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1219. It was narrated that Mu'āwiyah bin Al-Ḥakam As-Sulamī said: "I said: 'O Messenger of Allāh, we were recently in a state of ignorance, then Allāh brought Islam. Some men among us follow omens.' He said: 'That is something that they find in their own hearts; it should not deter them from going ahead.' I said: 'And some men among us go to fortune-tellers.' He said: 'Do not go to them.' He said: 'Some men among us draw lines.'[1] He said: 'One of the prophets used to draw lines. So whoever is in accord with his drawing of lines, then so it is.'"[2] He said: "While I was praying with the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, a man sneezed and I said: 'Yarhamuk-Allāh (May Allāh have mercy on you).' The people glared at me and I said: 'May my mother be bereft of me, why are you looking at me?' The people struck their hands against their thighs, and when I saw that they were telling me to be quiet, I fell silent. When the Messenger of
Allâh ﷻ finished, he called me. May my father and mother be ransomed for him, he neither did hit me nor rebuke me nor revile me. I have never seen a better teacher than him, before or after. He said: 'This prayer of ours is not the place for ordinary human speech, rather it is glorification and magnification of Allâh, and reciting Qur'ân.' Then I went out to a flock of sheep of mine that was tended by a slave woman of mine beside Uḥud and Al-Jawwâniyyah, and I found that the wolf had taken one of the sheep. I am a man from the sons of Âdam and I get upset as they get upset. So I slapped her. Then I came to the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ and told him what had happened. He regarded that as a serious action on my part. I said: 'O Messenger of Allâh, should I set her free?' He said: 'Call her.' The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ said to her: 'Where is Allâh, the Mighty and sublime?' She said: 'Above the heavens.' He said: 'And who am I?' She said: 'The Messenger of Allâh.' He said: 'She is a believer; set her free.'"(Sahih)
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Footnotes
1
[1] That is, the practice of Raml; geomancy, a type of prediction by etching or drawing lines in sand.
2
[2] As it is impossible to know how that Prophet drew lines, this practice is strictly forbidden. This was stated by An-Nawawī in his commentary on Muslim.
Commentary
1. The term Jahiliyyah (ignorance) denotes the pre-Islamic customs. Generally, these customs were founded on ignorance. This is the reason why they are called ignorant.
2. Kâhin is a soothsayer who claims to unfold the secrets lying in the womb of the unseen, whether he would unfold it inspired by jinn or stars, or by drawing marks or lines, or by conjecture or surmise. Since utterances of such people cannot be authenticated or verified, Islamic law forbids asking them or giving credence to their utterances or information.
3. There was a prophet who drew lines. And Allāh knows best what sort of lines he drew! What kind of computation did he employ? No clarification is available. Hence, it is strictly forbidden by Islamic law.
4. Al-Jawwaniyyah is the name of a place situated in the north of Madinah near Mount Uhud.
5. The Prophet ﷺ felt (this act of Mu'āwiyah) as something grievous because that believing bondswoman was helpless before the wolf and was faultless.
6. "She is a believing woman": this demonstrates that if someone desires to set free a captive as an act of atonement (Kaffarah), he/she ought to be a believer. In some places in the Glorious Qur'ān, there is a restriction: Freeing a believing soul from bondage (An-Nisa: 92). Freeing a believing soul: this condition will also be applicable to other similar situations. While granting someone freedom is an act of optional worship, it is superior to free a believer. It is, however, not compulsory.
