Is It Unlawful to Ask Allah for Signs about Your Future?
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
Is it unlawful asking Allah (Most High) to show me signs about my future? I know that asking a “fortune teller” or a soothsayer about your future is Shirk. Is that the case when you pray to Allah to give you signs?
I asked Allah for a sign, and I was desperate, and it was about my future. The way I did, it was by asking Allah to stop my finger at a specific time on a timer on my phone. My finger started to move by itself, and I didn’t control it at all, and I landed at that specific time, which convinced me that it was a sign, but when I told my relatives, they said it was a Jinn messing with me. Can the jinn interfere in your prayers? And is it unlawful to ask Allah about my future?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to that which is pleasing to Him. Amin.
It is permissible to ask Allah for signs about your future. The legitimate way of doing so is through istikhara (prayer for guidance), not through divination (which resembles what you did).
Please see this:
Taking Part in the Charlie Charlie Challenge
For detailed guidance about how to pray Istikhara, please refer to this:
Istikhara: The Prayer of Seeking Guidance
I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
