satanic marvel, wrought at his hands only as a trial and a test. A person may soar through the air, walk upon water, and perform other feats that shatter the natural order, yet all of them are works of the devils.

The criterion is this: we examine his conduct. If his deeds are in harmony with Islam, the phenomenon occurring at his hands is a karamah; otherwise, it is merely the service of devils to him.

Allah, exalted be He, says: “On the Day He gathers them all together He will say, ‘Company of jinn, you have taken many among humankind.’ Their human allies will say, ‘Our Lord, we benefited from one another’” (al-Anʿām 6:128). The jinn profited from the humans through their submission and obedience, while the humans profited from the jinn because the latter served them and brought them what they desired. Allah also says: “He will say, ‘The Fire is your abode, to remain therein forever—except as Allah wills. Surely your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing. And thus do We make some of the wrongdoers allies of others because of what they used to earn’” (al-Anʿām 6:128–129).

These, then, are satanic marvels. What distinguishes them from a true karamah is faith and righteous action. This is the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah. Those who depart from it have fallen into much confusion regarding extraordinary phenomena. The Muʿtazilah and the rationalists who follow their path to this very day deny the karamat altogether; indeed, the most extreme among them even reject certain prophetic miracles, claiming that the intellect does not affirm them, for they set their reason above revelation.

The second group consists of the grave-worshippers and many Sufis. They have taken the affirmation of karamat to excess, so much so that they ascribe them even to the allies of Satan—granting them to people who neither pray nor