Notice:Editorial team review only - scholar review pending
What the Qur'an actually says
Allah describes the magic taught by the devils in Babylon to two angels, Harut and Marut, who were themselves a trial for humanity. The verse then narrates what people did with that knowledge - using it to separate husband from wife - and locates this entire enterprise within Allah's permission.
وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ مَا تَتْلُوا۟ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينُ عَلَىٰ مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَٰنَ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَٰنُ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ يُعَلِّمُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ ٱلسِّحْرَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَى ٱلْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَٰرُوتَ وَمَٰرُوتَ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَآ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِۦ بَيْنَ ٱلْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِۦ وَمَا هُم بِضَآرِّينَ بِهِۦ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا۟ لَمَنِ ٱشْتَرَىٰهُ مَا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَـٰقٍ وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا۟ بِهِۦٓ أَنفُسَهُمْ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ ١٠٢And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, 'We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic].' And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.
Read the final clause again. They could not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. (وَمَا هُم بِضَآرِّينَ بِهِۦ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ) [from Qur'an 2:102]. That clause is the believer's anchor. It does not deny that sihr exists - the verse openly says it does. It does not deny that sihr can separate a husband from his wife - the verse says it can. What it denies is the magician's independence. Every effect of every spell passes first through the One who decreed it.
The Mu'awwidhat: refuge prescribed by Allah
Allah did not simply describe the danger; He revealed the medicine. Surah Al-Falaq names the harms a believer should seek refuge from, including specifically "the blowers in knots", a technical reference to sihr in the prophetic understanding.
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ ١ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ٢ وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ٣ وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّٰثَٰتِ فِى ٱلْعُقَدِ ٤ وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ ٥Qul a'udhu bi-rabbi-l-falaq...
Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak, from the evil of that which He created, and from the evil of darkness when it settles, and from the evil of the blowers in knots, and from the evil of an envier when he envies.
The Prophet (ﷺ) recited Surah Al-Falaq, Surah An-Nas, and Surah Al-Ikhlas every night, blowing into his cupped hands and wiping them over his body three times. The full narration appears in Sahih al-Bukhari:
Narrated by Aishah (radiy-Allahu anha)
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ إِذَا أَوَى إِلَى فِرَاشِهِ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ جَمَعَ كَفَّيْهِ ثُمَّ نَفَثَ فِيهِمَا فَقَرَأَ فِيهِمَا قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ وَ قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ وَ قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ ثُمَّ يَمْسَحُ بِهِمَا مَا اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْ جَسَدِهِ يَبْدَأُ بِهِمَا عَلَى رَأْسِهِ وَوَجْهِهِ وَمَا أَقْبَلَ مِنْ جَسَدِهِ يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍWhenever the Prophet went to bed every night, he used to cup his hands together and blow over them after reciting Surat Al-Ikhlas, Surat Al-Falaq and Surat An-Nas, and then rub his hands over whatever parts of his body he was able to rub, starting with his head, face and front of his body. He used to do that three times.
This is the prescription. Not amulets, not blood, not eggs - recitation of Qur'an by the believer himself, every night.
Sihr and the Prophet's own experience
The Prophet (ﷺ) himself was affected by sihr - a famous incident in which a Jewish magician named Labid ibn al-A'sam cast a spell that made the Prophet feel he had done things he had not done. The narration is in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Allah then revealed the Mu'awwidhat - Surah Al-Falaq and Surah An-Nas - with eleven verses corresponding to the eleven knots of the spell. The Prophet recited them, the spell was untied verse by verse, and Allah cured him.
Two lessons land hard from this incident. First: if sihr could touch the Prophet (ﷺ) himself - the most beloved of Allah's creation - then suffering sihr does not mean Allah has abandoned you. Second: the medicine Allah provided was not a counter-spell or a magical object; it was Qur'an, recited by the affected person.
Why "real but limited" matters
Two opposite mistakes are common, and both are dangerous.
What to do if you suspect you are affected
- Renew your tawheed. Sit alone, declare la ilaha illa Allah, ask Allah to settle your heart in His oneness.
- Maintain your five daily prayers. Sihr cannot survive in a heart that is consistently turning to Allah at five fixed appointments.
- Recite the Mu'awwidhat three times morning and evening per Sunan Abi Dawud 5082 (graded Hasan).
- Recite Ayat al-Kursi at night. Sahih al-Bukhari 5010: a guardian from Allah remains with you until morning.
- Recite the last two ayat of Surat al-Baqarah at night. Sahih al-Bukhari 5009: they will suffice you.
- Make du'a in the night, in sujud, between adhan and iqamah. These are times when du'a is most readily answered.
- Do not visit magicians or fortune-tellers. Sahih Muslim 2230: forty nights of salah unaccepted for visiting and asking.
- See a doctor in parallel for physical or mental symptoms. Sahih al-Bukhari 5678: Allah did not send down any disease without also sending down its treatment.
The ruling on practising sihr
Practising sihr is among the seven destroyers (al-mubiqat) the Prophet (ﷺ) named in a famous Sahih al-Bukhari narration. Teaching sihr in order to be obeyed by jinn or to harm people is a form of kufr, as Surah Al-Baqarah 2:102 explicitly states of the devils who taught it. Buying, selling, or paying for the services of a magician falls within the same prohibition.