As for the meaning of the ḥadīth, it conveys a severe warning against everyone who believes in sorcery in any form, and this includes astrology, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever acquires knowledge of the stars has taken a branch of sorcery; the more he increases in it, the more he increases in sorcery.”

Believing in sorcery is a tremendous sin and a grievous crime, because the duty is to brand sorcerers and astrologers as liars, to restrain them, and to keep them from practising these reprehensible acts, for by them they mislead people, peddle deceptions, and corrupt beliefs.

Sorcery itself is disbelief, as the Noble Qur’an and the Sunnah clearly indicate, and sorcerers are to be put to death. Hence, if someone believes them, that means he agrees with them and approves their vile trade. What is obligatory is to declare them false, to combat them, and to bar them from engaging in these contemptible occupations.

As for the actual impact of sorcery and the injuries that follow from it, this is a real phenomenon: it can kill, cause illness, separate a man from his wife, and sow discord among people—its effects are indeed real. Yet believing the astrologer in his claim to know the unseen and to report hidden or future matters incurs a grave threat and entails great sin. And Allah, Exalted is He, knows best.