the future, claiming, “Such-and-such will happen, such-and-such will be,” whether in broad terms or in detail—for example, telling a particular person, “Such-and-such will befall you on such-and-such a day.” In the pre-Islamic era people used to visit these soothsayers and pay them large sums, so the Prophet ﷺ forbade the soothsayer’s fee, for fortune-telling is unlawful, and whatever is unlawful, receiving compensation for it is likewise unlawful.

The third category is the prostitute’s fee—that is, the wage of a woman who commits fornication; we seek Allah’s protection. A woman may engage in fornication, and the impure from among humanity hire her for a day or two or three, or more or less, paying her for that act. This, too, was forbidden by the Messenger ﷺ, because the payment is given in exchange for something forbidden. When Allah prohibits a thing, He also prohibits its price and its wage.

Someone might ask: If a soothsayer repents to Allah after having taken people’s money, must he return it to them? We say, No, he should not return it, for they have already received the service they paid for; we do not combine for them both the payment and what they paid for. Rather, he should give that money away in charity to rid himself of it, or place it in the public treasury (Bayt al-Māl) if such a treasury exists.

The same ruling applies to anyone who has sold a dog—whether a hunting dog, a farm dog, or a livestock dog—received its price, and then Allah guided him and he repented. Do not return the price to the buyer, thereby giving him both the dog and its price; instead, give the money away in charity, or put it in the Bayt al-Māl.

The same holds for the prostitute’s wage: if she repents to Allah and turns back, should she return what she took from the fornicator? No, she should not return it to him; rather, she should place it in the Bayt al-Māl, give it away in charity, or spend it in any other avenue of good.