Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 136
! ! 136 i f a patient with a fever , is told that he does not have a temperature , he will begin to feel better. Howe ver, this is a skilled practice. M ere talk is not effective. Astr ology , Numerology, Palm reading, Magical Arts 74. Astrology: This is not related to the discipline of astronomy , which I mentioned earlier. T his is superstition. There is some level of truth to it , such as the impact the sun may have , but it i s not advanced enough to where things can be determined. T his knowledge is real , since God Almighty has imbued the stars with some influence, however the way in which people make use of it, is wrong. People wish to turn it into a means of gaining knowledge of the unknown and predict the unseen. This is wrong, for only God Almighty possesses knowledge of the unseen. 75. Numerology : Thi s is the knowledge of numbers. People attempt to pre dict future events through the study of numbers. 76. Palm Reading : Foretelling by looking at the lines [on one’s hand]. 77. Divination: This is not the Islam ic Istikharah [ seeking the guidance of God through prayers] , but it is the proc ess whereby people sit and roll a s t ring of prayer beads [similar to a rosary] through their fingers and then draw conclusions by looking at the beads. Some women look to Napoleon’s Book of Omens. These are fraudulent practices , c ontaining no truth whatsoever. They are like astrologers, who claim it is neither a girl nor a boy. 78. Talisman: This is also referred to as magic, whereas it is actually a branch of the ‘power of suggestion ’. They recite somethin g over an object or write something in Hindi on a piece of paper and use it as a charm. 79. Sorcery : Through this study, people or evil spirits are harnessed. E ven Europeans are entangled within this field. 80. Alchemy: This science has created chaos in the world. This is the obsession to make gold and many people have been ruined by it. Even some Ahmadis were caught up in it but are now no longer involved. On e cleric travelled from Delhi and said to me that, “ Maulvi Sahib ( Haz rat Hakim Maulana Nur - ud - Di n, Khalifa t - ul - Masih I ra ) used to make gold and he must have certainly s hared