Question 539: What is the ruling on referring to those who give information about a lost or stolen item and its location? It should be noted that sometimes their words are correct, and the lost or stolen item is found with their guidance!
Answer
✅Answer: Please pay attention to the following narrations:
1 عَنِ الْهَیْثَمِ بْنِ وَاقِدٍ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِی عَبْدِ اللَّهِ علیه السلام إِنَّ عِنْدَنَا بِالْجَزِیرَةِ رَجُلًا رُبَّمَا أَخْبَرَ مَنْ یَأْتِیهِ یَسْأَلُهُ عَنِ الشَّیْ ءِ یُسْرَقُ أَوْ شِبْهِ ذَلِکَ أَ فَنَسْأَلَهُ فَقَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلی الله علیه و آله مَنْ مَشَی إِلَی سَاحِرٍ أَوْ کَاهِنٍ أَوْ کَذَّابٍ یُصَدِّقُهُ بِمَا یَقُولُ فَقَدْ کَفَرَ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ کِتَابٍ.
📚Mustadrafat al-Sara'ir, p. 83
Haytham ibn Waqid said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'There is a man among us on the island who sometimes gives information to someone who comes to him asking about a stolen item or something similar to it! Should we ask him (for these matters)?' So Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Whoever goes to a sorcerer or a soothsayer (who gives information about the past, future, and hidden matters) or a liar and believes what he says, has indeed disbelieved in what Allah has revealed from the Book!'
2 عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ يَعْقُوبَ بْنِ يَزِيدَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ عَنْ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: مَنْ تَكَهَّنَ أَوْ تُكُهِّنَ لَهُ فَقَدْ بَرِئَ مِنْ دِينِ مُحَمَّدٍ....
📚Al-Khisal, p. 19, hadith 68
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever practices soothsaying or has soothsaying practiced for him is a disbeliever in the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)!....'
✅Those who claim to give information about the location of a lost item, a stolen item, and the like, through communication with rebellious jinn and other ways, are in fact a category of soothsayers who give information about the past, future, and hidden matters. Although for some reasons their words sometimes turn out to be correct, it is strictly forbidden in the narrations to refer to these people and believe them, two of which we have mentioned, and all the narrations condemning soothsayers and soothsaying also apply to such people.
✅Please also pay attention to the following narration:
3 عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ النَّوْفَلِيِّ عَنِ السَّكُونِيِّ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: السُّحْتُ ثَمَنُ الْمَيْتَةِ وَ ثَمَنُ الْكَلْبِ وَ ثَمَنُ الْخَمْرِ وَ مَهْرُ الْبَغِيِّ وَ الرِّشْوَةُ فِي الْحُكْمِ وَ أَجْرُ الْكَاهِنِ.
📚Al-Kafi, Vol. 5, p. 126
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'The price of a carcass, the price of a dog, the price of wine, the dowry for fornication, a bribe in judgment, and the wage of a soothsayer is 'suht' (ill-gotten gain)!'
Cases of 'suht'
✅Based on the above narration and the like, the wage and fee that a soothsayer takes for giving information about the location of a lost and stolen item and the like is 'suht' (meaning an unlawful earning that brings a destructive punishment)!
✅For more clarification, please also refer to the following link:
The ruling on referring to fortune-tellers
The ruling on referring to psychics
اللَّهُمَّ َصَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ
وَ عَجِّلْ لِوَلِیِّکَ الْفَرَجَ وَ الْعَافِیَةَ وَ النَّصْرَ