1)how can we know that a person practise magic?what the features of this person and his/her religious commitments?some of them i know, that such people do not pray regularly,keep untidy hair,stay in dark places.what are other things? 2) how can we know (by looking or religion) that this person asks others(magicians) to do magic for his benefit? a person is suspected,with no proof.if the suspicion is false and she took other step due to suspicion she will be in great loss. if the suspicion is true and she took a step neglecting suspicion as it is just a suspicion, then again she will be in a great loss.what to do in this case? 3)is the marrige of a women valid if her husband practise magic or ask others to do magic for his benefit? pls answer soon may Allah reward you

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

In general, magicians are dissolute people and sinners, and they do not abide by the Islamic teachings. However, sometimes a magician may appear to be pious and righteous in order to fool the general public. Also, a magician may work out some extraordinary things and claim that this is a miracle from Allaah, but all this is just a gradual dragging from the devil. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 91545 and 18831.

In principle a Muslim is innocent and it is not permissible to accuse anyone of doing magic or going to magicians without evidence. However, a Muslim should be cautious of someone who is feared to do some of these things. In any case, a Muslim should protect himself by performing Ruqyah and reciting the legislated mention of Allaah.

Magic can be done by seeking the help of the jinn and getting closer to them (by approaching them through acts of disobedience) and this takes the person out of the fold of Islam. It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry such a person if he practises magic, and if she is his wife, she is obliged to separate from him. This ruling applies also to the person who goes to a magician or a fortuneteller and asks him and believes in what he says and believes that he knows the unseen.

However, if a person practices magic by only using some medicine and the like and there is no involvement of jinn in it, then this does not take him out of the fold of Islam but a Muslim woman should not marry him at all, and if she is already married to him, she should endeavour to separate from him and invalidate her marriage with him because he is not pleasing in his religion and moral conduct. We say the same thing in regard to a person who goes to a magician or a soothsayer and believes what he says without believing that he knows the unseen and without having other beliefs which take a person out of the fold of Islam.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 90225 and 11104.

Allaah Knows best.