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Is it permissible to accept the charismata and divinations of a father who calculates with pebbles and gives people good tidings, citing the righteous and Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, despite his anger when trying to convince him to repent from these actions?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

What the questioner's father does, using pebbles, divination, and pointing to stolen goods, is charlatanry and soothsaying. Previous fatwas have warned against soothsayers and going to them. The truly pious person is one who believes in Allah and fears Him, as Allah Almighty said: "Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. Those who believed and used to fear Allah." As for soothsayers, they are the furthest people from piety, and the extraordinary feats that occur at their hands are not karamat (miracles/saintly wonders), for extraordinary feats can occur at the hand of a sorcerer and a soothsayer through the action of devils. The questioner is advised to continue advising his father gently and to seek help from wise relatives and friends.

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

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