If he truly believes that this creature knows the unseen, then without a doubt the animal is better than he is. Yet if he does not believe it, his behaviour is mere frivolity—nonsense that squanders time and money in a way people of sound judgment would never tolerate. Engaging in such an act is nothing but charlatanry, misguidance, and an unlawful devouring of people’s wealth.

There is no question that turning to this animal for knowledge of the unseen is, in their eyes, a worldly “means,” yet it is a spurious one. Experiment disproves it and sound reason dismantles it; it is a superstitious device born of ignorance and deception. From the Sharʿī perspective it is equally invalid, for it contradicts the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the consensus. It is enough that it runs counter to His words—exalted is He—extolling Himself: “Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His unseen to anyone, except a messenger whom He has chosen…” 1

Among the imagined worldly causes is the notion held by some that if a person travels or marries on a Wednesday, his journey will fail and his marriage will be unhappy; or their belief that if someone embarks on an important task and happens to see a blind person or someone with a disability, his endeavour will never be completed or succeed.

Another of these supposed causes is the conviction of many Arabs and Muslims today that sheer numbers alone will secure victory over their enemies—the Zionists and the colonial powers—and that, in their present state, they will cast the Jews into the sea. Experience has laid bare the error and falsity of these assumptions; the issue is far deeper than can be solved by such a superficial approach.

And among the imagined Sharʿī causes is the practice of some people who adopt certain means they presume to be