and illness and destitution from the dead and the absent. He says to a deceased or absent shaykh, “O my master, Shaykh so-and-so!” He seeks his aid, asks for his care, and requests from him the help and well-being that should be sought from Allah. This is among the forms of associating partners with Allah that Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, by the consensus of the Muslims.
The image of the shaykh whom one of these polytheists has called upon may appear before him. He supposes that it is the shaykh himself, or an angel who has come in his likeness. In reality, it is a devil that has assumed this form to mislead him and lead him astray because he called upon someone other than Allah. Such was also the lot of the idol-worshipping polytheists: devils would speak to them, appear before them, and tell them certain hidden matters, although the lies in what they reported made it clear that they were devils.
Allah Most High says:
“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?”
“They descend upon every sinful liar.”
Such people are numerous among Indian, Turkic, and Abyssinian polytheists, and among the misguided people who profess Islam and imitate them. These include those who perform wondrous feats involving blood, saffron, and ladanum, claiming that they transform earth or other materials into such substances. Some enter fire and eat snakes; others shout at someone, causing him to fall ill or die.
These states come upon them when they do what Satan commands, such as innovated devotional listening—listening to whistling, clapping, and the like. For those who