Among these people are some to whom the devil brings food, fruit, sweets, and other items that simply do not exist in that place. Others are whisked away by a jinni, flown to Mecca, Jerusalem, or elsewhere. Still others are carried off on the afternoon of ʿArafah and returned before dawn. Yet they perform no lawful pilgrimage at all: they leave in their everyday clothes, do not enter a state of consecration when passing the miqāt, utter no talbiyah, do not spend the night at Muzdalifah, do not circumambulate the Kaʿbah, do not walk between Ṣafā and Marwah, and do not stone the pillars. They merely stand on ʿArafah in their ordinary garments and then return the same night. Such a performance is not a valid ḥajj by the unanimous agreement of the Muslims; it is like someone who turns up for Friday prayer and prays without ablution and facing the wrong qiblah.

One of those transported in this manner was once taken to ʿArafāt and brought back. Later, in a dream, he saw angels recording the names of the pilgrims. He said, “Will you not record my name?” They replied, “You are not among the pilgrims,” meaning that he had not performed a lawful pilgrimage.

[Differences between the saints’ miracles and satanic states]

Between the true miracles granted to Allah’s friends and the states that resemble them yet are in fact satanic, there are many distinctions. Chief among them is that the saints’ miracles arise from faith and piety, whereas satanic feats spring from actions that God and His Messenger have forbidden.

The Most High says: “Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies, both open and hidden…’”