In al-Qasīm, for example, if you wish to face the qiblah, place the Pole Star behind your right ear; once it is behind your right ear you are correctly oriented toward the qiblah. Every region has its own reference points of this kind. Thus, ʿilm al-taysīr is what a person learns about time and place—time, such as the seasons of winter and summer, and place, namely the points of the compass.

The second category is ʿilm al-taʾthīr, the “science of influence,” the opposite of ʿilm al-taysīr. It takes astronomical knowledge as a pretext to claim that what happens on earth is caused by a particular star, just as the people of the pre-Islamic era used to say, “We were given rain by the rising of such-and-such a star.” This is forbidden and may not be relied upon, for what occurs on earth has no causal link to what happens in the sky. The heavens are independent, and whatever phenomena occur there do not affect the earth; the stars have no share in earthly events.

Yet some people—Allah’s refuge is sought—say, “This child was born under such-and-such a star, so he will be happy,” or, “That child was born under such-and-such a star, so he will be wretched.” They call this the child’s ṭāliʿ (ascendant). This practice is prohibited, and whoever believes an astrologer in such matters is like one who believes a soothsayer. Allah is the One who grants success.

1669 – Safiyyah bint Abī ʿUbayd narrates from one of the Prophet’s wives—may Allah be pleased with her—that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever goes to a soothsayer, asks him about something, and believes him, none of his prayers will be accepted for forty days.” Reported by Muslim.