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Fatwa CenterDealing with a friend who tells fortunes
Question
I would like to inquire about the following:
I have a friend who is a fortune teller who lives in England, I personally do not believe in what he is doing and do not associate with his work.
He also has another big business which is buying, selling and managing properties.
My questions are as follows;
1) My friendship with him is it Haram or not.
2) Can I do any business transaction with him?
3) I have a financial problem and tried all possible ways to get money to solve the problem and presently one of the ways to get money is to borrow some money from him, I would like to ask if taking money from him is HARAM knowing that part of the source of his is from Fortune Telling.
Awaiting your quick response
Thank you,
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
If your friend is as you described, then you should warn him against this great mischief. Because the fortune teller is a person who claims to know things by some of its reasons, which helps him to do so, like knowing what is stolen, the place of a lost property and so on, this is of course a kind of magic.
The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Whoever goes to a fortune teller and asks him about anything, his prayer will not be accepted for 40 days". Reported by Muslim.
So you have to forbid him from these charlatanist lies, and cheating people. If he gives up his charlatanism and magic then it is all right, otherwise there is no good in keeping him as a friend.
The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Do not keep company except with a Mu'min (good believer) and do not let anyone eat from your food except if he a pious person." Reported by Abu Dawud, Al-Thirmidhi and Ibn Hibban and narrated by Abu Saeed Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is a sound Hadith.
As regards dealing with him in business, there is no harm in it InshaAllah, to buy from him and to sell to him. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) used to deal with the Jews and they are people of magic, charlatanism and fortune telling. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) died while his armor was mortgaged to a Jew .
And if you know that if you boycott doing business with him this will make him stop what he is doing, then it is an obligation upon you to abandon him, because if what is considered as a Wajib (obligation) cannot be achieved except by doing a specific thing, then this thing becomes Wajib.
With regard to borrowing money from him, the scholars divided dealing with a person who has money from mixed sources (Halal or Haram), into three categories:
1. If the dealing or transaction with him is precisely with his Haram money which is not mixed with Halal money. In this case dealing with him is Haram, whether borrowing money, buying and selling, accepting a gift, or any other kind of dealing.
2. If the dealing or transaction with him is with Halal money which is not mixed with Haram money, then this is permissible.
3. If the dealing with him includes a combination of his Halal and Haram money. The scholars differ about it. Some say that it is permissible to deal with him, to borrow money from him etc., if the Halal money is greater than the Haram money.
However, others state that it is dislikeable to deal with him, whether borrowing money from him, buying and selling or any other transaction. This is the preponderant opinion as the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "The Halal is clear and the Haram is clear, and in between them there are some things that are doubtful, which most people do not know – (if they are Haram or Halal). Thus, whoever avoids the doubtful, safeguards his religion and honor, but one who engages in the doubtful, falls in the Haram", reported by Bukhari and Muslim.
Therefore borrowing money from this person is among doubtful things, because his money is mixed with Haram, then it is more appropriate for you not to borrow from him, hoping that Allah will facilitate it to you to borrow money from other avenues.
Allah knows best.
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