Thus, many of these people may experience something of this kind, especially when listening to whistling and clapping. Devils may descend upon them, and one of them may experience what a person suffering a seizure experiences: frothing, foaming at the mouth, and hideous screaming. A devil may speak to him in words that neither he nor those present understand, and similar things may happen to these misguided people.

The third category is to say: “O Allah, by so-and-so’s standing before You, or by so-and-so’s blessing, or by so-and-so’s honour before You, do such-and-such for me.” Many people do this, but it has not been reported that any of the Companions, the Successors, or the early generations of this community used to offer such supplications. Nor has any scholarly statement on this matter reached me that I can relate, apart from what I have seen in the fatwas of the jurist Abū Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām. He ruled that no one may do this except with respect to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace—if the hadith concerning the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, is authentic.

The question on which the ruling was sought concerned the following: al-Nasā’ī, al-Tirmidhī, and others narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, taught some of his Companions to supplicate, saying:

“O Allah, I ask You and seek access to You through Your Prophet, the Prophet of mercy. O Muhammad, O Messenger of Allah, I seek access through you to my Lord concerning my need, that He may fulfil it for me. O Allah, accept his intercession for me.”

Some have cited this hadith as evidence that it is permissible to seek access to Allah through the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, both during his lifetime and after his death. They said: “Seeking access to Allah in this way does not involve calling upon