Claiming knowledge of the unseen through palm-reading, coffee-cup readings, and similar practices

By “al-ghayb” (the unseen) we mean everything hidden from people—future events, past events, and matters they cannot perceive. Allah alone has reserved that knowledge for Himself. The Almighty says, “Say: none in the heavens or on earth knows the unseen except Allah” (al-Naml 65). Thus, only Allah—glorified be He—knows the unseen.

He may, however, disclose whatever portions of it He wills to His messengers for a wise purpose. The Most High says, “He is the Knower of the unseen; He reveals His unseen to no one—except to a messenger whom He chooses” (al-Jinn 26-27). That is, no one is informed of any part of the unseen except the one Allah has selected for His message, and He acquaints that messenger with whatever unseen realities He wishes, so that the messenger’s prophethood may be evidenced by miracles, among them the foretelling of unseen matters that Allah makes known to him. This applies to both the angelic messenger and the human messenger; no one else is granted such knowledge, as the wording confines it exclusively to them.

Accordingly, anyone who claims knowledge of the unseen by any means—other than those whom Allah has exempted among His messengers—is a liar and a disbeliever, whether he makes his claim through palm-reading, interpreting the patterns in a coffee cup,