The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Seek treatment, but do not seek treatment with what is forbidden.” Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) likewise reported: “Allah has not placed your healing in what He has prohibited for you.” Sorcery is one of the gravest of the prohibited matters; therefore it is impermissible to use it as a remedy or to remove sorcery by means of further sorcery. Sorcery is to be broken only with lawful medicines, with Qur’anic verses, and with the transmitted supplications. These—permissible remedies, supplications, and verses from the Qur’an—are the legitimate means of nullifying sorcery, and they are sufficient for the Muslim.

Question: With regard to belief in sorcery, you stated that the one who believes in it is like the practitioner himself. From which angle is this belief intended—belief in its actual existence, or belief that the sorcerer can perform feats beyond normal human capacity?

Answer: The belief that is prohibited and that accords its holder the same ruling as the sorcerer is to believe that sorcery is legitimate: to regard it as true, lawful, and good. Whoever considers sorcery permissible, holds it to be real and virtuous, and deems it a licit craft—this is the person we mean.

As for acknowledging that sorcery does occur and is real, this is indispensable, for sorcery is a factual reality: it can kill, cause illness, and drive a wedge between a man and his wife. It is an established phenomenon that must never be denied, and such acknowledgement is not included in the prohibition. Affirming its occurrence and its harm is not forbidden, because Allah Himself has informed us of it and of its effects. Whoever rejects and denies this has belied Allah, exalted is He.