“The Secret” and “The Law of Attraction”

Praise
be to Allah

The book The
Secret was written by an Australian TV producer called Rhonda Byrne, who
belongs to the New Thought movement, whose followers believe in a number of
metaphysical principles that have to do with healing and self-development,
and how a thought may have an impact on the physical world. This book,
The Secret, speaks of these concepts and promotes them according to the
principles of this movement. As you said, the book is popular throughout the
world and has recently been translated into Arabic. After examining the book
and reflecting on its contents, it becomes clear that it contains a number
of seriously deviant ideas concerning matters of belief and scientific
matters, the most serious of which are the following:

-1-

The book
promotes the idea of giving up striving and not paying attention to taking
measures to attain goals; rather it suggests relying on wishful thinking and
dreams. That is in accordance with the so-called law of attraction, which
states that like attracts like, and that whatever happens to you in your
life, you are the one who attracted it to your life, and it was attracted to
you because of images stored in your mind, namely the things that you were
thinking of. Whatever you think of, you will attract it to you. The people
who follow this principle believe that the idea in a person’s mind has an
impact in and of itself on the person’s environment and surroundings, and
that by means of his abstract thoughts, he may attract to himself whatever
he wants of good things, without striving. They claim that thoughts have
vibrations, and that these vibrations emanate from a person’s mind to the
outside world in the form of electromagnetic waves, and that these thoughts
can attract whatever exists in the universe of good and evil that is on the
same wavelength. So if you are thinking positively, you are sending out
waves with positive vibrations that will attract positive things to you. If
you are thinking negative thoughts, then you are sending out waves with
negative vibrations that will attract negative things to you. Undoubtedly
these ideas are contrary to empirical science and common sense, and
believing in them and acting upon them is contrary to Islamic teachings.

As for being
contrary to Islamic teachings, that is because Allah, may He be exalted, has
commanded us to work and strive in this world, and He has connected
provision to taking measures and using available means, not to wishful
thinking and illusions. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning):

“He
it is, Who has made the earth subservient to you (i.e. easy for you to walk,
to live and to do agriculture on it), so walk in the path thereof and eat of
His provision”

[al-Mulk 67:15].

With regard to
it being contrary to common sense, that is because relying on wishful
thinking and dreams will lead to the ruin of the world and to corruption of
that which is of benefit to people and in their interests, and it will lead
to casting aside all that humanity has achieved throughout the centuries of
knowledge, science and civilisation. That is because, according to this
theory, the sick person does not need to seek medical treatment, and people
do not need engineers, builders and workers. All that the one who needs
something has to do is think positive thoughts of what he wants, then ask
the universe – Allah forbid – to fulfil his desire without him making any
effort.

Those who follow
this movement contradict themselves when they tell the sick person who is
about to die, “Don’t stop seeking medical treatment.” Otherwise, what their
idea implies is that one should stop seeking medical treatment, and
hospitals should be shut down, and medical schools should be turned into
meditation centres where people can relax and develop wishful thinking and
dreams, or what they call positive thinking – and so on and so forth in all
other fields. Thus it becomes clear that this movement is contrary to common
sense and contrary to what is visible of real life experience. People cannot
build sound lives on the basis of such an idea.

The poet spoke
the truth when he said:

If I developed
wishful thinking, I could sleep all night happily, but wishful thinking is
the capital of the penniless.

-2-

The book goes to
extremes in venerating man and bestowing upon him a halo of sanctity and
greatness, as it expresses the belief that man possesses unlimited powers
and huge energy, to the point that he has the power to create. So everything
that happens to man, good or bad, is his own creation. The book says, for
example: “Anything we focus our mind on, we can create it” (p. 141).
Undoubtedly this is a serious deviation and is ascribing partners to Allah,
may He be exalted, in His Lordship. Allah, may He be exalted, spoke the
truth (interpretation of the meaning): “Then
do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone
has the right to be worshipped)”
[al-Baqarah 2:22].

-3-

The book
promotes belief in pantheism, which is false, by saying that the Creator and
His creation are one and the same, and that that man is God in physical form
– exalted be Allah far above that. This idea is reiterated and expressed in
many different ways in the book.

-4-

The book
supports a number of Eastern beliefs and idolatrous philosophies, such as
Buddhism, Hinduism and so on. We have seen how the followers of these
religions celebrated this book, The Secret, because it spread and
promoted the principles of their religions.

-5-

The book
promotes the idea of focusing on the universe in order to achieve one’s
wants and desires. So if you want something, all you have to do is direct
your request to the universe, and the universe will inevitably respond to
your request. Islam, on the other hand, calls people to focus on Allah, may
He be glorified and exalted, for it is to Him that one should turn and ask
for what one needs. Turning to anyone or anything else in matters over which
only Allah, may He be glorified, has power constitutes shirk – Allah forbid.

-6-

The book
contradicts belief in the divine will and decree, as it denies that God has
foreordained the decrees of His creation and that He decided everything
before it happens. The book is in harmony with the view of the extreme
Qadaris who denied the divine will and decree, as it says that whatever
happens in the universe is not part of God’s knowledge before it happens,
and it is not already written and decreed. Undoubtedly belief in the divine
will and decree is one of the pillars of faith, without which a person’s
faith cannot be valid.

-7-

The book
promotes selfishness and egocentricity, and calls people to cast aside all
Islamic teachings and moral guidelines, and to pursue the desires and
pleasures of the nafs, so the criterion for deciding whether or not to go
ahead with something is how much it may bring of joy and pleasure, and how
much one likes it. So whatever a person likes, let him do it, and whatever
he dislikes, let him avoid it, without paying any attention to morals or
religious teachings. Undoubtedly this is contrary to Islamic and moral
values, for the Muslim is bound by a religious and moral framework, and
cannot go beyond it. What Allah has enjoined is obligatory, what He has
forbidden is prohibited, and what He has permitted is permissible. What the
Muslim must do is adhere to the rulings of sharee‘ah and Islam.

These are some
of the deviant ideas contained in this book. Therefore you should avoid it.
Anyone who would like to know more details about the reality of this book
and the extent of the deviant ideas that it contains may refer to a research
paper entitled Khuraafat as-Sirr: Qiraa’ah Tahleeliyyah li Kitaab as-Sirr
wa Qanoon al-Jadhab (The Myth of the Secret: an Analytical Reading of
the Book The Secret and the Law of Attraction).

[ends].