Magicians practicing sorcery have certain features and signs that prove that they are obeying and worshipping the devils (shayaateen) and are in league with them. The ruling of magic (witchcraft, sorcery) is that it is disbelief (kufr) and anyone indulging in it is a kafir (disbeliever). There is no such thing as "good" magic. All magic (sihr) is haraam.

Please note that when many of these signs are combined and found together, it gives a much greater likelihood of this person being a magician. Some of these signs are such which if found in isolation may simply hint at the person being a magician, and others are such which if found on their own are clear signs of a magician.

Signs of the Practitioners of Magic (Sihr)

From these signs are:

• The magician will ask you for some clothing which has been in direct contact with your body, they are looking for something which has traces of sweat upon it. It can also be a comb, or some hair, or a picture (photo).

• The magician will ask you for your name and the name of your mother. This type of magician is potentially greater in his disbelief than others, because the devils are prepared to work for him through names alone, without the need for any clothing or hair and the likes, which indicates his obedience to the devils is greater than others, and that he has reached a level with these devils that other lesser magicians have not.

• He will chant or mumble what are talismans (spells, amulets) but in a language that is not understandable.

• He will ask a person to keep away from the people for a defined time in a room in which no sunlight enters.

• He will often be found in a dark room.

• He will often use bukhoor (incense) or a fire in which he will put bukhoor (incense).

• The magician will ask you for a sacrificial animal (chicken, sheep etc.) with a given description (i.e. age, size etc.) so that it is sacrificed in a specific way (without Allaah's name being mentioned), and then its blood is used to smear on to the patient's body (where he has his pain or disease), or the patient may be requested to go to a deserted buildings or places and asked to smear the blood, or it may be on stones or on trees in a certain location.

• On some occasions the magician may tell the person his name, his mother's name, the place he has come from, or the reason (problem, ailment, need) for which he has come. He gets this knowledge through the devils he is giving obedience to, and which he is summoning for this purpose.

• He may give the person an amulet in the shape of a triangle or a square (made out of paper, or a cloth), or it could be out of leather, or it could be made out of silver, and inside of it there are written calls for help from the devils, coded through numbers and symbols, and words written backwards. He may ask the person to hang them around his neck or put them under the pillow.

• He will write talismans, or amulets in which he mixes parts of the Qur'an, the names of the Prophets, or Companions, along with unknown names, symbols and combinations of numbers and letters.

• He will write or prepare talismans on paper or otherwise and which will often contain five pointed stars - these five pointed stars represent Satan in occult symbolism.

• He may give the person certain artifacts and ask him to bury them in the earth, in a specific location.

• He may give the person pieces of paper mixed with pieces of wood and ask him to burn these papers and wood and use them as bukhoor (incense, fumigation) to fumigate himself with the smoke. And these papers are likely to be pages of the Qur'an torn into small pieces.

• He may give him the skin of an animal (like a fox or wolf or jackal), or its teeth and ask him to carry them, or he may give him black threads, or cords to hang in his car.

• He may ask the person to wear a garment he gives him and ask him to wear it on a specific defined days, and the garment will be filled with talismans and amulets (they will be stitched into the garment).

• He may give the person a ring to wear onto which talismans are etched, or a small padlock with its key inserted around which a talisman is attached with sellotape. And other odd things like this.

• From the signs of the magician is belittlement of the Qur'an and its desecration, and this takes place in many ways.

These signs are found amongst many people claiming to be "faith-healers", and they come out in the garb of faith, pretending to be pious, and they place advertisements in the papers and on the radio and television (in some Muslim lands) and in the Western lands also. So you should beware of these liars and worshipers of the devils, and warn everyone against them - to see how these people became magicians in the first place, read the following article: