Repentance of a Witch

Learning witchcraft and
practicing it constitute kufr (disbelief). Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning): 

“They followed what the
shayateen (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of
Sulayman (peace be upon him). Sulayman (peace be upon him) did not
disbelieve, but the shayateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and
such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut,
but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had
said, ‘We are for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from
us).’” [2:102] 

A practitioner of witchcraft
may do something that makes him an apostate, so he commits kufr and should
be executed for his apostasy. Or he may practice witchcraft by doing
something that does not constitute kufr. In the latter case there is a
difference of scholarly opinion, but the correct view is that he should also
be executed if it is proven that he is a practitioner of witchcraft. This is
what the sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did and enjoined others to
do. If he is executed, he should not be washed or shrouded or buried in the
Muslim graveyard. 

There should be no hesitation
in executing the practitioner of witchcraft, whether we say that he is a
kafir (disbeliever) or not, because this is what is proven from the
companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Executing him prevents the spread of evil and serves as a deterrent to his
fellow practitioners of witchcraft. 

If a practitioner of
witchcraft repents sincerely to Allah, then Allah will accept his
repentance. This is between him and his Lord, before the matter reaches the
courts. But if the matter reaches the Islamic court, then the qaadi (Muslim
judge) should execute him without asking him to repent, so as to rid society
of his evil. But it is not permissible for any individual to carry out the
hadd (Islamically prescribed) punishment by himself, rather the matter must
be referred to the authorities. 

There follow some fatwas of
the scholars on this matter: 

1 – Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn
Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

If a practitioner of
witchcraft repents sincerely to Allah, that will benefit him before Allah,
for Allah accepts repentance from the mushrikeen (polytheists) and others,
as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And He
it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins.” [42:25] 

“And all of you beg Allah to
forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” [24:31] 

But in this world it is not accepted. The correct view is
that he is to be executed. If it is proven to the court that he is a
practitioner of witchcraft, then he should be executed, even if he says, “I
have repented.” His repentance between him and Allah is valid, if he is
sincere, and that will benefit him before Allah, but according to the
Islamic ruling he is to be executed, just as ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased
with him) executed the practitioners of witchcraft, because their evil is
great. They may say, “We have repented,” but they may be lying, and the
people will be harmed and may not be safe from their evil because of the
repentance that they show. So they should be executed, and their repentance
will benefit them before Allah if they are sincere. End quote. 

Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn
Baz. 

2 – The Shaykh (may Allah
have mercy on him) also said: 

The correct view according to
the scholars is that the practitioner of witchcraft should be executed
without being asked to repent, because of the seriousness of their evil.
Some scholars are of the view that they should be asked to repent, and that
they are like any other kafirs (non-Muslims) who should be asked to repent.
But the correct scholarly view is that they should not be asked to repent
because their evil is so great, and because they conceal their evil and
their kufr; they may claim to have repented but they are lying, and may
cause a great deal of harm to people as a result. Hence the scholars were of
the view that the one who is known and proven to be a practitioner of
witchcraft should be executed even if he claims that he has repented and
that he regrets what he has done; he should not be believed. 

Hence it is narrated that
‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the commanders of the troops
telling them to execute every practitioner of witchcraft they found, so as
to guard against their evil. Abu ‘Uthman al-Nahdi said: “We executed three
practitioners of witchcraft.” This is how it was narrated in Saheeh
al-Bukhari from Bajalah ibn ‘Abdah. [It was also narrated by Abu Dawud with
a saheeh isnad/authentic chain of narrators, and the original report is in
al-Bukhari]. 

And it is narrated in a
saheeh (authentic) report that Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her)
executed a slave woman of hers because she found out that she was engaging
in witchcraft. And when the great sahabi (companion) Jundub ibn ‘Abd-Allah
(may Allah be pleased with him) saw a practitioner of witchcraft playing
with his head – making the people think that he was cutting off his head and
putting it back – he approached him without him realizing and killed him,
and said: “Now put your head back if you are telling the truth!” 

Conclusion: the evil of the
practitioners of witchcraft is great, hence it is obligatory to execute
them. If the authorities know that they are practitioners of witchcraft, and
that is proven with shar’i (legal) evidence, then they have to execute them,
so as to protect society from their evil and corruption. End quote. 

3 –The Shaykh also said: 

If he is executed, the
funeral prayer should not be offered for him, and he should not be buried in
the graveyard of the Muslims; he should be buried in the graveyard of the
kafirs. He should not be buried in the graveyard of the Muslims, the funeral
prayer should not be offered for him, and he should not be washed or
shrouded. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound. 

4 – He also said: 

The ruling on the
practitioner of witchcraft who is known to make people imagine things, or
whose actions result in harm for people, such as causing people to see
things that are not there, making a man beloved to his wife or a wife
beloved to her husband, or the opposite, which causes harm to people, if
this is proven by means of evidence in the Islamic court, then this
practitioner of witchcraft must be executed and his repentance should not be
accepted even if he repents. 

We have quoted above the
report narrated from ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who ordered his
commanders to kill the practitioners of witchcraft so as to prevent their
mischief on earth and to stop them disturbing the Muslims and causing harm
to people. As soon as they are found out, then it is obligatory for the
Muslim leaders to execute them even if they say “We have repented”, because
there is no guarantee. If they are sincere in their repentance, that will
benefit them before Allah, because of the general meaning of the verse in
which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And He it is Who accepts
repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do.”
[42:25]

If a person comes to the authorities without having been
found out and tells them that he has repented, and that in the past he used
to do such and such, but he has repented to Allah and he seems outwardly to
be good, then his repentance should be accepted, because he has come
voluntarily, seeking goodness and announcing his repentance without having
been found out and without anyone making any claims against him. So if he
comes in a manner that does not suggest any kind of trickery, then his
repentance should be accepted, because he has come repenting and expressing
regret, like any other kafir who may have a bad past, then Allah blesses him
by enabling him to repent without being forced to do so by anyone and
without anyone making any claims against him. End quote.   Majmoo’ Fatawa
al-Shaykh Ibn Baz.

5 – The scholars of the Standing Committee said:   If the
practitioner of witchcraft does any act of kufr in his magic, then he is to
be executed as a hadd punishment for his kufr. If it is proven that he
killed by means of his magic someone whose life is protected by sharee’ah,
then he should be executed as a qasas (retribution) punishment. If he did
not do any act of kufr or kill anyone by means of his magic, then there is a
difference of scholarly opinion with regard to executing him for his
witchcraft. But the correct view is that he should be executed as a hadd
punishment for his apostasy. This is the view of Abu Haneefah, Malik and
Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on them), because his magic in fact means that
he is a kafir, because of the verse (interpretation of the meaning):

“They followed what the shayateen (devils) gave out (falsely
of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulayman (peace be upon him). Sulayman
(peace be upon him) did not disbelieve, but the shayateen (devils)
disbelieved, teaching men magic.” [2:102] 

This verse indicates that all practitioners of witchcraft are
kafirs. And it is proven in Saheeh al-Bukhari that Bajalah ibn ‘Abdah said:
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote saying: Execute
every practitioner of witchcraft, male or female, and we executed three
practitioners of witchcraft. And it was narrated that Hafsah, the Mother of
the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) ordered that a slave girl of
hers who had put a spell on her be executed, and she was executed. [Maalik
in al-Muwatta]. And it is proven that Jundub said: The punishment for the
practitioner of witchcraft is a blow with the sword. [Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi who said: the correct view is that it is mawqoof – not directly
attributed to the Prophet].   Based on this, the ruling on the practitioner
of witchcraft asked about in the question is that he should be executed
according to the correct scholarly view. The one whose job it is to confirm
that witchcraft has taken place and to carry out the punishment is the ruler
who is charge of the Muslims’ affairs, so as to ward off mischief and close
the door to chaos. End quote.   Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah.  

6 – Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:   Is this execution a hadd
(legally prescribed) punishment or killing him because of his kufr?  Both
are possible, based on the details about the kufr of the practitioner of
witchcraft that we have discussed above. But based on the above discussion
we say: if a person’s witchcraft constitutes kufr, then his execution is
that of an apostate, but if his witchcraft does not constitute kufr, then it
comes under the heading of protection against serious harm, and it must be
implemented as the ruler sees fit.

Conclusion: Practitioners of witchcraft must be executed,
whether or not we say that it is because of their kufr, because they make
people sick and may even kill them, they cause separation between husband
and wife, and vice versa, and they may bring about reconciliation between
enemies and thus attain their goals. One of them may bewitch a person to
make him like him and get what he wants from him, such as if one of them
bewitches a woman in order to have his way with her, and because they spread
mischief on earth. So it is obligatory for the authorities to execute them
without asking them to repent, so long as this is done to ward off their
harm and the great damage they may cause. The hadd punishment has nothing to
do with being asked to repent; when the offender is caught, the hadd
punishment must be carried out. End quote.   Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen. This is a commentary on Kitab al-Tawheed.  

7 – Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen also said:   The view that
(practitioners of witchcraft) should be executed is in accordance with the
principles of sharee’ah, because they spread mischief on earth and their
mischief is one of the greatest forms of mischief. So executing them is
obligatory for the ruler, and it is not permissible for the ruler to fail to
execute them, because if such people are left alone and their actions become
widespread, they will cause mischief in their own land and in the land of
others. But if they are executed the people will be safe from their evil and
the people will be deterred from indulging in witchcraft. End quote.  
Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthyameen. This is a commentary on Kitab
al-Tawheed.  

And Allah knows best.