Q : There is a group of people here who treat people with what they call "folk medicine". When I talked to one of them, he asked me to write my name and my mother's name, and then to come back to meet him on the next day. When I went back, he told me that I suffer from suchandsuch an illness and my medicine is soandso. One person said that he uses the Words of Allah to cure. What is your opinion about such people and what is the ruling on visiting them?S.`A.Gh Ha'il.
A: The person who does so is evidently using the Jinn (creatures created from fire) and claiming to know the Unseen. Thus, it is impermissible for Muslims to seek treatment from him, to go to see him, or to ask him about something. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said concerning this type of people: He who visits a diviner and asks him about anything, his prayers will not be accepted for forty nights. Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih.
There are also many authentic Hadith related from the Prophet (peace be upon him) prohibiting going to soothsayers, fortunetellers and sorcerers, and prohibiting asking and believing them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, If anyone resorts to a diviner and believes in what he says, he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him). Claiming to know the Unseen by using pebbles, seashells, drawing lines on the earth, or asking the patient about his name, that of his mother, or any of his relatives, all these prove that he is one of the fortune tellers and wizards whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade to be asked or believed. One should beware of them: neither to ask them nor to seek their treatment even if they claimed that they
use the Noble Qur'an to treat people because the norm of the people of falsehood is to deceive and trick people. Thus, it is impermissible to believe in what they say. It is obligatory on the person who knows any of them to report their case to those in authority like judges, rulers, and authorities of each town to judge them according to the Law of Allah and then Muslims escape their evil, corruption, and their taking people's wealth without right. Allah (Exalted be He) is the One Who is sought for help. There is no might or power except with Him.