Assalaamu alaikum. A good Muslim brother who is known to prescribe homeopathic remedies asked me to hold a packaged medicine in my hand while he prepared a teardrop-shaped piece of metal with a thin string tied to one end; he called it a pendulum. I tried to touch it, but he would not let me do that, saying that it would not be effective anymore after having been exposed to my touch. He hung the metal from the string above his left palm and dangled it for a few seconds and then asked me to put down the package of medicine and gave me another one to hold in my hand. Then he dangled the pendulum over his palm again for a few seconds. This went on for a few more times and he then advised me to take some of the homeopathic remedies that I had held in my hand, twice a day for several consecutive days. When I asked him how he knew which ones to prescribe. He said that he prescribed the medicines according to the pendulum’s responses. For example: Yes when the pendulum rotates clockwise; No when the pendulum rotates counterclockwise; and undetermined when the pendulum rocks back and forth. Is this method of treatment and seeking treatment permissible in Islam, by Muslims and for Muslims?

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.

It seems – and Allaah knows best – that this method of treatment is based on mere conjecture and estimating, so it is nothing more than quackery and illusions. Therefore, it is neither permissible to go to a person who does this nor to believe in what he says.

Allaah knows best.