way to convince you or to appeal to your fitrah that you are inclined towards good things and you are inclined against evil things that there is a good side of magic. However we see that the difference between good and bad magic becomes murky, becomes unclear it’s the same action the same spell, the same curse the same action use of the wand whatever but it becomes good magic because of a persons good intention and it becomes bad magic because of the persons ill intention to harm someone. So there we see an attempt to confuse people about the reality of magic that there is good magic and bad magic. However when they define the difference between good magic and bad magic the line is not at all clear. And we find that the same action can be described as good magic or bad magic.

Let me also present to you some of the kinds of magic that are in the Harry Potter books. The kinds of magical spells, the kinds of magic that a person reads about reading a Harry Potter book sometimes in great detail. Sometimes being able to actually learn from the book, how to cast the spell or how to read tea leaves or how to tell the future. Recipes for spells and for portions. There is something called divination, which is seeing the future, seeing into the future. Then the Harry Potter books, it is divided into three kinds. The first kind is a weaker kind that the beginning students learn, but it is not relied upon and it is not very effective. The second kind is what is practiced when some of the characters start teaching classes as they say the Spring of 1996 and there is a time when going on when Harry Potter goes from grade to grade and advances from level to level as a magician. So he is taught the second level of telling the future and foreseeing events. And still he is not entirely reliable, according to the teachings of the book. That which is really reliable is the third type called seeing. A person he is a Seer and he is actually seeing, he can actually see into the future as he claims. The Seer they say possesses an inner eye. He does not have control over what he sees. For example one of the teachers of Harry Potter that we mentioned Trelawney he made prophecies twice using this magical spell although plenty of claims about there were some problems there was some need for interpretation for the meanings of what he has relayed about the future. They say true seeing is very rare but it happens a few times in each century. And they keep the records of the actual events of this kind of seeing, this kind of fortune telling, they keep records of it in the library in the magic school.

Other techniques that they use for fortunetelling a severe form of disbelief in Islaam, they use astrology. They use the trails of birds in the directions in the paths of the birds, which is from the Jahiliyah of the Arabs as well. They would consider the day a good day if the bird went to the right. They would consider the day a bad day, a bad day to travel if the bird went off to the left. They would use playing cards many times dipped in blood. A crystal ball, dream interpretation, fire omens, the reading of palms and the reading of tea leaves. Each and everyone being identified in the books of the scholars of Islaam as actual true ways of (Arabic)….of fortune telling which, is an act of disbelief. Each and every one of them are mentioned here. It is in fact identified in the books of the scholars of Islaam as one of the ways that the magicians use to try to interpret what is happening in the future. Even the books go so far and this should really bring home a reality that perhaps we may have missed about the filth of these books, a person can read for example in the book ‘Unfolding the Future’(unsure) page 5 and 6 he can read actually how to interpret tea leaves. How to read tea leaves and how to interpret the symbols and signs found in tea leaves, that will tell the future. He can read in detail an acorn means this, a cross means this, such and such of a symbol means this he can learn seven, eight nine different types of symbols that he can look for in the tea leaves. And he can use them to foresee the future. This is one of the ways that magicians request help from the jinn, from the shayaatin to claim knowledge of the future. As well astrology is used in the book as we mentioned by Harry Potter something he begins to learn early in his journeys, early in his stages of learning magic. The study of astrology, according to the astrology used in the book it requires a careful study of star charts, relating to the date of a persons birth. The students in Trelawney’s divination classes, fortune telling classes have to create complicated charts and determine which planets were where and how that all affects their lives. Based on astrological signs the teacher suggested Harry must have been born in the winter time. As we mentioned, or as we need to mention here the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم related to us from Allaah (عزّ و جل) a very important hadith about the stars and how the Muslim is to understand the stars above him. The Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم said that Allaah (عزّ و جل) said that “This morning some of my servants have woken up kafirs and believers”. He went on to clarify saying, “the one who said that we have received the rain because of such and such formation of the stars, he has disbelieved in Me and he has believed in the stars. And the one who says we have received the rain because of the bounties of Allah, he has believed in Me and he has disbelieved in the stars.” So Allaah (عزّ و جل) is teaching us here that the formations of the stars in the heavenly bodies above us they do not determine the rain, they do not give us provisions they do not indicate anything other than three things mentioned by Qatada the taabi’ee who said, “halaqallahu hadhihil nujoom thalaat Allaah (عزّ و جل) has created these stars for three things. Firstly “zeenatha lisama’a that they are a beautification and an adornment for the sky, they make the skies beautiful. Secondly they are rujoomal li shayaatin they are as missiles that attack the shayaatin. As we all know before the time of the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم the jinn had all been anticipating the coming of a Prophet. And they were expecting revelation to start coming down. But they did not know where the Prophet would come from or when the revelation would start coming down. So they began to go up into the heavens as a consistent habit to try to get wind of the revelation before it came down. So they would have knowledge of what would come in the future before the people would get it by way of the Prophet. And they would aid the magicians and the soothsayers. So at that time when Allaah (عزّ و جل) was about to reveal this Qur’aan and send revelation to the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم he made the stars in the sky become missiles that attack the shayaatin and knock them out of the sky. So that the revelation would come down to the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم without the shayaatin having access to it or learning about it before it comes down to the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم. The first benefit we get from the stars is that they are beautification for the sky, second that they are missiles against the shayaatin and the third that they are (Arabic)……they are signs that the people get guidance from. Exactly what does that mean, Navigation, You use the northstar you use the different set of constellation of stars to help you in your travels to get from one place to another. Not that you seek guidance from the sky as the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم never sought guidance from the sky and the stars nor did any of his companions. Rather you use them as tools by which to tell the right direction, to tell you your bearings. This hadith is collected in the Sahih of Imaam al Bukhari., the statement of Qataada. And Qataada goes on to say “(Arabic) and whoever has taken upon himself to believe that the stars need other than this that they have additional information to give us or that we can read from them certain things, then he has erred and lost his share and he has taken upon himself that which he has no business taking upon himself.” And as I mentioned that hadith was collected in Sahih al Bukhari.

So we see in the book how many contradictions to the revelation given to the Prophetصلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم. We see how many kinds of magic. Another kind of magic is the portions that he learns to make, and the ingredients for the portions throughout the series of books are described in detail. So it will not be strange to find a devout reader of these books trying the portions taking the dead mouse and cutting his head off, draining the blood of a bat, doing the exact same things that are the actual practices of witchcraft, learning from the Harry Potter series, how to become a magician.

So for example in the school that Harry Potter goes to he has a class on portions, making portions and he learns from a portions master. The first year, there is a website that is from the dedicated fans of Harry Potter that basically in this website they summarize all the different kinds of magic and give references to what books and what pages you can find the use of the different types of magic and what characters are mentioned throughout the books and where you can find mention of these characters and the story lines and all about that. They are dedicated fans to this series of books who have done this and we have taken some of the things from their web page to show exactly as a summarized piece of information what is going on in the school that Harry Potter goes to. The school of witchcraft, called Hogwarts.

The first year, students make simple portions such as a boil cure portion. The final exam includes a practical portion, a practical portion I believe requiring the students to make a forgetfulness portion. That is the first year.

The second year goes on a swallowing solution a hair raising portion. The third year, the syllabus includes a shrinking solution. Fourth year and fifth year and so on, until the later years they begin to make very advance portions requiring lots of ingredients and lots of mastery of the skills of magic.

We have as well many different spells, we talked about portions we talked about what, magical items, we are going to talk about magical items. Now look at some of the spells. There is a dictionary available on websites devoted to this phenomenon this book series. A Dictionary from A-Z the names of spells all in Latin in phrases we don’t understand the meanings of them, which is definitely a sign of witchcraft. From A-Z a person can learn the names of the spells and how they are to be used and what place or which part of which book did Harry Potter use this spell or the spell is used against him or used in his presence all of those. For example, I’d rather not say the names of the spells because they may have meanings that we don’t want mentioned in the House of Allaah (عزّ و جل) but there are spells, when you say the name of the spell the spell caster ascends up into the sky and begins to fly. There are spells that freeze things and makes them start moving, there are spells that transform animals into a cup or a goblet and this is something we just mentioned from the ways of illusionary magic and the different kinds of illusionary magic mentioned by Shaykh Saalih al Fawzaan.

So they pronounce these Latin phrases and wave the magic wand in a certain way and have actions of the heart and all of that involved, emotions as well involved and they cast spells. And so an entire book can be gathered about the spells and portions. There is also a Dictionary from A-Z talking about the portions, ingredients and affects of the portions, and its names and how you chant the name even a breakdown of how you are to pronounce the name in Latin so that you as the reader of the book you will not err in the pronunciation of the Latin name of that spell. All of this showing that there is great concern gone into the presentation of magic and in the actual way that you even pronounce the words they are described for you and detailed for you as well as the ingredients of the portions and items that the spells that are cast.

Other items, dark magic items mentioned throughout the book and used by Harry Potter and his associates and his teachers. Human bones, blood stained playing cards, glass eyes, something that they refer to as the hand of glory which is as they say one of the less harmful magical items or dark magical items. It is a real human hand that has been enchanted to give off glowing light, is used as a lantern. For example old rusty, spiked musical instruments, evil looking masks, shrunken heads, live gigantic black spiders, poisonous candles, human finger nails, these are used as items these are used as enchanted weapons to ward off evil or to harm someone. And the list goes on and on. The magical items that the person reads about how do they become magical items how do they become enchanted, how are they used, what kind of phrases are added to make them work and to make their powers become used against the enemy.

And furthermore one of the fans of the series has described the three basic elements of spells. For the sake of brevity we will skip that. The point being here is that there is an entire culture around the series of books that is rooted in witchcraft that represents itself as witchcraft. It has no shame, and no need to hide the fact that they love witchcraft and they love magic, they love Harry Potter and his episodes which are all based on this witchcraft and this magic.

So now what do you think will be the response of children at an influential age to this book series? Logically magic being portrayed as the saving factor, the hero of the story who only saves himself and only save himself and his friends and family from jeopardy by using magic. He is only successful by using magic. And he wards off evil and he is saved by the use of magic. Not seeking the help of Almighty Allaah, not relying on the Book of Allaah, not relying on any good moral action, but relying on magic, magical spells, charms, magical items at each and every turn of the story. So the children’s reactions, what do you think they are going to be? Except, one day I’d like to be a magician. One day I wish there would be a magician’s school somewhere and I would enroll and I would learn how to cast spells and I will learn how to harm the people who want to hurt me. Only the bad people, I will be a good magician. I’ll harm the bad people. I’ll hurt the bad people. I will save the people with magic and save them from the bad people.

Christians since the year 2001 have organized efforts to clarify the danger of the magic in the Harry Potter series of books, back when there were only a few volumes out, only a few books out. Christians who have held onto the basic idea, that remains in their deen that magic good and bad of it, dark and white magic all of that is impermissible and all of that is blasphemy And you know the history of the Christians that in fact they went through periods of times where they were very vigilant about the idea of magic. And they would find magicians and they would kill them. Even in America in the states of America, there was something called the Salem Witch Hunts, where they would go into the houses trying to find evidence that people were using magic, and if they found the witch or a sorcerer they would kill him or her, to protect the society from the evil of the magic.

Here were have, these Christians have gathered for us some statements of children who have spoken about their experiences or spoken about what they would like to do after reading the Harry Potter books. For example a boy named Dillon at the age of ten says, age of ten, “I would like to go to wizard school and learn magic. I’d like to learn to use a wand to cast spells”. What do you expect other than this from someone reading about what we have described here in this lecture? This is natural this is what people would expect from such a book series. A girl at the age of twelve says, “If I could go to wizard school I might be able to do spells and portions and fly a broomstick, high aspirations. Jeffrey at the age of eleven says, “It will be great to be a wizard because you could control situations and things, like teachers.” Catherine aged nine, Catherine says, “I’d like to go to wizard school and learn magic and put spells on people. I’d make up an ugly spell and then its pay back time.” Carol at age ten says, “I feel like I am inside Harry’s world. If I went to wizard school, I’d just study everything. Spells, counter spells, defense against the dark arts and so on.” These are the reactions of children who have read the Harry Potter series.

And as we were warning our beloved younger brothers and sisters in Islaam at the Muslim school here, warning them against this evil over the past week or more, we found very strange reactions from them. We asked them to get rid of the books from their houses not to bring their books to the school. And we found some of them saying, if you just mention the word Harry Potter, they have not heard a single thing we have said against Harry Potter. Did you remember to bring your Harry Potter book to school? He says, “Ye, ye I have Harry Potter books. I am on page 21, or I am on chapter 21.” Not hearing at all what has been said. We heard even that the children have read each and every book that has come out, more than once. From our own children, our own brothers and sisters that go to our own Muslim school. They have read each and every book that has come out, and some of them can name to you events that have happened what chapter its in and what books its in. To the extent that some of our young brothers and sisters have fallen into this trap and they have been victimized by their own parents and been left unprotected by their own parents, those responsible for them, for protecting them from such an evil. Left unprotected and just pushed into the world of magic, the world of the shaytaan to be led astray and into disbelief in the religion of Islaam.

They mentioned that over 200 million have been sold in over forty languages. Of course by now the number is far greater, this is from the year 2001. Over 200 million books sold in forty different languages, and I mentioned that this is very old, six years ago. They said that as well it has been mentioned that the book most recently sold eleven million copies in 24 hours. The most recent book sold eleven million copies in a period of 24 hours! And we mentioned that was after the opening at 12 o’ clock midnight.

Having said all of these things and having exposed a lot of the realities or some of the realities of Harry Potter and the meanings that are presented in the books, and the ideas presented therein, the stories, the items talked about the curses, the spells the magical items, the creatures, the teachers of Harry Potter, friends Moaning Myrtle and the likes. People should realize that we have to wake up and we have to realize that this is not an affair that should be left as, children should be encouraged to read and parents should be happy our children are reading, rather we are not happy our children are reading things that will lead them into the Hellfire. If we want our children to read about things which will gain them entrance to Paradise. We are not just going to be happy about reading to the point where saying, “My child is not illiterate, he is reading” and everyone is so happy because all of the children are reading. And this is the stance of most of the teachers in the schools about the Harry Potter books. This if we give the children to read something 700 pages its increasing their vocabulary, its giving them a lot of benefit. However it is leading them directly into the Hellfire, with a good vocabulary, with a rich vocabulary they will enter into the Hellfire. Because of disbelief in Allaah (عزّ و جل). So yes it is increasing their vocabulary and it is reading that is much as that’s worth when you are talking about reading something that will lead them astray.

About the author of the book a brother prepared this just now. As we were just preparing to do the lecture he mentions a few things about the author of the Harry Potter series. Rowling, she is a graduate of Exeter University in England. She is very familiar with occultic practices uses elements and philosophies behind pagan religions, Celtic religions, the religion of the druids, to witchcraft and Satanism. That’s from the same Christian group showing you exactly who is behind that. Another source states “J.K. Rowling the author of the Harry Potter series has gone to an awful lot of research. She is very accurate otherwise we will have witches all over the country and the world saying this is not a true representation of our religion. She is actually portraying witchcraft. This is true representation of witchcraft and the black arts and black magic and yet we have people that say this is mere fantasy and harmless reading for our children. Actually what makes this more dangerous is that it is couched in a fantasy language, and children’s literature and made to be humorous and beautifully written and extremely provocative reading which just opens up children to want to have the next one. This is what is so harmful.

Having said all of that, then we have to remind ourselves once more that we are accountable for our flock, that we are guardians we are shepherds and we are accountable for our flock. We are required by our religion to remove the harm from the way of the Muslims in general. How much more so the harms in the way of our own children, in our own houses. We are to remove these harms especially when these are harms that lead them directly into the Hellfire. Harms that are not only disobedience to Allaah, but disbelief in Him, disbelief in His religion things that cast him outside of Islaam. Our first and foremost priority has to be saving ourselves and our children from the Hellfire.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا

O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from the Fire. From Suratul Tahrim.

We are responsible for the trust that we have been given by Allaah (عزّ و جل) think back to the happiness that overcame your heart when your baby boy or girl was born. And how much you had the intention to honour this child and to raise this child according to Islaam and to protect this child from harm and how thankful you were to Allaah (عزّ و جل) at that time. And reflect about that and how the heedlessness has slipped into your life, and how you have allowed such an evil into your house. How you have been heedless how you have been lackadaisical of an affair that is the difference between a Muslim and a Kafir.

Having said this we again remind ourselves with the obligation to remove that evil from our houses that statement of the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم “Whoever amongst you sees an evil then let him change it with his hand…..” that is specifically for the people who have authority to do so. When you are in charge and you are the Sultan like a man is in his own house, the husband is in his own house that the woman is in her own house over her children, then you are responsible for removing the harm with your hand. You will be held accountable in front of Allaah (عزّ و جل) for not physically removing the harm, when you have the authority to do so. And you cannot say I hated it in my heart. That is for the time when you are not able to change the harm or the evil with your hand or your tongue. You are not able to, so then the only thing left for you is to hate it in your heart. And as a person of authority in your house in your school in the place where you have authority you are not allowed to say I will just hate it in my heart and let the people under my authority indulge in what Allaah سبحان وتعلى has prohibited, especially, if it is something concerning disbelief in the religion. How much more so must we be on guard.

And again the hadith that the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم taught us that there is no servant who has been given any guardianship or flock by Allaah (عزّ و جل), He has given him a ra’iyaah he has been made a raa’ee has been made a shepherd and he does not convey naseehah. He behaves treacherously and does not protect them from the harmful things that Allaah has warned him about except that he will not smell the fragrance of Paradise A hadith found in Sahih al Bukhari and Muslim.

And remember that your children as mentioned earlier in the lecture, they are weak and need your protection. They need you to teach them to stay away from evil, they need you to help them identify evil, to help them identify shirk in all of its forms, help them identify kufr and things like magic and not to be silent knowing that they are involved in evil, knowing that they are involved in disbelief and you are silent and let them go on in that. They need your help, they need your support and they need you perhaps to take a harsh stand. So they may not like you because you got rid of their Harry Potter books today, but they will love you when they are saved from the Hellfire, and because of the caring action of a parent. They will love you when they visit you in the Jannah. And they will love you perhaps later in this life when they realize that you did a harsh thing by removing something that they loved but they should not have had access to and should have not loved, but you removed that thing from their way and that was something that led to a great amount of good in the dunya and the Hereafter. So we ask Allaah (عزّ و جل) to grant us insight into our true priorities as Muslims and to give us courage and the wisdom that we need to establish good and to forbid the evil and to make our stance, the stance that is based on the text of the Book and the Sunnah.

Having said that we will allow some time for questions if there are any and then we want to make a note about the future chances there are for people who want to help this effort to alert the Muslims about this danger. To spread CD’s and to fund the spreading of CD’s in large quantities and as well to fund a book exchange programme that we will give as gifts to the people who will turn in Harry Potter books. We will give them books to read which will help them to be warned about such evil things in the future. We will make the opportunity available and we will Insha Allaah do as Allaah (عزّ و جل) said, “ (Arabic)….and cooperate all of you upon righteousness and good deeds (Arabic)….. and do not cooperate upon sinning and transgression.”

And we close by sending the salat and salaam upon the finest of creation the Prophet and Messenger of Allaah Muhammad ibn Abdillah صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم and upon his family, companions and all of his followers until the Day of Judgment

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْـهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنْـتَ أَسْـتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُـوْبُ إِلَيْكَ.

Our brother is reminding us about David Copperfield and the other name David Blaine, magicians that are illusionists, Criss Angel, the likes. Well known magicians that come on television, illusionists or whatever they call themselves. Apply what you have learnt today to that as well. Consider it to be obvious, consider it to be something that is logically included in our discussion this evening as well as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, what else Superman, the flying man who defends the whole planet as well as video games where the players fight and perhaps they are using magic on each other modocombat where they cast spells and shoot fire at each other and the likes being similar to that. Don’t allow magic in your house. Don’t say it is a game, my children know it is a game, just like you would not let them sit there and watch pornography and say, “It is just you know, pretend it is not real.” No one will ever do that. So how can, and that is not disbelief in Allaah, that is sinning. Understand the difference. That is not disbelief in Allaah, that is a sin, and a horrible crime. However disbelief in Allaah is in your house and you are saying its just a game. Disbelief in Allaah , children loving and having their hearts attached to the fighter who has been through the biggest fight of all and knocked the other fighter out and he wins because of his use of magic, in our houses as Muslims. And we have to realize that these are things that are extremely dangerous to the aqeedah of the child, it can lead us and our children outside of Islaam. Now to apply that to all videos, all video games, all DVD’s all magazines, all books. Think about your children’s future, love your children truly for Allaah’s sake and keep them out of harm’s way. Get rid of the things out of your houses that are the tools of the shaytaan, and that are leading people into the Hellfire. Be serious about this.

Also a question here, and I recognize the question came yesterday and I apologize for not answering it.

Q. Are we allowed to read a story about a ghost even if we don’t follow it?

A. The question is worded in a kind of difficult way to understand, not following the story does that mean you are not reading it? If you are not following the story then you are not reading it. But if you are following the story that means you are reading it. But if you mean not following it, not act upon it, then the whole idea is that you are reading a story about a ghost. I don’t know what the story is about the ghosts. Jinn are real. If you are talking about a story about a jinn its from the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, then it is permissible to read a story about the jinn. To read Suratul Jinn from the Qur’aan that’s permissible. And it is permissible to follow it and to believe in it and to have it as your aqeedah. But if you mean a fictional story about a ghost then, basically we want to avoid all fictional stories about ghosts, people, animals and everything. Because the position of the Muslims on lying, is that we shun lying in all of its forms. We are not happy when a man stands in front of a group of people doing something called a play and he says my name is John so and so and his name is not John so and so. Waylul lahu Waylul lahu Waylul lahu alladhi As in Sunan Abu Dawud the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم said, “Woe to him, woe to him, woe to him, the one who lies to make the people laugh.” So lying in all of its forms is considered to be a sin in Islaam, except for those exceptions that the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم taught us between the spouses, in jihad, and to bring islah, to bring peace between two differing parties. And that lying is done in a very light manner in a very harmless manner. And even some of the scholars preferred not using lying even in that case. So lying in general is basically one of the things that lead to the Hellfire, “(Arabic) Upon you is truthfulness, upon you is to be truthful. Truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to the Paradise. (Arabic) And be warned against lying. (Arabic) ….because lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to the Hellfire.” And in the same hadith the Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم said, “(Arabic) and a person will go on telling the truth and trying his best to tell the truth and he is written by Allaah as a truthful person a siddeeq. (Arabic) a person will go on lying and trying his best to lie in situations, until he is written down by Allaah as a kadhaab as a Liar.”

So lying is prohibited in Islaam from the Major Sins. From the attributes of the Munafiq, when he speaks he tells a lie and Allaah has described the Munafiqeen in the beginning of Suratul Baqarah “

وَلَهُم عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ…and they have a horrible punishment for the lies they used to tell.” So lies are not permissible in Islaam, about a ghost or about a human being. So that is another topic that we can discuss over the main evil theme we wanted to warn everyone against this evening is magic.

Q. Can you be harmed if someone goes to a fortuneteller to inquire about you? Example a person converted to Islaam, his family cannot accept. So her mother goes to a fortuneteller to seek advice or knowledge about him to ease her heart. What can you do to protect yourself from such actions that are beyond your control?

A. As you said they are beyond your control. So you cannot really do anything about it except to keep your remembrance of Allaah (عزّ و جل) and ask Allaah (عزّ و جل) to protect you from the plots of disbelievers and the plots of all those who intend harm for you. And Allaah (عزّ و جل) is fully capable of granting you refuge and protecting you from the whole ummah even if the whole ummah had gathered up against you as in the hadithof Ibn Abbas, “(Arabic)….they could never harm you if anything unless it is something written by Allaah (عزّ و جل) against you.”

Q. How exactly was the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم affected by the magic?

A. The first question how was the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم affected by the magic? That described by Aa’isha رضي اللّه عنها he would think that he had done something which he had not done. In another narration he would think that he had gone to one wives house but he had not gone to that wives house.

The second question was, “What are the ways to treat magic?” When the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم was asked about curing magic with magic and he said, “(Arabic)…..He was asked about nushrah about curing magic with magic, and he said it is from the actions of shaytaan. Of course magic is impermissible. So magic being impermissible how could it be a treatment for a cure. The way you cure magic is just like you cure any other ailment. Firstly and fore mostly Tawheed, turning to Allaah (عزّ و جل) only, asking Him to heal you. And there is nothing like Tawheed. There is no doctor there is no shaykh there is nobody who can help you like Allaah (عزّ و جل). Allaah (عزّ و جل) can heal you without any shaykh without any intermediary with nothing. With your Tahweed that you call on Him and you say that , “I am your servant who does not make shirk I am your servant who singles You out in my acts of worship. Please help me in my time of need.” You call on Him with what you understand and with what you can say and you recite His Book over your affected areas which is called the ruqyah. You recite the Qur’aan for example if your arm is affected, you put your right hand over your arm and recite the Qur’aan. Furthermore you can blow on Zamzam water and drink the zamzam water. Blowing on the zamzam water with recitation of the Qur’aan and drinking the zamzam water as well the different supplications that are very general and all inclusive that the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم taught us like putting the right hand on the affected area and saying “اللّهُمَّ اللَّهُمَ رَبَّ النَّاسِ أَذْهِبِ الْبَأْسَ وَاشْفِني أَنْتَ الشَّافِي لا شِفَاءَ إَِلاَّ شِفَاؤُكَ شِفَاءٌ لا يُغَادِرُ سَقَمَا.O Allaah, Lord of all the people, remove the affliction and cure me. For verily you are the One Who cures and there is no cure except Your cure one that leaves behind no additional pain or trace of illness.

Use the dua used by the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم and as well as I mentioned. Dua of the believer upon Tawheed, trusting that Allaah (عزّ و جل) will cure you and remove your illness. That is for magic and any other type of affliction that you are facing.

Q. Can a person celebrate Canada Day?

A. Allaah سبحان وتعلى has given us two days. Allaah has given us two days in Islaam, Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha which are better than any other holiday and they take the place of all the holidays of jahiliyah as was narrated by the sahabah when they came to Madinah they had two days which they used to play and celebrate. Then the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم told them, “(Arabic)…… Allaah has traded these two days for you or exchanged these two days for you with what is better than them. Al Adha wal Fitr. Two days of the eid. They didn’t used to have religious significance in them. They were just two days “(Arabic)…… ….. we used to play about and be idle. They were not religious holidays. They were just holidays of playing, and having fun, but they were eids, every year they came back on the same day. They were eids. They weren’t like going to the barbecue or going to the park or something. No significance to the time, rather they were just going out to have the park, just to have a picnic at the park. Rather they had days, on a certain day every year they celebrated that day, which is similar to Canada Day or any other holiday, that is not sponsored by the religion of Islaam is to be left off and we are to enjoy the Qadr of Allaah and his ni’mah and the two days of the year called the Eid ul Adha and the Eid ul Fitr. And as well you find the people who generally go for these new eids or these new holidays they are not from Islaam, they begin practicing.. You find them believing that their deen is deficient perhaps. Also you find them not practicing the observance of the eids in the religion. You don’t find them walking to the eid from one way and walking back another way. You don’t find them properly practicing the way the Muslim observes the eids in Islaam. For them to think that the deen is deficient they need more than having done what the deen has given them. Having taken truly , the practice what the deen has given them. They don’t come to Jummah early Jummah is a weekly eid They don’t prepare themselves for Jummah. They don’t take a bath, they don’t wear their best clothes on Jummah, they have really no observance of the eids of Islaam. And then you find them reaching out for the eids of the disbelievers. Or the eids celebrations based on nationalism, or based on ethnic groups or different things and all these things are prohibited in Islaam. And they are in no comparison to the good and wholesome eids that Allaah subhana wa ta’ala has given us as a replacement for all the eids of jahiliyah. Wa salallahu wa sallamaAllahum (salawat)