Re: Ishtikhara - Is it really Ishtikhara or Jinn-magic?
Of course that is true … but since we also believe that some Jinn are Muslim and if they come to us without us seeking them out then such exceptions need to be understood and also even if they seek us out - we need to verify what we get from all people be they mankind or jinn.
Our own duty of making sense of a situation is still paramount - we cannot subcontract out rational decision making to 3rd parties … some responsibility and authority should be retained in everything that we do … so even if we ask another to do istikhara for us we should still be doing it ourselves …
Also note that many charlatans are not using Jinn at all … they are just full of mumbojumbos designed to convince you that what they are doing is correct … they use body language, theatrics of sorts and mind tricks to convince you of their authenticity. So that makes the people who are using Jinn even less in number … And when reading the Qur’an we see that such people are false …
Again I stress although many people are led astray by charalatans and magicians pretending to be people of God … at least those people are only led astray in worldly matters … I would not take it to the extent that Mufti Menk has stated that “their iman is sold” … not necessarily … the iman is only sold if they “attribute” any benefit to come from the helper and not from Allah (SWT), but if we as the lay public gain something and it makes us increase our focus on Allah (SWT) even if it was instigated by a charlatan then that does not amount to a loss of iman.