Seeking help from the jinn to know the Ghayb and the ruling on hypnosis

The Committee gave the following answers: Firstly: knowledge of Ghayb is attributed only to Allah (Exalted be He). None of His creation, whether Jinn or human, knows Ghayb except for what He reveals to whomever He wills from among His Angels or Messengers. Allah (Exalted be He) says: Say: “None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghaib (Unseen) except Allâh” Allah (Exalted be He) also says about His Prophet Sulayman (Solomon, peace be upon him) and the Jinn subjugated to him: Then when We decreed death for him [Sulaimân (Solomon)], nothing informed them (jinn) of his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick. So when he fell down, the jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment. Allah (Exalted be He) says: "(He Alone is) the All-Knower of the Ghaib (Unseen), and He reveals to none His Ghaib (Unseen)." Except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen (He informs him of unseen as much as He likes), and then He makes a band of watching guards (angels) to march before him and behind him. (Part No. 1; Page No. 592) It is authentically reported that Al-Nawwas ibn Sam`an (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: When Allah wishes to reveal something, He speaks out the Wahy (Revelation) and the heavens begin to shake, or he said: a strong tremor fearing Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He). When the inhabitants in the heavens hear this, they get shocked and make Sujud (Prostration). Jibril (Gabriel, peace be upon him) is the first one who raises his head and Allah reveals to him what He wishes. He passes the angels. When he passes one heaven, the angels living in it say, "O Gibril, what does Our Lord say?" He replies, "He said the truth and He is the Most High, the Most Great." All the angels say the same as Jibril until he conveys the revelation to where Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) has ordered him. In the Sahih (authentic) book of Hadith, it is reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: When Allah decrees an order in the heaven, the angels flutter their wings indicating complete surrender to His saying, which sounds like chains being dragged on rock and the sound reaches them. So much so that when fear is banished from their (angels’) hearts, they (angels) say: “What is it that your Lord has said?” They say: “The truth. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.” Then the stealthy listeners (devils) hear this order, and these stealthy listeners are like this, one over the other.” Sufyan (a sub-narrator) demonstrated this by holding his hand upright and separating his fingers. A stealthy listener hears a word which he conveys to that which is below him and the second conveys it to that which is below him until the last of them conveys it to a wizard or foreteller. (Part No. 1; Page No. 593) Sometimes a flame (fire) may strike the devil before he can convey it, and sometimes he may convey it before the flame (fire) strikes him, whereupon the wizard adds to this word a hundred lies. The people will then say: ‘Did not he (i.e. wizard) tell such-and-such a thing on such-and-such date?’ Thus, that wizard is said to have told the truth because of the statement which was heard from the heavens. Accordingly, it is impermissible to seek help from the jinn or any other creature to know unseen matters, whether by making Du`a' (supplication) and drawing closer to them, by means of Darb Al-Mandal, or by any other means. These acts entail Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) because they are acts of `Ibadah (worship). Allah has informed His servants to devote `Ibadah to none but Him, saying: You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything). It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Ibn `Abbas : If you beg, beg Allah Alone; and if you need assistance, make Du`a' to Allah Alone for help. Secondly: Hypnosis is a type of soothsaying through which the hypnotist seeks the help of Jinn and makes him (the Jinn) overpower the hypnotized person and talk through him. The Jinn gives the hypnotized person power to do certain actions only if he accepts to obey the hypnotist and is truthful with him in return for mutual benefits. Accordingly, Jinn cause the hypnotized person to obey the hypnotist regarding any actions or information required from him. Hence, it is impermissible to use hypnosis as a means to find the place of a stolen or lost object, for example, to cure a sick person or to do anything else (Part No. 1; Page No. 594) through the hypnotized person. In fact, these acts entail Shirk because of what has been already mentioned and because it is a sort of resorting to someone other than Allah to know matters beyond the ordinary ones which Allah has permitted for His creation. Thirdly: Saying "by the rank of so and so" can either be an oath, meaning: "I swear by the rank of so and so upon you," or a sort of Tawassul (supplicating to Allah through a means) by a person or by his rank. In both cases, this saying is impermissible. In the first case, it is impermissible to swear by a person upon another person. Accordingly, it is absolutely impermissible to swear by a person rather than Allah (Exalted be He). In fact, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that swearing by anyone other than Allah is an act of Shirk. He said: He who swears by anyone besides Allah has committed an act of Shirk. (Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidhy, and Al-Hakim who declared it as Sahih). It is impermissible in the second case because the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them) did not perform Tawassul by the Prophet (peace be upon him) or by his rank, whether during his lifetime or after his death. They were fully aware of his great status and rank and the most knowledgeable about the Shari`ah (Islamic law). They faced a lot of difficulties during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and even after his death. However, they resorted to Allah and made Du`a' to none but Him to relieve their distresses. If Tawassul by the Prophet (peace be upon him) or his rank was permissible, he (peace be upon him) would have taught it to his Sahabah because he left nothing that may bring a person closer to Allah but ordered people to do it and guided people to it. (Part No. 1; Page No. 595) Moreover, the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) would have performed it since they were keen on acting according to what had been made lawful for them, especially at the times of distress. Hence, since there is no proof of the Prophet's permission and guidance to such an act or the Sahabah's observance of it, then this denotes that it is impermissible. It is proven that the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) used to perform Tawassul to Allah by requesting the Prophet (peace be upon him) to make Du`a' to his Lord. This happened during his lifetime on the occasion of making Du`a' for Istisqa' (requesting rain) and on other occasions. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) died, `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) went out to Salat-ul-Istisqa' (Prayer for rain) and said: O Allah! We used to ask our Prophet to invoke You for rain, and You would bless us with rain, and now we ask his uncle to invoke You for rain. O Allah ! Bless us with rain." And so it would rain. He meant to ask Al-`Abbas to make Du`a' to His Lord. He did not mean to make Tawassul by the rank of Al-`Abbas because the rank of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is greater than his uncle's and remains the same even after his death. Hence, if `Umar had intended Tawassul, he would have performed it by the rank of the Prophet (peace be upon him) instead of his uncle's; an act which did not happen. Furthermore, Tawassul by the rank of the Prophets and pious people is a means leading to Shirk as has been proven practically in real life. Thus, this act is impermissible in order to block the means leading to Shirk and to protect the sacredness of Tawhid (monotheism).May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.