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Does Black Magic Happen by the Will of God or Satan?

24 October, 2016
Q As there is black magic in this world, is it Allah who lets these actions be performed or is it Satan who makes these actions possible? As it is known that it is Allah who controls everything, i.e. all the things going around in this world. Does this mean that black magic is also being performed under Allah's will?

Answer

Salam Dear Abdul,

Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.

Your question is essentially about man’s freedom and God’s control of the future. It takes us back to the eternal question of fate and freewill. In the early history of Islam, we find two sects of believers, called Qadariyya and Jabriyya.

The former sect argued that man is totally free in his action, to the extent of denying even God’s foreknowledge. The latter argued that man is like a vegetable, incapable of any free actions!

The truth of the matter can be put thus:

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God created man, of all His creatures, a free agent. In fact, this is implied by the status of man as God’s khalifah, or vicegerent on earth. In order to fulfill man’s role as khalifah, he is given many special faculties, as well as the freedom to use those faculties. Thus man is given freewill, the ability to choose actions freely – of course within the bounds of his own natural limitations.

The Holy Quran says for example that those who will – may believe, and those who will – may reject the true message from God. That is to say, man is given the freedom of choice there. This is how man becomes responsible for his actions, and becomes liable for punishment or reward. This is because the choice is his.

Still, at the same time, the Almighty God is in control, and He is willfully giving this freedom to man, for He wants to test man.

Testing man is possible, because there are choices before man. That is to say there are wrong ways and right ways of doing things. In short, there is not only good, but also evil.

It is part of God’s wisdom that this world offers opportunities for doing good and doing evil. God could have created man as a being incapable of doing evil. Also, He could have created this world as a perfect one, where there is no chance for evil.

Indeed He has created such a world, namely Paradise! But He has also decided that only those who qualify for Paradise can enter there. To find out who qualifies for God’s Paradise, He created this world of good and evil. He has willed it to be so; and it is so!

Black magic is part of the evil of this world. Those who pursue it – will definitely receive their punishment from God. Your question is whether it is God’s will to have black magic! We need to understand that the word ‘will’ means a wish and a deliberate plan for a particular action.

In this sense, God does not ‘will’ that anyone should go for black magic. But God wills the testing of man, for which purpose He has arranged this world. This is why practicing black magic is possible. Consequently, some people seek to practice black magic, against God’s will, but they should pass the test given them by avoiding black magic altogether.

We need to understand that no one, not even Satan, can do anything if God does not permit it. In this world of freedom, God does not interfere with the freedom He has given to anyone. If that were not so, wars, massacres, robberies and a thousand other iniquities would not have taken place here; and the world would have been a heaven making Paradise superfluous!

I hope this helps answer your question.

Please keep in touch.

Salam.

About Professor Shahul Hameed
Professor Shahul Hameed is an Islamic consultant. He also held the position of the President of the Kerala Islamic Mission, Calicut, India. He is the author of three books on Islam published in the Malayalam language. His books are on comparative religion, the status of women, and science and human values.