SHUBHAH (CONFUSION) OF JALABI ALFAS ON MEDICINE AND MAGIC

By

Ibn 'Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

A very close brother recently sent me a video of one Alfa where that Alfa was asked if the doing of "Oogun" (magic) was permissible in Islaam, and he said it was permissible. The Alfa was actually Yahya Salati who died recently. While he was answering the question, he was quoting and twisting texts of the Qur'an and hadiths in support of his position. The brother wanted me to throw light on the answer given by that Alfa. So, It took my time to watch the video. After watching the video, I could have just said "he was right in his resposes" by given him a benefit of doubt had it being he is a person known to be upon Sunnah. But I had to make some clarifications because people like him are confusionists. This is evident in many of his so called lectures. They are in the habit of mixing truth with falsehood. They mix the term 'medicine' and 'magic' together in order to confuse and mislead ignorant people. In Islaam, medicine (local or foreign herbs made from natural raw materials) is permissible, but magic (sihr) is not permissible. In fact, it us kufr that could take any of its perpetrators out of Islaam. 

Unfortunately, in our local language (Yoruba) both medicine and magic are called one word ("Oogun"). This make it easy for the misguided scholars to lure unsuspecting Muslims into sihr (magic) making them to be believe it is the same as dawaa' (medicine).

My response to the question I was asked goes thus:

AlhamduliLlaah, despite the fact that I don't like listening to these kind of people (Jalabi and bid'ah people), I was patient enough to listen to him till the end. 

The verse he brought is in the Qur'an and the hadiths he cited were also sound. Allaah says:

(وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۙ وَلَا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًا)

"And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss" [Surat Al-Isra' 82]

One of the two hadiths he mentioned in the video is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه where the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "There is no disease that Allaah has created, except that He has also created its treatment (cure)." [Volume 7, Book 71, Number 582]

The main problem with this type of preachers is that the verse, the hadiths cited and other relevant verses of the Qur'an and hadiths are often misinterpreted, twisted and misconstrued to mislead people through the inadequacies of our local (Yoruba) dialects. What the verse and the hadiths refer to is permissibility of medicine (treatment or cure) in Islaam. Seeking medication to bodily illness (whether external or internal) is obviously allowed. In fact, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to teach the Companions رضي الله عنهم this very well. There are many hadith on prophetic medicine. He used to teach them how to use verses of the Qur'an to cure diseases and spiritual problems (that is well known as ruqyah). He also used to teach them how to use natural raw materials as means of curing illness (i.e the use of 'hulbah' powder made from fenugreek tree). That is what we call prophet medicine. For instance, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said 'habbatus saudaa' (black seed) is a cure for all kinds of diseases except death. There are many other kinds of prophetic medicine, and scholars have written extensively on it in order to clear some misconceptions the people of bid'ah spread about it. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us what we can use to cure diseases and what we ought not to use. He approved medicine (dawaa'), and forbids sihr (magic).

In the same vein, the verses and hadiths establish the fact that we can also go to hospitals to seek conventional medications to diseases and health issues provided that the medications are not haram. For instance, medications to abort pregnancy without just cause is haram. Muslims must avoid it. The above cited verse also justifies the use of local and traditional herbs that are used to cure some diseases provided that they are made from halal things. For instance, to drink agbo jedejedi is okay if it works well for you. It depends on individuals' body system. We can also use mango peels and 'dogon yaro' leaves etc.for maleria and so on. These all fall under medicine that Islaam permits. Nobody will argue against them. 

In addition, some verses of the Qur'an are used to cure both spiritual and bodily diseases. For instance, "Aayatal kursiyy", Suratul Ikhlas, Falaq and Nas, etc. can be used to cure evil eyes and many other spiritual trials and attacks, whether from human beings or the jins. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also taught his Companions رضي الله عنهم 'hijaamah' (cupping therapy). This treatment is now very popular in our contemporary world. Even the conventional medical institutions have embraced it. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم talked about Zam zam water, use of 'kohl', 'ajwah' dates and so on. In a hadith reported in Saheeh Bukhari, Jabir ibn 'Abdullah رضي الله عنه said he paid Al-Muqanna a visit during his illness and said, 

"I will not leave till he gets cupped, for I heard Allaah's Apostle saying, "There is healing in cupping."[Volume 7, Book 71, Number 600]

Now, the main area of problem is that people of bid'ah confuse ignorant Muslims to believe that sihr(magic) is the same as medicine (dawaa') and it is permissible. They have extented and misinterpreted the 'medicine' to include 'magic'. Very unfortunately, these two words are called "oogun" in Yoruba language. The original meaning for 'magic' is 'idan' or 'isuju'. Whatever way sihr (magic) is described, it is forbidden. The inadequacies created by these close words makes it easy to mislead ignorant people who know little or nothing about the shari'ah. But we all know the words have different meanings. For instance, if we want to say "Abija is highly fettish", we say "Abija ni oagun gan". The same way, if we want to say "Abdullahi used his drugs (medicine)", we say: "Abdullahi ti lo oogun re". 

This is the loop hole that many, if not all Jalabi people are using to mislead people. When they say "oogun" is permissible, they mean both magic and medicine are permissible. Their actions have made us to understand that they are into several acts amounting to magic That is why they permit use of sand or any other object to practice soothsaying. Some people are deceived by the way they operate. If you tell them not to patronize soothsayers again, they will say: "won man rina faa" (they are seeing future). Don't be deceived! Aisha رضي الله عنها reported in Saheeh Bukhari,

Some people asked Allaah's Apostle about the fore-tellers He said. ' They are nothing" They said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Sometimes they tell us of a thing which turns out to be true." Allah's Apostle said, "A Jinn snatches that true word and pours it Into the ear of his friend (the fore-teller) (as one puts something into a bottle) The foreteller then mixes with that word one hundred lies." [Volume 7, Book 71, Number 657]

The jalabi people ground animals alive to do magic. They give "black soap" to people as "awure" (market boost). They do "gbere" (scarification). They do "aseje" (mixture of many crazy things for success). They specify "sara" (charity) for people without evidence from Qur'an and Sunnah. They demand slaughtering of animals for sacrifice without evidence from Qur'an and Sunnah. They believe in wearing "bante" (amulets) as means of protection. They permit "ofo" (incantations). They permit use of objects like "tira wiwe", "oruka" (rings) as means of protection. They also use talisman ("ikole") and amulets ("ifunpa"). They tell people to bring their problems for them solve. Whereas, they also have countless of problem they can't solve for themselves. All these are several aspects of sihr (magic) as explained by Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdilwahhab رحمه الله in his book, 'Kitaab ut Taoheed'. Reading that book would open our eyes to many kinds of shirk that a lot of Alfas are perpetrating in our society.

The people of bid'ah use "egbe" (something that can lift them out of any evil scenes). They belittle adhkaar specifically prescribed for this (أعوذ بكلمت الله تآمات من شر ما خلق). They do "aworo" (something that can draw multitude of people towards their misguidance). They also do "il'am" (magic for attaining knowledge in a magical way) of various kinds. 

An uncle of mine told me a jahiliyyah story of how he and two other persons went to one popular Shehu for one dangerous nankali. Fortunately for him, the two other persons betrayed him by going behind to get the nankali. After getting the nankali, they used it and they started falling sick. They became very thin. The two of them died one after the other. I was very small when this incident occured in our area. It was one of them who later confessed to my uncle that they used what they got from that Tijaniyyah Shehu and it drained their blood because they hadn't attain the age of eligibility. SubhanaLlaah! 

Many of these jalabi Alfas deal with jins who help them to execute satanic missions. They take their victims to streams for spiritual baths just like the idolaterers. We don't even know the difference between them and the herbalists again. The only difference is their dressing. These Alfas are in the habit of using human parts for rituals. All these are paths to shirk (polytheism). When they say "aajo" (striving to solve a problem), they mean it to include a lot of things that are not Islamic. They fear the harms of evil human beings against the instruction of Allaah. That is why they run here and there in search of protection from unlawful sources. They join secret societies and they seek help of cultists. Some of them join cultist groups to seek fame. They have books where all the magical powers and their devilish ingredients are recorded. That is what they call "iwe oogun or account". Many of the nankalis they talk about are means by which they make use of shayaateen among the jins. 

So, every Muslim must now be very careful. The prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had warned strongly against these people in many hadiths. They hide under Islaam to promote bid'ah and shirk. But unfortunately, a lot of people still follow them because they are ignorant of Sunnah. Allaah guides whomever He wishes. You can also test them as if you have problem, you will be able to know their secrets better.

The stand of scholars of sunnah who are well grounded in the knowledge of Islaam according to sunnah with sincerity, and fear of Allaah is that medicines that are free of things that are haram (like alcohol, pig etc.) are permissible. Magic (sihr) is not permissible. In fact, it is a form of shirk that if anyone does it and dies upon its belief, such a person will dies as kafir and will be in hell fire forever. May Allaah save us from this. The belief of the people of Sunnah is that we can seek medications on our illness. But when we are faced with spiritual problems, we should deal with it the way the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Companions رضي الله عنهم used to deal with it. The best "aajo" as far as sunnah is concerned is to make du'aa and recite verses of ruqyah as contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Drinking of "haintu" is also detested. Apart from the fact that it is an innovation, it can cause several medical issues in the future. 

May Allah guide us aright.