The point here is that they should be told: “Since states of this kind are shared by those who follow truth and those who follow falsehood, there must be evidence showing that what you have experienced is the truth.”

The second approach is to say: “Rather, this comes from Satan, because it contradicts what Allah sent Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to convey.”

This is determined by examining what the person has experienced, its cause, and its ultimate outcome. If its cause is an act of worship not prescribed by Allah—for example, if he is told, “Prostrate before this idol so that you may obtain what you desire,” or “Seek the intercession of the one depicted in this image so that you may obtain what you seek,” or “Call upon this created being and seek his aid”—this includes invoking the heavenly bodies, as described in books on invoking them, or calling upon a created being as one calls upon the Creator, whether that being is an angel, a prophet, or a shaykh. If he calls upon that being as he calls upon the Creator, glory be to Him, whether through worship or through supplication, he has made that being a partner to Allah. Whatever he obtains through this means has therefore been obtained through associating partners with Allah, just as happened to the polytheists.

The devils would sometimes appear to them, and might speak to them from within an idol, inform them of certain unseen matters, or fulfil some of their needs. They would give them this slight benefit in exchange for what they had purchased from them: their affirmation of Allah’s oneness and their faith, the loss of which brought about their ruin. This is like sorcery. Allah Most High says:

“But the two would teach no one without first saying, ‘We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve.’ Yet they learned from the two that by which they caused division