Expert: Muhammad Omer Iqal - 4/13/2009

Question
QUESTION: Assalamu Alaykum, I am student of Islam and I am studying the topic of magic. Illusionary magic is something people overlook when it is in fact haram. I hope you can help me with my question, movies these days have alot of special effects. I have discovered that those involved in making special effects have studied magic and use the tricks magicians use which is, slight of hand. My question is, if one is to watch these "movies" and television programs isn't it the same as watching a magician trick show?

ANSWER: Wa aleikum us salaam,

The magic that is considered impermissible is actually that which calls on unacceptable means to conduct the activity. An example is invocating those other than God to achieve their goal, or to use magic to cause harm to someone else. Example of such magic is mentioned in Al-Baqarah 2:102 in Quran; in the verse, it is mentioned that magic was used to cause a rift between man and his wife.

The so-called magicians who perform and conduct tricks is not the same form of magic. Those are primarily tricks that fall under the category of entertainment, and would be subject to the same principles that generally any entertainment activity would be subject to. Generally, an activity that is sinful or otherwise takes one away from God must be avoided. Similarly, one should not indulge in such activities to the extent that it ends up in an excessive waste of one's time. Entertainment activities are good for one so long as they are done in moderation, and so long as they do not violate any other limits.

I hope this answers your question. In particular, watching or even conducting such tricks in themselves is not a problem and should not be considered impermissible.

Feel free to write back if you have more questions.
Best Wishes,
Muhammad Omer Iqbal
www.omeriqbal.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply, my following question is, what type of magic did Fir'awn's magicians perform at the time Mussa alayhis salam? The magic I reffered to in my first question is about sleight-of-hand magic, where the illusionist pretends to make something appear or disappear through distraction techniques. This is not "black magic", but isn't it a kind of deceit? From your reply it seems you have said illusionary magic is permissable? I am quite surprised at this.

Answer
I am sorry for a late response. If you read the story of Pharaoh and his magicians, you will see that they had come to challenge a messenger of God. Not only that, when they found out that messenger of God, prophet Moses (pbuh), was not performing magic rather a miracle, they believed in him and one God, and rejected Pharaoh. It seems that the story of those magicians has not been presented as negatively, and not as an indication of that magic should not be practiced.

At the time of prophet Muhammad (pbuh), for the leaders of Quraysh, it was their wealth and power that became a hurdle in accepting the message of the Prophet. As a result, Quran has referred to them too in context of their opposition to Muhammad (pbuh). That does not imply that wealth or power are problematic because Quran also mentions prophet Solomon whose power's enormity is mentioned in Quran too, but he used it for the cause of God. In addition, there is also a mention of his army of Jinns, and incident of a Jinn who brought the throne of Queen Sheba to prophet Solomon.

Having said that, we have to understand that kind of work that you are mentioning to is not 'magic', rather 'tricks' performed by artists to amuse their audiences. Using the term 'magic' for these tricks is our use of language, because those who are performing the art want us to believe it is 'magical', where these are tricks performed by them to entertain the audience. If audience were told ahead of time that it is not magic rather tricks, it may not be as entertaining to them.

Considering these aspecits, I believe it is two aspects of these illusions that matter: 1) How is it performed. If the method is sinful or against the law of God, then it should not be done. 2) What is the purpose. If it is for entertainment within limits, then there is nothing in Quran that we can use to say that it is not permissible. If it is to cause harm to God's creation or otherwise cause mischief, then it should be abstained from.

I think your surprise to my response may come from the fact that you had always known or thought that magic in general was impermissible. However, what the Prophet (pbuh)'s guidance to us is that if something is not prohibited in Islam, then it is permissible. In this context, if you read through the Quran, you will find that it is not possible to find that illusions and tricks are prohibited. If God and His messenger have not made something prohibited, then we are in no position to declare it so.

I hope this explains my point of view. However, if you still think that my arguments are not sound, we should continue discussing.

Thanks,
Muhammad Omer Iqbal
www.omeriqbal.com