I once likened them to people who undertook to lead a group of pilgrims on Hajj, but instead took them to Cyprus to convert them to Christianity. One of their followers who had come to recognize their misguidance said to me, “Had they taken us to Cyprus, they would have made us Christians, whereas these people were making us worse than Christians.” It is just as he said.
I have seen and heard of countless good, religious people who thought these people were among Allah’s allies and that their words were those of people with authentic spiritual understanding. Some embraced their heresy, understood it, and became one of them. Others believed what they did not know, revered what they did not understand, and accepted things unknown to them as true. These are the most upright of the misguided groups. They are like someone who reveres the enemies of Allah and His Messenger without knowing that they are their enemies, and who allies himself with polytheists and the People of the Book, thinking them to be people of faith and understanding. Through these ignorant people who revere them, harm has befallen the Muslims that none but the Lord of all worlds can measure.
This response has allowed for no more than these remarks. Allah knows best what is correct.