By Javeria
There are many people and even Muslims who regularly consult astrology columns, ask each other their astrological signs and regularly read their horoscopes in magazines or online.
Yet astrology is a system which rests entirely on belief that stars and planets are gods.
The Origin of Astrology
Belief that stars and planets can influence our lives “Comes from Babylonian times, when the seven moving heavenly bodies, (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) were believed to be GODS roaming in the sky. To this day the planets still carry the names of ancient gods. These gods were thought to interact with mysterious star patterns that were apparently fixed on the Celestial Sphere and so influence life on earth. More particularly their configuration at the moment of birth – but somehow not before or afterwards – was thought to mould an individual’s character.
The most powerful “god” was believed to be the Sun and a person’s Sun sign – The constellation in which the Sun was positioned on their date of birth. From this have come the 12 well-known signs of Zodiac and their associated dates.
Today, of course, we know that the Sun and Planets are not gods. Our Earth is a planet and Sun is a star, and the other stars are distant suns. There is no reason to suppose that they control our lives any more than do the trees or the mountains.
Furthermore, modern astrology still uses the constellation dates relating to theSun’s apparent position in 500 BC!. Since then, the slow wobble of the Earth’s axis has shifted the dates, but the astrologers have not adapted to this!!”
(Cape Town Planetarium’s Star Watching by Anthony Fairall)
What Quran Says About Sun ,Moon and the Stars
The Sun Moon and the stars are nothing but Allah’s creation. They are all working under Allah’s command and have been made for the purpose of serving mankind. There is no reason at all to believe that they can somehow control our destiny or effect our lives on earth because as Muslims we should be well aware that the knowledge of destiny is only with Allah and is written in Loh e Mahfooz. ( The preserved Tablet in the heavens)
The following are some of the purposes of creating Sun, Moon and Stars as mentioned by Allah Subhana Watala in the Quran.
Sun and the Moon are signs of Allah
“And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon.” (Quran 41:37)
Sun and Moon help in counting Years and Months
“It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light And measured out its (their) stages, that you might know the number of years and the calculation. (Quran 10:5)
Sun and Moon Help in fixing time of Prayers
“Perform AsSalât from mid-day till the darkness of the night (i.e. the Zuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, and ‘Ishâ’ prayers), and recite the Qur’ân in the early dawn.
(Quran 17: 78 )
Stars are for the beautification of the sky
“And indeed, We have put the big stars in the heaven and We beautified it for the beholders.” (Quran 15:16)
Stars for decoration and guarding the Heavens
“And We adorned the nearest (lowest) heaven with lamps (stars) to be an adornment as well as to guard (from the devils by using them as missiles against the devils). Such is the Decree of Him the All-Mighty, the All-Knower.” (Quran 41:12)
Stars for finding direction in land and sea
“It is He Who has set the stars for you, so that you may guide your course with their help through the darkness of the land and the sea.(Quran 6:97)
Before GPS ships and people traveling in the desert used stars for finding their way. My father is a sailor and he showed me the instrument used in the olden days for finding direction using stars.
Consequences of reading horoscopes and Astrology Columns
Leads to Kufr – Disbelief
Astrology is considered Kufr because it destroys Tawheed Al Asma WasSifaat (The Unity of Allah’s Names and Attributes . Such beliefs give planets and stars some of God’s unique qualities, most prominent among them “Qadr” -Destiny.
Prophet Muhammad said “Whoever went to a fortune-teller and believed in what he said, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad.” (Ahmed & Abu Dawood)
Belief in Stars is actually denial of divine destiny
Prophet Muhammad May Peace Be Upo n him said: “What I fear most for my nation after my time is: the injustice of their leader, the belief in the stars and the denial of divine destiny.”(Ibn Askeer)
The prayer is not accepted
Prophet Muhammad (May Peace be Upon him) said: “The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortuneteller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for forty days and nights” (Sahih Muslim)
Conclusion:
It is well established scientifically that stars and planets are not gods and thus there is no possible way that they can control life on earth. More so as Muslims we know very well from the Quran that destiny is controlled only by Allah and the knowledge of the future and the unseen only rests with Allah. Quran makes it very clear the purpose of creating stars and planets and the sun and the moon so there is no possible reason to believe that stars and planets influence our lives.
And most importantly believing in astrology leads to Shirk -Polytheism as it gives divine powers to stars. So all those Muslims who are just reading horoscopes for fun and trying to find out what is in their future through any means like cup reading, palmistry, numbers etc should know they are committing shirk “in fun”.
And Shirk is the one and only sin Allah will never ever forgive unless you Sincerely repent from it and never do such a thing again.
Quran For All 