False Miracles And Tricks

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have mercy upon him, said:

A person comes to the grave of someone amongst the righteous people whom he holds in high regard. Then sometimes the grave opens and a man with the same image of the deceased exits, and at other times he sees that same person entering the grave.

Sometimes he sees him riding or walking inside that place of the deceased, such as shrines built on a grave, and at other times he sees him outside that shrine and thinks that he is that righteous man. And people invoke him for rescue, so he comes to them; but it is not that righteous man (in reality), rather it is a Shaytan who took his image.

This has happened to more than one person amongst those we know. Sometimes people seek rescue from a person about whom they hold a good opinion regarding his piety, either a dead person or one who is absent. Then they see him with their own eyes that he has come to them, speaks to them and fulfils some of their needs, so they think that it was him, but rather it is a shaytaan claiming to be that man who has passed away.

Many times a person comes in the image of one who has already passed away, speaks to the people, pays a debt, returns something that was deposited with him and informs the people about the dead, so they think that he is actually that dead person who came to them, but rather it is a Shaytan who took his image. This happens a lot, especially in a land of Shirk such as India and other places similar to it.

Amongst these people you see one who is in his coffin during the funeral procession whilst holding his son’s hand, and amongst them is one who says, “When I die, do not call anyone to wash me, rather I will come from such and such direction to wash myself”.

Then after his death, a man comes in the air – in his image – and takes a bath, so the people think that it was him who came, but rather it is a Shaytaan who took his image.

Sometimes one of them sees a person flying in the air or one with a mighty image or informs them of affairs they cannot see, and says to him, “I am Prophet khidr”, but rather it is a Shaytan telling him lies, and it may be that the one being lied to is a man who adheres to the religion, devoted in worship and one who suffices with only what he needs of the worldly things and abstains from the things he can do without due to his piety.

This has happened to more than one person, so whilst a man is wide awake, he sees a person either riding or not riding and the people saying, “This is such and such Prophet- Ibrahim, the Messiah or Muhammad; this is that truthful person – Abu Bakr or some of the disciples, or this is such and such person whom the people consider to be righteous, such as Jirjees or other than him amongst those whom the Christians hold in high regard, or some of the Shaikhs of the Muslims; but it is a Shaytan claiming that he is that Prophet, or that Shaikh or that truthful person who have already passed away. The likes of this has happened a lot to the polytheists, the Christians and many people amongst the Muslims.

One of them supposedly sees a person whom he used to hold in high regard, so he says to him, “I am Shaikh such and such”, but actually it is a Shaytan. I know a lot regarding this, and I know more than one person who invokes some of the Shaikhs – who are not present – for rescue, then he sees him coming to him and helps him whilst he is awake. This happened to me and others I know. More than one person has mentioned to me that they sought rescue from me at a faraway land and saw me come to him.

And amongst them is one who said to me, “I saw you physically riding with this clothing of yours”, and amongst them is one who said, “I saw you at a mountain”, so I informed them that I never rescued them, rather indeed that was a Shaytan who took my image to misguide them because they associate partners with Allah and invoke others besides Allah.

Also, there are those amongst our companions whom others invoked due to holding a good opinion of them about their piety, so he came to fulfil their need; but he says to the one who invoked him [i.e. after he was informed of this], “I do not know of anything about this”. 

And amongst the Shaikhs is one who says that he heard the voice of the person who was invoking him for rescue, and he heard his voice responding to him. But it is a Shaytan who made him hear a voice similar to the voice of the one who invoked him and then responds to the person with a voice similar to that of the Shaikh, so the one who sought rescue hears a voice similar to that of the Shaikh and thinks that it is the voice of the Shaikh.

This happened to someone I know, who stated this about himself, saying, “Some jinn spoke to me and then transmitted to me a voice that is similar to that of those who invoke me, and then he transmits to them a voice similar to mine”. This is what the devils amongst the Jinn do to the people who depend on them and vow to them.

And also, there is one who says that the Messiah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him] came to him whilst he was awake, but rather it is a Shaytan, and this has happened to many people. Shaytan misguides the people and deviates them through what he thinks they will follow him, so he addresses the Christians based on that which agrees with their altered religion, and he also addresses the misguided Muslims based on that which agrees with their corrupt beliefs. 

Many of these people leave a place whilst leaving behind someone in their image in that place, and many of them are seen in two places at the same time, so the people do not know and are left in a state of confusion. But sound intellect knows that one body cannot be in two places at the same time. A truthful person may see this with the naked eye and does not harbour any doubt about it, but the one he saw was a jinn who took the image of a human being.

There are many people whom the jinn carry to a faraway place, so one sees such a person in another country. Sometimes he is moving from one place to another, sometimes he is carried there by the jinn, and sometimes the jinn take his image. This person is not a Wali from whom miracles occur, rather he is one of the disbelievers or wicked sinners. The polytheists and Christians have a lot of these affairs which they think are miracles similar to the miracles of the Prophets, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them,, but rather it is the deeds of the magicians and soothsayers.

Therefore, unless a person distinguishes the Awliyaa of Allah from the Awliyaa of Shaytan; unless he distinguishes the specific and unmatched miracles of the Prophets, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them, and the miracles that occur from the righteous people from the deeds of the magicians, the soothsayers and those associated with the devils, then truth and falsehood will be confounded for him. So either he denies the truth which the truthful Prophets [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] brought, or he believes the lies uttered by the disbelievers and those who place affairs in other than their right places due to mixing up affairs.

The Khawaariq [Phenomena attributed to something beyond what is usual or what normally happens]

The Khawaariq by way of which the devils misguide the children of Adam – such as when the devils take the image of a person who is absent or has passed away and what is similar to this – has misguided many of those who ascribe themselves to the Muslims or to the people of the Scripture.

They base this on two affairs: “Firstly, that whoever from whom these khawaariq occurs is a Wali, and according to the term of the Christians he is a Qadees A’dheem – a great saint! Secondly, that the one from whom these khawaariq occur is therefore infallible- everything he narrates is truth and everything he commands is justice”.

However, it can definitely be the case that neither did a phenomena outside the norm – whether unrelated or related to sound knowledge and piety – occur from such a person nor a phenomena outside the normal related to deeds of the devils; rather the person merely carried out the tricks of the liars and wicked sinners.

The tricks of the liars and wicked sinners are numerous indeed, so one thinks that they are amazing affairs outside the norm, however neither is that the case nor is it something similar to the tricks of the monks.

Some people have written books regarding the tricks of the monks, such as the trick reported about one of them changing water into oil- that when the oil is in the interior of the lighthouse, the water gradually reduces and thus the oil floats [or pops up] on the water, so those who are present think that the water has changed into oil.

The likes of this affair are numerous from the tricks of those Christians, because all that those Christians possess – those who altered the religion of the Messiah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, of activities that are attributed to something out of the norm are either from the devils or they are tricks, and there’s nothing in them related to the miracles of the righteous people.

Similarly, the people of deviation- those who seek to alter the religion of Muhammad – adopt a religion that is not  legislated by Allah and His Messenger, then they make it a path of worship and give it precedence over the path that is legislated by Allah and His Messenger. For example, they give precedence to listening to sounds from the tambourines and the shrill flutes over listening to the book of Allah, so one of them goes into a state of ecstasy and a satanic trance through which he becomes muddled up with Shaytan until he speaks in a language he does not know. Then when he returns to his senses – just as when a jinn speaks through the tongue of the one who is possessed and after informing the people of that which is in his heart and soul, which is from the Shaytan, and the Shaytan leaves him -, he cannot repeat what he said at first.

The deviated ones change the religion of the Messengers – either the religion of the Messiah or seek to alter the religion of Muhammad. Amongst the likes of such people are the people of deviation, misguidance, the disbelievers, the polytheists, apostates and other than them, such as the likes of Musaylimah the liar, Al-Aswad Al-Unzee, Al-Harith Ad-Dimashqee, Baabaa Roomee and other than them amongst those who engaged in activities that are considered to be outside the norm [i.e. so called miracles] but are related to the deeds of the devils. 

The Tricksters

As for the tricksters, they are numerous and they are not Awliyaa of Allah. Rather, their so called amazing activities that are outside the norm, if not related to the satanic deeds of the soothsayers and the magicians, then they are tricks. They deliberately lie and deceive unlike those connected to the devils, because amongst them is he who deceives, so one thinks that what he does is from the miracles of the righteous people, just as amongst them is one who knows that what he does is from the devils, but he does so in order to achieve his goals.

The intent behind this discussion is that many of the activities that are considered to be outside of the norm [i.e. so called miracles] are either satanic deeds or tricks, so one thinks that they are the true miracles of the righteous people, for indeed that which whose cause is based on Shirk and wicked deeds can only be from the devils, such as when a person associates partners with Allah by invoking the stars, or invokes a person- whether such a person is dead or absent, or he makes an oath through unknown words and statements whose meanings are not known, or he knows that they are names of devils, or seeks aid through lewd conduct and oppression, then such deeds – considered to be outside of the norm that emanates from this – are from the devils.

The righteous people have miracles such as the miracles of the pious people of this Ummah, may Allah have mercy upon them], the miracles of the disciples of the Messiah [may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messiah, and may Allah have mercy upon the disciples] and other than them amongst those who were upon the correct and unaltered religion of the Messiah.

However, the occurrence of miracles at the hands of the righteous people does not necessitate that they are infallible like the Prophets [peace and blessings of Allah be upon them]; rather it maybe that a righteous man- a Wali – has miracles, but despite this he mixes up by error and makes a mistake in that which he thinks or what he is made to hear or see, or what he sees, or what he understands from the revealed Scripture.

And because of this, the statements of those other than the Prophets [peace and blessings of Allah be upon them] can either be accepted or rejected [i.e. based on evidence], but as for the Prophets [peace and blessings of Allah be upon them], it is obligated on a person to affirm truthfully everything they have related regarding the affairs of the unseen and obey them in everything they command. And due to this, Allah [The Exalted] obligated on a person to believe in everything the Prophets [peace and blessings of Allah be upon them] brought and did not obligate on a person to believe in everything that comes from others. Allah [The Exalted] said:

قُولُوٓاْ ءَامَنَّا بِٱللَّهِ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡنَا وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَىٰٓ إِبۡرَٲهِـۧمَ وَإِسۡمَـٰعِيلَ وَإِسۡحَـٰقَ وَيَعۡقُوبَ وَٱلۡأَسۡبَاطِ وَمَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَمَآ أُوتِىَ ٱلنَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمۡ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيۡنَ أَحَدٍ۬ مِّنۡهُمۡ وَنَحۡنُ لَهُ ۥ مُسۡلِمُونَ

Say (O Muslims), “We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma’il (Ishmael), Ishaque (Isaac), Ya’qub (Jacob), and to Al-Asbat [the twelve sons of Ya’qub (Jacob)], and that which has been given to Musa (Moses) and ‘Iesa (Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam).” [Al-Baqarah. 136]

Allah [The Exalted] said:

لَّيۡسَ ٱلۡبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّواْ وُجُوهَكُمۡ قِبَلَ ٱلۡمَشۡرِقِ وَٱلۡمَغۡرِبِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱلۡبِرَّ مَنۡ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِ وَٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕڪَةِ وَٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ

It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets. [Suraah Al-Baqarah. Aayah 177]

And because of this the Muslims are all in agreement that the one who disbelieved in a single Prophet whose Prophethood is well known, then he is a disbeliever- an apostate. There is no distinction between one Prophet from the other- by believing in some and disbelieving in others. Allah said:

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكۡفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُواْ بَيۡنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ نُؤۡمِنُ بِبَعۡضٍ۬ وَنَڪۡفُرُ بِبَعۡضٍ۬ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُواْ بَيۡنَ ذَٲلِكَ سَبِيلاً

أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرُونَ حَقًّ۬ا‌ۚ وَأَعۡتَدۡنَا لِلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ عَذَابً۬ا مُّهِينً۬ا

Verily, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers and wish to make distinction between Allah and His Messengers (by believing in Allah and disbelieving in His Messengers) saying, “We believe in some but reject others,” and wish to adopt a way in between. They are in truth disbelievers. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating torment. [An-Nisaa. 150-151] 

An Excerpt from Al Jawab As-Sahih Liman Baddala Deen Al-Masih 1/278-284