those who commit evil like those who believe and do righteous deeds—indeed, even better than them. They offer supplications that overstep proper bounds, as found in al-Shādhilī’s litany. This has been discussed at length elsewhere.
Others among the common folk of these people consider it possible for Allah to honour someone wicked—even an unbeliever—with the miraculous gifts granted to the greatest of His allies. They say, “This is a gift and a bounty that Allah bestows upon whomever He wills. It has nothing to do with prayer or fasting.” They imagine these to be miraculous gifts bestowed upon Allah’s allies, whereas their supposed miracles are satanic states like those experienced by sorcerers and soothsayers. Allah Most High says:
“And when a messenger from Allah came to them, confirming what was with them, a group of those who had been given the Scripture cast the Book of Allah behind their backs, as though they did not know.”
“They followed what the devils recited during Solomon’s reign. Solomon did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and what was revealed to the two angels in Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt.”
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“You will surely follow the ways of those before you, matching them exactly, so that even if they entered a lizard’s hole, you would enter it too.”
As for the Muslims to whom Allah’s Book, the Quran, has come, many of them—people professing Islam whom Satan has led astray—have instead cast the Book of Allah