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THE BRUNEI TIMES | Friday, 22 January, 2016

Story of Harut
and Marut
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Staff Writer

NE of the stories in the Quran

is the story of Harut and Marut.
Allah says: And they (the Children of Israel) followed (instead) what
the devils had recited during the reign
of Sulayman. It was not Sulayman who
disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved,
teaching people magic and that which
was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut.
But they (i.e., the two angels) do not teach
anyone unless they say: We are a trial, so
do not disbelieve (by practicing magic).
And (yet) they learn from them that by
which they cause separation between a
man and his wife. But they do not harm
anyone through it except by permission
of Allah. And they (i.e., people) learn what
harms them and does not benefit them.
But they (the Children of Israel) certainly
knew that whoever purchased it (magic)
would not have in the Hereafter any
share. And wretched is that for which they
sold themselves, if they only knew. [AlBaqarah (2): 102]
The Children of Israel received a Great
Book from Allah, namely the Quran,
which confirmed what they had been
told in the Tawrah (Torah): They were
claiming to adhere to their scripture,
yet they disbelieved in the Messenger
(Muhammad), and a group of them also
threw the Scripture of Allah (the Tawrah)
behind their backs, despite them knowing
that it was the truth, as Allah tells us: A
party of those who had been given the
Scripture threw the Scripture of Allah
(the Tawrah) behind their backs as if they
did not know (what it contained). [AlBaqarah (2): 101]
It is the way of Allah that He punishes
those who shun that which benefits
them; He therefore busies them with
things that are of no benefit to them
or makes them indulge in what harms
them. Whoever shuns the worship of the
Most Merciful will be afflicted with the
worship of idols.

Whoever shuns Islamic monotheism will

be afflicted with association with Allah.
Whoever shuns the Sunnah will be afflicted
with religious innovation. Whoever shuns
adhering to the Islamic texts will be afflicted
with blind imitation of others who have no
evidence to back up their actions.
Whoever shuns hoping in, loving and fearing
only Allah will be afflicted with directing
all these acts to other than Him. Whoever
refrains from spending his wealth for the
sake of Allah will be afflicted with spending
it for the sake of Syaitan.
Whoever shuns humbling himself to Allah
will be afflicted with being humiliated
by other people, and whoever shuns the
truth will be afflicted with adhering to
falsehood.
This is exactly what happened to the Jews
when they shunned the Book of Allah; they
were afflicted with following in the footsteps
of Syaitan. During the reign of Sulayman,
they refused to believe in the Book of Allah
and were thus afflicted by following what the
devils recited and invented.
The devils introduced magic to the people
and claimed that Sulayman used magic and
that it was the means for him to have such
great power and a vast empire.
Indeed they lied, because Allah is the One
who granted him enough power and such
a vast empire that he had no need to resort
to magic or to seek the help of the devils.
Allah facilitated the devils for the disposal
of Sulayman. Allah says: They made for
him what he willed of elevated chambers,
statues, bowls like reservoirs, and stationary
kettles. [Surah Saba (34): 13]
Allah utilised them for Sulayman to use,
and so they were under his command. But
after the death of Sulayman, the devils came
out to the people claiming that the reason
behind his control over them was the magic
he used and practiced. But Allah exposed
their lie, saying: And they (the Children of
Israel) followed (instead) what the devils
had recited during the reign of Sulayman.

It was not Sulayman who disbelieved [AlBaqarah (2): 102]

Practising Magic and Disbelief
Whoever practices or uses magic is a
disbeliever, but Sulayman never disbelieved
and never practiced magic: Indeed, Allah
confirms the very opposite, saying: It was
not Sulayman who disbelieved, but the devils
disbelieved, teaching people magic [AlBaqarah (2): 102]
They disbelieved by teaching people magic
and how to use it, thereby misguiding them.
The Jews practiced the magic that Allah sent
the two angels with, namely Harut and Marut,
as a means of testing people and seeing who
amongst His slaves would remain steadfast
and who would deviate, or who would remain
upon faith and who would disbelieve.
These two angels, Harut and Marut, were
sent to teach people magic in the land of
Babylon in Iraq as a test for these people.
One may ask: How can Allah send these two
angels to teach people magic if practising
magic is disbelief? The answer is that it is
done in order to subject people to a trial, as
Allah says: But they (the two angels) do not
teach anyone unless they say: We are a trial,
so do not disbelieve (by practicing magic)
[Al-Baqarah (2): 102]
These angels would initially warn people
not to learn this magic, and that to do so
would entail disbelief. But if they insisted
on learning magic, then they would teach
them it; this magic could thereafter be used
for prohibited reasons, such as to separate
spouses. The Jews practiced the magic that
they accused Sulayman of using.
The Jews learnt magic and became
specialists in it, and to this day, the most
skilled magicians are the Jews, especially
the Moroccan Jews. These Jews shunned
the news of the description and imminent
arrival of Prophet Muhammad that was in
their scripture; they also shunned the new
Book (i.e. the Quran); they eschewed all
this and instead resorted to learning and
practicing magic.

Magic and Love

Magic separates a man from his wife,
which is proof that it does have an effect,
but this effect only occurs by the will of
Allah. Some types of magic make a person
love another and act as if they are enslaved
to him or her; such a person would feel
that they simply cannot live without this
person.
Another type of magic results in the
opposite whereby a person may hate
another insofar that he cannot even look
him in the eye; a father can be bewitched
to make him despise his children or wife,
as in the previously mentioned verse of
Al-Baqarah.
Allah says: But they (the Children of
Israel) certainly knew that whoever
purchased it (learnt and practiced magic)
would not have in the Hereafter any share.
[Al-Baqarah (2): 102]
The scholars differed in their interpretation
of this verse. Some of them stated that
Allah did not send down these angels with
magic to teach people, but rather it was the
devils who taught people magic.
On the other hand, many from the
predecessors were of the view that Allah
sent down to the earth these two angels
from the heavens as a punishment to
them; others said that they were angels
who deviated and were an exceptional
case from all the other angels, who never
disobey Allah.
Yet others said they were honourable angels
who were sent down to teach people magic
as a way of testing them but who only taught
those who insisted on learning it after
having been informed that magic is a form
of disbelief and after having been sternly
warned against learning and practicing it.
Undoubtedly, learning magic is prohibited,
and practicing it is disbelief, as indicated
in the verse, as well as many prophetic
narrations that affirm this fact.

Imam al-Syafii (rahimahullah) said: It is a consensus among all

humans that whosoever has been enlightened with a sunnah from the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalam, he is not allowed to abandon it for
the opinion of someone among humans.
(Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, Ilam al-Muwaqqiiin)

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