Repentance of a Witch Will the repentance of a witch (practitioner of witchcraft) be accepted by Allah? Because I heard that a witch asked the sahabah (companions) about repenting after the death of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and no one answered her. What did they say to her? Would her faith benefit her before Allah? Why do the scholars issue fatwas (verdicts) about the acceptance of the witch’s repentance in this case? Praise be to Allah. Learning witchcraft and practicing it constitute kufr (disbelief). Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “They followed what the shayateen (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulayman (peace be upon him). Sulayman (peace be upon him) did not disbelieve, but the shayateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut, but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, ‘We are for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).’” [2:102] A practitioner of witchcraft may do something that makes him an apostate, so he commits kufr and should be executed for his apostasy. Or he may practice witchcraft by doing something that does not constitute kufr. In the latter case there is a difference of scholarly opinion, but the correct view is that he should also be executed if it is proven that he is a practitioner of witchcraft. This is what the sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did and enjoined others to do. If he is executed, he should not be washed or shrouded or buried in the Muslim graveyard. There should be no hesitation in executing the practitioner of witchcraft, whether we say that he is a kafir (disbeliever) or not, because this is what is proven from the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Executing him prevents the spread of evil and serves as a deterrent to his fellow practitioners of witchcraft. If a practitioner of witchcraft repents sincerely to Allah, then Allah will accept his repentance. This is between him and his Lord, before the matter reaches the courts. But if the matter reaches the Islamic court, then the qaadi (Muslim judge) should execute him without asking him to repent, so as to rid society of his evil. But it is not permissible for any individual to carry out the hadd (Islamically prescribed) punishment by himself, rather the matter must be referred to the authorities. There follow some fatwas of the scholars on this matter: 1 – Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a practitioner of witchcraft repents sincerely to Allah, that will benefit him before Allah, for Allah accepts repentance from the mushrikeen (polytheists) and others, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins.” [42:25] “And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” [24:31] But in this world it is not accepted. The correct view is that he is to be executed. If it is proven to the court that he is a practitioner of witchcraft, then he should be executed, even if he says, “I have repented.” His repentance between him and Allah is valid, if he is sincere, and that will benefit him before Allah, but according to the Islamic ruling he is to be executed, just as ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) executed the practitioners of witchcraft, because their evil is great. They may say, “We have repented,” but they may be lying, and the people will be harmed and may not be safe from their evil because of the repentance that they show. So they should be executed, and their repentance will benefit them before Allah if they are sincere. End quote. Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baz. 2 – The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) also said: The correct view according to the scholars is that the practitioner of witchcraft should be executed without being asked to repent, because of the seriousness of their evil. Some scholars are of the view that they should be asked to repent, and that they are like any other kafirs (non-Muslims) who should be asked to repent. But the correct scholarly view is that they should not be asked to repent because their evil is so great, and because they conceal their evil and their kufr; they may claim to have repented but they are lying, and may cause a great deal of harm to people as a result. Hence the scholars were of the view that the one who is known and proven to be a practitioner of witchcraft should be executed even if he claims that he has repented and that he regrets what he has done; he should not be believed. Hence it is narrated that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the commanders of the troops telling them to execute every practitioner of witchcraft they found, so as to guard against their evil. Abu ‘Uthman al- Nahdi said: “We executed three practitioners of witchcraft.” This is how it was narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhari from Bajalah ibn ‘Abdah. [It was also narrated by Abu Dawud with a saheeh isnad/authentic chain of narrators, and the original report is in al-Bukhari]. And it is narrated in a saheeh (authentic) report that Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her) executed a slave woman of hers because she found out that she was engaging in witchcraft. And when the great sahabi (companion) Jundub ibn ‘Abd-Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a practitioner of witchcraft playing with his head – making the people think that he was cutting off his head and putting it back – he approached him without him realizing and killed him, and said: “Now put your head back if you are telling the truth!” Conclusion: the evil of the practitioners of witchcraft is great, hence it is obligatory to execute them. If the authorities know that they are practitioners of witchcraft, and that is proven with shar’i (legal) evidence, then they have to execute them, so as to protect society from their evil and corruption. End quote. 3 –The Shaykh also said: If he is executed, the funeral prayer should not be offered for him, and he should not be buried in the graveyard of the Muslims; he should be buried in the graveyard of the kafirs. He should not be buried in the graveyard of the Muslims, the funeral prayer should not be offered for him, and he should not be washed or shrouded. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound. 4 – He also said: The ruling on the practitioner of witchcraft who is known to make people imagine things, or whose actions result in harm for people, such as causing people to see things that are not there, making a man beloved to his wife or a wife beloved to her husband, or the opposite, which causes harm to people, if this is proven by means of evidence in the Islamic court, then this practitioner of witchcraft must be executed and his repentance should not be accepted even if he repents. We have quoted above the report narrated from ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who ordered his commanders to kill the practitioners of witchcraft so as to prevent their mischief on earth and to stop them disturbing the Muslims and causing harm to people.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:00:04 +0000
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