We have a non-Muslim servant and we found pictures of the children and myself along with something that looks like a goat’s horn in her room. What do you think of this? Is it a kind of magic? Please advise.

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Before answering the question, we must first discuss the issue of having female servants in general in Muslim houses, let alone  disbelieving female servants. This phenomenon often results in much corruption which reality bears witness to. This includes:

1-      The oppression of children when their upbringing is left to these maids. This is the most dangerous aspect as it causes the child to lose his emotions towards his parents, especially his mother. Consequently, a child loses affection which is the basic element in directing and guiding children.

2-      The existence of maids is a basic element in encouraging mothers to go out to work, markets or visits, and this contradicts the Sharee'ah goals which require that a woman stays in her home. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And stay in your houses.}[Quran 33:33]

3-      Laziness and inactivity of women, which results in many illnesses.

4-      Leaving maids with adolescent sons in houses results in many immoralities.

5-      When the maid is a disbeliever the children are brought up on subversive creeds and ideas that contradict the Muslim creed.

Therefore, the Sharee‘ah criteria for having a maid has to be followed. These criteria are as follows:

1-      A maid has to be a Muslim.

2-      She should be accompanied by her husband or a Mahram (unmarriageable person). 

3-      The Sharee'ah limitations should be observed. That is, there should be no Khalwah (isolation) or intermixing between the two sexes, nor should men have any dealings with them.

4-      The children's upbringing should not be entrusted to these maids.

As for the question, it is not farfetched that this maid does whatever harms Muslims as she is a disbeliever. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {They do not observe toward a believer any pact of kinship or covenant of protection. And it is they who are the transgressors.}[Quran 9:10]

They are neither restrained by kinship nor are prevented by a covenant. So what do you think then if there is no covenant or kinship in the first place? The surrounding proofs indicate that she might have been trying to work a spell and this is indicated by the horn of the goat. You should therefore dismiss her to be relieved from her evil, but your suspicions about her should not encourage you to oppress or upset her. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.}[Quran 5:8]

Allaah Knows best.