There are, therefore, clear distinctions between the saints’ miracles and the extraordinary feats of magicians, charlatans, and impostors:

1. A saint’s miracle arises from piety and righteous deeds, whereas the feats of charlatans spring from disbelief, transgression, and wickedness.

2. A saint’s miracle is put to use in acts of righteousness and God-fearing obedience—or at least in matters that are permissible—whereas the feats of magicians and impostors are employed for forbidden ends, such as idolatry, unbelief, and the shedding of innocent blood.

3. A saint’s miracle grows stronger when Allah is remembered and His oneness proclaimed, but the feats of sorcerers and charlatans are nullified or weakened when Allah is mentioned, the Quran is recited, and pure monotheism (tawḥīd) is proclaimed.

These criteria make it plain that the miracles of the saints and the showy tricks of charlatans are worlds apart, clearly separating truth from falsehood.

As we have already noted, the true allies of Allah never exploit the miracles that He grants them as a means of gain, fraud, or drawing people’s attention to venerate them. Rather, such miracles only increase them in humility, love of Allah, and devotion to His worship. By contrast, those charlatans and impostors capitalize on the satanic phenomena that occur through them to lure people into glorifying them, seeking their favor, and even worshipping them instead of Allah. Each of them ends up founding his own distinct order and gathering followers who bear his name—the Shādhilī order, the Rifāʿī order, the Naqshbandī order, and other Sufi paths.

In sum, people have split over the question of miracles into three camps:

• One group went to extremes in denying them, rejecting even the sound miracles established in the Qur’an and the Sunnah for Allah’s pious allies.

• Another group exceeded all bounds in affirming miracles, to the point that they believed sorcery and charlatanry