the questioner—seeking his aid in times of calamity and saying, “O my master, so-and-so!” as though asking him to remove his affliction or bring him some benefit. This is how Christians treat the Messiah, his mother, their religious scholars, and their monks. It is well known that the best of creation and the most honoured before Allah is our Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace. Those who knew his standing and his rights best were his Companions, yet they did none of this, either in his absence or after his death.

These people who associate partners with Allah add lying to their polytheism, for lying goes hand in hand with polytheism. Allah Most High says:

“So shun the impurity of idols and shun false speech, devoting yourselves to Allah alone, associating nothing with Him.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, said:

“False testimony is equivalent to associating partners with Allah.” He repeated this twice or three times.

Allah Most High says:

“Those who took the calf for worship will incur anger from their Lord and humiliation in the life of this world. Thus do We recompense those who fabricate lies.”

Abraham, Allah’s close friend, peace be upon him, said:

“Is it falsehood—gods other than Allah—that you desire? What, then, do you think of the Lord of all worlds?”

Among their lies is the claim one of them makes about his shaykh: if the disciple is in the west and his shaykh is in the east, and the disciple’s covering slips off, the shaykh puts it back over him. If the shaykh cannot do this, they claim, he is no shaykh.

The devils may lead them astray just as they lead idol-worshippers astray. Such things, involving polytheism and sorcery, used to occur among the Arabs in connection with their idols, and among those who worshipped the stars and their talismans. Likewise, the Tatars, Indians, black Africans, and other groups of polytheists experience the devils’ leading them astray, speaking to them, and similar things.