Question:
Sorcery (sihr) is a subtle form of shirk. What does it mean to believe in it?
Answer:
We had already explained that earlier. The question asked now leaves out that previous explanation. So to understand this properly, we must restate what was explained before.
Sorcery is a subtle shirk. Not everyone who believes in sorcery becomes a mushrik. It is permissible to pray behind them. Many Imams, including Imam al-Bukhari, believed in the existence of sorcery. However, we had finally said in response to a question that if a person believes in sorcery even after all his doubts have been clarified and all evidences have been presented to him, only then should one not pray behind him.
There is no confusion in this. Let me repeat what we had already said. Initially, when asked whether one can pray behind a person who believes in sorcery, we said one should not. But later we clarified that sorcery is not something that everyone easily understands as shirk. Only those who think deeply may recognize it as shirk. Many people do not see it as shirk at all. It is that kind of subtle issue.
When something is subtle like that, there is room for making a mistaken judgment. As evidence for this, we mentioned an incident: A Jew once told the Prophetﷺ (peace be upon him), “You are a good community, but you commit shirk.” The Prophetﷺ asked, “Where do we commit shirk?” The Jew replied, “When you swear, you say ‘By the Ka‘bah.’ Is the Ka‘bah Allahﷻ? Swearing by the Ka‘bah is shirk.”
The Prophetﷺ accepted this correction and said, “Yes, you are right.” Then he instructed the people not to say, “By the Ka‘bah,” but instead to say, “By the Lord of the Ka‘bah.” So, something that had long been customary was actually shirk, yet people did not realize it. This shows that sometimes even acts of shirk may not be recognized as such by people.
That is why we explained it carefully. Regarding Imam al-Bukhari and others who recorded narrations about sorcery — if believing in sorcery automatically made someone a mushrik, then they would become disbelievers, and if they were disbelievers, their narrations would have to be rejected. But we do not reject Sahih al-Bukhari. This was explained fully before. Do not take one portion and create confusion. Read the entire explanation and then come to a conclusion.
Now another question arises from this. Suppose someone living in our time believes in sorcery. We present all evidences that it is shirk. We answer all his doubts. We respond to every question he raises, and there remains no unanswered issue. Yet after all that, he still insists, “I will continue to believe as I do.” In that case, we said one should not pray behind such a person. After explaining that it is subtle shirk and after clarifying all doubts, if he stubbornly persists, then do not follow him in prayer.
Then another issue was raised: You clearly explained this. But when answering a question about saying “Ameen” after the Imam recites Qunoot, you said it is not misguidance but a mistake in research. Why take two different positions? In one case you call it shirk, in another you call it a research error — why two standards?
The answer is: Sorcery relates to creed (‘aqeedah). Qunoot is an act of worship — a juristic issue (masa’il). If someone makes a mistake in a juristic issue, can we call him a mushrik? If someone comes to a wrong conclusion about Qunoot, we say he made an error in research. But if someone goes to a grave and worships there, can we say he merely made a research error? That relates to belief.
If someone errs in matters of belief, that is shirk. If someone errs in juristic matters, that is a mistake in understanding or research. The two are different.
Regarding Qunoot, we said: There is no strong authentic evidence for saying “Ameen” after Qunoot, but some rely on weak hadith thinking it is valid and act upon it. Therefore, it should be described as a mistake in research, not misguidance. In juristic matters, that is how we speak.
If someone says “Ameen” in Qunoot without evidence, does that make him a mushrik? Of course not. That action does not lead to shirk. But believing in sorcery — that is connected to shirk. Therefore, each issue must be judged according to its nature.
For example, in prayer, we move the finger in tashahhud. If someone does not move it and presents some evidence for his view, we say he has misunderstood — not that he is misguided, a disbeliever, or a mushrik. These actions do not make someone a mushrik.
But if someone worships other than Allahﷻ, or gives Allahﷻ’s attributes to a human being, then if he errs there, that is shirk. Whether he arrived at it through faulty research or without research, shirk remains shirk.
So why are there two approaches? Because one issue relates to creed and belief about Allahﷻ, while the other relates to a supplication in prayer. There is a difference between the two.