the air. We have ourselves witnessed many such incidents, far too many to recount in detail. In the same way, when these rapturous devotees—those who claim affiliation with certain shaykhs—are overtaken by an auditory ecstasy, then at the sound of mukāʾ (whistling) and taṣdiyah (hand-clapping) one of them may rise into the air, balance on the tip of a spear, enter the fire, seize iron heated in the flames and press it against his body, and perform other feats of the same order. Yet none of this happens to him while he is engaged in prayer, in dhikr, or in the recitation of the Quran, because those are legitimate, faithful, Islamic, prophetic, Muhammadan acts of worship that drive the devils away, whereas these are heretical, idolatrous, demonic, pseudo-philosophical rites that attract the devils.

The Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic hadith: “Whenever a group of people gather in one of the houses of Allah to recite the Book of Allah and study it together, mercy envelops them, tranquility descends upon them, the angels surround them, and Allah mentions them among those who are with Him.” ⦗1⦘

It is likewise established in a sound report that when Usayd ibn Hudayr recited Sūrah al-Kahf, angels descended to listen, appearing like a canopy lit with lamps. ⦗2⦘

For this reason mukāʾ and taṣdiyah invite immorality and wrongdoing and divert people from the true remembrance of Allah and from prayer, just as wine does. The early generations called this practice taghbīr, because taghbīr means striking a stick against a piece of hide so that it dulls and overlays the human voice.