...When dealing with the concepts of "right" and "wrong", we, as Muslims, turn to the guidance handed down to us through revelation. When God tells us in the Quran, "It may be that you dislike something that is good for you, and it may be that you love something that is bad for you," (2:216) we take this advice to heart and have complete conviction that every single divine injunction handed down to us through our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is for our own benefit. Sometimes, we are able to discern the benefit; at other times, we are unable to discern it. Our inability to discern the benefit in divine injunctions stems from our inherent human incapacity: our limitary knowledge prevents us from being able to come to judgments that take all possibilities into account. We may think something is good for us, but only because we are unable to understand how it would harm us. We may think something is bad for us, but only because we are unable to understand how it would benefit us. We believe that "Allah knows and you do not know." (2:216)
In this context, when the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) warned us against magic, we understand his warning as a loving and sincere indication towards what is best for us.
Imam Bukhari relates via Abu Hurayra that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Shun the Destructive Seven," to which the Companions responded, "O Messenger of Allah, what are they?" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) replied, "Associating partners with Allah, magic, killing a human soul without right, consuming usury, consuming the wealth of an orphan, fleeing from the battlefield, and charging innocent, chaste, believing women with adultery."
In the light of this hadith, we understand that all of the seven acts mentioned by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) are extremely harmful--destructive, in fact--to us. If someone objects by saying that they can weave a magical spell that brings benefit to their subject, we--as Muslims--believe that there are certain harmful aspects of magic that have escaped the knowledge of this person, and that our Lord, in His perfect knowledge and out of his loving concern for us, warned us against magic on the tongue of His messenger to apprise us of this.
Someone who does not believe in God or in the veracity of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), however, will not be able to understand this...
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