in the Noble Qur’an and the sound Sunnah. Only the people of innovation—the Muʿtazilah, the Jahmiyyah, and those who follow their lead—deny them, and this is a rejection of matters that are plainly established in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. In the Qur’an we find the account of the Companions of the Cave and the account of Mary, while the authentic Sunnah relates events such as the angels’ descent in the form of a cloud like a canopy filled with lantern-like lights to listen to the recitation of Usayd b. Ḥuḍayr (may Allah be pleased with him), and the angels’ greeting of ʿImrān b. Ḥuṣayn (may Allah be pleased with him). Many other examples exist. Whoever wishes to examine the subject further should consult Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah’s work al-Furqān bayna Awliyāʾ al-Raḥmān wa-Awliyāʾ al-Shayṭān (The Criterion between the Allies of the Most Merciful and the Allies of Satan), may Allah have mercy on him.

Great confusion has arisen among people regarding the miracles of the saints. One faction—the Jahmiyyah, the Muʿtazilah, and their followers—denied them altogether, contradicting the textual proofs and denying evident realities. Another faction went to the opposite extreme: the masses and certain misguided scholars affirmed miracles for evildoers and libertines, people who are not friends of Allah at all but friends of Satan. They based their assertions on fabricated stories, dreams, and satanic feats, attributing miracles to sorcerers, charlatans, and impostors among some Sufi shaykhs and other pretenders. They ended up worshipping such figures instead of Allah, both during their lives and after their deaths, building domed shrines over the graves of those they claimed were saints, weaving grand tales about them, and attributing to them control over the universe and the ability to fulfill the needs of those who call upon them. They sought help from them, begged them for aid, and called them “the poles” and “the helpers,” all because of those alleged miracles and fabricated legends. Thus the claim of miracles became a pretext for worshipping those to whom such feats were ascribed; in fact, some even labeled sorcery, trickery, and magic as miracles because they cannot distinguish between a genuine miracle and a satanic feat, nor between the allies of the Most Merciful and the allies of Satan. Yet it is well known that even a person explicitly confirmed by the Qur’an or the Sunnah to be a friend of Allah—and even if a true miracle occurs at his hands—may never be worshipped besides Allah, nor may blessing be sought from him or from his grave, for worship is the exclusive right of Allah alone.