495. Sorcery does not impact men.

People who believe that witchcraft can impact men cite verse 2:102 of the Quran to substantiate their claim.

The explanation to verse 2:102 of the Quran has been done in point No;28, If read and understood well would give a better understanding of the following.

We are to discuss here only whether a separation could be brought in between a husband and a wife. 

What does the verse convey and how to understand it? Does this verse convey the message sorcery can impact people or otherwise. These are points that need to be clearly understood.

Before going into knowing the meaning of the verse let's go through three prominent translations from Arabic to Tamil.

Translation:1

Moreover (those Jews) continued practicing witchcraft and sorcery they had learnt from the Shaitan who had given them lessons about Sulaiman’s reign.          But Sulaiman was not a disbeliever, those Shaitans were the ones who disbelieved because they taught people sorcery and things that were revealed to the two angels named Harut and Marut from Babylon. But the two angels warned those who came to learn sorcery from them by saying ‘We stand as witness of having become disbelievers, (on learning to practice sorcery you will also turn out to be disbelievers, hence do not learn to practice this, they warned others and refused to teach it. In spite of their warning, those willing to learn it (sorcery) learnt the skill of creating rift between a married couple from them. They cannot harm anyone without the Creator’s will, and they learn things from which they do not benefit but can harm. But those who have invested in sorcery instead of belief in God, very well know, they will not receive any blessings on the day of judgment. And they should realize whatever they have bargained for the act of selling themselves results in evil.

Translation 2) 

They followed the footsteps of Shaitans in matters regarding the reign of Sulaiman, but He (Sulaiman) was never a disbeliever, and the Shaitans were the ones who disbelieved; and they are the ones who taught witchcraft to men. And they taught what was revealed to the two angels named Haru and Marut from Babylon in a wrong manner. But they (the angels) said ‘We are a disastrous result of a trial ourselves, do not become disbelievers, (by learning sorcery) and refused to teach the same. But the two angels said ‘we are indeed the result of a trial, do not become disbelievers yourselves, and they refused to teach sorcery to anyone. In spite of this, these people learnt the craft of bringing a separation between married people, and however they cannot make anything happen without the will of Almighty Allah or bring harm to anyone with this. They learnt something that did not benefit them but harmed them. They very well knew that they had bargained for something that would not be of any use to them in the hereafter. They have bargained their soul for something bad, shouldn’t they realize”.

What we understand from these two translations is: 

Two angels came down to teach sorcery to people.

While teaching the same to people, they would say ‘Do not learn witchcraft, you will become disbelievers’ and begin to teach them sorcery/

 Despite the warning they preferred to still learn from them the skill of bringing in separation between a married couple. 

Both the translations talk of people wishing to learn witchcraft ended with learning the art of separating married couples.

And cite this as authentication to prove sorcery can be used to separate a married couple.

They argue their belief in sorcery is sanctioned by the Quran.

Though both the translations are found to be grammatically correct they demolish the very edifice of Islam.

From these translations we get a message that by practicing sorcery we can impact the bond between a husband and wife and cause a rift between them.

If it is said a rift can be caused between a husband and a wife by pitting one against the other or by insinuation, though it is a sin, a possibility is real. But causing a rift between a husband and wife using sorcery, is a remote possibility And by saying this they make Allah being treated as sorcerer. 

The belief a married couple can be separated by sorcery pushes a man towards associating something else with the Creator, for this reason we find the translation wrong.

We have explained nothing can be achieved by sorcery in our explanation point No;357.

Verse 10:77 says the sorcerers cannot be victorious. Saying a rift can be created by sorcery amounts conveying the message that sorcerers can attain victory.

Verse 7:116 says witchcraft is nothing but trickery, and the concept that a rift can be created in between a husband and wife by sorcery is against this verse.

We find verses 7:118-120 of Quaran saying as ‘sorcery was defeated and the sorcerers were defeated, and the concept that a rift between a husband and a wife by sorcery is possible again goes against Quranic verses.

We find verse 20:66 of the Quran, saying the best of the sorcerers practicing the best cold only make the ropes appear like snakes and not transform them into real snakes. The above translations go against the Quran. 

 Verse 20:69 of the Quran says sorcery is nothing but trickery and maneuvering. Again, the belief in the concept that sorcery works is against the Quran.

In verses 52:13.14,15 of the Quran we find Allah using the word ‘real’ as an opposite to sorcery. When Allah has termed sorcery as non-existent and unreal, the concept that things can be achieved by it goes against the tenets of Islam. 

There are other sensible reasons to prove these translations are wrong. These translations convey the message

When the warning they would become disbelievers on learning sorcery did not have any bearing on them, there was no reason for them to learn a much less harmful witchcraft of creating a rift between a husband and wife.

1.    When it is obvious for them, learning sorcery either big or small is harmful to becoming a disbeliever. Where was the necessity to choose a smaller harm?

As per the beliefs of those who support sorcery, it is a form of art that encompasses a wide variety of practices, and people who in spite of the knowledge they would turn out to be disbelievers, would have opted to learn all forms of sorcery.

And not restrict themselves with learning a small component of it. When becoming a disbeliever is confirmed immaterial of one form or a thousand forms of sorcery, there is no reason for them not to learn much higher practices of it.

They would have learnt sorcery to make money and for worldly benefits, and by learning a single way of practicing the same they could make only small benefits, whereas learning a wide variety would bring more. When those who want to learn sorcery are not worried of becoming disbelievers, they would have opted to learn all its forms, hence we find an expression of wrong opinion in this translation.

Hence we need an understanding of this verse that does not go against the Quran and Islami beliefs.

The reason we have translated this verse as follows: 

They followed the footsteps of the Shaitans during the reign of Sulaiman, who was not a disbeliever The two angels Jibril and Mikhail were not taught sorcery. And the two Shaitan Harut and Marut who taught the same in the city of Babylon to these people not without warning about the consequences of learning the same. “We ourselves stand witness to what has happened to us. Hence do not become a person to have refuted God by learning it.” Hence, they learnt from them the ways to create a rift between a husband and wife, though no harm can be done to anyone without the will of God. And they learnt something that would be of no benefit to them but in turn harms them. “And for those who had bargained for it, there are no returns for them in the hereafter”. They knew of this for certain. Should they not realize that what they bargained in return for themselves is evil?

What does the phrase ‘They learnt from the two to bring about a rift between a husband and wife.

Here we need to be aware of the usage of the word ‘hence’ in place of ‘fa’ by us. Let’s look at for example the context in which this word can be used.

E.g., This person is a deceiver hence I will not lend him money. In this sentence the word ‘hence’ is used to conclude the decision money will not be loaned to him because he is a deceiver. The word structure is similar in the above said phrase.

It’s been understood they learnt the ways to create a rift between a married couple because of the reason they understood they would turn to be disbelievers.

From the usage of the word ‘hence’, we understand the warning thrown prevented them from learning the art of witchcraft.

It is similar to teaching karate with a caution that learning karate needs bowing down to the master, (bowing to any mortal is against Islam) hence people learnt wrestling. The reason they were warned about the harmful consequences of learning karate made them learn wrestling, is the similarity drawn here.

It would be meaningless to say they were warned about the ill effects of karate and they chose to learn it. The word hence can be used only when another is sought in place of something for a certain reason.

It is meaningful when it is said the son gave up smoking because of his father’s warning. 

And it becomes meaningless, when it is said the son enjoyed smoking after the father’s warning.

Having this in mind let us peruse the above phrase.

The two warned about the harm created because of learning sorcery, hence people chose to learn from them the skill to separate married couples, a much less harmful art than sorcery. We have translated the word ‘fa’ in Arabic to ‘hence’. On these lines let’s consider a few more verses of the Quran

Verse 2:144 of the Quran says “We observed you looking up towards the sky often, hence we are making you turn your face towards the Qibla that satisfies you. Here the word ‘fa’ is used to refer to ‘hence’ The reason to effect a change in the direction of Qibla is already mentioned ahead (i.e.) the prophet often looked up at the sky. We understand the usage of the word ‘hence’ here with the prophet looking up to the sky.

The word ‘fa’ is found in verses 36:49,50 of the Quran. They will be destroyed with a big explosion while they are in debate among themselves. Hence, they will not be able to execute a testator. The reason they could not execute the testator is already cited. Here the message conveyed is, since the day of judgment is said to arrive unexpectedly, they will not be in a position to execute a testator.

In verse 17:48 of the Quran it says “Do observe the example they quote for you; hence they are the ones who are misled. The reason they are misled is their quoting of examples not at all suitable to what the prophet stands for.

Verse 18:105 of the Quran says “their deeds are destroyed; hence we will not bring forth the determining weighing balance in their case. Hence their deeds went dead the determining weigh balance will not be brought forth is the message that needs to be realized here          Similar is the word structure here that says hence the people learnt the art to separate married couples because they were warned of becoming infidels if they learnt sorcery.

The word ‘fa’ which gives the meaning ‘hence’ is known as safafiya. But some scholars who call themselves as Arabic intellects argue this word ‘fa’ does not belong to the type termed as safafiya

In case the ‘Fa’ belonging to the safafiya type had been used, Ya-tallamuna would have to be shrunk as Yat-allamu. the letter noon would disappear. Their argument is that since ‘noon’ is present here the ‘fa’ does not belong to the safafiya type. 

There are two types of ‘fa’ belonging to the safafiya group. There is no connection between the ‘fa’ used in verse 2:102 of the Quran along with the others that we mentioned and the ‘fa’ that is cited by these people. Their inadequate knowledge about Arabic grammar can be easily seen here.

They can go through various exegesis of the Quran the ‘fa’ that we claim as belonging to the safafiya type being proved. The safafiya they refer to is different from what is used here and should be realized by them so that they can get rid of their ignorance. They also cite the phrase ‘no harm can be brought on anybody without the will of God’ to support their argument. 

They contend that sorcery can be cast on anyone with the will of God, and they can be harmed, and this phrase is a substantiation of the same they say. 

Of course, it is a fact, with the will of Almighty harm can take place to anyone, but that cannot be construed because of sorcery.

When it is said through which they learnt the art of creating a rift means through which they learnt and that does not necessarily mean sorcery. What was said before? It was said by learning sorcery one would become an infidel and fearing the consequence they turned to learning the skill of separating married couples. The term ‘through which’ does not refer to sorcery here. 

This phrase reveals a message that harm can be brought between a husband-and-wife through this rift and not through sorcery.

“They learnt something that did not bring any benefits to them rather harmed them. For those who entered such a bargain, there is no good luck for them in the hereafter, and they were aware of it, should not they realize they entered a bad bargain for themselves.” What is the message conveyed here through these phrases?      These phrases warn nothing good would result for these people (who learn to create a rift between married couples) in the hereafter, although no harm could be done to anyone without the will of God Almighty.

On keenly observing this verse, we come to understand these people learnt something other than sorcery that could bring harm in the form of creating a rift between married couples.

It is not at all said here that sorcery can bring harm to people.

If there is a question as to why a rift cannot be affected through sorcery? It is wrong for two reasons. 

If the art of sorcery had been learnt by these people after being warned by the two, the word ‘hence’ would not have found a place in the phrase.

Moreover the warning they would turn infidels on learning sorcery can be found thrice in this verse. Though creating a rift between married couples amounts to being a sin committed, it does not come within the aim of being called an act of infidelity, neither we nor those who believe in witchcraft disagree on this point. If the skill they learnt did not turn them to be infidels, means they learnt something that does not come under the ambit of sorcery.

This verse says they did not learn sorcery, but the art to separate a husband and wife, which is not guaranteed 100% unless willed by God.

 Translating this does not entail committing the sin of infidelity and does not contradict the Quran which terms sorcery as a trick, a maneuver, and an unsuccessful act Moreover, we need to take note of the way Allah has structured the phrase. 

Where it cannot be found to say they learnt sorcery that brings a rift between the husband and wife, but something else that could create such a rift.

Let us go through another translation by a different scholar. 

They followed what was read out to them by the Shaitans during the reign of Sulaiman. but he was not an infidel, rather the Shaitans were the ones who refuted the Almighty. They taught people the art of sorcery believing it was handed down to the two angels going by the names Harut and Marut.

But these two said ‘we are a testimony ourselves having been sent by the Almighty,’ hence without warning the people of becoming disbelievers they would not teach sorcery to them. They learnt from them the skill of separating a married couple. They cannot harm anyone without the will of God, learnt something which does not benefit them but causes harm to them. They were also very aware that what they have earned for themselves in the bargain is something evil. They should have realized this. Please note this translation is different from the previous one. 

It has been translated in a way not to be pushed into the trap of infidelity as we have pointed out earlier. 

They said they learnt from the two something that could create a rift between a married couple. 

The message they learnt to create a rift in a married couple is not that of God Almighty, but the Jews were of the opinion is what is conveyed here in brackets. The translation conveys the message the jews were of this opinion as pointed out by God Almighty. 

If a rift can be created between a couple by sorcery as a matter of their belief, it cannot be treated as evidence for the supporters of sorcery. The message nothing more than the Jews said this as per their belief is sought to be conveyed here. The translation by this scholar is done because of fear of Allah, that it might earn the wrath of Him for going against the tenets of the Quran. Thus, if translated in a manner that does not go against the Quran or creates equals to the Almighty there is no objection.

Please refer to points 28, 285, 357, 468, 499 to know more about what the Quran says about sorcery.