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What is the ruling on portraying that a pious ascetic knows what is inside a person or foretells the future, and is this considered divination and polytheism, and are there people whom Allah has blessed with that, and is believing that polytheism?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Awliya' (friends/saints) of Allah are the believing, pious individuals. Their sainthood does not necessitate knowledge of the unseen or what is in people's hearts. However, some among them may be truthful, inspired individuals whom Allah informs of certain matters through inspiration (ilham), keen insight (firasa), or true dreams. It is permissible to be optimistic about their tidings without asserting their infallibility, because their tidings are not infallible and do not constitute divination (kahana). They are obliged to present whatever they are inspired with to the Qur'an and Sunnah. Scholars have differed regarding the ruling on acting (representation), and the fatwa adopted by us is its permissibility if it is free from শরীয়াহ-prohibited elements.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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