THE new Islamic year has begun and people are hoping to have a great year where their dreams and wishes will come to life. Unfortunately, some people want to speed up the days and see what will happen to them in the New Year, and are making appointments with fortunetellers to predict their future. Raniya Baghdadi, 26, from Riyadh is a mother of two daughters and works at a private institute. Every last month of the year she heads to a fortuneteller, called Arraaf in Arabic, to give her ascendant for the coming year. “I always do it, most of the things they tell me are true and they happen,” said Dahesh. It's a science and I don't see any harm in it.” Ironically enough, Baghdadi said that she will not allow any of her daughters to visit these fortunetellers. “I'm afraid that they will tell them bad things that could affect their lives,” she said. It is well-known that in Islam, practicing astrology, foretelling the future and even visiting fortunetellers is strongly prohibited. A hadith (narration) of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, “He who visits a soothsayer (‘Arraaf) and asks him about anything, his prayers extending to forty nights will not be accepted.” “In Islam, it is Haram to go to a fortuneteller and listen to him, it is also Haram to believe in horoscopes and to buy books or newspapers to read the horoscopes,” said Sheikh Taha Muhammed Hassan, an Imaam from Jeddah. “This is because Islam wants us to base all our decisions on common sense and concrete facts; horoscopes are based on conjecture and believing in them is Haram,” he said. Mawada Abdulateef, 23, of Jeddah is considered an “expert” when it comes to horoscopes. She buys horoscope books whenever she travels abroad. “I have more than 53 books on horoscopes; it's my hobby to read about them and check people's personalities through each horoscope. I just got married and I accepted my husband based on the attraction between our horoscopes.” Not only does she buys books, she also visits a fortuneteller to predict her future -- especially to know how many babies she will have and if she will live a happy life or not. “The fortuneteller I go to -- behind my mother's back -- is an Egyptian lady who reads my future through tea leaves or through the palm of my hand, where she follows the lines and tells me what she sees,” she says. Fortunetellers claim that people's personalities are determined by the stars, which affect their future actions and the events of their lives. Ordinary fortunetellers claim that the formation of tea leaves at the bottom of a cup, or lines in a palm of one's hand tell them the same thing. In both cases, individuals claim the ability to read in the physical formation of created objects knowledge of the unseen -- something which is considered reprehensible and strictly forbidden in Islam. “I've been practicing fortunetelling for more than 50 years,” said Umm-Ahmed, a Moroccan who lives in Jeddah. “I usually have different techniques depending on the price I will be paid.” She claims that she has regular customers who come every month and some who visit her every week. “I do the cup reading which is the cheapest, I do the hand palm reading and also paper cuttings with the name of the person in front of me, this is the most expensive,” said Umm-Majdi, another fortuneteller. Her customers are willing to pay a huge amount of money to do these things. “Sometimes I make things up -- I get my money at the end that's what's important to me,” she said. Sheikh Taha Hassan said that anyone predicting the future or seeking such predictions is going against the teachings of Islam and the clear injunctions of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and should not be considered a true Muslim. In the Qur'an, Surah Al-An'aam (The Cattle) clearly states in verse 59, (the translation of which means): “He knows all that is in the land and in the sea; there is not a leaf that falls from a tree but He knows about it; there is not a grain in the darkest bowels of the earth of which He is not aware; everything fresh and dry has been recorded in an open Book.” This means that only Allah has knowledge of the unseen, not any human being.
