and in enforcement of Allah’s judgment concerning them. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Bajālah ibn ʿAbdah reports: “ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb wrote, ‘Kill every male and female sorcerer.’” Jundub narrates— in a report traced back to the Prophet ﷺ— “The legal penalty for the sorcerer is to strike him with the sword.” Recorded by al-Tirmidhī.

6. Augury (at-ṭayyarah)
   Augury is to regard birds, names, words, places, people, and the like as signs of impending misfortune. When a person resolves to do something—whether worldly or religious—then sees or hears what he dislikes, one of two things happens. Either he abandons what he had intended, taking that sight or sound as an evil omen; his heart becomes attached to it, which harms his faith and compromises his monotheism and reliance on Allah. Or he persists in what he planned, yet the effect of the augury lingers in his heart as grief, pain, anxiety, misgivings, and weakness.

Whoever senses any of this within himself must strive to repel it, seek Allah’s help, rely on Him, proceed with his task, and say: “O Allah, none brings good but You, and none wards off evil but You; there is no power and no might except through You.”

Augury is an ancient disease. Allah mentions it of the unbelieving nations, who even considered the best of creation— the prophets and their believing followers— evil omens. Concerning Pharaoh and his people He said: “Whenever misfortune befell them, they blamed it on Moses and those with him.” ⦗1⦘ About the people of Ṣāliḥ He said: “They said, ‘We consider you and those with you a bad omen.’” ⦗2⦘ About the inhabitants of the town He said: “They said to Allah’s messengers, ‘We see you as a bad omen; if you do not desist, we will surely stone you, and a painful punishment from us will touch you.’” ⦗3⦘ And about the idolaters He said regarding Muhammad ﷺ: “If misfortune befalls them, they say, ‘This is because of you.’” ⦗4⦘

Thus the religion of the polytheists is one and the same: their hearts and minds are inverted, so they imagined