The Prohibition against Going to Soothsayers, Astrologers, Diviners and Looking for Omens

799. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, “Some people asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about soothsayers, and he said, ‘They have nothing.’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, they tell us something about those of us who are alive and then it sometimes comes true.’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘That is a word of truth which a jinn got hold of and then cast into the ear of his helper, but they mix a hundred lies with it.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Tawhid, 57; Sahih Muslim, Salam, 122).

800. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Anyone who takes knowledge from the stars, takes a branch of sorcery and his sorcery increases according to the amount of knowledge he gains.’” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Tibb, 22).
Annotation: The final part of the hadith (zada ma zada) can also be translated as “The Messenger of Allah gave extensive information at this issue.”

801. Abu Mas’ud al-Badri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade the proceeds from the sale of dogs, money earned through prostitution and the earnings of a soothsayer. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Buyu, 25; Sahih Muslim, Musaqat, 40).
Annotation: It is stated that a dog cannot be evaluated as a property that brings income, but there are different viewpoints at this issue in different schools of thought. As the Shafi school does not approve of selling dogs, some Hanafi scholars saw it as permissible unless the dog is an aggressive one. Believers had better be cautious at this issue and keep away from buying and selling dogs, with certain exceptions as police dogs, hound dogs etc.

 

Nawawi, Imam. Riyad As-Salihin; The Gardens of the Righteous: A collection of authentic hadiths. Tughra Books Press, Inc. 2014