the early generations as referring to the sound of singing. It encompasses this and other sounds that lure their listeners away from Allah’s path.

It is reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“I have only forbidden two foolish, sinful sounds: the sound of frivolity, play, and Satan’s flutes; and the sound of slapping cheeks or tearing garments at the neckline and uttering the cries of the days of ignorance.”

Examples include their cries: “Oh, my sorrow! Oh, my anguish! Oh, my helper!”

Groups of people endowed with spiritual unveiling have been shown the presence of devils at gatherings of devotional listening conducted in the manner of the days of ignorance, with whistling and clapping. They have also been shown how Satan assails those present until they enter a satanic ecstasy, to the point that some begin dancing above the heads of those attending. One of the shaykhs endowed with such unveiling saw that his devil had lifted him up and was making him dance. When he shouted at his devil, it fled, and the man fell.

These matters have secrets and underlying realities witnessed only by those endowed with insight born of faith and spiritual witnessing grounded in certainty. Yet whoever follows what the revealed Law has brought and turns away from the path of those who introduce religious innovations has attained guidance and the good of this world and the Hereafter, even if he does not understand the underlying realities of these matters. He is like someone who takes the road to Mecca, following a guide who knows the way: he reaches his destination and finds provisions and water in their proper places, even if he does not know how this comes about or what brings it about. Whoever follows someone other than the guide