Magic. The very word is temptation for men too many times, especially for those who seek ‘miracle’. In Islam, however, the practice of sihr (magic, meaning something that is hidden and its cause unknown) is an act of kufr (disbelief); therefore, magic and sorcery are prohibited and considered haram. Even the act of believing in it without practicing it is also haram. Magic here means sorcery, witchcraft, divination, and the occult. It should be noted that so-called magic used for entertainment, such as magic shows, is not prohibited by Islam as long as the ‘magicians’ do not violate any of the dictates of Islam in any way.

Practitioners of magic (ie Muslims) believe in magical power, a demonic power (since it is said that one cannot achieve sorcery without seeking the help of the devil), and often worship it. As such, they would then claim that there is another power greater than Allah when as Muslims they should and must accept Allah alone as the only God, the mighty one. To believe in any other supreme being would be an act of disbelief towards Allah. Learning magic is also an act of disbelief because they claim to have magical powers, when such powers can only exist in the Almighty himself.

The Prophet mentions this,

“Whoever goes to a fortune teller or a fortune teller and believes what he says, has not believed what was revealed to Mohammed.”

Since magic is believed to be as powerful as God, it would be no different than associating sorcery with Allah. And the act of associating something or someone with God in the form of worship is a great sin that comes with severe punishment. Al-Maaidah 5:72 says:

“Verily, whoever establishes partnership with Allah, then Allah has forbidden him Paradise and fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers) there are no helpers.”

This is further evidenced by the warnings of God’s messenger:

“Get away from the seven destructive sins!” They said: “What are they, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “Associating partners with Allah; practicing sorcery; taking a life that Allah has forbidden except for a just cause (according to Islamic Law); eating Riba (usury) devouring the wealth of an orphan; fleeing from the camp of battle in the time of fighting (with unbelievers) and accusing chaste women of fornication, who never think of anything that can touch their chastity and who are good believers.

On top of that, sorcerers would manipulate naïve and naïve people into believing in their power and thus magic as well. These lead believers towards magic and thus away from God. Such an act is considered evil or satanic, as only Satan seeks to turn believers away from his faith in God.

Another reason sorcery and magic are sins is due to their influences and consequences. Sorcery tempts men with evil and causes a family to fall apart. He manipulates the weak-minded, dominates their minds and influences them to do evil deeds. More often than not, men seek magic to inflict harm on other beings. Again, leading men to evil instead of good.

Magic is almost never used for good purposes, although some would claim that, calling it white magic. But even if magic is used with good intentions, it is still a fact that it depends on unnatural powers and abilities, something that is not given by God (otherwise He would not have prohibited it). Not to mention that the practice of white magic is a slippery slope down to black magic, which generally harms everyone and benefits no one.