Title: Psychics in Islam Question: Do Psychics or palm readers have any knowledge or insights into the future, and if so how? Or Is it permitted for a muslim to go to a psychic ,either it be for fun, curiosity or advise. this is a very confusing subject for me and I would greatly appreciate your response. thank you. Answer: The mention of psychics and palm readers is not made in the sources of Islam. Any powers, or perceived as such, are by the will of God. Hence, the answer to such a question lies with the authentication of such power. This, however, can be difficult to acquire the truth to. There are many that deceive the common person with illusions, trickery and fraudulent portrayal of having knowledge which they do not. Islam prescribes that we reach out to the Almighty in times of need and help. Faith in people or their supposed powers may only undermine what we should be committing our beliefs to. It is the very investment of our trust in things other than God's Will or in His Guidance that could very well lead us down a dark path. Any advice from such people could be hazardous because it may be deceitful at best. The mind, regardless of how strong one is, sometimes falls into a preoccupation with such things even when normally the person would not allow themselves such thoughts of believing in what has been told to him even if he knows it is not real. Thus, any sort of fun would expose the individual to potential harm. In my personal opinion, it actually weakens the faith of a believer to a certain extent; some more than others but nevertheless it does diminish the faith. If thought out deeply a psychic cannot really help. Imagine that one can truly tell you what will happen in the future, if you try to change what is supposed to happen and you succeed then in fact they did not predict anything. The other scenario is that if they truly have this knowledge then there is nothing that you could do to change the outcome. It may seem appealing to know something is supposed to occur but then if that were the case how would our present actually play out knowing the future? For every action the future would change and only God knows how many reactions you would have to commit yourself to even come close to an outcome you would like. Whatever the case, trying to find out the future, even for fun, could be dangerous and should be avoided. Our focus should be living our lives as it is dealt to us and take the Almighty as our Protector and Guide through it. Success awaits those who follow His Guidance; that is not a prediction but a promise from the Creator Himself. I hope I have clarified the issue. God knows best. Ronnie Hassan May 6, 2005