Opinion, August 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
Sense and Non-Sense About 6th Sense
Adil Salahi
Arab News, 8/9/03
Q. Could you please explain what Islam says about the sixth sense. Some people seem to be able to forecast future events, many many years ahead.
S.M. Ali
A. The Oxford Dictionary defines the sixth sense as “a supposed faculty giving intuitive or extrasensory knowledge; such knowledge.” This is different from predicting the future. There is nothing to prove that a certain person has a sixth sense on which he or she consistently relies to acquire such knowledge, although we may find people who seem to have such extrasensory knowledge.
Islam does not tell us anything about the sixth sense, but it accepts that God may favor certain people with an increase of blessings in one way or another. Therefore, if it is true that a certain person can have extrasensory knowledge, we look at it as a special gift from God.
As for knowledge of the future, this is part of what God has kept for Himself. He tells us in the Qur’an that He does not allow knowledge of what lies beyond the reach of human perception to be granted except to chosen messengers. (72: 27) Whoever predicts the future simply relies on conjecture, and conjecture is a form of lying. Hence the Prophet says: “Fortune tellers are liars, even when they say something true.” This is because when they say it, they do not know it to be true. If it happens as they say, it is a mere coincidence. Hence, the Prophet’s description.
Q. Could you please explain what Islam says about the sixth sense. Some people seem to be able to forecast future events, many many years ahead.
S.M. Ali
A. The Oxford Dictionary defines the sixth sense as “a supposed faculty giving intuitive or extrasensory knowledge; such knowledge.” This is different from predicting the future. There is nothing to prove that a certain person has a sixth sense on which he or she consistently relies to acquire such knowledge, although we may find people who seem to have such extrasensory knowledge.
Islam does not tell us anything about the sixth sense, but it accepts that God may favor certain people with an increase of blessings in one way or another. Therefore, if it is true that a certain person can have extrasensory knowledge, we look at it as a special gift from God.
As for knowledge of the future, this is part of what God has kept for Himself. He tells us in the Qur’an that He does not allow knowledge of what lies beyond the reach of human perception to be granted except to chosen messengers. (72: 27) Whoever predicts the future simply relies on conjecture, and conjecture is a form of lying. Hence the Prophet says: “Fortune tellers are liars, even when they say something true.” This is because when they say it, they do not know it to be true. If it happens as they say, it is a mere coincidence. Hence, the Prophet’s description.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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