We learned the chapter number 29 of the book Kitab - AtTawheed; the summary is as belowThe title of chapter 29 is What is said

regarding Astrology (At-Tanjeem). Sheikh started by briefing us with some points as below

What is Astrology or At-Tanjeem?

At-Tanjeem is the act of leaning the Elm-e-Nujoom (the study of stars) and also to have the Aqeedah that it is the stars that perform all the activities of the world and all the good and bad is from the stars and claiming to know the Elm-e-Gayb (the unseen Knowledge) from the starts and their movements.

What are the two forms of Elm-e-Nujoom?

Elm-e-Nujoom has two forms the non-permitted form and the permitted form, both informed briefly as below

Non-Permitted form of Elm-e-Nujoom

In the Non-Permitted form the following three Aqeedah exists among people

1. The Aqeedah exists that the stars alone are the doers of all the activities of this world, like they are the ones controlling the weather, they are the ones controlling the lives of people they are the ones giving children etc., it is like considering the stars as Faail (controllers) of all actions. Keeping such a Aqeedah is open Shirk-e-Akbar (Major Shirk) and such a person will be out of the boundaries of Islam because the only controller of all actions is Allah (subhana wa taala) 2. The second Aqeedah which exists is that stars are a source of Elm-eGayb (the knowledge of the unseen) drawing and believing in such claims is Kufr-e-Akbar as the knowledge of the unseen is only with Allah (subhana wa taala) 3. The Third Aqeedah is that the stars are the once giving good and bad in this world, like they are the controllers of Sher (evil) and Khair (good) and they have effects on good and bad, such an Aqeedah is also not permitted and it is considered as Shirk-e -Azgar (Minor Shirk)

Permitted form of Elm-e-Nujoom

The permitted form of Elm-e-Nujoom is that knowledge which helps us in some matters of the Deen and Duniya (world), some of them are listed as below for better understanding 1. Finding the direction of the Qibla using stars 2. Finding the travel routes in the sea and land using the direction of stars 3. Finding the weather conditions using the movements of stars 4. Calculating the days months and years using stars 5. Locating some particular cities and towns while travelling using stars 6. Using stars as signposts for guidance while travelling

Commentary Imam Al Bukhari recorded in his Sahih that Qatadah (Radi Allahu Anha) Said: Allah (subhana wa taala) created the stars for three purposes

1. As ornaments of the heavens 2. As missiles against the devils 3. As signposts for guidance of travelers
Whoever interprets otherwise (other than the above) is mistaken, such a person is to lose his reward (on the Day of Resurrection), and takes upon himself that which is outside his knowledge. Sheikh Shamim explained the above commentary as below Allah (subhana wa taala) created the stars for three purposes which are

1. As ornaments of the heavens i.e. to beautify the skies 2. As missiles against the devil - We have learned in the previous lectures that the devils (Jinns and Shayteen) go high up in the skys to hear the conversations of the angles and convey the information and news they hear to the sorcerers and magicians in this world, while doing this they are hit and killed by the stars so that the information they hear cannot be passed to the sorcerer. 3. As signposts for guidance of travelers i.e. to find directions in sea and land.
The uses of stars other than the above like to know someones fate or destiny, for elm -e-Gayb (unseen knowledge) as actions as such is not permitted and such a person will have no reward in the hereafter. Hadeeth Abu Musa (Radi Allahu Anha) is reported to have said that the Allahs Messenger (Sallahu wa alihi wa sallam) said: Three (types of people) will not enter paradise...

1. The habitual wine (alcohol) drinker 2. The believer in sorcery (and astrology is among it) 3. The one who severs (cuts/disputes) blood relations.

[Ahmed, and Ibn Hibban has mentioned this Hadeeth in their Sahih]

The Hadeeth mentions three type of people who will not enter paradise, out of the three one of them is the person who believes In sorcery of any kind, we have learned about many kinds of sorceries in the previous chapters, and believing in astrology is one of them and the ruling of such a person is that he will not enter paradise, a person reading the newspaper which has the column of astrology or know your stars and believing in the information written has the same ruling, and this is wide spread in our community That completed the lesson number 29; after the lesson we always have a 5 to 10 min dars on Duas from Fortress of Muslim this class we had a repetition of Adhan and the Duas concerning Adhan hence not attaching along this mail Inshallah tomorrow we will be continuing with the Tauheed series & the topic for tomorrow will be

Seeking Rain through the Lunar Phases (Constellation)