Is Predicting Death Considered Fortune-Telling?
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
Is it considered fortune-telling or shirk if someone predicts with certainty that a person will die in the military at a specific time, given that only Allah knows when a person will die?
Answer
Predicting someone’s death with certainty is impermissible and falls under fortune-telling, which contradicts the Islamic belief that only Allah (Most High) knows when and how a person will die.
It is unlawful to predict with certainty the time of someone’s death, such as claiming that a person will die in the military at a specific time. This would fall under the category of fortune-telling, which is considered a form of shirk (associating partners with Allah (Most High)), as it attributes knowledge of the unseen to someone other than Allah (Most High).
The Quran states, “Indeed, Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour, sends down the rain, and knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in which land it will die. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware” [Quran, 31:34].
While some individuals may feel a premonition or have a sense of the approach of their death, this is not considered certain knowledge, nor does it equate to divine knowledge that is exclusive to Allah (Most High). Such premonitions may come true. Still, they remain personal feelings rather than definitive predictions of the unseen. And Allah knows best.
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I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approve by Shaykh Mohammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.
