Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (19/47)

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When a deceased person is invoked, called upon, and appealed to for help, the devil often assumes his form. The person may also be alive yet unaware of whoever has called upon him. Instead, the devil assumes his form, and the misguided polytheist appealing to that person for help imagines that the person himself has answered him, when it is only the devil. This happens to unbelievers who appeal for help to those, dead or living, whom they hold in high regard, such as Christians who appeal to George and other saints of theirs. It also happens to those who profess Islam but practise polytheism and follow misguidance, appealing for help to the dead and the absent. The devil appears to them in the form of the person whose help they seek, while that person remains unaware.

I know many people who have experienced this in connection with various individuals. Each of those individuals tells me, “I did not know that this person had appealed to me for help.” Yet the person seeking help had seen a being in that individual’s form and had no doubt that it was the individual himself.

More than one person has told me that they appealed to me for help, each recounting a different incident. I told each of them that I had neither answered any of them nor known of his appeal for help. It was then said:

فَصْلٌ: وَكَثِيرًا مَا يَتَصَوَّرُ الشَّيْطَانُ بِصُورَةِ الْمَدْعُوِّ الْمُنَادَى الْمُسْتَغَاثِ بِهِ إذَا كَانَ مَيِّتًا. وَكَذَلِكَ قَدْ يَكُونُ حَيًّا وَلَا يَشْعُرُ بِاَلَّذِي نَادَاهُ؛ بَلْ يَتَصَوَّرُ الشَّيْطَانُ بِصُورَتِهِ فَيَظُنُّ الْمُشْرِكُ الضَّالُّ الْمُسْتَغِيثُ بِذَلِكَ الشَّخْصِ أَنَّ الشَّخْصَ نَفْسَهُ أَجَابَهُ وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ الشَّيْطَانُ وَهَذَا يَقَعُ لِلْكُفَّارِ الْمُسْتَغِيثِينَ بِمَنْ يُحْسِنُونَ بِهِ الظَّنَّ مِنْ الْأَمْوَاتِ وَالْأَحْيَاءِ كَالنَّصَارَى الْمُسْتَغِيثِينَ بجرجس وَغَيْرِهِ مِنْ قَدَادِيسِهِمْ وَيَقَعُ لِأَهْلِ الشِّرْكِ وَالضَّلَالِ مِنْ الْمُنْتَسِبِينَ إلَى الْإِسْلَامِ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَغِيثُونَ بِالْمَوْتَى وَالْغَائِبِينَ يَتَصَوَّرُ لَهُمْ الشَّيْطَانُ فِي صُورَةِ ذَلِكَ الْمُسْتَغَاثِ بِهِ وَهُوَ لَا يَشْعُرُ. وَأَعْرِفُ عَدَدًا كَثِيرًا وَقَعَ لَهُمْ فِي عِدَّةِ أَشْخَاصٍ يَقُولُ لِي كُلٌّ مِنْ الْأَشْخَاصِ: أَنِّي لَمْ أَعْرِفْ أَنَّ هَذَا اسْتَغَاثَ بِي وَالْمُسْتَغِيثُ قَدْ رَأَى ذَلِكَ الَّذِي هُوَ عَلَى صُورَةِ هَذَا وَمَا اعْتَقَدَ أَنَّهُ إلَّا هَذَا. وَذَكَرَ لِي غَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ أَنَّهُمْ اسْتَغَاثُوا بِي كُلٌّ يَذْكُرُ قِصَّةً غَيْرَ قِصَّةِ صَاحِبِهِ فَأَخْبَرْت كُلًّا مِنْهُمْ أَنِّي لَمْ أُجِبْ أَحَدًا مِنْهُمْ وَلَا عَلِمْت بِاسْتِغَاثَتِهِ فَقِيلَ: