whose lead is followed. Rather, whatever is transmitted in this regard is either falsely attributed to the person concerned, or consists of tales related from some unknown and unidentified person. In some cases, the person may indeed have said or done it as a matter of personal judgment, in which he could be right or wrong; or he may have said it subject to numerous qualifications and conditions, in a manner involving nothing objectionable, only for the report from him to be distorted. Similarly, when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—permitted visiting graves after having prohibited it, the proponents of falsehood understood this to mean the kind of visitation they themselves practice: making pilgrimages to graves in order to pray beside them and seek their aid.”1 End quote.

Moreover, the fact that the needs of some of these supplicants are met and their wishes fulfilled does not prove that their practice is correct and sound. The granting of their requests may instead be a gradual enticement into ruin, a trial, and a test. The mere fact that a supplication attains its objective or secures what was sought does not prove that it is permissible under sacred law, for producing an effect is no proof of legitimacy. Magic, talismans, the evil eye, and other things that produce effects in the world by Allah’s permission may be means by which Allah fulfills many aims of wicked souls; despite this, they are forbidden and false.

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “The mere fact that a supplication attains its objective does not show that it is permissible under sacred law. Many people call upon stars and created beings besides Allah, and some of what they seek is attained. Some people deliberately supplicate at idols, churches, and other such places, calling upon the images in the churches, and some of what they seek is attained. Others use supplications that are forbidden by consensus among the Muslims, and some of what they seek is attained.