or for whom it is sought: the phrase comes in the imperative, addressed to the person on whose behalf the omen is taken. The same grammatical observation applies to the rest of the expressions.
Overall purport of the ḥadīth: The Messenger ﷺ states that no one can truly belong to our followers—those who abide by our law—if he practices augury, soothsaying, or sorcery, or if these practices are carried out for him. All of that entails claiming knowledge of the unseen, which Allah alone possesses, and it corrupts beliefs and intellects alike. Whoever affirms the claim of anyone engaged in these practices has disbelieved in the divine revelation that came to abolish such pre-Islamic superstitions and to safeguard minds from them. Included in this prohibition is what some people do in reading what is called “the palm,” or tying a person’s happiness, misery, or fortune to the zodiac and the like.
Both Imām al-Baghawī and Ibn Taymiyyah have clarified the meanings of the terms ʿarrāf, kāhin, astrologer, and geomancer. Their conclusion is that everyone who pretends to know anything of the unseen is either explicitly a kāhin or at least shares the same claim and therefore falls under the same ruling. The kāhin is the one who reports what will occur in the future, taking his information from the eavesdropping devils, as was mentioned at the beginning of the Book of Monotheism.
Relevance of the ḥadīth to the chapter: it contains a strict prohibition against practicing soothsaying and the like, and against believing those who do so.
Points derived from the ḥadīth:
- It is forbidden to claim knowledge of the unseen, for that contradicts monotheism.
- It is likewise forbidden to believe anyone who makes such a claim through soothsaying or other means, for that constitutes disbelief.
- One must belie soothsayers and their ilk, and keep away from them and from the sciences they peddle.
- One must hold fast to what was revealed to the Messenger ﷺ and cast aside whatever opposes it.