and others like them. It is well known that such magic is forbidden by the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the consensus of the Muslim community. Indeed, most scholars hold that a sorcerer is a disbeliever who must be put to death. The execution of sorcerers is established in reports from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, Hafsah bint ʿUmar, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, and Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh. A report to this effect has also been transmitted through the latter and attributed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Allah Most High says:

“The sorcerer will never succeed, wherever he may go.”

He also says:

“They followed what the devils recited during the reign of Solomon. Solomon did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people sorcery and what was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt. Yet the two would teach no one without saying, ‘We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve.’ They learned from them what would cause separation between a man and his wife, but they could not harm anyone through it except by Allah’s permission. They learned what harmed them and did not benefit them. They certainly knew that whoever purchased it would have no share in the Hereafter. How wretched was that for which they sold themselves, if only they knew!”

Thus, He, glorified be He, makes clear that those who seek sorcery know that its practitioner will have no share in the Hereafter. Nevertheless, they seek worldly gains through it: power and wealth. “If they had believed and feared Allah,” they would have received a reward from Allah in this world and the Hereafter better for them than what they seek. This is why you find those who engage in sorcery and the invocation of the heavenly bodies