
# Unveiling the Secrets of Magic and Magicians

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Authored By

The Great Humane Eminent Scholar

Mohammad Amin Sheikho

(His soul has been sanctified by Al'lah)

1890-1964

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Checked and Introduced by

The Researcher and Thinker

Prof. A. K. John Alias Al-Dayrani

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Published by

Amin-sheikho.com at Smashwords.com

Copyright © Amin-sheikho.com

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# Foreword by Prof. Abdul-Kadir John Alias Al-Dayrani

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The Almighty (glory to Him) says: "Their devices are but the deceitful show of witchcraft. Magicians shall never prosper, whatever they do."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress[1] 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 69

The ship of Islam moved backwards, and righteousness became frail, having previously been strong in the hearts of people. This ignorance spread widely across the world, leaving no place for faith. That is because people veered off course in their way of thinking and followed the way of imitation, so that the methods of magic prevailed in all fields, and tricksters pretended to be Muslim so as to achieve their malignant purposes.

The wolf put on the garment of a man, hiding the violent death that lurked in its fangs.

Falsehood was in command, and its followers became masters.

The common people were like a feather that was being tossed about by a hurricane, and were finally thrown to the ground, finding no way to escape.

But God's Mercy is the rescuer of those who are obedient, and rejects oppression and degradation on their behalf, and always seeks to uplift them through communication, and makes the sacred light perfect upon them as favor and grace from Him.

And here is a high lofty sun that has risen and driven away the black darkness.

Springs of Godly Wisdom flowed up over the heart of our venerable scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho, and passed through his tongue to become a factual and realistic science to unveil the hidden sciences and devilish tricks of the magicians.

These are great facts that entirely destroy the falsehood of these magicians, and support the base of righteousness' edifice.

– Prof. A. K. John

# Preface

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## Excerpts from the Inspired Science of the GreatHumane Scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho

Many people turn to augurs, fortune-tellers and conjuring magicians for help, driven by curiosity, or by the desire to uncover hidden matters and inquire about their prospects for the near and far future.

While having their morning coffee, they like to read their horoscopes in the newspapers before going to work and entering the whirligig of daily life, stimulated by an insistent desire for optimism and good omens, and longing for a day full of hope and delight... but...!

Some of them continue to search for one who spits over knots, or who will write a spell for them, or for an exorcist who gathers and stirs up discord among people.

We also find those who want to cause harm to their enemies by means of those conjuring magicians – because of envy, through cursing them with the evil eye. And there are others who want to see wonders, or watch supernatural trickery – as they suppose it to be – for example, stabbing oneself with skewers, spiritualism, and the telling of unseen things through augury, fortune telling and necromancy.

Others covet accumulated hundredweights of gold, and wish to find golden treasures hidden beneath the ground without making any effort, and so they resort to magic and magicians.

And there are those who aspire to kingship and superiority over humanity by adopting the principles of the devil. "...I am better than him (Adam)..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 12

These people seek mastery and to tower over others.

Others desire adultery, but in secret, so they resort to the magicians, and at their hands they learn to join those who commit hidden sins.

## When do the magicians appear?

Throughout the ages, concentrated amounts of spiritual waste and human failure appear in certain societies as a result of an aberration of manners and a deviation from morality and from the right way (which we call the 'straight path' in Arabic). Such practices lead their perpetrator to the gulf, where they sacrifice their humanity for enjoyment that is destructive and momentary, and that is inevitably followed by great torment. Such a person becomes devoted to their whims, and aims to fulfill their lusts in a hellish, dirty, vile way, so that they turn into an enemy of everyone else, whoever they might be: their son, their brother or even their mother.

Such people seek to destroy others and dispossess them of their characters.

They dedicate their existence to depriving others of their will until they become obedient to them. To achieve this evil aim, they veil their face behind a humanitarian mask, faking the ability to do wonders, or claiming to possess wisdom and science, or even to practice spiritual medicine and physical or spiritual therapy.

Verily, these are the magicians and conjurers, and as long as people do not think deeply, they will follow them and believe in their abilities and ideas.

These magicians will find a good market among such simple-minded people, especially those who are possessed by a love for money that dominates their life.

So, it is necessary to reveal to our gentle readers the reality of these magicians and conjurers in consecutive sections. They hide themselves behind religious clothing such as palliums and jubbahs, or behind turbans and beards, or other false faces, and include: hypnotists, spiritual doctors, magicians who spit over knots, astrologers, trick swordsmen who stab themselves with skewers, those who eat glass, who walk over fire, or who stay underwater for a long time, mediums, augurs, fortune-tellers, necromancers etc. Their masks are multiple but their hearts are alike: they are tricksters. They are all melting in a single crucible and drinking from a stagnant spring.

## Only the scholar's learning unveils the secrets of the magicians

So, he or she who wants to show the lies and disprove the falsehoods of these practitioners of magic has no means to do so except by resorting to the Holy Qur'an and the sacred Sunna of the prophet (cpth),[2] because these will unveil their hidden knowledge and their unseen statues.

Only these two holy sources frustrate these magicians' statements and refute their destructive beliefs. The Holy Qur'an is a book that "falsehood cannot reach from before or behind..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 41, Fussilat (explained), verse 42

A strange phenomenon circulates among people nowadays and spreads through different educational, cultural and social classes.

It is the faith in those people who deal in magic, and who pretend that they have the ability to harness the world of jinn in order to fulfill people's hopes and wishes, and to solve the hard problems that people face.

Considering the importance and gravity of this subject, we wanted to discuss it according to a set of rules that are aimed at disclosing the purpose of this magic in order to acquaint people with the facts surrounding its current credibility and influence. We found no one to reveal its reality correctly except the great humane scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho – his soul has been sanctified by Al'lah.

Therefore, we borrowed the following elements of research from his thoughts and knowledge, which are inspired by the Holy Qur'an, in which the Almighty does not neglect anything.

Thus, the humane scholar is the vanquisher, unveiling the reality of this field of conjuring, and clarifying its reality in detail, with logical and scientific proof, supported by verses from the Holy Qur'an.

So the tongue of the heart addresses those who believe in their enemy, as mentioned in the noble verse: "...would you then worship that, instead of Al'lah, which can neither help you nor harm you? Shame on you and on your idols! Have you no sense?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya' (The Prophets), verse 66-67

# Chapter 1

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## The Claim that Magic Proves the Validity of the Islamic Religion (Each Magician is a Beggar)

Many years ago, people would watch those who wandered through the streets and markets performing their trickery in front of people, to see how they could take eggs, golden coins, birds, and razor blades from their mouths.

But we wonder: after ending their tricks, why do these magicians, who pretend to create something from nothing and to know unseen things, ask people to give them money for their show so as to allay their hunger?!

We see that magic never attains money; otherwise the magicians would create enough money to fulfill their needs, so that they would be prevented from begging.

These people are similar to the magicians for whom Pharaoh sent, in order that they use their great magic to frustrate the miracle of the staff that was carried by our master Moses (pth). Describing their poverty and begging, God says: "And when the magicians came to Pharaoh, they said: 'Shall we be rewarded if we win?' ": shall you give us a reward if we win?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 41

So, although they were masters at creating wonders, they asked for money, though each of them was a skilled magician!! And yet they could not provide themselves with that which might have saved them from begging!!

This is how magicians are, in every place and time.

There are also those people who pretend to be strictly obedient to Al'lah, or to be blessed, although in fact, they are not so.

They stab themselves with sharp tools like spears or knives in front of a crowd of people, or they conjure up spirits, or practice necromancy to uncover hidden matters.

There are also those who spend days and weeks in a lake without breathing air who make people believe them by using devilish companions, and those who tread barefoot on firebrands or eat glass.

These are people who pretend to be strictly obedient to Al'lah. If you ask them about their reason for doing such deeds, they will answer you thus: "it is to confirm and prove the rightness of Islam in front of unbelievers", even though they carry out their deeds in Muslim villages that include no such unbelievers. In doing so, they treat all people as unbelievers except themselves!

## Refuting Magicians' Claims

To refuting false claims of magicians that all their actions and practices are but for proving that Islam is true, and that they are the only believers; we mention the following points:

### Firstly: Pagan worshipers of fire and of cows are able to do greater devilish wonders than those already mentioned

Islam is a faith of reason and logic, with rules and laws that should be followed by humanity to establish faith and then realize piety (that is, illumination by Al'lah's Light).

It is not a haphazard course that asks you to break the existing natural laws and the perceptible cosmic discipline, or to oppose the ability for sound thinking with which man has been honoured above the animals.

Such acts of the magicians which contradict reality – like stabbing one's own abdomen with a knife or a spear, or treading on fire – are indeed mere magic and fancy deception, in which magicians give the observer the impression that they are doing this. In fact, Islam is a faith of facts, where man can perceive its sublimity only by following its rules, not by watching the acts of tricksters and charlatans.

If Islam can be proved to be correct according to the ability to stab oneself with skewers, we must then follow the worshipers of fire and of cows.

Ibn Battuta told us about the magicians in India and China, for he had heard of and seen wonders performed by them.

Once, he visited the sultan of a region in India, and there he met two men who wrapped themselves in blankets so as to live with the spirits in a world of devilish and low companions.

These were men who had performed strange rites where they had covered their heads and used embers to tear out their hair, as some people do with the hair of their armpit.

The sultan ordered them to show Ibn Battuta their wonders, so one of them sat cross-legged and then rose up in the air until he was floating cross-legged over the heads of the people there.

Because of that scene Ibn Battuta lost consciousness, and when he came to, the first person was still levitating, and the other took a shoe and began to beat the floor with it. The shoe then floated up to the neck of the cross-legged one and began to strike him as he slowly came down, until it transpired that he was once again sitting on the floor.

Ibn Battuta told of another wonder which he had seen when he was in China. That occurred when the prince ordered one of the magicians to show them his wonders, and so he threw a long rope in the air. Its end stretched up into the sky until it could no longer be seen, and he ordered a boy to climb the rope, and the boy did so till he disappeared. Then the magician called on him three times to come down, but the child did not. So the magician took a knife in his mouth and ascended the erect rope behind the child until he also disappeared. Then he threw down the boy's arm, his leg, the other arm... and his head. Having cut him up with the knife, he came down the rope again with his clothes completely covered in blood. He kissed the floor before the prince and talked to him in Chinese. The prince ordered him to be given money. Then the magician took the boy's limbs and joined them together. After that he kicked him with his leg and the boy got up, alive and well.

A judge who was named Fakhr al deen – who was accompanying Ibn Battuta – said to him: "By God, they were neither ascending, nor descending, and not even cutting off limbs, but it was mere illusion and trickery".

God the Almighty says about Pharaoh's magicians: "...they bewitched the people's eyes and terrified them by a display of great wonders."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 116

As long as the proof of the correctness of Islam is to be found in doing deeds such as stabbing yourself with skewers, eating glass, and walking over fire, then it would be more deserving to regard the faith of the worshippers of cows and of fire as the right one, as they can perform such wonders. This is so because the wonders shown to Ibn Battuta in India and China, which are still practiced by these magicians to this day, are more amazing than those who are supporters of true faith and Islam.

That means that stabbing oneself with skewers would not merit a mention in comparison with the trickery and wonders of India and China's magicians who worship cows and fire, and so we should wonder whether their faith might be the right one, since those conjurers we mentioned prove that they are in close obedience to Al'lah and His blessedness by stabbing themselves with knives.

Some Russian magicians, who call themselves hypnotists, display their wonders in the theatres of Damascus. One of them stares into the eyes of a girl in front of people, and gestures with his fingers in front of her face until she faints and falls down. Then he carries her over to a table with his two hands, and puts her lying on it before the very eyes of the attendees. He starts murmuring, and then the table rises half a meter in the air. He takes a thick rope and binds her well to the table, then pours gasoline over her, and sets fire to it from a distance, so that both the table and the girl are engulfed in flame. After that he claps his hands and the same girl comes out through the back door of the theatre, safe and sound, to greet the attendees. When the show ends, the magician gets his reward.

Now, how can stabbing oneself with a skewer or spear deserve to be mentioned in comparison to raising the dead to life after burning their body? Does not this trickery surpass that of those who stab themselves with spears, or eat glass to confirm the rightness of Islam??

How strange their sayings are, and the strangest thing would be to believe them.

### Secondly: Messengers and prophets are mortal human beings like us

The right thinking and sound of mind would not accept that a person could stab their body with a knife without being harmed; if such a thing was so, the noble messengers (far be it for them) would be the foremost in such fields: "Their apostles replied: 'we are indeed mortals like you'..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 14, Ibrahim (Abraham), verse 11.

Furthermore, some of their noble companions were martyred in battles as a result of stabbing and wounding.

So, these acts are indisputably restricted to magicians.

There are some who have tried to explain such acts scientifically, but they have failed, as no science can physically explain the ability to safely tread on firebrands or to pass a spear through the abdomen.

It is well known that the human body consists of flesh, bones, blood vessels, and the nervous system.

We wonder: have they different physical structures from those of other mortals? Or have they been created differently, or do they belong to another species, so that neither fire nor spears nor knives affect them? They were begotten as we were, and eat the same food we eat.

They are human in origin, but they have allowed the spirits of their malignant companions, the jinn, to surround their bodies, and to commit hidden adultery through their spirits.

They are accompanied by devilish companions who break laws and come to our world by use of their spirits in response to the call of the human devil magicians, and then these jinn pass through the bodies of these magicians to surround their spirits.

Thus they made these magicians into garments for their spirits; hence the control of these spirits of the jinn, whose bodies are originally created from fire, protects these magicians from being burnt by the firebrands on which they tread. So, as a result of this, the magicians are able to start carrying out the deceptive, devilish actions of the jinn, and indeed these are not in fact physical wonders, but rather are spiritual ones.

Among those who watch the magician's wonders, if there was but one Godly and enlightened believer, whose heart was strictly attached to the shining lamp – the messenger Mohammad (cpth) – and if this person was to mention the name of Al'lah within their spirit, then the spirits of the devilish companions would flee from the magician's body.

Thereupon, the magician would be unable to work a single wonder, and would certainly know that if he truly treaded on a firebrand, his feet would burn, and if he stabbed his abdomen with a spear he would die.

It is only when the true faith that is based upon the illumination of God's light is lost that the spirits of devilish companions appear to these magicians according to their whim.

But, in the presence of true believers, whose hearts are loyal to their shining lamp (cpth), this magic becomes inactive, the magicians' trickery is frustrated, and the spreading of their malignant spirits is hampered. In this case, the devilish companions will indeed burn, because the believer is near to Al'lah, and this is exactly what happened to the devils of Pharaoh's magicians in the presence of our master Moses (peace is through him), so that the magicians believed in Moses (pth).

The same thing afflicted the magicians in the Arabian peninsula in the presence of our master Mohammad (cpth), except for a few of them, who were beaten by the noble, righteous companions of the prophet.

Where there is no true belief, magic and magicians spread widely, but indeed, they cannot harm anyone with their magic except those who are negligent and disobedient, and who fail to repent and follow the right path.

If people truly turn to God in repentance, they will be released from the influence of magic, and then will enter the worlds of everlasting blessings and eternal delight through their hearts, to be with the prophets, the true martyrs, and those who gained the ability to do good deeds. Their life will be good, and they will be heart-cured.

Thus, the acts of these magicians are nothing but mere magic and the making of connections with the worlds of devilish jinn, and secretly working together with them so as to bewitch people's eyes with these deceptions and fancies.

### Thirdly: Magicians Are the People Farthest from Righteousness

It is no miracle for a man to fly in the air or walk over water, because many animals and insects can do so. Righteousness itself is the real miracle.

The scholar Amin Keftaroh (may God have mercy upon him) was correct when he said: "The real miracle is to break the habits of your own spirit, not to break cosmic discipline."

The scholar Amin made every effort to correct the false touchstone of belief which people depended on in order to recognize holy men. Indeed, some people still do depend on this touchstone, which is to witness the mere idle acrobatics that are performed by those pretenders to uprightness, the magicians. These actions are also performed by unbelievers, but neither the righteous ancestors nor their successors ever took part in such actions.

In fact, if you examine the manners and the deeds of the magicians (who pretend to be Muslim) you will find them to be the greatest perpetrators of sin and adultery of the entire population.

These acts (stabbing themselves with skewers, eating glass, walking over water or fire (as they pretend to do), and foretelling unseen matters by means of devilish companions) are nothing but magic, trickery, and amusing stories. "...magicians shall never prosper, whatever they do."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 69

Islam is a faith comprised of logic and high laws, wherein there is no breaking of the magnificently strict cosmic discipline which the true faith will generate in your spirit if you think and contemplate deeply. If this occurs, you will be fit for God's order and will be able to enter into His presence, where the disgraceful habits and unworthy qualities of the spirit are replaced with perfect characteristics such as kind behavior, generosity, bravery, and other high moral traits.

Righteousness is the real power.

### Fourthly: Why have the magicians failed to liberate their occupied lands by using their magic?

Because skewers do not affect them, and fire does not burn them, and moreover they pretend falsely to know unseen things (in spite of the fact that these are things that none but Al'lah knows, but their devilish companions tell them what they have heard from the jinn companions of other people) – because of all these things, among all the people in this time, if the performers of such so-called miracles were really and truly obedient and beloved of Al'lah, then they would free their Muslim brothers from the hands of their occupiers, as neither bullets nor bombs can affect them! They would be able to establish a huge army, as there are thousands of thousands of them.

Yet they behave like poor beggars, asking people for money. They cannot even enrich themselves in order to avoid being humbled before people.

We heard about the companions of God's messenger Mohammad (cpth), and how they suffered from wounds while they were fighting, and how some of them lost their eyes in battle. Omar Ibn Al Khattab, Othman Ibn Affan, and Ali Ibn Abu Taleb (may God honor them) were martyred, and earned the honor of martyrdom as a result of being stabbed with daggers, spears and swords.

So do those 'obedient followers' who stab themselves with skewers and the like have a different physical construction from that of other mortals, which means that they are not affected by material objects? Do they surpass the martyred companions in their nearness to Al'lah??

### Fifthly: The Qur'anic verses state that there can be no miracle after the Holy Qur'an

The Qur'an is the everlasting miracle of the messenger (cpth), and there can be no further miracles beyond this.

With clear wording, in the verse in His Book, the Almighty says: "Nothing hinders us from giving signs except the fact that the ancients disbelieved them. To Thamoud we gave the she-camel as a visible sign, yet they oppressed themselves with it. We give signs only by way of warning."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 59

When the Quraysh people asked the messenger (cpth) to show them a miracle, the Almighty inspired him with the verse: "Nothing hinders us from giving signs except that the ancients disbelieved them..." The ancients perished because miracles were shown to them but they did not believe in them.

The Thamoud people asked our master Saleh (pth) to bring into being a she-camel as a miracle, but they oppressed themselves when they robbed it of its young, and so they perished. That was God's last act towards them. Their story ended with their destruction at His hands, although God did not wish that end for them.

God says, addressing those who seek a miracle from the messenger (cpth): "...We give signs only by way of warning..." All signs, such as drought, hurricanes, and earthquakes, are sent to cause fear. When these disasters occur, humanity's spirit will seek refuge in its Provider, fearing the final account and the torment, knowing that there is a Hand which directs and sustains us.

If people do not feel afraid so that their thoughts and their spirits gather to think of their beginnings when they were mere semen, and of their end when they will be buried, they will not be truthful in seeking the truth, and then they will never be guided.

Pharaoh's people disbelieved the miracles shown to them by our master Moses (pth), such as the staff that changed into a serpent, the bright hand, and all the nine signs: "They said whatever miracles you may work to confound us, we will not believe in you."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 132

They did not believe and profited nothing from the miracles, as they were occupied with vice, and so they perished.

God says in the noble verse: "When you do not show them a miracle, they say: 'Have you not yet got one?'...": that is: will you not show us a miracle that confirms your mission?

He (cpth) replied to them as the Almighty ordered: "...say 'I follow only what is revealed to me by my Lord,'...": i.e. in the Holy Qur'an, "...this book is a veritable proof from your Lord, a guide and a mercy to true believers": do you not think of my revelation? Does it not guide you to the truth? This Qur'an is a miracle, and its true guidance is something that profits you. Does it include anything that is in contradiction of logic?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 203

Many were shown miracles, but they availed them nothing. Should you not think of this Qur'an and be guided by it?

If people do not follow the course of belief shown by the Almighty, nothing will profit them, no matter what they see and hear, because God says: "If We sent down the angels to them and caused the dead to speak with them, and ranged all things before them, they would still not believe unless Al'lah willed it..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 111

The Almighty God's will is based upon humanity's truthfulness in seeking the truth and leaving behind forbidden matters. "...God does not change people's conditions until they themselves change..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 11

"Perfected are the words of your Lord in truth and justice..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 115

If a person truly seeks the truth, God will change their condition.

Faith penetrates into a person's heart through their honesty, not through their witnessing of miracles; therefore, they should think of death until their spirit complies with them and gathers together with their thought. Thereupon, if they think of the cosmic miracles such as the sun, the moon, night and day, rain and the clouds, the skies, the stars and the asteroids, and all the other visible signs, they will deduce that there is a Creator who provides and steers and whose Hand controls the universe, which will lead to their becoming upright and directing themselves towards Al'lah, as faith spreads into every atom of their spirit.

At this point, they become charitable to all of creation, and it was for this that we were created and came to this world. Each man and woman must truly become somebody with whom all of creation feels at ease, and when they pass into the eternal abode in the hereafter, their faces will be lit up with white light in God's presence due to their good deeds, until they are elevated to the lofty heavens.

This was the purpose of the Provider of worlds in creating us. For the greatest happiness we were created, and this is the way that leads us there.

Signs are no longer revealed to people, and this has been the case since the time of our master Jesus (pth). The Almighty said: "If We will, We can reveal to them a sign from the heavens before which they will bow their heads in utter humility."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 4

There is no verse in the Holy Qur'an indicating that God has revealed a single sign to His messenger (cpth) other than the Holy Qur'an. God says: "Is it not enough for them that We have revealed to you the Book for their instruction?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 29, Al-'Ankabut (The Spider), verse 51

Now, after this revelation and clear verses is there any who dares to say that there are miracles other than the Qur'an, or 'supernatural tricks', as they call them, by way of evasion?

### Sixthly: In general, do miracles profit anyone?

Indeed, miracles were not of profit to any of the nations that preceded the Muslims. God the Almighty set examples of former people before us. The Israelites were shown miracles: 'the parting of the sea, the staff with which our master Moses (pth) struck the rock whereupon twelve springs gushed from it, the serpent, the luminous hand, and the rest of the nine miracles of our master Moses (pth)...' and yet, when he left them for forty days, they reverted to worshipping the lower life, in spite of the presence of our master Haroun (pth) among them. So the miracles of Moses availed them nothing.

Will imaginary wonders have more influence upon people, such that they may believe them more than these miracles (such as the parting of the sea into twelve parts, each part as high as a massive mountain, and wherein the water was as immovable as the mountains)?

The Israelites saw that miracle, and yet, when they came out of the sea and passed by a group of people who worshipped idols, they asked our master Moses (cpth) to make them an idol so that they could worship it.

Is this fake stabbing with skewers comparable to these miracles!?

Our master Jesus (pth) raised the dead to life, and made the likeness of a bird from clay and breathed into it, and then it became a living bird of flesh and blood by Al'lah's leave. And he gave sight to the blind and healed lepers by Al'lah's leave.

In spite of all that, the Jews accused him of lying and plotted to kill him, and in doing so, they deprived themselves of this great grace (Jesus, peace is through him), for the Almighty gave him and his mother a shelter on a peaceful hill-side watered by a fresh spring.

How far the allegers of these wonders are from the prophets and their miracles!

### Seventhly: Could the noble companions (may God be pleased with them) guide the nations to light by stabbing themselves with skewers!?

Miracles are carried out according to the needs of the age and its people, and as we mentioned before, because our master Moses (pth) was sent at the time when magic prospered, he was given miracles that overcame and frustrated this contemporary magic all over the world, and made the magicians despise their science and prostrate themselves before the majesty of the science of our master Moses.

But neither Pharaoh nor his people, nor even the Israelites, profited from these miracles.

Our master Jesus (pth) was sent at the time when medicine prospered, and so was given miracles that surpassed the contemporary medical sciences, and yet his people profited nothing from them.

Our master Mohammad (cpth) was sent at a time when poetry, eloquence, and fluency prospered to the extent that a given tribe might become high or become low through a line of poetry, and so he was given the miracle of the Holy Qur'an which amazed and incapacitated all the eloquent scholars and fluent men of the time, even if they were opposed to him.

The people of Quraysh sent many eloquent and fluent men to our master Mohammad (cpth) so as to look into what he was reciting, and afterwards they returned submitting, praising, and bowing down their heads before this miracle. Although he challenged them all to bring forth one similar line, they could not do so, and he challenged all people in the same way throughout the ages, but they also failed and will never succeed in bringing forth a line that is similar. The Qur'an is the everlasting miracle, from more than 1,400 years ago until the hour of resurrection.

We wonder: could the noble companions guide the striking forces of aggressive nations to the light by stabbing themselves with skewers, or would it be better to acquaint all the world with this everlasting miracle?

It is known intuitively that the noble companions, the followers and leaders of the Muslims, and even the common people among them did not deal in magic.

They neither learnt it nor taught it.

### Eighthly: A realistic result is better than delusion

Do you not see, dear reader, with your own eyes, how the non-Arabs profess Islam one after the other by virtue of this stabbing with skewers as well as other trickery and amusing stories!? And if such things, as they pretend, truly confirm the rightness of Islam, then the magicians of India and China deserve to be followed more than these people, as they far surpass those charlatans in their miracles, which include cutting up and joining back together people's bodies, killing people by burning them and then raising the dead to life, etc....

Shall we believe them and worship fire or cows?!

Finally, Islam is a faith of reason; as God's messenger (cpth) said: "Man's faith is what he apprehends, and he who apprehends nothing, has no faith." [3]

Islam is innocent of what some accuse it of – contradicting logic and reason – and it is untouched by that which opposes God's sayings in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna of His noble messenger (cpth).

Watching wonders and miracles achieves nothing for humanity. Only one thing can release humanity from disbelief and transfer it to true belief. This thing is contemplation and deep thought about creation, as this is the creation of the great Creator, who supervises humanity with His provision and direction.

A seeker of truth will be honest for their faith if they know for certain that they will die, for then they will fear this inescapable end.

The beginning of the way of belief may also be found in listening (which is associated with thinking): listening to the call of the herald that requests humanity to believe in God, leading us, when we are honest, to true witnessing.

The Holy saying reads: "To think for an hour is better than to worship for sixty years." [4]

If you seek the truth and think deeply and honestly, you will believe as our father and master Abraham (pth) believed, and as our master Mohammad (cpth) believed in the cave of Hira'a.

# Chapter 2

* * *

## Is There a New God in the Sky of Islam?

The reader may wonder at this title; moreover they may consider it a kind of disbelief or atheism concerning the lofty mission of Islam, which is to obey one God. But if we study and go to the roots of the marginal ways that were brought to Muslims recently as a result of contact with other religions, such as Zoroastrianism and the Hellenic and Indian schools, we would find the following:

When His obedient followers sought to devote themselves to Almighty God and to adhere to His instructions, they abstained from life's pleasure and its vanity, renouncing many of the things that people pounce upon, such as delight, money, and power, instead isolating themselves from people to worship, which had been general behavior among the ancients. The ascetic worshiper continues advancing in purity and high feelings, or 'states', until they witness that there is no god except Al'lah, and they achieve knowledge and monotheism, which is what they aim for in order to attain happiness. Then they rush towards work and jihad to please the merciful God.

Yet some of the latter who didn't believe in Al'lah as their Provider, and did not want to believe in God, took themselves to places of seclusion, aiming to uncover the veils and attain superior speech in their meetings with other people. They were lacking the necessary qualities to attain overt superiority; they turned in another direction instead, in order to look for superiority in covert ways.

Through their actions, they made methods that rely on the immaterial and that defy constituent humanity's perceivable powers and faculties, and in their methods, they deviated from righteousness. They noticed that temporary spiritual purity could be acquired by those who feel hunger and loneliness.

Therefore they isolated themselves, but without righteousness. They felt hungry but with the intention of becoming superior, so that their spirits became transparent and clear only to reflect the lower worlds. And the devil's intent against them manifested itself as they learned magic from him. After that, they came out in front of people, claiming that they had the power to make predictions, that they had connections with what was hidden, and that they had attained heavenly support, as they compared themselves to the stars.

They alleged that there was a relationship between themselves and God, just as there was one between themselves and the believing jinns. These sorcerers, masked behind beards and with the outward appearance of religious people, cultivated wide-ranging relations with magicians of other countries, and so introduced magic to their nations as a kind of supernatural power.

They surrounded themselves with a holy halo that controlled the minds of some people. For example, they claimed that they could make whomsoever they wanted close to Al'lah, could exclude whom they chose from paradise, compel those that they wanted to break God's order whenever possible, and do whatever they liked with their magic, their spells, their incantations, and the like.

They also pretended that they were people of honor, removed from accountability, rather than the manipulators they really were, in order that their disobedience to God would be seen by people as a kind of obedience. They did so despite the fact that the Almighty says: "...say: 'Why then does He punish you for your sins? Surely you are mortals of His own creation'..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 5, Al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 18

The messenger (cpth) never disobeyed God even before he met him and throughout his whole life. God says: "Worship your Provider till certainty overtakes you" (that is, until death).

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 99

So, are they better than him (cpth)? Absolutely not.

In this way, and with their cunning and tricks, they set out to fabricate an unseen authority from which they drew their power and imposed it upon thoughtless people, where it found fertile ground and a rich pasture among their weak minds.

All of that is a sort of war against the word 'Al'lah' and His right religion, as well as being in compliance with the first cursed devil, the enemy of the children of our master Adam (pth).

Then they imputed upright people with those ways, people who were, in reality, far above them.

After that, impious devious children were born under the wing of Islam in the wake of forms of heresy, the 'philosophy of infidelity', and in addition, their renewals and their mixings brought down the traditional divides among the partitions of Islam. All of them glorified and sanctified the saints, asked for blessings at their tombs, and faked popular stories about them that were full of fables and trickery.

Those from among the spirituals who held the view of the Sabaeans say:

"We do not seek to know the Maker of the universe, who is too exalted through His creation of the universal changes of day and night and all things in this world, and we should confess the inability of knowing His Majesty directly. So, we draw nearer to Him through His closest mediators. They are the deliverers who are purified and sacred in their holy secrets, actions and states.

"They are exalted above physical materials, free from bodily powers and far above spatial movements and temporal changes. We approach them and lean on them because they are our providers, our gods, our ways, and our intermediaries to Al'lah who is the Provider over providers and the God over gods. [5]

"Therefore we have to stimulate a relationship between ourselves and the spiritual ones so as to ask them to help us with our needs and inform us about our states, and we must defer to them in all of our affairs, so that then they will act as intermediaries between ourselves and our Creator.

"We cannot get help from the spiritual ones except by entreating them and beseeching them through invocations, performing prayers, presenting sacrifices and immolations, burning incense, and using incantations.

"In this way, our spirits can prepare themselves and support themselves with no further mediator. Our own judgment and the judgment of one who claims the revelation will be of one accord."

That is what we find in many sayings of those dishonest tricksters.

So, shall we return to the religion of the Sabaeans after we have been guided by Al'lah?!

Oh God of all! Please keep us safe by means of your wise Qur'an.

## Between Polytheism and Binding

If humanity takes precautions to protect its faith from the frivolity of inclination, and reflects on what has reached us from our forefathers, and if we then examine the results that come from following the Book of the Provider of worlds, which falsehood can not affect either from before or behind, our boat will land on the shore of safety.

The aberrant purposes of the irreligious and the atheists made them seize any opportunity to fulfill their desires by interpolating, telling lies and trumping up sayings and biographies so as to calumniate people of Islam and impugn their purity. Those false tales became old in the course of time, to the point where people took their direction only from such people: the ones who were workers of magic, miracles, and augury and who are mentioned in stories, and especially stories attributed to pious people who are free from such things. People then aligned themselves with these people, thinking that they had power and might.

Thereby, their spirits drew distant from God and stopped feeling awe for Him, and so they fell into polytheism and were distanced from Al'lah because of their excesses of faith and their exceeding of the bounds that are decreed for people by God in His Holy Book.

The Almighty God enjoined Adam's sons to bind themselves to their messengers and to enter into God's grace by means of their company, in order that each of those noble messengers should become a shining lamp and a light for the hearts of those people whose spirits are bound up with them. By means of this, they would reach knowledge of God; and through the light from the Almighty coming into these messengers' spirits, those who enter with them into God's grace can witness Godly perfection and bright lights.

This clarifies for us the Almighty's saying: "You who believe, see by God's light and believe in His messenger. He will grant you two portions of His compassion, and make a light for you by which you can go, and will forgive you: Al'lah is Forgiving and Merciful."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 57, Al-Hadid (Iron), verse 28

Also, it clarifies His saying: "Al'lah and his angels stay in communication with the prophet. You, who believe, communicate with Al'lah through him and fully surrender."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56

So, communication – through the prophet – is really a link and a connection with that pure and noble spirit, the spirit of the messenger (cpth), which is always present in God's presence. If the spirit of any person is bound to him, the messenger (cpth) will uplift such a spirit to God's presence, where the messenger's spirit (cpth) will be like a shining lamp for the spirit that is connected with it, and will be a light for the heart of he or she who communicates himself or herself with God through his companionship.

This is what the believers depended on when entering into the grace of their Provider by keeping the company of good people close to God, who had spirits that were qualified to be lights, and were the means to lead them to the shining lamp, the messenger (cpth). God says: "Those who pray, they seek the means, the closest one, to approach (God). They crave His mercy and fear His punishment; for your Provider's punishment is to be avoided indeed."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 57

And He says: "...and they turned towards none except God, His messenger and the believers that attained entrance into Him..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 9, At-Tawba (Repentance), verse 16

Those are the ones who really invoke their Provider. They seek to approach Him by means of the messenger (cpth). They bind themselves to him in order to become near to God. If the messenger (cpth) is not present, they should connect themselves to the nearest good believer. So, they seek the means to approach God through the one that is closest to Him.

Thus, the best reciter of the Qur'an, of the most knowledgeable or discerning person is selected to be a leader through whom people enter into God's grace, and that is how intercession works and the means for this to occur.

There is no god except Al'lah, so each guide or messenger is only a teacher. The example of the guide in this respect is like that of a boat. It carries those who want to travel, moving them from the seashore to the great ship. The task of the boat is limited to carrying passengers from the seashore to the ship, and nothing more. As for the ship, it moves in the depths of seas that are the seas of knowing and of witnessing Godly perfection. There is only one ship, but the boats which carry people to it are many.

When the guide dies, his function is completed, and so this function moves to another living person who follows them.

God says: "In homes which Al'lah has sanctioned to be lofty for the remembrance of His Name, morning and evening, there are men whom neither trade nor profit can divert from remembering God..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 24, An-Nur (Light), verse 36-37

The Almighty has ordered all believers to be held and bound to this noble apostle and never separated from him. This meaning is proved to be true by God's command in the clear verse: "Cling one and all to the rope of Al'lah and never separate..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 103

Never separate from the messenger (cpth), because the rope is but the messenger (cpth) of whom God says: "We sent you but to be a mercy for the whole world."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya' (The Prophets), verse 107

The Almighty has not sent the messenger (cpth) for only one nation, because the messenger is a mercy for the whole world. He is a guide for and a saver of all mankind. God says: "It is He that has sent forth into those who directed themselves toward the messenger an apostle of their own that recites to them His revelations, purifies them and makes them understand the Book and the wisdom, though they have been in gross error before, together with others like them who have not yet been enlightened like they have...": i.e. those that have taken the messenger (cpth) as a leader for him to lead them into God's presence are also believers, just as much as the first group mentioned at the beginning of the verse.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 62, Al-Jumu'a (The Congregation of Friday), verse 2-3

The phrase: "...who have not yet been enlightened like they have..." concerns time. That is, they will come in times after their time, and they will believe in God and adopt the same course that is within God's Book. So, the messenger (cpth) will also recite God's revelations to them during their communication with Him, purify them, and make them understand the Book, the Qur'an, and its wisdom.

These are the believers whose spirits acquire confidence by virtue of their good deeds, their righteousness, and their obedience to their Provider.

So, they enter into Al'lah's presence with His messenger (cpth) by His leave, where they attain purity.

The Almighty is referring to this when He says: "Oh prophet! We have sent you forth to be a witness, a bearer of good news, a warner, calling (people) to enter into Al'lah's presence by His leave, and as a shining lamp."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 45-46

By means of that lamp, the communicant believer can see the Godly perfection through his illuminated heart, and can see the wisdom behind His commands and the benefits that they contain.

As regards following the guidance of the leaders who follow the messenger (cpth), this is indicated by the noble verse when God says: "Let there become of you a nation that speaks for righteousness, enjoins justice, and forbids evil. Such men are those who have prepared themselves to do good."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 104

After the messenger (cpth), these people call you to adopt the path of righteousness, so if you follow their guidance (which is taken from the messenger and derived only from God's Book), confidence in God's satisfaction with you will arise in your spirit. At this point, you will approach Al'lah, the Almighty, and perfection will be imprinted on your spirit due to your nearness to Him.

A person enters into God's grace by means of the pure and clean spirit of the messenger (cpth) and through the company of a believing person. You bind your spirit to theirs in order to enter with them.

Yet if people were to confine their direction to the apostle, the saint, or the good leader, and turned only towards them, without directing themselves towards God through their company, then that would be nothing other than polytheism, and just like idolatry.

There are those who did not agree to join themselves with the messenger (cpth) and the other followers of God's messengers as a means to enter God's grace, and there are those who are excessive in their religion and who thus end up directing their worship towards idols of creatures rather than the Creator (thus falling into polytheism). In order to take a moderate stand in between these two groups, we say: neither were the former right in their denial of the role of the messenger (cpth), and nor were the latter right in their polytheism and turning from God.

The Almighty has referred to this in the Holy Qur'an when He says: "Those who pray seek the means, the closest one, to approach their Provider. They crave His mercy and fear His punishment; for your Provider's punishment is avoided indeed."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 57

Thus, both of the two aforementioned groups – whether they are those who have been guilty of exaggeration or of negligence – have deviated to the right and left of the straight path, the path of those whom God favors.

The right position is that the believer should enter into God's grace through companionship with the closest person to Him, taken only from among the living people who are upright and who adhere to the commands of God as mentioned in His Holy Book. In this way, the believer will see God's light and perfection and His justice, as they will witness with the eye of their own heart that Al'lah alone directs the entire universe by His command alone. Thus they will know, then, in certainty and in truth, that there is no god except Al'lah.

## Is it Permissible to Bind Oneself to Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani or Sheikh Ahmad Al-Rifaee or Other Former Holy Men (may Al'lah have mercy upon them)?

One should seek to bind oneself only to living men, as the perfect guide's function includes two aspects:

• Firstly, he guides you to Al'lah through his sayings, and acquaints you with the ways to Al'lah that were brought to us by His messenger (cpth) and which are to be found in God's Book.

• Besides that, he teaches you love for God's messenger (cpth), for through your real love for this perfect guide, sublime love for God will be impressed upon your spirit. In a little time, you'll find yourself bound to this noble messenger, close and inseparable from him during your entrance into God's presence.

Then, if your guide finds that you have attained access to God's messenger, he will say to you: "Adhere to this attainment for my work with you is done. I have helped you reach the one whom Al'lah the Almighty has established as a gateway for all the world; he whom God has ordered all the believers to join and through whom they are to communicate with God Himself".

Al'lah the Almighty refers to this in the noble verse: "Verily, Al'lah and His angels keep in communication with the prophet. You who believe, communicate with Al'lah through him and fully surrender."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56

That is: connect your spirits, oh believers, with his noble spirit, so that it will ascend with you into the Godly presence where you will receive eternal illumination in God's light during this life, the interval between death and Doomsday, and the afterlife, so that you will be one of those whose light appears, due to their good deeds and the blessings they have attained. Devils flee from them, defeated and denounced (by themselves and by those who tend to them), as the enlightened ones are the lanterns of guidance and goodness for the whole of humanity.

As for binding oneself to the spirits of guides and true men and women who have already departed from this life, this is forbidden, as it is beyond humanity's consciousness and perception and attracts their spirits. At the moment that they – the departed guides – shifted from this lower life and became entirely absorbed in God's grace, their spirits were elated, and in no time at all they will realize that Doomsday has come, as if it had occurred at the moment of their leaving this life. They shall feel the interval between the day they died and the Day of Resurrection as but a moment, because of the great bounties and exalted bliss that the Almighty generously gives them.

After their death, these guides will be unable to turn their spirits towards their followers due to their astonishment at what Al'lah bestows upon them – happiness unseen, untold and previously unimagined. These departed guides are absorbed in passionate rejoicing in the great manifestation that is their Provider. An everlasting bliss overwhelms them as a reward for the honorable and good deeds that they performed in life, and which benefitted all the rest of God's creation.

As far as these messengers (ptt) are concerned, their task doesn't end until Doomsday, as they don't engage wholly with their gift until that time. God says: "And when messengers had been sent in their appointed times, to which day are they delayed? Until the Day of Judgement."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 77, Al-Mursalat (Rain Sent Forth), verse 11-13

He also says: "Those (prophets and apostles) are the ones whom Al'lah has guided. Follow then their guidance, you who believe..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 90

Thus, it is forbidden to bind with these holy men after their death. Thus it is not allowed to bind oneself to either Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani or Sheikh Ahmad Al-Rifaee, or even Shah Naqshband (upon whom may God have mercy), or any other. Such close bindings should only be with prophets (ptt), according to God's own words: "Those are the ones whom Allah has guided. Follow then their guidance..."

The orders and creeds that digress from the straightforward and most Noble Qur'an are all false, in spite of their abundance. God says: "Truly, if you obey most of those in the land, they shall certainly lead you astray from God's path..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 116

Here is a factual story in which one performer of supernatural tricks and supposedly miraculous actions admits that he saw the reality of his deeds when faced with death...
A True Story

### The Man Who Fell

The car descended into the valley and the driver lost control of the steering wheel. His eyes popped out of his head as he saw the awful end that approached, and he wondered how exactly he would die. Then he saw one of the high electro-tension towers that carry electricity from one country to the next.

Like everybody else, the men in the car had always known that one day they would die, and as the car plunged into the valley they understood that they themselves would die that very day – if not from the haphazard descent, then by colliding with the electricity tower that carried so many tens of thousands of volts of electric current. Inside of them, their spirits began to supplicate furiously and with their tongues the men began to invoke God: "Oh Al'lah! We are repenting to you!... Oh Al'lah! Save us!... Oh Succorer!... Oh Most Kind!... Would you have mercy upon us?... Oh Al'lah!" Then the pleading turned into screams of horror and dismay as the car continued on its way.

At that awful moment, with a horrible death awaiting them just a few short seconds away, one of the errant men began again to supplicate: "Oh God! I am repenting..." These words were spoken in earnest as soon as his spirit became certain of his impending death by way of electrocution. All of the man's deeds, from the time he was sixteen years old until that day, flashed before him one by one in the space of a second and as he watched he only saw deeds that would bring shame upon him before his Provider. Because of this he turned to God in true repentance and promised to behave righteously from that day forth and to abandon his evil companions.

The car crashed into the tower, but the Omnipotent God caused it to fall in the opposite direction to the car so that, at the hands of the Most Kind, the All-Knowing One, all the passengers escaped with their lives. The man got out of the car and he could see for certain, after his brush with death, that he had been straying from the right path. The teachings that he had been following were based merely on so-called supernatural powers and false miracles, and in giving offerings to his sheikhs he was committing sins that would lead to his being condemned to hell after his death.

At that moment he made a true-hearted pledge to his Provider that he would repent and return to the right path. Would he return to his magician sheikhs after he had witnessed the truth, and seen that there was no prosperity or benefit whatsoever to be found through their methods? Of course not: "Who will come down with me into the pit – into the tomb in which the horrible fate that I have witnessed is to be found? And who will face the angels instead of me? How shall I meet my Provider with my sinful spirit and low deeds? I must find a true guide; a guide who will help me to follow the orders God has provided in His Book, for just as Al'lah saved me from death in response to my prayers, in the same way he will gather me with the true men."

The Godly Omnipotence, which always calls people to the abode of peace, caused him to join with another true believer. He recounted his story to this man and told him of his brush with death: "I followed sheikhs who were in possession of so-called supernatural powers. I saw them performing miracles and supernatural feats that proved the truth of Islam, and I was so impressed by what I saw that I wanted to show these supernatural powers and proofs to my people, who are civilized, settled nomads. I began to perform these miracles myself – chewing on glass, walking on fire and piercing myself with skewers. Thus I had adopted the way of the sheikhs and all of my desires were within my reach. I had merely to give myself up to the magician sheikh and he would allow me to perform these miracles whenever and wherever I wanted. By invoking him and binding myself to him I could make myself feel as though skewers of metal were piercing my flesh or fiery currents were spreading inside my body, and in this way I could perform these miracles – which are in reality only tricks – without the firebrands, the glass or the skewers affecting me at all. But when I faced death, I realized that all I was doing by performing these feats was leading myself astray and heading for destruction. I realized this when the car was going down into the valley and heading straight towards the electricity tower, when I felt sure that I was about to die. At that moment all of my deeds flashed before my eyes, from the time of my childhood until that day. Now I have repented, and I place myself in your hands so that you will lead me towards the right path and guide me in virtuous conduct."

The guide answered: "A saint is one who follows Al'lah's guidance. Obey Al'lah's orders and then you too will be a saint. You cannot overcome the whims and caprices of your spirit unless you implant the knowledge of the certainty of death deep within it – and an experience such as your own should be enough to do that. Then you should contemplate the universe and its signs: [6] the sun and the moon, day and night, winter and summer, all the while searching for and recognizing the evidence of God's existence. By doing so you will come to truly believe that there is no God but Al'lah, and it is this very belief that will prevent you from sinning.

"This Godly law – that one is to think of God and be alone with him in the early morning, the late afternoon, and during the night – is mentioned in many verses of the Holy Qur'an: " 'And glorify Him in the early morning and the late afternoon'

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al Ahzab (The Combined Clans), Verse 42

" ' And glorify your Provider with praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting'

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 50, Qaf (The Letter Q = Very Near to God), Verse 39

" 'And for part of the night prostrate yourself before Him and glorify Him the whole night long'

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 76, Al-Insan (Humane Man), Verse 26

"You should perceive clearly and search persistently until you witness some of the Almighty's attributes, for otherwise your spirit's caprices will defeat you and you will forget this event and your newfound awareness of the certainty of death. Then you will fall once again from your high and sublime station and become – heaven forbid – as wasteful as a woman who breaks the yarn that she has just spun and made strong into individual strands. Therefore, you must follow these rules and, in so doing, become a true witness to the Godly Presence. As the Holy Hadith says: 'Son of Adam! Seek Me and you shall find me.' "

The man's condition changed completely and he came to experience the happiness and pleasure of belief. An elevated state of being, along with feelings of ease, bliss and gladness, overwhelmed him as a result of his companionship with his fellow believer, but he contented himself with these sensations and did not strive to achieve true belief on his own account. He did not think of or seek out his Provider by contemplating the creation of the universe, so he forgot the certainty of his own death, and, as his heart had taken to the feelings to which it had been introduced, he did not strive to surpass them in order to reach a higher level of insight into the Godly presence.

Many months later, his heart had become hard and his spirit began to yearn once again for those hellish paths that he had once followed and he began to miss his old companions, those possessors of devilish supernatural powers and feral lusts. His guide warned him of the consequences of a return to his old ways, but his low desires took told of him and he was no longer able to refrain from indulging them, and so he began a return to his erroneous ways. The Godly Compassion refused to let him do so, however, and one night he woke his guide in an abrupt way, amazed and stricken by the wave of astonishment and bewilderment that had swept over him. He said: "I have had a horrible dream. I was standing with you before the grave of my master, Abdul-Kadir Al-Jailany, in Baghdad. I felt a great sense of respect, as if I were standing in prayer. His tomb lay on a small hill and so I walked up to look at it. When I arrived I was surprised to find the tomb open, with Sheikh Abdul-Kadir lying inside it, all dressed in white. He appeared to be the same age as me and he called out to me: 'Give me your hand, Oh Saleh!' With my help he leapt from the grave in one swift leap. Meanwhile, my spirit stirred and asked me 'How can our guide say that the purpose of a saint ceases after he leaves this worldly life and that the prophet's purpose alone continues? There he is – Magnate Al-Jailany – alive and talking with magnificent beauty and grandeur, despite not being a prophet but merely a saint!'

"My master Abdul-Kadir Al-Jailany, the creator of my path, began to reply to my spirit's question in a clear mellow voice: 'It is true that only a prophet continues his earthly function without cease. I am not a prophet, I am but a believing saint. I believed in God during my life – thanks to Him – and now after my death I have no function. I am innocent of that which has been ascribed to me – I know nothing of what they have wrongfully and falsely ascribed to me. What your fellow believer has said to you is true – he admonishes you, so cling to his guidance. My mission in this world has come to an end.' "

That vision was the last warning to that poor man, who had bitten himself with the fangs of devils. He was humiliated in his earthly life, but after this experience, without genuinely repenting and then believing in God, and then steadily following the right path, his eventual punishment in the hereafter would be even graver. After many months of accompanying people of faith, his spirit began to yearn for the devilish ways of destructive lusts and his heart became hard. This was because he did not strive to overcome the whims of his spirit as he ought to have, but instead succumbed to them and returned to the wrong path. If he had truly believed in God, however, then he would have escaped, but alas! He failed to truly become one of God's obedient followers.

Oh God of All, if only you would bestow upon us belief with no retreat thereafter.

## A Logical Discussion on the So-called 'Miracles' Ascribed to Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani (may God have mercy upon him)

The magicians ascribed miracles to Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani, considering them to be indications and proof of his true sainthood and nearness to Al'lah. It should be remembered, however, that the pagan magicians had displayed even more extraordinary 'miracles' than these.

With a little common sense and reference to the rules mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, any Muslim – however slight his religious education – would find an account of such miracles groundless. These miracles are listed below:

1) When Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani was an infant, he never suckled during the days of Ramadan. People asked: "Is the infant also charged with fasting or with curbing the desires of its spirit?"

2) They also said that he was a child in his country of Jaylan when he went out in front of the masses on Arafah Day, walking behind a plowing cow. The cow turned to him, saying: "Abdul-Kadir! You were not created for such actions." After being addressed in this way by an animal, he decided to travel to Baghdad in search of work in scientific research and in order to visit the men of truth there. But Al-Khidr (one of God's saints) banned him from entering Baghdad for seven years. So, instead, he dwelt on the bank eating vegetables and legumes until a green color appeared on his neck. Then, according to this account, it was the cow that guided him onto the path of scientific research!!!

Was the man they thought was the greatest magnate of them all and the grand provider of succor the disciple of a cow?! Even supposing Al'lah had made it speak, why did He send Al-Khidr to prevent Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani from entering the city of science, according to these claims?!

In this example, did even the slightest fulfillment come about from this supernatural event, such as challenging unbelievers to make them believe?!

Besides this, vegetables have never been known to cause the necks of vegetarians, who spend their lives without eating meat, the result that was said to have been seen on the neck of Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Al-Jaylani!

3) He bound his spirit to a course where it would oppose its own whims. Because of this, he ate only garbage and did not drink water for a full year. Then he spent a year drinking water without eating, and for another year he never ate or drank, and nor did he sleep.

When he slept at Kisra's Mansion he had a wet dream forty times and also performed the ritual ablutions on the shore forty times. Concerning eating garbage, we say: Al'lah has provided us with good and agreeable things and has forbidden noxious and harmful ones. As a believer is someone good-hearted, he only eats good, pleasant food.

In the Holy Qur'an the Sleepers of the Cave said: "...so, send one of you to the city with your paper money: let him find out which is the best food (to be had)..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 18, Al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 19

In another verse God says: "They ask you what is lawful for them: say all good things are lawful for you..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 5, Al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 4

As for acts such as abstaining from eating food or drinking water or both for a year, we say: Al'lah never revealed any proof confirming the usefulness of such acts and of causing of such stress on ourselves.

Additionally, as an example, camels don't eat or drink for about a week or two by virtue of the hump that Al'lah designed for them, in which they carry what sustenance they need in the form of fats and greases. Polar bears sleep for a few months without eating or drinking; also, the extent of a penguin's fasting may be a period of four months, whereas humans are unable to bear any of that.

The messenger (cpth) said: "...what is the matter with nations that said such and such about me?! But I fast and breakfast, pray and sleep and marry women. Then, he who has turned away from my Sunna (law) is not one of my followers." [7]

The Quraysh, the folk of the prophet (cpth), said of him what is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an: they said: "What about this prophet who eats food and walks in the markets? If only an angel had been sent down to him, so as to be an angel who gives warnings along with him."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 25, Al-Furqan (The Criterion), verse 7

So, who has exceeded God's messenger (cpth) and broken His Laws? God says: "...and you shall find no change for God's Law."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 62

And what about wet dreams? Is this phenomenon something supernatural or is it a vice? Is it not plain that this is a devilish call to practice shameful deeds in secret? It is the devil, not Al'lah, who commands us to do what is evil and shameful.

4) He had been known to be a mute and a mad man, who walked barefoot on thorns. He did not eat till it was said to him: "by my right that is obligatory for you, eat", nor did he drink till it was said: "by my right that is obligatory for you, drink", and he did not do anything till he was ordered to do it. So: Does Al'lah the Almighty order us to follow a mad man?! Didn't God's messenger (cpth) instruct his companions (with whom Al'lah is pleased) and their followers in charity, saying: "...improve your clothes till you become as a beauty spot among people..." [8]

As well as this, God likes those who purify themselves, lest people become disinclined to them and to their religion.

Since he was doing only what he had been ordered to do; so, why did Al'lah take an oath upon him saying "by my right that is obligatory for you"?!

5) When he was charged with teaching (guiding people to Al'lah), he took seventy covenants from Al'lah that he would not be deceived and that none of his followers would die except after repenting of their sins. Then, would it not be enough to take one covenant?! Did he mistrust God to this extent?! Would Al'lah speak with one who did not trust Him?! Glory to Him! "...He has never adopted a saint of ignominy..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 111

Surely, he who interpolated these statements has no trust in Al'lah.

6) When he started to teach, he saw some lights appear and come towards him. So he asked: "What is the matter?" It was said to him: "Al'lah's messenger has come to congratulate you for what Al'lah has revealed to you through him".

The lights increased and he became entirely absorbed in what was happening.

Then he saw Al'lah's messenger calling him, so he happily took seven strides into the air. God's messenger spat into his mouth seven times, and then he saw Ali who also spat inside his mouth three times. When he found the difference strange between the number of times that each of them spat, Ali (with whom God is pleased) replied that it was: "to be polite to the prophet (cpth)".

What awful, fabricated tales that degrade Islam's position in the view of the entirety of civilized human society!

The falseness of such stories is absolutely apparent, because their writer ignores the reality of science when he supposes that the speech of Al'lah's messengers and saints (true worthy men) and their honorable Godly knowledge does not pass further than their mouths and necks, but flows with their spit. Consequently, the allegation is that science can be transmitted from one saint to another by means of disgusting, dirty spittle. Common people naturally feel disgust for such nauseating and sickening behavior. Such lies are used to defame religion and its scholars. In point of fact, spitting and throwing out the breath mixed with some saliva are, in fact, methods that form part of the practices of the magicians. There are those who practice magic who emit some of their spittle onto the possessions of those who are to be bewitched. God refers to this when He says: "Say: I proudly seek refuge in the Provider of all that's coming to appearance... from the evil of those who spit into knots."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 113, Al-Falaq (All that's coming to Appearance), verse 4

Such deeds are extremely far from the real scholars whose hearts have been impressed with righteousness and truth.

7) When he put his prayer beads on the ground these beads rotated by themselves, one by one, and if anyone touched a bowl which he left behind him, they would have felt an electrical tremor flowing from their hand to their shoulders.

We wonder: How many people have become believers by virtue of moving prayer beads or an electric bowl?! Is there any disbeliever who has been influenced like this?!

8) The magicians mentioned one woman who presented her son to Sheikh Al-Jaylani. He was accepted and instructed by the sheikh to strive against his spirit's whims and to follow his ancestors.

When the boy's mother saw her son again, he was pale and thin, but when she entered the Sheikh's room she found chicken bones there. So, she said: "Oh Sheikh! You eat chickens whereas my son eats barley bread!"

He put his hand on the chicken bones, saying to them:

"Get up by the will of He who makes bones live again after they have become rotten".

The hen rose again sound in body, and when she saw this, the woman pronounced the two Islamic declarations of faith (that there is no God but Al'lah, and that Mohammad (cpth) is His messenger), and then the Sheikh said to her: "if your son could do this, he would be able to eat whatever he wanted." In this way, they untruly and slyly made him seem to be like our master Jesus (pth), the prophet and messenger.

According to their claim we could conclude that it would be possible for each disciple of the Sheikh to have the ability to create a hen, making its bones come back to life after it has been eaten and swallowed.

Satan really proved the truth of his supposition about some of his followers when he made them believe that they had reached that professed rank. So, they cut a man's head off with the aim of bringing him back to life in one of the villages in the Syrian countryside. But unfortunately they were totally thunderstruck when the mutilated head did not return to its place!! This case exposed the false saint in question and caused him to be hanged in accordance with the felony of murder that he had committed.

9) They said that suddenly, the sheikh Al-Jaylani sent out a thunderous cry and threw his clogs high into the air. No one dared to ask him about this action. But, twenty three days later, a caravan came from the land of the Persians. It had been subjected to attack by brigands under the leadership of two men. The victims of this attack said: "If we escape, let us then devote some of our money to Sheikh Abdul-Kadir so that we may regain our belongings".

They continued: "no sooner we had made our statement than we heard two great cries which resounded around the valley. The brigands approached us, returning our money to us, and we found their two leaders dead, each with one of the clogs near to him."

Such silly fabricated tales need no disproof!!
A True Story

### The Magician Sheikh and His Jinn-Companion

People spread the word far and wide, and came from everywhere around. It was really a marvel. For the past two weeks on the Plain of Al-Ghab, a sheikh had been sitting underwater, 2.5 meters beneath the surface of a fishing pool. He was holding prayer beads in his hand and extolling God, saying: "There is no God but Al'lah!"

He astonished the eyesight and astounded the mind. Since he had such supernatural powers, he absolutely had to be a great saint of God!

From every Syrian governorate – from Aleppo, Homs, and Idleb – people came regularly to that place so as to see God's support for His saint who had such great power. A person is unable to stay under water for more than one minute, so what would you say if you knew that our saint was still alive and moving despite having been sitting beneath the water for nearly two weeks before people's very eyes?!

He became known all around, and the story of this man spread until people everywhere were talking about him.

It so happened that because of security concerns, some Syrian government authorities decided to take certain measures to stop disturbances to security, and so they went to the sheikh's house in search of troublemakers. When they arrived, the people there expected that an affliction would descend from the sky, or that the earth would sink down beneath the feet of those who would dare to trespass on the holiness of the great saint's house. People froze in speechlessness and extreme caution, anticipating an earthquake or a stunning punishment, while a man of such supernatural ability was still sitting beneath the surface of the pool.

The policemen were serious in their search for rioters inside the house.

Suddenly, they came upon a tunnel under the wooden floor of one of the rooms, and so they entered it. There inside the tunnel, they found the sheikh sitting comfortably. He was surrounded by plentiful food and water that was sufficient for many days' survival. His concealment here was not known to anybody at the time: even the sheikh's closest relatives were unaware of this. The security forces took him out, shackled, into the village, where all the people saw him. How strange was that which they saw!!! They saw the sheikh with shackled hands being driven forward by the policemen, but at the same time they knew that the sheikh himself was sitting beneath the water, holding prayer beads in his hands. It was then that they realized that the person under the water was the sheikh's jinn-companion.

In a hurry, they went to the pool, but the jinn-companion had disappeared by the time they got there.

Verily, the sheikh had been responsible for great magic, but he achieved nothing by it, as the truth of the situation had been uncovered.

God refused to let the people be deceived by this magician in spite of their weak belief, so He drove the policemen to arrest him so as to allow people to see both the hidden sheikh and his jinn-companion who was sitting beneath the water.

And God's Saying was proved to be true as He indicated in the noble verse: "I would never take the misleading as an assistant."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 18, Al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 51

# Chapter 3

* * *

## The Emergence of Mysticism

The doctrine of mysticism seceded from the way of Islam and came into being in the middle of the third century of the hegira. It was spread by a group of philosophers, atheists, magi and Jews, whose hearts were filled with a hatred for religion and for the noble Prophet (cpth). They sought to turn people from the religion of Al'lah, so they sent their propagandists to faraway lands in order to call people to their tradition instead. They hoped to re-establish the state of tyranny which had existed previously, but "Al'lah does not allow anything but that His light should be perfected."

From the outside it appears that their tradition includes branches of Sharia, but in reality their faith is that of the philosophers and the atheists. It is clear that their beliefs are very different to those of the Shiites, and while they present their tradition as one of refutation, it is in reality one of absolute unbelief.

The core of their call is only to employ tricks against Muslims so that they may be destroyed, and to obscure the truth with falsehoods. They fabricate an explanation for every Qur'anic verse and every prophetic saying. They claim that the divine precepts and the prophetic ways are but symbols, signs and examples, and they cling to the nonexistent instead of the existent.

Their herald was a man who possessed knowledge of the planets – an augur. He invited people to follow his own beliefs, and made the essence of this invitation appear to be like that of imam Ali. This was in an attempt to hide his disbelief and religion under the sublimity of Islam and the glory of Ali and his family, and so that he could give free rein to his tongue in defaming the noble companions. He brought together a group of followers, and together they spread corruption in the land. Because he appeared and gained his followers during the time of Qormut, they came to be known as Al-Qaramita. Their ideas began to attract a broader following amongst those people, known as the uninhibited, the atheists or the irreligious, who spend their time creating mischief rather than solving any real problems. These people already possessed their own tricks and methods that they used to achieve their ends.

According to their teaching there are two old gods – Mind and Spirit – and their creator cannot be attributed with either existence or nonexistence! In addition they believe in the power of nature and the effect of the movement of the planets – which of course leads one to deny the reality of the Maker. They do not believe in the revelation or the coming down of the angels, and consider the miracles to be mere symbols. For example, they say that the staff of our master Moses (cpth) was only a symbol of his supremacy, and that the clouds that God sent to shade Moses and his people in the desert were actually brought into existence by Moses alone using the power of his staff. Meanwhile, they consider the Qur'an to be merely the words of our master Mohammed (cpth), and support their view by quoting the noble verse: "This is verily the word of a noble envoy."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 69, Al-Haqqa (Truth-Control), verse 40

They do not mention the rest of the verses, lest their speech be refuted and the deception uncovered. Thus, they present a false interpretation of the miracles in order to shake people's faith. Then, when the methods and explanations that they employ to try to contradict the miracles do not help them to change the creed of the people, they resort to magic in order to attract people to their side and make them forget their faith in the noble prophets and messengers. In order to do this, they fabricated supernatural powers and miracles and attributed them to certain saints – who are in fact far above such things – and this tactic indeed was successful with some simple-minded people.

They also decided that there must be an impeccable imam to consult and that he should be a semi-prophet with regard to his impeccability and his wide knowledge. This man does not receive his inspiration from God, nor from the prophet, for he claims to be Mohammed's successor (cpth). This is why they invented the 'cloth' which their leaders pass on to their successors so that they may one day ascend to the office of imam in their place.

They gainsay the eschatology, such as the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning, Paradise, and Hell, and have created a false explanation for each of these, describing them only as symbols rather than real phenomena.

Just as they employed tricks to misrepresent the rules of the religion, they also did so in order to mislead their followers and captivate their hearts. They permitted the enjoyment of every possible desire and pleasure, so they became dissipated Sabians (those who worship gods other than Al'lah). These people are like animals – in fact these people came to be even more savage than animals. They allowed their followers to marry their daughters or sisters and to avoid their religious obligations, and they misrepresented the pillars of Islamic law. For instance, they said that the religious obligations refer to the loyalty that is owed to their leaders and imams, while they taught that it was forbidden to follow the noble companions or any tradition other than their own. They described their heralds as angels and their opponents as devils, and called those who agree with them believers and derided those who did not agree as donkeys and outsiders.

Their Poet claimed to be a Prophet during the time of Ali Ben Faddel, and preached his creed of disbelief, which permitted people to behave like animals, and legitimized all that should be prohibited, including marriage between brothers and sisters or fathers and daughters. All of this was without regard for the harm that such pairings cause to the offspring they produce, or for the hatred and disinclination towards copulation between such people. Indeed, they rendered the people who followed them into blind beasts – and in fact, beasts are higher and loftier than they.

The worst of all their fabrications is what they describe as 'the greatest sight', which can only be witnessed by those who offer a sacrifice to the herald of this creed. It happens in the dark of night, when the men of this calling come together and drink until they are drunk and their spirits have begun to yearn for fornication. Then the lamps are extinguished and the women they have brought – their wives, sisters or daughters – enter the room, and each man takes any woman he happens to touch and copulates with her. Afterwards, they thank their herald for the kindness he grants them and he answers: "It is but the favor of the caliph, so be grateful to him and do not be ungrateful. He has released you and removed your burdens from you. He has permitted you to do some of the things that had been forbidden by your false scholars. No one will be granted such goodness except for those who exercise patience [I wonder what it is that they bear with patience?] and none but persons of the greatest good fortune [through fulfillment of a transient forbidden desire!]."

Thus they talk to people according to their mean whims and creeds and what is in their devilish minds. Such a travesty is not restricted to just one group, but instead there are some who practice similar creeds falsely under the name of Al-Refa'eyya or Al-Kadireyya and other schools of mysticism. Far be it for the imam Ahmed Al-Refa'e or the imam Abdul Kadir Al-Jailani to engage in such heresy (may God have mercy on them both). God says: "There is among men one who disputes Al'lah, without knowledge, without guidance, and without a Book of Enlightenment, disdainfully distorting his side in order to lead (people) astray from the path of Al'lah..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 22, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), verse 8-9

This represents just a little of the great quantity of black magic that exists. How vile those people are! How low they are! Without doubt, Al'lah's curse befalls them and they are humbled in this life, and then condemned to fire and Hell in the next.

Before disclosing the reality of magic and its practitioners, we must first explain in brief the nature of Man and his composition, and also the nature of jinn. We say:

# Chapter 4

* * *

## The Essence of Our Composition and Jinn's Composition

People are composed of a spirit, a body and a soul.

'The body' is the material from which the human is made. God created it from soil, which is a part of this material universe, in order to find agreement and correlation between the body and the elements of the earth, so that it will be harmonious, in accordance, and coexistent with them. The body obtains its nourishment from those elements and depends on them for its life. Within the body, the soul spreads to generate this life and its power in its various forms.

Concerning 'the soul', it is the support of the Godly light which flows into the blood. The heart is its center, and the life of the body depends on it.

As for 'the spirit', it is the essential element of man and his immaterial, conscious self. It is a type of Godly light and its centre is the chest. Its rays spread to all parts of the body so that it can know the things that surround it through its senses. It sees with the eye, hears with the ear, tastes flavors with the tongue, etc.

This spirit, our immaterial conscious identity, is that which held the Trust that wishes to win paradises on our behalf. God says: "We offered the Trust to the heavens, earth and mountains and they refused to bear it for they feared it; Man bore it. Man was unjust to himself and ignorant of its results!"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 72

That was Man in Al-Azal world: the pre-material Man. He was an abstract spirit without a body. The spirit is so-called because the word is derived in Arabic from the word meaning 'magnificent value'.

It is the centre of existence, and it is charged to follow the straight path. God says: "And (look at) the spirit and (wonder about) who has perfected it, inspired it with knowledge of sin and piety. Successful is he who has made it pure, and unsuccessful is he that has corrupted it."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 91, Ash-Shams (The Sun), verse 7-10

The spirit is that which was prepared by the Almighty to bear witness to His lights, to take mind of His Supreme Attributes, and to view reality through His light (Glory and loftiness to Him) by means of the noble messenger (cpth). He (cpth) is the shining lamp which illuminates the spirit and shows it those of God's lights and those of His supreme Names that are proportional to its status, its deeds, its confidence and its nearness to Him. Yet this is something that could not be accomplished except through communication with God.

Moreover, the spirit is eternal; that is, it could never cease to exist. Its taste of death is only a tasting. God says: "Every spirit shall taste death..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 29, Al-'Ankabut (The Spider), verse 57

After death, the cessation of existence occurs only in terms of its garment, the body, which shall not be recreated until the Day of Resurrection.

In Arabic, the Day of Resurrection means the day of rising. It is so-called because bodies will rise again on this day to be put inside the spirits, so they will be in a state contrary to their state in the present life where they surround the spirits.

The spirit, then, is the centre of emotion, feeling and sensation. It deals with the worldly life and the material of this life through its body, through which it enjoys its own yearnings and desires, whether they are high or low. In addition to this, it is the absolute master that directs the body's systems through the nerves, wherein the rays of the spirit flow.

It expresses its feelings and sensations through the body, and its center is in the chest. God says: "...He is Omniscient of that which centers in chests."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 11, Hud (Hud), verse 5

He also says: "Say: I seek refuge in the Provider of oblivious people... from the evil of the sneaking whisperer, who whispers evil in the chests of oblivious mankind, of jinns and of oblivious mankind."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 114, An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind), verse 4-6

The rays of the spirit spread through the nerves, and when the nerves are anesthetized, the spirit retreats from the anesthetized part, and therefore the patient does not feel any pain even if one of its limbs is being amputated. For another example, let us go back to the story of the women who cut their hands in the story of the prophet Joseph (pth). In the Holy Qur'an, God says: "When she heard of their cunning (their malicious talk), she sent for them and prepared a banquet; she gave each of them a knife and said to Joseph: 'Come out before them'. When they saw him, they did glorify him and (in their amazement) cut their hands; they said: God is blameless! No mortal is this! This is none but a pure (noble) angel."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 12, Yusuf (Joseph), verse 31

The women cut their hands because their spirits were shocked when they saw Joseph's beauty (peace is through him). In this case, the spirits left their bodies and headed for prophet Joseph. So they were able to cut their hands without feeling anything, because they were ravished at the sight of his beauty and distracted from feeling any pain.

Their conscious selves left their bodies, flowing outwards through their sense of sight, until they became absented from the other senses, just as happens in the case of anesthesia when consciousness disappears, only to return after the spirit returns to the anesthetized limb.

You notice that a man who is quarreling does not feel something that befalls him during his quarrels, or any other sudden event, even if it was the stab of a knife. That is because his spirit is occupied with another concern during the event. However, after its return to its body, the spirit moans and suffers a pain it did not feel at the time that it was inflicted, in spite of the existence of the physical injury.

And here is a real event that occurred in one of the American states. This event allows us to notice how the spirit can travel and how it can leave its body to flow outwards through our sense of vision, exactly as happened in the story of the women who cut their hands mentioned above.
A True Story

### Psychic Domination

The instructions had been issued to him from the government: "Be careful! You must be armed, and on the highest degree of alert!"

The news of the crimes of criminal gangs and thieves had become widespread across the country, and it was clear that they were very active at this time.

Imagine the position of the financial accountant of a big company, who has a huge monetary sum to be cashed every month. This would definitely arouse the attention of these criminal elements. Indeed, one of these gangs was watching him, studying his character, his nature, his equanimity and his bravery.

They did not want to kill him; they only wanted the money.

They knew that he used to wear a protective bulletproof vest, and that he also carried a gun which he always kept loaded and without the safety on.

At any moment that he felt in danger from thieves that he did not know, he was always ready to shoot. What would their plan be?? The sum of money was very seductive, but the criminals did not want any of their own group to be killed, or to be wounded and then arrested, for the accountant would certainly inform against all of them, and then their activities and identities would be uncovered.

The day arrived that was fixed for the receipt of the money. The financial accountant came out of the gate of the bank, holding a bag containing millions of dollars in one hand, with the other hand in his pocket, where he had hidden his gun...

At that moment, the thieves ran out in front of him, fighting one another as if it was a real battle. They used all the kinds of fighting in which they were skilled, such as: karate, judo, tae kwan do, etc.

It really was an extremely exciting scene.

But the great event that overwhelmed everything was when one of them took out a knife and used it to stab his friend in the chest at the site of his heart, below the armpit. Oh, how terrible was that scene which captivated the hearts of the people watching, as well as the accountant himself!

The victim shouted in a voice filled with pain that dismayed hearts, then blood poured out onto the ground, and the murdered man fell down on the ground, lifeless.

When the accountant, who had been so shocked by the enormity of the scene, regained his awareness, he could not find his bag, and nor could he find any of the people who had been fighting. There was neither killer, nor killed person, nor anything else to be seen.

The criminals had employed the warfare of psychic domination in order to distract the accountant from everything, even from his body. Thus, they took the bag from his hand while he was unaware of what was going on around him and what was happening to him. He did not even feel them drawing the bag out of his hand, because he was astounded by the shock that had struck him when he witnessed the stabbing of a knife into the chest of the supposedly murdered man.

This kind of robbery was repeated many times, but the American security apparatus failed to identify the thieves or uncover their successful manner of carrying out their theft. This continued until the gang of robbers was arrested by chance, and some of its members confessed to the robberies and revealed the secret of their devilish success.

### Explaining the Criminal Plan which made use of this Psychic War

One of the quarreling thieves would tie a container of blood under the jacket of his waistcoat and would put a special mark on the outside of his clothing that indicated the whereabouts of the hidden packet of blood. In this way, they identified the place where the packet containing the blood should be struck, so that the packet of blood could be burst open, allowing a great deal of blood to flow from inside the thief's clothing. Thus the people who saw this phenomenon would think that the blood that poured out was from a deadly wound to the heart of the criminal. Then, the criminal would fall down to the ground, acting dishonestly and writhing in supposed pain, displaying all the outward signs of a man undergoing the violent sufferings of death. This would mean that any onlookers who were watching this drama of false killing would be shocked in their spirits. On this occasion, while the accountant's spirit was in this state of shock and was directed entirely to the apparently murdered man who was writhing in pain and covered with blood, another member of the gang stretched out his hand and quickly took the bag from the hand of the accountant, who was still stupefied by the sight of the flowing blood and who let the bag slip from his hand, totally unawares. Then the member of the gang took the bag and put it into a car which immediately sped away as fast as possible.

After the horrible accident, something amazing happened. The murdered man who was drenched in blood suddenly got up and ran away in a hurry, quickly disappearing from the sight of the onlookers. Because of this, at whatever time the accountant discovered that the bag of money had been lost, it would be too late. Only then would he shout and call for the help of the police, who would surround the nearby people in force to search for the accountant's bag, but in vain. In this way, the truth behind the criminal plan was finally discovered.

Here is another incident through which the reader can notice the extent of the spirit's influence on the body:
A True Story

### Psychic Execution

Once some psychologists and psychiatrists went to a man who was sentenced to death. They asked the government to let them execute the capital sentence that had been passed against him by subjugating him to psychic experiment to the point of death. They said to him: "We feel pity for you so we want to execute the death sentence in the easiest way.

"You will not feel any pain. We are going to cut one of the veins of your hand and make you bleed until you are dead, and through this, you will not suffer the torment of painful suffocation that goes along with hanging. We will do that only out of mercy to you".

In the place that was prepared for the operation, they blindfolded the man's eyes so as to allow him to see nothing of what was going on at all. On his hand, they cut a simple scratch from which blood did not flow, but they made him believe that his hand was bleeding. At the same time, a flask filled with warm water was fixed above his hand. They opened the flask's tap to allow water pour forth over the position of the scratch, so that it would feel as blood was flowing. When the water began to fall into a container and the sentenced man heard the sound of the falling liquid, he thought that this sound came from the blood flowing from his hand. Thereby, little by little, the criminal's face began to turn pale and it was not long until his blood pressure dropped and his heartbeat began to decrease. All the medical apparatus showed that the body of that deceived man deteriorated, until his face became lifeless. A short time after that, he fell down dead after living under the spiritual illusion which had befallen him.

The same method of waging spiritual war was applied by some of the greatest commanders known in the past, such as Timur bey or Timurlenk, who gained most of his victories in this way. He would give a false impression of the number of his soldiers by distributing fire, raising the dust, drumming and making noise, all of which made his enemies think that his army was large. As a result, when battle began, his enemies were soon running away in fear, defeated, seeking only to save themselves no matter what their materials and strength of numbers.

# Chapter 5

* * *

## The Traveling of the Spirit

The praised traveling of the spirit

The traveling of the spirit which is much sought after occurs when it is let flow during its communication with God, when it is directed towards the Ka'ba, so as to meet the noble spirit of the messenger (cpth) to couple with it by means of a bond of love and appreciation. Then, the spirit ascends in this company through the Godly light where it witnesses the facts and Godly perfections and lights that make it become absorbed in supreme Godly bliss until it feels adoration for Him, the Almighty, due to its having seen a part of His Perfection and Majesty.

That is the communication with God in its reality; that is, spiritual traveling and spiritual witnessing, which is spiritual rather than physical. That is the heart's aliment with which the Almighty wants us to feed ourselves during our communication with Him, and to continue having it and sinking into it with our hearts, in order to enjoy only happiness, recovery, and blessings.

He has ordered us to direct our spirits towards Him in our communication with Him and to turn towards the Ka'ba where we can find the spirit and the lofty spirituality of the imam (cpth), who enlightens us and shows us the way that leads to Him, the Almighty.

The Almighty (glory to Him) says, addressing His messenger: "Whichever way you depart, face towards the Holy Mosque: and wherever you are, face towards it, so that people will not overcome you with proof..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 150

That is what God's command contains. He orders us to communicate with Him through the messenger (cpth), in order to perform communication correctly. God says: "Al'lah and His angels keep communications with the prophet. You who believe, communicate yourselves with Al'lah through him and fully surrender."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56

So, the spirit has its travel, but the sought-after and good kind of travel is that which takes place through Godly light by means of the spirit of the messenger (cpth).

Such travel leads us to ascend and rise within the Godly lights, and communication with God is the ladder of the believer, during which the body does not move, but during which it is the spirit which rises through the worlds of Godly lights and perfection.

To clarify the way in which the spirit travels, we give the following example:

Suppose that there is a man who, while sleeping, dreams that he is by the seashore eating delicious and pleasant things, having fun and playing, laughing and frolicking happily and delightfully moving from one beautiful place to another one, yet more beautiful. I wonder: what is that part of him which feels happy and delighted? What is that part of him which is moved?

It is his conscious self. It is his 'spirit'. The body lies in the bed with a heart that pulses, a chest that moves up and down, and blood that runs through his veins.

The body does not move, while the spirit is the part of him which travels to the dreamlands during his sleep.

Thus, the right kind of travel is that which occurs through the Godly light in the company of Al-Mustafa, 'the chosen' (cpth), and it is accomplished when the spirit is turned towards the Sacred House and when it meets his supreme spirit during communication with God. The Almighty says: "Those that turn (to Al'lah) in repentance, that obey Him and praise Him, whose spirits travel with the prophet, that bow down and prostrate themselves to Him, that enjoin good and forbid evil, and observe the bounds set by Al'lah (these render the achievement supreme). Proclaim the good tidings to the believers".

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 9, At-Tawba (Repentance), verse 112

By my life, that is the greatest true spiritual traveling which should be sought after. It takes place through the messenger (cpth), through the seas of the Grand God, and that is the real communication with God which is "the ladder of the believer".

Yet a betrayal of trust in its full sense takes place when the human spirit flows outwards without the Godly light and without the companionship of the noble messenger (cpth), for then it travels into the darkness and sinks in its worlds, being far from the Source of light (glory to His Names). Hence, the devils will catch it and make it imagine untrue, false things, and follow whatever mean deadly whims the devils decide, which will only lead to its destruction.

### The mind

Thus, there are worlds of reality to which the spirit travels through the Godly light in the company of the intercessor (cpth), so achieving a real link with God. This link makes the believer realize a part of the Godly perfections in his spirit, after he believes in them and pays attention to them and understands them in his thoughts. He also realizes the secret that lies behind the Godly legislation and the benefits that are hidden behind the orders which the Almighty sent down to His messenger in the Holy Qur'an.

Realizing the truth that lies behind the Godly perfections has been accomplished when the communicant witnesses a part of such perfections in a spiritual manner. The communicant views the Godly Mightiness and Justice and witnesses the clemency, the compassion, the sympathy, the tenderness, the favor, the charity and the other attributes that lie behind the Godly Names. Thereby, his or her spirit assimilates these attributes of perfection and perceives them, so that they settle into it and become its own attributes. Thereby the communicant believer becomes clement with all of creation, is merciful, brave, and generous, attains such moralities as are derived from God, and is colored with them through communication with Him. God says: "It is the stain of Al'lah. And who has a better stain than Al'lah's?..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 138

As regards realizing the meaning of the Godly orders, this quality can be acquired after watching the good that lies behind them. For example, when a communicant reads the verses relating to the veil, they can see their advantages and understand the benefits they lead to for the woman herself, both with regard to her relatives and for all human beings.

Also, when they read the verses that forbid the drinking of alcoholic beverages, or that relate to gambling, they see the harm that results from these actions and the damage caused by taking part in these activities.

So it is concerning carrion, and the diseases and infirmities which arise from eating it. Communicants witness the benefits of pronouncing the Name of Al'lah over the carcass while it is being slaughtered, which makes the animal enjoy great bliss when meeting God rather than suffering the pain of slaughter. This practice also releases microbes and diseases, and serves the good health of the family and all humankind.

Also, the communicant sees the advantages of fasting, communication with God, pilgrimage and almsgiving (just as the Noble Companions saw these advantages when they became believers, and acquainted the whole world with them). This also goes for the other orders, which they also assimilate into their mind when they hear the verses of the Holy Qur'an during their communication with God.

Thus, with any verse they hear, they see the meanings that it contains on a level that is proportional to the degree to which they are directed towards their Creator; that is, their link with and their nearness to their God.

That is what we mean when we speak about fully realizing the Godly orders. So, this applies to the person who does not see a part of the Godly perfection during their communication, or does not realize the advantages of the Godly commandments or what lies behind the verses of the Holy Qur'an which they read. When performing their communication, such a person should not feel any sense of strangeness if their prayer was to be rolled up and thrown in the air as is done with a shabby garment, since they have got no use out of it, except a little bit, which neither sustains nor satisfies their spiritual hunger.

As regards the way leading to the acquisition of a mind that is illuminated by Godly light, this way is adopted by accompanying and following an imam who is, in fact, the great master Mohammad (cpth). One who prays without being led by that imam will never have their mind illuminated by the light of Al'lah, even if they pray with a hundred bows a day or stay awake all night long just to pray. This is because the utilization and production of the heart will be worthless if it does not uplift the spirit of the communicant.

You may ask about the reason for this and wonder at such a statement. I say: with the eyes in one's head, the spirit can see things by means of the common light, such as the light of the sun, the moon, the stars, fire, or electricity; whereas it cannot see reality except by the light of Al'lah, which is accessed by means of the messenger (cpth).

Since the mind is the result of the spiritual witnessing and vision that is attained by the communicant, which is stored up inside them until it becomes an inseparable part of their identity, how then can this spirit witness Al'lah's perfection when it has no light with which to see this perfection?

How will meaning be revealed to it when it has no shining lamp to make it visible, and to illuminate the benefits that lie behind the Godly orders?

Thus, this light is one of the necessities of vision, and this shining lamp is one of the things needed and is a requisite for one who wants to achieve this luminous witnessing with the eye of heart which helps us to distinguish between vice and virtue.

That light or lamp is none but the messenger of God (cpth). God says in reference to this: "Oh prophet! We have sent you forth to be a witness, to be a bearer of good news, and to be a person who warns the unbelievers, calling people to enter into Al'lah's presence by His leave and as a shining lamp."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 45-46

### We Muslims do not worship the Ka'ba

Al'lah the Almighty ordered His messenger to direct his face towards the Holy Mosque in order to make his spirit enter into His Presence from that place.

Thereby, we can face it wherever we are in order to be led by him (cpth) in entering into God's Presence, where he will be a shining lamp for our spirits.

That is the secret and the marrow of the Godly Command. So, turning towards the Holy Ka'ba and facing this Kiblah is one of the pillars of communication for believers. One who prays without concentrating their spirit upon it and entering into God's presence through the company of this leader will achieve nothing through their prayers. Such a person only prays alone and singly, and therefore Satan will wish to mislead him or her and will hurry to fill this person's heart with obsessions, scruples and imaginings. The Almighty God (glory to Him) says in His Holy Book: "He that surrenders himself only to God, being righteous, has held on to the firmest tie. To Al'lah all things return." The 'firmest tie' here means the messenger (cpth).

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 31, Luqman (Luqman), verse 22

At the time that you achieve a link with the messenger (cpth), you will feel safe and at peace and remain so until daybreak (i.e. until your death), and God will reveal His miracles to you. So, let him (cpth) – who is "the other of two" – be the one who leads your heart to Al'lah so that you may obtain light and knowledge.

The noble saying states "From among the sheep, the wolf eats but the faraway one." [9]

God says: "Cling one and all to the Robe of Al'lah and never separate...": that is, never separate from the prophet Mohammed (cpth).

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 103

Following on from what we have set forth already, we say: in our communication with God, when we direct ourselves towards the Ka'ba, we do not worship it, and we do not turn towards stones. The truth is that instead of this, we direct ourselves towards God through that sacred Mosque. In the same way, we do not worship the messenger (cpth), but take him to be a leader who aids us in performing our communication with God, and who acts as a shining lamp for our spirits. So whenever our spirits want to enter God's Presence, they travel to the place where they can find their imam. They thus take him as a guide in order to come close to God through him, for he (cpth) is the best imam and the best companion for our spirits. In this way, they will become illuminated by the Godly light which shines on his spirit (cpth) due to his nearness to Al'lah, and thus he shows them some of the secrets and advantages that are hidden behind His commands.

This explains to us the secret behind the following words that God says: "Al'lah and His angels keep communication with the prophet. You who believe, communicate yourselves with God through him and fully surrender."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56

The Almighty has ordered us to communicate with Him ourselves through this noble prophet in order to couple our spirits with him (cpth), so that we can enter God's Presence in his company and become illuminated by the Godly light which shines on his holy spirit. In this way, our behavior in this life will be set upon the right and safe way forward.

This is the proper link with God, and he who does not take the apostle (cpth) as a leader will not taste the pleasantness of belief.

This is the spiritual travel that has been praised. It is a journey to the Sacred House where the meeting with the leader (cpth) can be held. This link begins with bliss, pleasure and lofty feelings, and it lasts until the spirit witnesses reality and is able to distinguish between vice and virtue. Humanity will then be crowned with the Godly light by which we see goodness and know that it really is goodness, just as we see evil and know that it really is evil, so stopping us from perpetrating it.

This light of the heart reflects happiness onto humanity; besides, our spirits derive the Godly perfection from this, so that blessings and compassion will flow through us, and we will become colored with a stain of the Godly perfection. God says: "It is the stain of Al'lah. And who has a better stain than Al'lah's?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 138

Through this connection with God and this communication with Him through His messenger (cpth), the low desires that exist in a communicant's spirit will be eroded and exchanged for exalted and virtuous ones, and this communicant will be really 'Human', that is, 'humanist'. This is piety (seeing with God's light). God says: "You who believe: see by Al'lah's light and believe in His messenger, He will grant you two portions of His compassion and make a light for you by which you can go, and He will forgive you: Al'lah is Forgiving and Compassionate."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 57, Al-Hadid (Iron), verse 28

And it was said: "The hearts of those who know God have eyes which see what the physical eyes do not see."

That is, they have eyes which see the reality hidden behind appearances. With God's light they see that which is unseen to those who look with their own bodily eyes i.e. with the eyes of the head.

### Evil spiritual travelling and the world of betrayal

There is also a world of betrayal, where the Trust borne by humanity has been breached. It is the world of darkness, and the world of devils who are far from the Almighty God. This breach of Trust begins with the travelling of the spirit to the hotbeds of base desire and fiendish phantasms, from which the spirit gets its hellish delights while wearing the garment of its betrayal. This is a spirit that is intimate with the devil, who brings it into the world of darkness: that is, the world of the evil jinns. In this world and using these jinns, the devil allows the spirit to behold the spiritual fantasies with which it fulfills its hellish desires in deep darkness. It turns away from the everlasting source of morality in order to acquire the worst and most beastly of qualities. It declines from a bad state to another that is even worse, and puts on the garment of betrayal in the company of its associate, the devil, who has drawn it into this world.

This betrayal begins with thoughts that are inspired by the devil, which strike a spirit which is in the process of shunning its Provider. Had this person been a believer, these thoughts would not have affected them; and even if they had, this person would not have paid the least bit of attention to such thoughts. Such devilish suggestions may occur to the believer when they are not paying full attention to God, but they will then immediately remember God if they are a true believer. They will remember the messenger (cpth) and his communication with God, and so become immersed in light again. Meanwhile the devil will flee from them, having failed, and he will become lowly with fear of being burned by the Godly light with which the believer becomes imbued and supported. God says: "Those who became illuminated by God's light when a thought of evil from Satan touched them bring (Al'lah) to remembrance, when lo! They see (the reality of this thought)."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 201

### The deadly beginning

As for those who have forgotten Al'lah, the Almighty, and Doomsday, they plunge into thoughts which find a fertile ground in their minds, until their spirits are travelling through these thoughts. At this point, the devil will be able to steal into such a spirit according to his will, so bringing such a spirit into the world of deception.

This is the second stage, whereby these thoughts turn into deception, in which the spirit flows. Then these dangerous stages develop into dreams during sleep, where the spirit that is far from belief indulges itself in the depths of its own desires during its period of sleep, exactly as it is dissipated by its thoughts while it is awake. At this time, the devil will take hold of it and lead it into the world of darkness, where it actualizes its breaches with righteousness. Step by step, the situation becomes worse and worse, until the spirit lives in deception even while it is awake. This state is called 'Daydreams', and through this, the spirit attains the same veiled fornications in its own mind that it attains while it is asleep. These phenomena entail only evil for the spirit.

In fact, during daydreams, people are not asleep, but due to the travel of the spirit, their state becomes the same as the state of one who is asleep, and this is the greatest disaster. Most spiritual diseases start during such a stage, during which our spirits become linked to the world of devils and live in deception and contrariness. After this, in the case that they want to stop following such a path, they become subject to conflict. This is truly a path which is horrible both in this life and in the life to come. However, with repentance and by becoming straight, one can be cured of what bad actions they have attached to themselves and which in turn have caused such diseases.

Through persistence in such a case, the one who turns away from Al'lah becomes one of those who sees the other dark world, 'the world of devils'. These devils will appear to them while awake, and create deceptions for them while they are asleep. God says: "Rouse with your voice whomever you are able. Make them imagine and muster against them your men. Be their partner in their riches and in their offspring. Promise them; Satan promises them only vanities."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 64

This happens to those who follow the devils and who turn to them, and that is how magic and charlatanism begin. God says: "...and never draw near the fornications openly or in secret..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 151

Remaining in such a miserable situation of terrible, shameful distance from God; plunging into these deceptions and hidden wrongdoings; yielding to the influence of devils and following their instructions and practices, thus becoming a daredevil in disobeying God (by mistaking devils for angels); being driven by these devils without adjusting one's intentions or seeking repentance for one's previous wrongful commitments: in this way, a person will fall under the absolute control of the devils and become submissive to their orders. This means that such a person will be obedient to them and will be subject to being used as an effective weapon in their hands. Thus they can use their victim to carry out their own malicious and evil deeds against humanity. This is what is referred to in the Qur'anic verse: "Make them imagine and muster against them your men"; that is, your men who come from the people who are oblivious and whom you employ to serve your aims.

The magician is someone who has fallen under the direction of the devil, and on whom the devil depends to achieve his schemes of causing harm and injury to others. The magicians think that they are only doing whatever they want; in fact, however, their spirits have become filled with wickedness and shun their Creator when accompanied by the devil (with whom they are intimate), and help the devil to fulfill his aims. God says: "Some men of oblivious people have sought the help of some of jinns, but they misled them into further error."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 6

### Devils of mankind or of jinn-kind!!

1) Outwardly: By spitting, the magician drives the devil towards the one who is to be bewitched and uses him to make the latter imagine whatever he wants.

2) Inwardly: The devil uses the magician to reach the one who is to be bewitched and to make him imagine whatever he wants: something that will cause harm and damage.

In some detail, we say: when the magician directs his attention to the one who is to be bewitched, the ray of his spirit flows towards them. The devil seizes this opportunity and penetrates that ray, through which he is able to enter the spirit of the one who is to be bewitched. The devil is blind-hearted; he is unable to flow into the bewitched one's spirit by himself, but when he rides the rays of the magician's spirit, he can reach that other spirit. Once he does so, he can make it imagine whatever he likes: for example making ties, committing wrongful breaches or undoing relationships that already exist.

Yet the absolute fact is that the magician will never be given power to drive the devil in this way, nor will the devil be able to use the magician's spirit, unless the one who is to be bewitched has committed some wrong beforehand, to the extent that they deserve to be afflicted with harm by both the devil and the magician. God says: "...but they can harm none with it except by Al'lah's leave..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Thus, the thing that makes our deeds return to haunt us is the wicked desire that is generated in our spirits when we are far from God, and the evil that we cause to come to others following on from this desire. It allows these two malignant partners to have power against us and conjure up magic against us. Yet if someone is a true believer that has a link with God or who, in spirit, accompanies people of righteousness and approaches God, then such a person will not commit any evil, and consequently these malignant partners will not be able to cause any wrong to them.

In Arabic, 'Satan' is called 'Shaitan', which is derived from the two verbs 'shatana' and 'shata'.

The verb 'shatana' means 'to draw far from righteousness'.

The verb 'shata' means "to be burned and cursed".

So, 'Satan' is something that is far from righteousness and is burned and cursed.

Because of his distance from the right path, he has become burned and damned. He is always vanquished and suffers torment, since he has deprived himself of nearness to God. Affliction and misery keep descending upon him continually and in increasing measure. They affect him only due to his distance from God and because of his shunning of God, as 'shunning and distance from God is the reason behind each affliction and the source of each misery'.

So, the word 'Satan' applies to magicians and their leaders, the devils. Thus the magician has become one of the devils among humankind. God says: "Thus We have assigned for every prophet an enemy: the devils of humankind and jinn-kind, who inspire one another..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 112

The Almighty also says: "Say: I seek refuge in the Provider of oblivious people... from the evil of the sneaking whisperer who whispers evil in the chests of oblivious people, of jinn and of oblivious people."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 114, An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-Kind), verse 1-6.

The magicians, then, are the devils among people who have descended in spirit into the world of jinn-kind.

As for the devil of jinn-kind, he is one of the jinns who has come out in spirit into the world of humankind. He is a felon that aims to cause damage, aggression, dissension and rancor.

The jinn are charged with bearing Trust just as people are. God says: "I have created humankind and jinn-kind in order but to worship Me."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 51, Adh-Dhariyat (Sun Rays), verse 56

The word 'jinn' in Arabic is derived from the verb 'jan'na', which means 'to hide'. The baby hidden in its mother's womb is called 'Al-Janin'. Also, the cemetery where dead people's bodies are hidden and buried is called 'Al-Mejan'na' in Arabic.

The Almighty isolated the world of people from the world of jinns, and put a screen between them in order that they would never meet one other in the general and regular state of affairs. But when there is deviation from God's orders and vices are committed, the devils among the jinn interact with man in the same way as those who are disobedient and deviate from God's orders and break His rules. So, these devils appear before wrongdoers and make forbidden actions seem fair to them, so as to encourage them to immerse themselves in this lower life, and to commit the sins that they commit.

Their spirits have travelled to the world of the devils where, finally, the spirits of the two groups, both of which have deviated because of their betrayal and their evil, meet together. They do so in order to cause evil and damage among their own kind and to commit forbidden actions in all their forms (God save us), and that is the way which leads humanity to damnation.

Thus the practice of magic amounts to base, hellish spiritual practices and actions which the magician performs and which are firmly connected to the world of hiddenness, 'the jinn world'. This is the world of the devils among the jinn-kind. They help each other in making magic whose reality is hidden from our eyes.

This is the linguistic significance of the word 'magic' in Arabic, which, with a little change in its vowelization, refers to the time before daybreak. It has thus been used to express these kinds of actions because nothing can be seen of the professional magician except some obscure movements, sayings or signs.

# Chapter 6

* * *

## Is it Possible to Use Believing Jinns in the Service of Good Deeds?

Here, we should deal with a question that has been raised by many simple people. It relates to something that is claimed to be true by many evil people who work in the field of magic. This question is:

Is it possible to use believing jinns in the service of good deeds? Does the believing jinni show himself to his believing brothers and sisters from among humanity?!

The absolute fact is that believing jinns never come to the world of humanity at all, either in body or in spirit. Any jinni from among jinn-kind that appears before people is surely and certainly one of the disbelieving jinn-kind; that is, he is a rebellious devil.

Their allegations which say that there are believing jinns that appear before people indicate that all they want to do is to deceive simple-minded people.

How can a jinn be a believer when it penetrates a woman??

The Almighty says of the devil: "He but enjoins you to commit evil and indecency and to allege about Al'lah what you do not know."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 169

The phrase "...what you do not know" refers to things for which you find no basis, no source, and no indication in God's Book; moreover, this refers to things which are contrary to His sayings. So, this should not be accepted because it is one of the infractions of your enemy, the devil, which would only lead to your total loss.

In His Book, God openly warns us of this when He says: "Sons of Adam! Let Satan not tempt you, as he got your parents out of paradise. He stripped them of their garments so as to show them their shameful deeds (that displeased them)...": this is God's saying: "Beware not to incline to what the devil displays", because his purpose was but to strip our Father, Adam, and our Mother, Eve, of their states of entering into closeness with God by showing them something that displeased them. "...he and his minions see you whence you cannot see them. We have made the devils guardians over those who do not believe." That is, the Almighty made them the leaders of those who have wicked spirits so as to bring out such wickedness in them.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 27

But why did God make them so? I say, the patient should be treated. Indigestion requires a laxative, and the furuncle needs to be cleaned to get rid of the pus.

So, when it comes to one whose spirit has been filled with wickedness, the devil would be like a cure for them. The devil would bring out the ill desire that is in existence within their spirit, and then the Almighty would treat them by means of the distress that they feel, or with an affliction so that they may repent.

Thus, Satan and his companions, who are definitely devils, are the ones who see you. They are the friends of those who are without faith. You will not find people who believe in God and who, at the same time, also make friends with ones that are so far from God and far from His messenger.

If they were true believers, they would not be friends with the unbelieving devils.

So there is absolutely no believing jinni that will ever appear to humanity.

## How do Devils Appear to People?

I say that the way that the devil deals with people is based on cheating and deception, for if they know that he is a rebellious devil, they will not believe him and they will be safe from his injurious and evil effects.

The Holy Qur'an mentions the devil's wicked intent to cause harm to Adam's sons with the following words: "Then will I come to them through their hands and from behind them, from their right and their left..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 17

This affects the simple-minded people whom the devil approaches "...from their right...", that is, by pretending to have faith, by reading the Qur'an, and by simulating blessings and charity. He comes to them under the cloak of religion so as to deceive them and make them submissive to him, and to defame religion and the people of religion.

So, if someone appears and claims to be a believing jinni, know that he is none other than a mutinous devil. He pretends otherwise in order to have influence and power over the spirits of the people that he wants to cheat, and then he achieves his malicious and evil wishes by destroying them.

This false call works with many simple-minded people. In many countries we see magicians hiding themselves and disguising themselves by being colored with an Islamic stain. They have with a false stamp of religion, although true religion is very far from them and the Qur'an warns of them and unmasks them.

### A Saint is somebody who observes the boundaries of Al'lah

If a religious man says words that are contrary to those of God, a true believer should not follow him. God says: "No mortal to whom Al'lah has given the Book and whom He has endowed with judgment and prophethood would say to people: 'worship me instead of Al'lah'...": that is, neither a prophet nor a messenger would say to people "obey my words" or tell them things that are not mentioned in God's Book. So, this verse refutes any statement that is in conflict with the Qur'an. The believers do not say: "We are people of honor, not the people in charge, so it shall be no offense for us to do whatever we want because we are preferred above other people by virtue of our miracles. We do magical marvels. Even if we committed things that are forbidden for our own sake, they will be considered to be obedient actions". Such are the sayings of the magicians who are among the devils of humanity.

The statements of a believer are in agreement with what is mentioned in the Qur'an: "...be devoted followers of the Provider...", that is, apply the Provider's words to your life.

This is what a believer says. A believer will say: "Obey my saying which is derived from God's Book, and follow God's instruction (i.e. follow the Holy Qur'an)".

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 79

"Nor would he enjoin you to take the angels and the prophets as providers...": you say: "An angel has appeared to me and said to me so and so, although this saying is contrary to God's saying!" This is polytheism.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 80

Do you call it inspiration? No, there is no inspiration. All inspiration is within God's Book. If something is in agreement with it, it is true. Even the sayings of the noble messenger (cpth) should be compared with God's Book. If you find that they correspond to the words of the Qur'an, they are surely from God; if they do not, you can be sure that the prophet (cpth) did not say these words at all and they are nothing but an invention that was made to discredit him.

The messenger (cpth) told us that he would be unable to protect himself if he disobeyed God (far be it for him). How then could he protect others who disobey God's orders?

This can be seen clearly in the noble verse: "Say: 'I will never disobey my Provider, for I fear the torment of a great day'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 15

Thus, only God the Almighty, should be obeyed. Polytheism is to follow a saying that is in conflict with God's sayings, even if the scholars document it and certify it.

A real religious person is one who acts according to the truth and what is right, and according only to what emanates from the Qur'an and its sublime precepts and teachings, whereas he who commits any breach of the Qur'an is not truly a religious person at all. He is nothing more than a herald of the cursed devil; moreover, he is one of his company and troop (so no jinni that approaches our world is a faithful jinni at all).

The Qur'an has never cited such a thing at all; on the contrary, it warns of devils, as mentioned in the noble verse, when God addresses His noble messenger (cpth): "Say: 'Lord, I seek refuge in You from the promptings of the devils. Lord, I seek refuge in You from their presence'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 23, Al-Muminun (The Believers), verse 97-98

Apart from that, the word 'jinn' in its Arabic-language meaning reveals this point, as has been shown before, for the world of jinn-kind is veiled from us and God has separated them from us. Therefore, any breach that changes that situation, and any time that a jinn emerges from the world of jinn-kind into the world of mankind, this can certainly be regarded as disobedience and a deviation from truth and what is right.

Similarly, no human can descend in spirit to the world of the jinn unless they are a follower of the devil, that is to say, a person that has no faith, and such a person is absolutely not a believer.

The Almighty warned us of these devils when He said: "Sons of Adam! Let Satan not tempt you as he got your parents out of paradise. He stripped them of their garments so as to show them their shameful deeds that made them lose trust in themselves. He and his minions see you whereas you cannot see them. We have made the devils guardians over those who do not believe."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 27

So, their only wish is to cause damage and harm and to incite us to commit evil and partake in acts of indecency, both overtly and covertly. Some people brag of their viewing of the jinn-kind and the jinns' appearance to them. They think that they are angels bringing down Godly orders to them.

This is mostly true of certain women. They talk about these visitations, and consider each to be a kind of revelation, while, in reality, whether they are aware of it or not, stinking water has begun to flow beneath them and the devil has deceived them and trapped them. Though one may claim to be a believing jinni or even an angel, in actual fact, he is none other than a devil and an insurgent enemy that wants to subvert such women, to create discord between them and their husbands, and to lead them to a bad end.

Here is our lady, the pure Virgin Mary. She felt confused on one occasion when she saw the shape of a man inside her private room.

God says: "She retired away from her people to a blessed place and put a veil between her and them. We sent to her Our Soul in the semblance of a real human being. She said: 'I seek refuge from you in the Compassionate...' ": i.e. I have sought protection and have resorted to the Compassionate because of you. " '...Who are you?' He answered: 'I am an angel...'." But she continued: "...'(even) if you were a pious one' ": that is, even if you were an angel, why have you entered my room? – and so, God's rules and boundaries have precedence over everything.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 19, Maryam (Mary), verse 17-18

She did not accept his entry to her secluded room in the semblance of a man until she realized that he was a messenger sent by Al'lah, for the angels had foretold of this beforehand in relation to our master Jesus (peace is through him).

Then our master Gabriel sent the spirit of our master Jesus through her mouth during the conversation.

### Astounding surprise

What a difficult moment is coming when the facts manifest themselves, and those who thought they were doing the right thing by following those they believed to be angels suddenly discover that they had actually been following their enemies, the devils, who were leading them into wrongdoing and ultimately into the blazing fire! They had thought that they were following the orders of God which had been sent to them by the angels, but in fact, they were sinking into polytheism, betrayal and vice. God says: "On the day when He gathers them all together, He will say to the angels: 'was it you that these men worshipped?' "; and the angels will answer: " 'Glory to You, You alone are our guardian. They worshipped only jinns, and it was in jinns that most of them believed'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 34, Saba' (Sheba), verse 41-42

And He says: "...they had chosen the devils for their guardians instead of Al'lah, and deemed themselves on the right path."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 30

At that time, there will be no return to this life and no more opportunity for good deeds. There will be only despair and failure attendant on them, which will make them seek refuge in hellfire so that it may alleviate the horrible spiritual pains they will be suffering because of their commitment to the abominations and the offenses to which they were led by the devil.

Thus, we should not believe that there are any believing jinns which can approach our world, even if they claim, falsely and dishonestly, that they are angels. None of the jinn-kind come into our world except those that are with the devil (that is, who have deviated from the right path), and thus, they are certainly unbelieving jinns.

So, beware that you do not sow bad seeds, and be sure to obey your Provider before the inevitable day arrives. On this day the Almighty will address the followers of the devil: "Sons of Adam, did I not covenant you never to obey Satan, who is a plain enemy to you, but to worship Me? Surely that was the right path. Yet he has led many of you astray. Had you no mind?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 36, Ya Sin 'Ya-sin' (Safe & Pure), verse 60-62

### Facts

The magicians' first intention was to misrepresent the heavenly religions. That was their painstaking custom: to keep their pledge to their cursed father, Lucifer, who promised to waylay people and lead them away from the straight path. Therefore, we do not find that those who say they have supernatural powers and those who perform preternatural acts are active only among Muslims. There are also 'antichrists' and 'anti-prophets' elsewhere; our master Jesus (peace is through him) identified them as such when he said: "They present imaginary miracles and wonders in order to mislead even the chosen, if it is possible for them." [10]

He (peace is through him) advised extreme caution in relation to them when he said: "Beware of the anti-prophets who come to you in the semblance of lambs while in secret they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you can recognize them. Do thorns yield grapes?" [11]

As for those who perform miracles and supernatural and preternatural acts; as for those who claim to be saints and claim that they call people to the right religion under the name of the mission of Islam or as helpers of the Messiah master; as for those who allege that the masters of the enchanters are messengers and prophets, when in fact they are nothing but sly libertines: how will they end up? The Holy Qur'an unveiled their secrets and the results of their deadly deeds as well as the everlasting suffering that will befall them.

This is what we have mentioned previously. The sayings of our master Jesus (pth) also acquaint us with the fruits of their deeds, which will draw destruction upon themselves firstly and finally.

About the Day of Reckoning, he (pth) says: "On that day, many people will say: 'Have not we prophesied in your name? Have not we ejected the devils in your name? Have not we shown many miracles in your name?'

But I will declare to them: 'I did not know you at all. Go away from me, wrongdoers'." [12]

That will also be what is said by all of God's apostles to these lying impostors, these slanderers of religion.

# Chapter 7

* * *

## How Can a Magician Affect Hundreds of Viewers?!

You may well wonder: how can a practitioner of magic, who depends on deception, affect viewers despite being physically distant from them?! (The deceptions upon which such people rely include: stabbing themselves with skewers; burning a boy in a brazier and then allowing him to emerge alive; walking on water; eating glass; and taking pigeons, eggs, golden coins, and razor blades out of a hat or from their mouth, making them seem to appear from thin air). And is it possible that such a magician could affect all the people watching at once?!

In reply we say that one of the firm qualities of the human spirit is the tendency to admire and appreciate those who surpass it in some respect. This is especially true when we watch the types of wonders that attract the spirits to something that is new, unknown, and exciting, so that we guess that it is a miracle. This can occur even if the so-called wonder is mere quackery and mocks the mind of those who do not look into Al'lah's Holy Book and become enlightened by their faith. This recourse to the Holy Qur'an allows people to unveil the dirty codes whereby the spirits of the magicians spread malignantly along with the spirits of their brother devils, who are the enemies of humanity. The admiration and appreciation of the magicians' wonders affects the behavior of people and decides their course and direction in this life. That is because the appreciative and admiring spirit is indeed strictly attached to he or she whom it admires and appreciates, and always accompanies such a person spiritually and couples with them. That is one of the firm rules and laws which God decreed for the spirit. God says: "...you shall find no changing of God's rules."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 62

God also says: "...and you shall find no altering of God's laws."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 35, Fatir (Orignator), verse 43

Yet how we appreciate and revere others differs from one spirit to the next, according to what one likes and to what their spirit inclines. Some spirits extol others for their science and knowledge, some for their perfection and high morals, still others for their bravery, mercy and generosity, and so on, with others appreciating people because of other considerations.

Each of us has our preferred inclinations and favorite interests, to which we pay more attention than to anything else; therefore, we appreciate those who are advanced in these trends and who excel and exceed us in these respects.

Take the brothers of our master Joseph (peace is through him) and his parents. They appreciated his perfection because their spirits were fond of virtue, purity and perfection, and preferred these qualities to everything else in this life: "He raised his parents to the throne while they prostrated themselves to him..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 12, Yusuf (Joseph), verse 100

As for Pharaoh's magicians, who were skilled in magic, they appreciated the science of our master Moses (peace is through him) when they were shown what frustrated their own magic, sciences, and actions: "Then We inspired Moses: 'now throw down your staff', and thereupon, his staff swallowed up their false device. Thus, the truth prevailed and their doings proved vain. They were defeated and put to shame, and the enchanters prostrated themselves to Moses."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 117-119

Balqees, the queen of Sheba (Saba'), prostrated herself before our master Solomon, extolling him, as though she had received a great possession, and when she eyed his realm, she revered and glorified him because he surpassed her in this respect; then her spirit became bound to his in submission to Al'lah the Almighty: "She was bidden to enter the palace, and when she saw it, she thought it was a pool of water and bared her legs. But Solomon said: 'It is an edifice paved with glass...'

" 'Lord', she said, 'I have sinned against myself. Now I submit with Solomon to Al'lah, Provider of the worlds'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 27, An-Naml (The Ants), verse 44

This appreciation and spiritual submission cause people to reflect on what was contained in the spirits of those who preceded them, so that those who appreciate such behavior may have the same thing impressed on the pages of their own spirits.

The actions of our master Joseph (peace is through him) in loving Al'lah and knowing about His attributes reflected onto the spirits of his father, mother, and his brothers, so he was a leader for them in such fields and uplifted them spiritually.

What faith and knowledge were folded within the spirit of our master Moses (peace is through him) were reflected onto the spirits of the magicians and "they said: we believed in the Provider of the worlds, Provider of Moses and Haroun."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 121-122

They cared not about Pharaoh's threats to punish, torment, and crucify them, and addressed him within the righteousness that their spirits had witnessed, paying no attention to him. "They said: obey you we cannot; rather we will obey the miracles which we have witnessed and Him who has created us. Therefore do your worst; you can punish us only in this present life. We have put our faith in our lord so that He may forgive us our sins and for the witchcraft you have forced us to practice. Better is the reward of Al'lah and more lasting. He that comes before his Provider laden with sin shall be consigned to Hell where he shall neither live nor die. But he that comes before Him with true faith and good deeds shall be exalted to the highest rank. He shall abide forever in the heavens, below which the rivers flow. Such shall be the recompense of those who purify themselves."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 72-76

We wonder: how was it that the magicians could elucidate such revelation, although they had been brought directly to Pharaoh from different cities, and had not previously met our master Moses (pth), and had not heard any of his guidance before?! But extolling and appreciating his knowledge made their spirits couple with his, thus entering into God's Presence, where they witnessed the facts, and said the words that indicated their faith and certainty.

So, if you appreciate a person, you will surely enter through the same entrances through which they enter, and drink from the same springs from which they drink, so that their spiritual status will be impressed on your own spirit. Then, if they are a disbeliever or an infidel, the contents of their spirit will also clearly manifest themselves in yours. But if they are one of those who display perfection and faith, you will perceive this perfection, and enter with them through the entrances of true faith. That is why the messenger Mohammad (cpth) said, invoking God: "O, God of all, do not let a disbeliever do me a favor lest my heart love him." [13]

He (cpth) supplicated in this way because he knew the rules of the spirit, and so he was afraid lest goodness might reach him at the hands of a disbeliever, such that his heart (cpth) would love this disbeliever and then become impressed with this disbeliever's spiritual state.

So, look at God's messenger (cpth), master of creation, how he is afraid and invokes such a prayer so as to preserve his own spirit's clarity and pureness. What will our own status be if our own spirits appreciate and glorify people of aberration, bawdiness, infidelity, and the magicians and the devils?!

### Appreciation (one of the rules of the spirit), and its results

The magicians and their masters the devils have always been aware of these spiritual rules, and know that an appreciative spirit inclines to and follows the manner of a spirit that is superior to it in the fields of its whims and habits.

This dictates how magicians appear to people, disguising themselves behind different masks. They have adopted many methods to achieve their aims, that is, according to demand. In Muslim countries where simple Muslims tend to have faith in and extol the virtues of holy men, the magicians easily deceive them by adopting the guise of those who have proof from God, and who seem to be able to carry out wonders through an ability granted to them by God.

As for the countries in which science prevails, they appear as hypnotists, and in countries where medicine prospers, they pretend to be spiritual doctors. So, they hide themselves in whatever guise is most respected by the people in any given country.

While meeting these magicians and sitting with them, any person will unconsciously soak up things from them and turn away from Al'lah, and will adopt evil thinking against Him, and will hold grudges and be spiteful against righteousness and its followers, taking this attitude against all people up to and including one's family and nearest relatives (unless they are devils).

God's messenger (cpth) says: "Man adopts the faith of his close friend; therefore, each one of you should be careful when choosing his intimate friends." [14]

As long as somebody keeps the company of such people and meets with them – though Al'lah forbids it – they will drag such a person by their feet into committing adultery and evil acts. This company will have a bad effect upon the spirit of anyone who meets with them.

This is what our master Ali (may Al'lah be pleased with him) has warned us about: "Sitting with people who follow their whims causes us to forget our faith and brings the devils."

This is even more so when meeting with the servants of the devils. So, one who sits with a wine-drinker and does not turn aside from him will certainly drink wine one day, for "the moral constitution spreads from one to another secretly, so keep yourselves far from purveyors of heresies", and as the messenger (cpth) says: "To sit alone is better than to sit in evil company, whereas sitting in virtuous company is better than sitting alone." [15]

Finally, we have learned before now that the spirit is our essential element, and the core of our feelings, senses and emotions. The spirit is our conscious self that allows things to enter our minds and perceives what is indicated by them by means of cerebral thinking. It recognizes the things that surround it through the five senses (but when one gains access to the enlightened provision and can witness reality through the eye of their heart through the Godly light, the knowledge of their spirit and attention will be greater than what it can perceive and be aware of only through use of the five senses and cerebral thinking).

We have also previously learned how magicians come to be magicians, and how they spiritually entered the world of invisible, devilish jinn, wherein they witnessed visions relating to the world of these devilish jinn in the darkness of the breaching of the Trust and those who turn away from God's light. God the Almighty says: "Shall I tell you on whom the devils descend? They descend on every lying sinner."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 221-222

Witnessing these devilish visions contrasts with witnessing the facts and Godly lights through God's messenger (cpth). They are like two parallel straight lines that never meet. Witnessing through the Godly light is a supreme lofty revelation, and indeed, it is the core of real communication, and through it one enjoys relief, ease, and heavens of blessings in the present life and the life to come. But the spreading of the conscious self (the spirit) in the darkness, along with its dusky medium, the devil, causes eternal spiritual misery and destruction unless it is followed by true repentance and a retreat from this awful and terrible way. These magicians witness visions relating to the world of devilish jinn when their dark spirits have spread to these worlds. God says: "...they had chosen the devils for their guardians instead of Al'lah and deemed themselves on the right path."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 30

This is a witness to the pictures and appearances of matters in this world of darkness and secrecy, and is not a witness to the facts in the world of light and glory; that is, the magicians' states are contrary to the states of those who see by God's light through coupling with God's messenger (cpth).

God the Almighty granted great capability to the spirits of both humankind and jinn-kind, who were the ones who agreed to shoulder the Trust. This was so they could employ this Trust in the way mentioned above, in order to perform real communication with God.

But when this capability is employed for a contrary aim (as it is by the magicians), after the spirit has entered these dirty worlds and has coupled completely with the devils, this capability enables the spirit to show people false deceptions so that the devil, coupled with the magician's spirit, appears in various strange appearances and positions which are impossible and in contravention of all known facts. God says: "...they bewitched the people's eyes and terrified them with a display of great wonders."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 116

Then the devil can spiritually appear to people, allowing them to imagine such fancies (which are spiritual and not physical in nature). This becomes a possibility after he heads for the magician's spirit, which has become freed from the body through exhausting and difficult physical and spiritual exercises. In this way they are exactly like the devil, who can naturally free himself from the physical form (as can all the jinn through the nature of their creation). To outline and simplify the issue we give the following example: when a viewer watches a magician who is about to stab himself with skewers, he directs his spirit (his conscious self) wholly toward the magician, and questioningly observes to see what will happen. In exactly the same way, students respectfully observe their teacher in order to acquire the science and knowledge which they have yet to attain. The spirit has a radiation that flows towards that to which it pays attention. Through the rays of the physical eye, the spirit will flow to the magician, who will free his spirit from his body at some moment and make it into a mount for the devil, who will spread into him and possess him, at which time the two spirits will join completely and become as one spirit. Thereupon (by means of the magician), the devil can show images to the one who has been bewitched. The victim will see them and think them to be real events, but indeed, they are all only imaginary. The spiritual absorption that comes from the spirits of the magicians and their devils is achieved through such meetings and looks of appreciation. A malignant and devilish state will be soon reflected onto any absorbing spirits, encompassing such things as desire for adultery, grief, distress, fatigue and suffering, all of which are driven away only by causing harm to others (just as the devils do).

But there is a question that presents itself:

### Is it True That the Magicians' Cords and Staffs Appeared to the Eyes of Our Master Moses to be Moving Due to the Effect of Their Magic?!

This contention requires a little bit of scrutiny so as to clear up its reality. It refers to what took place during a contest between our master Moses and Pharaoh's magicians.

If we review what our master Moses (pth) said to Pharaoh and his people before this contest, and then to the magicians, the reality will be clear to us. He (pth) said to Pharaoh and his people: "Say ye (this) about the truth when it has reached you? Is sorcery (like) this? But sorcerers will not prosper."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 10, Yunus (Jonah), verse 77

Did the magicians prosper and bewitch him as they bewitched the people's eyes? Here is what happened with the magicians: "When the magicians came, Moses said to them 'cast down what you want to cast down' and when they had thrown down (their cords and staffs), Moses said 'magic is what you have done', and Al'lah will surely confound it. He does not bless the work of evil-doers."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 10, Yunus (Jonah), verse 77

If our master Moses (pth) was bewitched or affected by imaginings, he would not have been able to attack them by saying: "...magic is what you have done...", that is, these are false fancies with no basis in reality, each just like a mirage.

He said that after they had thrown down their cords and staffs, they appeared before people's eyes to be great serpents and snakes, so that the people thought them to be real, although they were only illusions. In examining whether or not he was bewitched: if this was indeed true, then after they had thrown down their cords and staffs he would not say to them: "...God will certainly confound it...", because one who is bewitched cannot attack, and with that saying, he was challenging them and mocking what they were doing. How then can they credibly say that he (pth) was under their spell??

This explains what he said (pth) to the magicians: "...magic is what you have done..." meaning, this is magic, or devilish, deceptive actions.

This trick works with simple, blind-hearted people, but it never works with those who have gained access to the enlightened provision, and who see with the eye of the heart through the Godly light.

If we make a comparison between what happened to the people and what happened to our master Moses (pth), we will find that when the magicians showed their magic, they "...bewitched the people's eyes and terrified them by a display of great magic."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 116

So, the people were bewitched, and they feared what they had seen. But as for our master Moses (pth), when the magicians threw down their cords and staffs, as described in the Holy Qur'an: "...then behold, their ropes and their sticks, through their magic, appeared to him as though they were moving."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 66

The word 'appeared' here means that they were shown to him to be mere fancies with no material quality.

This is similar to the situation when a shadow drawn on the wall seems to you to be a big body or a great monster because you have interlaced your fingers together in some position in front of the light of a candle.

He (pth) was not affected by these images as the people were; instead these fancies were brought before his hands so that they were open and exposed for him, so that he saw them to be images that had no reality, each just like a mirage.

When a person is a noble prophet who is illuminated by God's light, they will witness the reality of these matters, and will easily recognize illusion through their luminous provision. Because of this, Moses feared both for his people and for Pharaoh's people in the face of the tricks of the devils and the magicians.

God says: "Then he felt fear" on behalf of the people due to the magicians' trickery, quackery and playing upon people's minds. But the Almighty relieved his fear and told him that He would uncover their falsehoods and grant him victory over them when He said: " 'Moses' We said, 'have no fear, you will surely win'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 67-68

The noble verse here means that God was certainly going to let Moses triumph over the magicians. Thus, these illusions can only have an effect on one whose vision is not illuminated by God's light. The prophets, on the other hand, have gained access to an enlightened provision and the illumination that comes from the Godly lights. No enchanter can affect them with their deception, nor can they prosper in the presence of the prophets, whatever they do. The noble verse came to us and was clear, showing us that the devils did not come near to our master Moses (pth), nor did they penetrate him, and their magic did not work on him due to his constantly being in the presence of God. The whole truth is that false visions created by the magicians were shown to him, and he saw them to be mere fancies without physical reality.

This is completely different from what happened to the people, whose eyes were bewitched as the magic worked on them.

The preposition 'to' in the Arabic language clearly indicates separation, making it unambiguous that neither a magician nor a devil could have had an influence upon our master Moses (pth).

To clarify the impossibility of the devils' coming near to the prophets in their physical worldly state, we say: their spirits (ptt) are constantly in the presence of God.

When they scientifically got to know of His mercy and compassion for all of creation, and witnessed His endless beauty and perfection, they became attached to that lofty Presence where they could be overwhelmed by the Godly manifestation; they were covered with the light that was coming successively upon their spirits by dint of their limitless honesty before Al'lah and their great love for Him, the Almighty. This is why the devil can neither approach them nor penetrate that Godly light. Through this Godly manifestation, they (ptt) are preserved from the devil in a forbidding fort and an unapproachable shelter; on the contrary to being subject to the devils' power, it is they who rule over the devils, who vanquish and burn them: "...but Al'lah gives His apostles authority over whom He will..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 59, Al-Hashr (Creation-Gathering), verse 6

### Did Moses (pth) turn back in retreat when he saw his staff moving?

A person may ask:

What about our master Moses (pth), when he turned his back and fled after he had thrown down his staff and had then seen it moving as though it was possessed!?

In reply we say:

God says: " 'Now throw down your rod!' But when he saw it moving as if it was (possessed by) a jinn, he turned back in retreat, and did not look back. 'Oh Moses! Fear not: truly, in My Presence, those called as messengers need have no fear'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 27, An-Naml (The Ants), verse 10

The prophets and messengers are the lamps of virtue, purity, and perfection because of what their spirits have gained from their entry into God's Presence. These spirits are always in the presence of God, witnessing the embodiment of total Majesty and Beauty. This constant existence in God's presence and this continuous illumination by the light of the Creator led to the emergence of a piercing vision in the hearts of these people. They saw both truth and falsehood because of God's light, and were able to distinguish between vice and virtue and could witness the measured way, and thus they were guided to the straight path. Because of the perfect qualities of their sprits, and the compassion that they acquired from God, they deserved to be chosen by their Creator, and were always worthy of being selected by their Provider to be guides for His creation, receiving His message and announcing it to all.

God the Almighty allowed them to perform miracles which agreed with interests of their people and by far excelled their hopes and plans.

Our master Jesus (pth) was sent to people at the time when medicine prospered, and so he performed miracles that surpassed the highest achievements of contemporary medicine, such as raising the dead to life, making the likeness of a bird from clay and then turning it into a living bird by Al'lah's will, giving sight to the blind, and healing the leprous.

The same thing happened with our master Solomon (pth) who was sent to people during the era of great wealth and possessions. Al'lah granted him an amount of possessions which He would not grant to any others that came after him. As for our master Mohammad (cpth), he was sent to people at the time when eloquence was everywhere and poets competed to surpass one another in the use of language, and when possessions and the reign of kings had lost the value which they had previously held. In the estimation of the Arabs at that time, a line of poetry was much more valuable than the palaces of Caesar or of Kisra, the king of Persia.

Concerning our master Moses (pth), he was sent to people at the time when magic and magicians were plentiful, so God the Almighty supported him with a miracle that frustrated their charlatanism, quackery and deceptive actions. It was then that the Almighty charged him to announce His message, and before going to Pharaoh and his people He inspired him to "Throw down (his) staff...", and so he threw it down.

"But when he saw it moving as if it was (possessed by) a jinn, he turned back in retreat, and did not look back": but when he saw it moving by itself, he thought that it was one of the deeds of the jinn, so he was afraid because his clean, pure spirit disdained all but the most perfect of virtuous deeds. Besides this, he knew with certainty that such actions were restricted to the devils of humanity and their brothers of the jinn-kind whom they support in their error, sparing no effort to cause harm to others and make them imagine false fancies.

Thus, the performance of magic is always an extremely mean and grubby action, and this is why he (pth) became afraid and turned his back in retreat, paying no attention to what had happened because he was averse to these malignant, low worlds. But at this point, the Almighty reassured him, saying "...O, Moses! Fear not...": meaning that his pure spirit would never commit such actions, and that what had happened was not magic, but rather a miracle which He had allowed Moses to perform for the benefit of Pharaoh and his people: " '...in My Presence, those called as messengers need have no fear' ": He meant that He had selected Moses to make His speech known and to send His messages to the people. He had chosen Moses for Himself, because he was above others in the qualities of purity and perfection. He inspired him because of his lofty and perfect qualities, and because his spirit had ascended the ladders of perfection. He was chosen as a messenger to Pharaoh and his people, and supported by this miracle which was to act as a sign for them.

Messengers do not need to be afraid in His Presence as they do not speak with priority over Him. How could they go astray or be afraid since they work only according to His order!!? [16] value

The devil has no means to act against any believer as long as their spirits enter into God's Presence and direct themselves entirely to Him, and bind themselves to His reverent noble prophets. The Almighty says: "He has no power (effect) upon those who have believed and always put their trust in their Provider."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99

We can conclude that the spiritual effect of the devils is absolutely terminated by the way of belief.

There can be no stabbing of skewers or spears into the body without damage; if a person is not affected by magic or by its influence over the nerves and the spirit as it spreads through its senses – if they are a perfect believer – they will perceive the truth; that is, they will see that the spear passes beside the body, and does not pass through the site that is supposedly being stabbed with a spear (as others may see and imagine it to be): that is, in actuality, the spear does not touch the body.

The magician and the devil work together to affect the nerves of the one who is bewitched, and who sees these fancies and deceptions after their spirit has been possessed by the devil by means of his ally, the magician. At this point, this pair are in control of this person's senses, perception, and feelings, and can manipulate them as they wish. And as the judge Fakhrul-deen said to Ibn Buttootah (on the occasion of the magician throwing up the rope and ordering the boy to climb it, as previously described):

"By Al'lah, neither ascending nor descending took place, nor even the mutilation of any appendage, but mere trickery and illusion". This is similar to how the devil appears to the magician who sees him and thinks, at first, that he is seeing with his own physical eyes. In fact, what is in play is just an imaginary spiritual vision that prevails over and veils the physical sight.

So is it for the one who has been bewitched, who is affected by magic and his own imagination. They see fancies, and they think that they are seeing with their eyes, but what they are really seeing is a spiritual vision that is reflected onto their eyes. They are actually seeing spiritually through the imagination which has veiled the physical sight of the eyes.

With that, dear reader, you can compare and understand all the wonders displayed by the trickster magicians involving displays of stabbing with skewers, and realize that they are done by exactly the method that we have explained.

Indeed, there is no burning girl in the above-mentioned Russian circus, for what could possibly follow such total burning of the body except death?? Otherwise, is this magician a god who has put someone to death and then raised them to life?!! And there is no possible physical interpretation of this, as some may suppose. Instead, the matter is fully devilish in nature. It is realized by controlling the conscious selves of people (the spirits of the ones who have been bewitched) by means of invisible devilish companions, who cause them to see the images which the devil and the magician want to show to each and every viewer.

There is no one who can create birds, razor blades, golden coins, eggs, and so forth from nothing, and take them out of their mouth: this is indeed a mere fancy. If what was done by the performer of this trickery was really something physical, he would not stretch out his hand to people at the end of the show, begging for one or two pounds, and similarly, a magician would not take a financial reward for his trickery when performing in theatres.

The matter is the same concerning all the deceptive wonders that we see that they display.

Finally, the magician is a man whose heart is overfull of the dirtiness of this lower life, so that it is foul-smelling, and his spirit is fully immersed in hidden adultery and forbidden actions. He does not separate himself from those devils to whom he is similar, including both human and jinn devils. So it is that one who takes such a man as a close friend will certainly adopt his beliefs. As God's messenger (cpth) informs us: "Man adopts his intimate friend's faith...".

And the spirit of one who wants to watch the wonders of the magicians will join them, appreciating and glorifying them and finding itself desiring obscenity, aggression, discord, and prohibited deeds. Such a person's spirit will unconsciously be possessed by the jinn through nightmares at night, and through distress and grief during the day. Such suffering is only driven away by aggression and the perpetration of mean and unkind actions, so that the spirit can forget its misery and distress. But soon a life that is miserable and woeful will return, and the jinn's damage will increase and its evil actions will prevail, until the spirit descends from a low grade to a still lower one, eventually reaching the lowest level of all. "He who turns away from Me and My guidance will certainly live in woe..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 24

# Chapter 8

* * *

## Clearing up the Evil Intentions of Magicians

In fact, temptation, cunning, deception and distance from Al'lah, the Source of every virtue, goodness and charity: all of these have now become ubiquitous. Consequently, magicians and charlatans have crept into the minds of people who have followed imitation and traditional religion with conviction, and who have turned away from thinking and from true faith. Such people have thus fallen into the nets of these magicians and have been deceived by them into thinking that they were righteous men of true religion. However, in reality, they assumed religion only on the level of words, and used it as a means to destroy people's spirits and multiply the band of Satan's supporters.

They adopted numerous fabricated methods that were not sent down under the authority of Al'lah, and they affirm these methods and in this way, seek to captivate weak spirits and add them to Satan's faction. Their only goal in this endeavor was to encircle the minds and spirits of naive Muslims. Indeed, all their actions amount to falsehood, and it is with this they bewitch people's eyes. God says: "...the magician does never succeed (prosper), whatever he does."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 69

As Islam is a faith of logic, righteousness, and supreme laws in which we find no break with the marvelous and strictly accurate universal system, we wonder: does not the constitution of those who stab themselves with skewers consist of flesh, blood, bones, nerves and senses?

Are they different from others concerning the creation and composition of their bodies?! Or are they distinguished by having been created under another living law, different from those applying to humanity, so that no skewer or fire, nor even the cutting of spears and knives can affect them?! Is this credible?! Having been shown that their deeds are nothing but witchcraft, deception, and the result of firm and secret cooperation with Satan, let us show how the devilish presence comes into being. This is opposed to the Godly presence, into which one enters by becoming infatuated with God, the epitome of Majesty, Bounty, and Honour, with His merciful messenger (cpth), and with His Supreme Attributes. On the contrary to this, let us show how the magic shows and the stabbing with skewers begin, and what the results of these ceremonies are.

Drumming, the tapping of tambourines, dancing and excitement, and tuneful voices that entirely enchant hearts that are unmindful of the Source of Majesty and Beauty: these are used to delight the ears, after which the hearts become cheerful at these sounds and the spirits become captivated by what they hear, as the domination of whim is awakened and thinking and rationality become doped. Then, these delighted spirits start to yearn for the magicians, so that it becomes possible for Satan to pass through the spirits of the viewers and possess them. Hence, a ray of the spirits of those who have invoked the devils flows into the spirits of those who are listening. This ray strikes, touches, and penetrates them. As the hearer becomes engrossed in this state of absorption which is associated with a lack of awareness of Al'lah, and as his spirit's rays are connecting with this singer, who in reality is a magician, Satan seizes this opportunity because he is, in fact, blind, but he can just smell the evilness.

If it weren't for the ray of the spirit of a magician who is completely far from Al'lah, Satan could not pierce into the spirit of the listener. He only does so by taking this ray as a vessel that helps him to flow into his victim's spirit, borne by it just as electric power flows along and is transmitted by wire.

So, being carried by this wire will severely shock the person with whom the wire is in contact, or make him unaware and unconscious. Were it not for the wire, the electric current could not reach him or cause him any harm.

The magicians' movements aim to invoke the devil's spirit, and all their singing the praises of Al'lah and His messenger – verbally – amounts to nothing but artifice. In truth, their unvarnished reality is nothing but the hidden spiritual obscenity and unmatched polytheism that dwell in their hearts. With such false praise of God, they turn towards some people and masters of magicians, whom they call by the names of 'Al'lah' and 'Mohammad'. Thus, they cheat the listeners with their words in order to lead their spirits to destruction.

Indeed, the example just given is quite applicable to Satan and his spiritual travel, for as soon as he reaches and touches his victim, he gives them false impressions that bewitch their sight so that they suppose that the stabbing with skewers that the magician displays is a real action. Thus, the trick succeeds upon them when their spirits turn towards the enchanter in appreciation and glorification. This is the serious calamity and the greatest affliction for this oblivious victim, who forgets Al'lah. At this point the enchanter instills whatever evilness and lusts that he can into the vessel of the audience member's spirit. This person then becomes a victim of whims, destructive desires and doubts in Al'lah and His messenger (cpth). Consequently, the targeted spirit will shun them and draw far from them, having been filled with vices to such an extent that ejecting them from their spirit is inevitable. Here, Satan becomes the leader and teacher of this victim who can't escape this new state.

With that, Satan's desires and aims are fulfilled by misleading this person and making them fall into the bad and evil deeds that they cannot avoid as they turn away from obedience to Al'lah, their Provider. They are diverted from their real happiness, and instead are afflicted with eternal misery and distress after they give in to their fatal lusts. This makes them descend into the torture of fire (which fits their bad acts exactly), from where no alternative for their fate can be sought. Those are the mean methods and the fatal path of the magicians.

It follows that the killing of enchanters can be made a reality by forsaking them and the sessions through which they conjure their hidden devils.

In fact, psychological diseases only befall those who draw far from their Creator and allow themselves to witness such assemblies, which are one of the traps of Satan.

Man should not attend such sessions; as the prophet (cpth) said: "Our nature and character can be caught unawares, so avoid the heretics."

Had those who are obedient to religion sought refuge in their Provider and bound their hearts to God's messenger (cpth), they would have never fallen into such traps but would have kept themselves away from them.

If they were true and straight believers who kept within Al'lah's Orders, and then, had they been unwillingly surprised by these devils, then the devils would not have been able to show them this ceremony of stabbing with skewers or indeed, to show them anything else, because one who seeks refuge in their Provider is always surrounded by a light that comes from Al'lah through His noble messenger (cpth).

So, devils can never be in the presence of or approach true believers, or even their followers. Consequently, their attempts are thwarted and they are unable to exhibit their display of stabbing themselves with skewers.

In fact, God's Light and fire can never meet, and since Satan was created from fire, thus the light that surrounds the believer will burn and damage him. A light comes over the heart of believers who have had recourse to Al'lah by means of His messenger, and this light forms an obstruction that cannot be approached or penetrated by Satan, for if he draws near to it, he will surely be burnt. The Almighty says: "He has no authority over those who truly believe and put their trust in their Provider."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99

If you then ask these people about the aim behind such ceremonies, they will reply, "by stabbing our bodies with skewers and through other deeds we prove that our religion is the right one among all of the known religions".

But if we reconsider their statements objectively, we shall find that they are devoid of fact and logic, because one who wants to present proof that Islam is the right religion in this way should not do such deeds inside mosques or in Muslims' houses and villages, where the viewers are already Muslims who need no such indication or proof!!

It is worthier to prove the truth of their religion in the presence of unbelievers and atheists. So do they do so?! What disbeliever has embraced Islam after watching suspicious ceremonies and shows during which magicians stab themselves with skewers?

Surely... none.

Since no skewers or bullets or fire can affect these false magicians, it would be better for them to go and liberate their brothers in Islam from the fires of unjust occupation by aiding them to achieve victory over their enemy.

According to their claims and pretense, upon finishing their ceremony of piercing themselves with skewers and removing them from their bodies, they put some of their spittle on the wounds so that they heal up at once and cicatrize as if the wound had never existed.

If this is so, why then do they not go to hospitals to put that same magical spittle on the injuries of sick people who are due to undergo surgical operations so that they will promptly be healed?! How can they allow them to stay in hospital suffering excruciating pain for many days and weeks!! Where is their humanity?!

Apart from the disgust and alienation that arises from putting spittle into people's mouths, the prophet (cpth) said: "Waste is verily caused by disgust."

We wonder: if they themselves (that is, those who pretend to stab their own bodies with skewers) were subjected to surgical operations due to being lunged at with a knife or hit by a car or any other kind of accident, would they not certainly face the same fate as any other? So why don't they put the spittle on their wounds so as to heal them?!

Does this not unquestionably indicate their cunning and charlatanism?!

Thus, these ceremonies and shows of stabbing themselves with skewers are nothing but devilish, crafty methods by which they aim to creep into people's spirits. These are schemes to make people join the procession of Satan, and which drive their victims out of light and into darkness. Their devils direct them on such a path, and they fully obey their commands and draw far from and shun Al'lah and His messenger (cpth), depriving themselves of the paradises of bliss and ensuring that they will dwell in eternal fire.

What bad deeds!

Evil is what they do!

If they were believers who were illuminated by God's light and who adopted the human way, Al'lah would certainly improve their status, providing them with the health, power, and money that is to be gained by following the straight and lofty path of righteousness.

And here we will tell you some factual stories through which you yourself can become absolutely sure of the dishonesty of the magicians.
A True Story

### Islam's Drum has been Dented

The man entered in terror, as if he was possessed by jinn. He was running forward in a headlong manner, and tripping over himself as he came. It seemed as if he had been wrestling with someone, for the sleeves and the collar of his clothes were torn. He started to call upon the people inside the mosque to fight to aid Islam, shouting in a tremulous voice: "O, sheikh! O, sheikh!"

Sheikh Amin Keftaro (may God have mercy upon him) and his disciples heeded this in astonishment as the man was interrupting the purity of their session.

They turned towards this terrified refugee, who swallowed his saliva and shouted again: "Oh, Sheikh! Oh, Muslims! You are still here while Islam has been ruined!! Oh, God's jealousy! Oh, God's jealousy!"

The disciples looked at each other in wonderment, then looked at him with inquiring eyes. He continued his shouting:

"The drum of Islam has been dented! Barza's band has committed aggression against the band of the Kurds. They have slashed the drum of the band! Oh people of zeal and ardency! Islam's drum has been dented!"

With firm confidence, Sheikh Keftaro smiled and turned calmly to his disciples, and said, "A perforation does not cause any damage to a sieve. My son! Islam has been violated before this. It has been violated by its sheikhs and its followers.

"Is there any violation greater than to estimate the status of religion through the status of the band's drum?!"

At the time, Barza town was to the northeast of Damascus, but today it has become connected with the city.

In this suburb, there is a shrine to Al-Khaleel which is attributed to our prophet Abraham (peace is through him). The members of the band in question used to gather at this shrine for an annual festival where they would dance and feast.

Beside the shrine, there was a small window with a height of no more than one meter. Some of the active horsemen from among the local religious communities used to compete in going through the window on horseback. As the horsemen were passing through the narrow window on their horses, the drums of the band would be beaten at length in front of the watching circles of people that would gather each time. A skilled horseman was able to pass through the entrance with a little training, but some horsemen who were charlatans took this situation as an opportunity to use their magic artifices. They set to passing through Al-Khaleel's window in order to cheat people and to dominate their minds.

Yet on that day a heated controversy came about between two of the bands' sheikhs (who claimed to be people with supernatural powers or saints of God). The disagreement escalated from verbal slurs to hand-to-hand combat, until the members of the two bands became involved; at this point, the followers of Barza's band slashed the drum of the followers of the band of the Kurd. Although that scene started off as very childish and very funny (if only these people had had a bit of rationality), nonetheless it changed into a bloody scene when the followers of each band called upon one another to avenge what had been done for the sake of Islam's drum, which had been used to beat out the call to revenge in Pre-Islamic ages. For this reason, the saying, "Islam's drum has been dented" was taken up afterwards as a proverb that circulated on the tongue of the common people in reference to matters that were seen to be trivial.
A True Story

### A Strange but True Incident that Put an End to Barza's Band

Once, the high Turkish commander of the army and gendarmes deputized our beloved officer, the great scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho, to head a force of gendarmes that would keep order during the festival of Barza's band. This was a festival to which large crowds of people would come to see the band and to watch the wonders of the fraudulent magicians that were there.

On this occasion, our officer suddenly noticed something that the greatest sheikh of the band was doing. This man took a scarf out of the saddlebag of his donkey, but it seemed that this scarf actually concealed a glass bottle, because the sheikh then took a drink from some kind of beverage before returning the bottle to its place.

Deliberately and carefully, the officer approached him on his horse, and the next time he took a drink, Mr. Mohammad Amin snatched the bottle from his hand quickly and strongly. When he brought it close to his nose, he found that it was a wine bottle!! This event occurred before the very eyes of many people in the crowds.

Our officer then knocked the magician from his donkey's back, and showered him with a battery of blows; then he sent him to prison along with the wine bottle, so that it would be evidence to show the man's real character.
A True Story

## Sheikh Ahmed Al-Haroon (May God have mercy upon him) and the People of Footstep

His spirit yearned and hankered for the hajj. However, he found it difficult to spend the money necessary to arrange this, despite his wealth and luxury! It was no wonder! For he who does not believe in the Great God, and does not believe that it is the Almighty that gives all sustenance and is the Lord of power and the Steadfast forever: for such a man, certainly, this will be his state. This man never noticed that God is the one who brings down the rain, without which the plants could never grow, and is the one who directs the sun and the moon, without which he could not eat a single morsel.

He never thought that there was a Lord who would call him to account one day, for death had never crossed his mind.

He thought that he would never die, although the fact is that each and every living being in creation will die sooner or later.

The lifetime of any creature in this world is temporary. Even the sultans, the kings, the messengers, and the prophets die; did he then think that he was different from the rest of creation and that he would not die?!

Definitely, he was quite wrong in his belief. He did not think that he would die, and that he would then be asked about his wrongdoings, because his only concern was the collection of money, whether by means licit or illicit.

How could he think of death when his spirit was entirely absorbed in collecting money?! This was his spirit's only concern, and he was entirely focused on this, rather than feeling afraid, and turning his spirit to consideration of the signs of God so as to recognize Him, the Almighty, and to believe in Him.

Death and the ultimate call to account were completely far from his mind, for he never paid alms to the poor or needy lest he would be reduced to poverty, in spite of his extravagant opulence and his many possessions. Alas! He never came close to his Provider. He wanted to perform the hajj and to visit the holy lands in order that people would call him "hajji" and would trust him, and so that his trade would flourish and his wealth would grow as a result.

He wanted to go, but at the same time, it was too difficult for him to spend a part of his money on performing the hajj. He did not want to spend money on the cost of travel by plane and on accommodation. So, what could he do?!

"There must be a solution to such an impasse!", he soliloquized, "there must be some way that will help me to retain my money and gain the great payment and reward of the hajj at the same time" (that is to say, at no cost). This was what crossed his mind.

"I have heard about the people of footstep, and I do believe in them, so why should I not be one of them? I need only to get permission from the famous sheikh, who I have heard is a man who claims to have supernatural powers. People call him the greatest magnate, the Godly aid, and the aid of tenure. Yes, I have got it! I know the solemn sheikh Ahmed Al-Haroon. He is a man who is famous for having knowledge of great secrets and it is believed that by using the cord around his waist that binds his robe, he can talk with whomever he wants, and whenever he wants.

"Thus I have to go to Sheikh Ahmed to get his permission after he performs the prayer".

And so the man headed to the mosque, and when Sheikh Ahmed had finished talking with his disciples and visitors and was walking alone towards his house, the rich merchant saw his opportunity and quickly followed him. When he caught up with him he addressed him, saying, "My Sheikh! I ask you to fulfill my purpose, and he that asks you will not be frustrated. Oh sheikh! Please, push me a push".

"A push!!" answered the sheikh in astonishment, "what do you mean?"

The merchant said, "Oh sir! Yes, a push, a light push of your hand, a blessed push". Then he pointed in the direction of the Ka'ba with his hand, and continued speaking with a smile.

"Surely, you know what I mean, for you are the head of saints and the essence of pure men, and their sultan. You are the Godly magnate. With one push of your blessed hand, I will go to Mecca in a single step, and then with another push I will return to my place in just one step, too. You know well that this is true, sir, don't you?"

Firmly and seriously, Sheikh Al-Haroon answered him, saying,

"Cut out this nonsense!", and then he continued walking home having put an end to the subject.

The sheikh knew that the superstitions and drivel that are related by the devils had enticed this stingy rich man, and had entrapped him in illusions and deceptions.

But how strange it was! This rich man thought that the sheikh was just testing him, because this was a secret matter that he had to uncover. In reality, the fact was that he understood nothing of the sheikh's answer and did not catch the meaning of his words. All that he understood from this encounter was that he should prove his trustworthiness to the sheikh, to show him and ensure him that the secret would be safe with him; that it would remain a secret and would not be passed on to anyone else. Therefore he believed that he had to ask him once again.

So it was not long before the rich man returned to wait for another opportunity which would enable him to be alone with the sheikh, so as to repeat his request to him truly, firmly, and seriously.

And indeed, the chance presented itself to him, and so he hurried to the sheikh, begging him,

"Oh sir, please! Oh magnate of our time! Oh master of the noble saints!" (Sheikh Al-Haroon was a great figure among the sheikhs). "I beg you, sir! Oh basis of Sharia! Oh banner of truth! Oh elucidator of the method's secrets! Please, just one push! Push me only one push. I am honest in my request, and I will never disclose the secret to anyone. Oh, master of scholars of knowledge and pride!"

Yet the sheikh turned his back on him, feeling annoyed at his silliness, stupidity and foolishness, and left him alone while repeating the statement, "there is no might or power except with God".

Then the affluent one bowed his head for a while, saying to himself, "What should I do? Is there no permission to be had? The pilgrims will stand at Arafeh after a few days. I have to find a solution quickly!"

He continued in this vein for a few minutes, and then raised his head as if he had found the solution and said, "Yes, I think the solution is to ask the sheikh for the push openly before his disciples and followers, and then he will not disappoint me and will send me without permission. Yes... yes...! I think he wants me to do that so as to make his students know that he is a man honored by God who has been granted preternatural abilities".

Thus, he had become utterly subject to the deceptions that the devils recite to people with simple minds. They had taken hold of him completely.

So, while a group of people were gathered around Sheikh Ahmed, the voice of the rich man was heard, raised in tones of hope and humility, saying within the hearing of the sheikh's followers and disciples,

"Oh sir! You, the greatest magnate! You, aid of tenure! Please, the pilgrims will stand at Arafah within a few days, so please, help me with a push so that I may reach Mecca, the Ka'ba, in one step! Please, I have asked your honor to do that on more than one occasion".

This time, Sheikh Ahmed smiled, then took the merchant aside and spoke to him alone, asking, "Are you serious and truthful in your request to reach Al-Ka'ba in one step?"

"Yes, yes. By God I am," answered the man.

The sheikh continued, "How many children have you got?"

"Ten", came the answer.

The sheikh asked: "Do you swear by God that you will divorce your wife in a final divorce in the case that you reveal my secret or tell anybody?"

The man eagerly swore to do so if he ever uncovered the secret or told anyone about it.

His heart became overjoyed because finally it seemed that his wish would be fulfilled, and that he would achieve his aim without spending a single dirham of money.

"How great this is!" he soliloquized.

Then, the sheikh told him, "Tomorrow, a quarter of an hour before the dawn call to prayer, come to meet me at the Souleimanieh Religious Institute (Al-Teki'ya).

"It is in front of the museum and near the banks of the Barada River. You will find me waiting for you at the gate of the mosque, God willing."

The man could not sleep. How could he sleep when he would be in Mecca in one step, circumambulating the honorific Ka'ba, or standing suppliant at Mount Arafat, and then with a reverse step, returning to his house?

At the appointed time, he came to the agreed place having wrapped himself in fur and woolen clothes due to the cold winter, and there he found that the sheikh was waiting for him. He was happy and exultant and the smile did not leave his lips.

Sheikh Ahmed asked him to stand at the edge of a big pool that was in the middle of the outer square of the mosque, and then to close his eyes.

The wealthy man hurried to apply the sheikh's direction without hesitation, and so stood in the required position with his eyes closed, preparing for take-off at the edge of the mosque's pond, and all the time in a state of great pleasure and happiness.

Sheikh Ahmed first reminded him of his emphatic oath, and then he put his leg behind the man and pushed him one push (according to his request) that knocked him to the bottom of the pond, sending him crashing through the layer of ice that had formed on its surface.

The sheikh went out of the mosque and left that stupid rich man sunk beneath the ice that had formed on the surface of the pond, which was about half a meter deep. He moved away guffawing to himself, having given the man a practical lesson that he would never forget.

The event was kept secret, for the wealthy man could not tell anyone about it in order to avoid divorcing his wife and making his children fatherless due to his emphatic oath.

As for Sheikh Ahmed, who was friendly and nice in his speech, he was not able to keep that joke secret, and so he told people about it, laughing and mocking those who believed in such superstitions.

Really, we feel wonder at such people! Do they think that they can break an internationally accepted law, that is effective and practical in all the courts of the world, that judicially decides the certain innocence of the accused if they can prove that they were not present at the scene of the crime?!

It is impossible for someone to be present in two places at the same time. So, what is wrong with those who believe this superstition of 'one step' and believe the charlatans who propagate it?! Are they brainless?!

How can they accept the contention that pilgrims could possibly see a person performing the rites of pilgrimage, while the same person's family and friends are watching them in their own presence, still in their own country without having gone anywhere?!

Apart from that, if this 'step' and its supposed people had any relationship to the Islamic religion, the prophet Mohammad (cpth) would have been worthy of this ability. He (cpth) would not have had to suffer through such a long journey. He would have been able to avoid the difficulties and troubles of his migration on feet for tens of days and nights, accompanied by his best friend, in order to reach the honorable Medina.

Ergo, stories of the 'step' and its people are nothing other than illusive fantasies, not facts, and nor may any sane or thinking person accept them. They are just a fabrication that has been put about by magicians and their aides and servants, the aberrant abettors.

May God protect you and us from believing any of them.

# Chapter 9

* * *

## Issues for Dialogue

Some people claim that they follow the example of our master Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed who, according to a fabricated story, drank poison after pronouncing the Name of God.

Others believe that God creates things when the magician says such and such a spell or special words.

Others hold the view that learning magic is not disgraceful or forbidden, relying on the story of our master Solomon when he took control of the jinn. They believe what the devils said to the children of Israel when they left God's Book, the Scripture, and followed their fabrications about Solomon's reign. This is despite the fact that, as mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, the Almighty says: "...not that Solomon was an unbeliever, it is the devils who are unbelievers: they teach men witchcraft..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

This also goes for those who accept what the devils tell them.

For all that, it is necessary to unveil the reality of such important issues, which are widespread among Muslims, since we know the truth about magicians, and the nature of the jinn whom the magicians use to fulfill their purposes: or to be exact, we know which one of them uses the other as a mount for himself

## They Invented the Existence of a Supernatural Ability for Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed...but!!

In the story of Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed, it was reported that he drank poison after pronouncing the Name of God so as to prove the truth of Islam and to prove that it is based on justice. Yet in fact this is just a tale that is told in order to delude simple-minded Muslims, for according to this claim, if those same Muslims met an enemy who tried to deceive them by telling them to show that their faith was true and that their religion was the right one by drinking poison, they would do so, following the example of Khaled Ibn Al- Waleed. Then, in no time they would be surprised by difficult afflictions or maybe unavoidable death.

Thus the enemy would have mocked them and their faith, and would have put them to death.

Refuting such claims, we say the following:

1) Has God not forbidden us to kill ourselves? Has He not said: "...you should not kill yourselves. Al'lah is Merciful towards you"?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 29.

Is poison not deadly?

Is this contention not opposite to the statements of God?

Did Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed break the word of God?

If he did, then how would God honor him?! What is this strange contradiction?!

The priest Stanly Choberge had a difficult situation to deal with once during a debate between himself and Sheikh Ahmed Didat, when one of the audience said to him, "if you really believe in the Messiah, then do what he said, which is mentioned in the Bible: 'those who really believe in me will be hurt by nothing, even if it is fatal poison'."

But the Priest saved himself from that difficult position when he said, "for the past three days, my wife has been telling me that there is someone who wants to kill me, and she repeated that this morning. So, if you want to, please just give me five minutes".

2) Islam is a religion based on sound logic, correct thinking, and proofs that are founded on firm and strict rules and fundamentals. Its principles, views and rules excel all other rudiments and principles that have been set by human beings.

The statement "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful" means to observe the Godly Statute and not to break it by preternatural acts.

When a judge says, "In the name of the law", he means that he judges according to the articles of the law without deviation from them.

Also, when the President says, "in the name of the nation", he means that he rules only according to the people's will and without overstepping this mark.

I wonder, how would Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed say "In the Name of God" and then act in a way that contravenes this by drinking poison, as has been claimed? Is such an act part of God's Statute?

3) Since humanity has known about the existence of poison, we have known that it kills the person who drinks it. So drinking it willingly amounts to suicide, which is definitely prohibited in Islam. God says: "...and do not with your hands cast yourselves into destruction..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 195

And there can be no jurisprudence for that which has a clear judgment relating to it within the Qur'an.

In addition, the messenger (cpth) said that a person who commits suicide is an unbeliever, and that a person who commits suicide by drinking poison will see themselves continually drinking poison and suffering the resultant pain from the time they leave this life until the arrival of Doomsday. So, with this lie which has been fabricated against a venerable companion, those who propagate it countermand the words of the messenger (cpth).

Revealing that self-destruction results in loss and eternal torment, the prophet (cpth) said, "He who throws himself from a mountain to kill himself will keep himself in hellfire and be kept there, throwing himself off a great height therein forever; he who drinks poison to kill himself will keep himself in hellfire and be kept there, drinking poison by his own hand therein forever; and he who kills himself with a blade, he will keep himself in hellfire and be kept there, stabbing his belly with his own hand therein forever." [17]

Thus, however sublime and lofty the intention may be, it is not permitted to break God's Statute. The Almighty does not allow us to drink poison, as this action is deemed to be killing oneself by one's own free will.

The words "in the Name of God" indicate that your behavior should always be within the bounds of God's law and according to His legislation, which does not permit anyone to drink poison, even if such a person was the highest and most pious man or woman.

Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed himself, said "I have entered about one hundred wars, and there is no length of my body that has not been stricken with the strike of a sword, the piercing of an arrow or the stab of a spear" (he did not mention a drink of poison). "Nevertheless, here I am, dying as natural a death as the camel dies, here on my bed. Let the eyes of the cowards be sleepless."

How, then, can they claim that he drank poison without being affected by it?

4) There are some false stories and sayings which suggest that the messenger (cpth) departed this life after being affected by poison that was given to him after he faced a challenge by a Jewess. So how can they also allege that Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed drank a glass of poison without being affected by it?

No doubt, this story and the one before it are only lies that were invented by the magicians and the charlatans.

### The self-extoller is a devil

What these people do is nothing more than devilish deception and their actions are very far from truth, facts and religion. Behind such acts, only vicious intentions are hidden.

The person who calls people to Al'lah does so only to glorify Him, so that such a person will lead people to Al'lah only so that they will turn to Him and think of His graces and of the greatness of His creation (glory to Him). Such a person does not wish to be worshipped themselves, and does not say "Glorify me, appreciate me". The self-extoller is a devil. He sees himself as superior to all people because of his quackery, as he does what other people cannot do. Anyone that ascribes such an action to themselves shall be destroyed, because the agent is God alone.

God says: "Whoever of them declares: 'I am a god besides Him'...": in reference to those who say it in letter and in spirit whenever they have the chance, attributing actions to themselves, claiming that they are the agents; "...shall be requited with Hell-Fire. Thus shall the oppressors be rewarded"; thus, any one in all of creation that says, "I do, I make" will end up in ignominy and humbleness.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya' (The Prophets), verse 29

The words "I am a god" mean "I give, I deprive, I strike..." and are just like the magician's statements, "I shall paralyze you, make you mad", or "await nightmares tonight" or "I am the admiral of land, sea and air" and other such nonsense.

The phrase: "...shall be requited with Hell-fire. Thus shall the oppressors be rewarded", means that ignominy and lowness will be the result. The fate will be nothing but humiliation: this is the penalty for somebody who thinks that action and power are in their own hands rather than the hands of God: "there is no power or might except with God".

## Why Do They Not Create Enough Money to Fulfill Their Needs?!

To the group of people that are of the opinion that God creates things when a magician recites certain incantations and special words, we say the following:

1) If that was true, it would mean that these were miracles performed with Al'lah's leave, whereas – as we have seen before – no miracles have been sent at all since the Holy Qur'an. This truth is mentioned in the verses of the wise Qur'an at the point where God says, "Nothing hinders us from giving signs except that the ancients disbelieved them..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 59

So, when God sends a genuine miracle and people do not believe it, the inevitable result will be these people's destruction.

Since the Almighty invites us into the house of peace, and since He does not wish creation to be destroyed, would He, then, send them something which would lead to people's destruction, even though He is cognizant of their situations and their denial of miracles?!

He knows that they will not believe in God through miracles, so if miracles take place and they do not believe in their reality, they will certainly be destroyed.

Here is a quick look at the results of a miracle:

• Although the fire was cool to Abraham (pth) and kept him safe, none of his people believed in God as a result of this; on the contrary, their disbelief and stubbornness became greater. These people became people of Lot, who, later on, were pelted with stones to an extent equal to the inventory of their deeds.

Creating the she-camel out of the rock: this was a miracle that was sent to our master Saleh (pth) according to the request of his people.

• They asked him to prove that he was a prophet of God by bringing a camel out of a rock that was on a mountain. Although the camel and its young came out of the assigned rock, this miracle did not make the people appreciate their prophet in any way. Moreover, they said, "you are but a mortal like ourselves..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 154

Then they separated the she-camel from her young and defied the commandment of their Provider, saying, "...Saleh! Bring down that with which you threaten us if you are truly one of the messengers." Thus, they were ruined.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 77

• When the enchanters prostrated themselves in adoration, Pharaoh threatened them, saying, "I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides and then crucify you all." So, the miracle was fruitless, not affecting him or any of his people.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 124

• After seeing certain plain signs and miracles, Pharaoh's people said to our master Moses (pth): "...whatever miracles you may work to bewitch us, we will not believe in you." Thus they increased their disbelief and their obstinacy.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 132

• The miracles of our master Jesus (pth), did nothing for his people, although he raised the dead to life, gave sight to the blind, healed leprosy and made a living bird from clay by Al'lah's leave. The noble verse indicated this fact, as God says, "yet, when he brought them the clear signs, they said: 'This is evident sorcery!' "

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 61, As-Saff (Battle Array), verse 6

Moreover, they schemed to kill him (pth). Real destruction then befell them as a result, and they became deprived of the Book, authority, and prophethood due to their unbelief, while the Almighty gave Jesus (pth) and his mother a shelter on the hillside of a firm mountain by a spring. Some said that it was the hillside of Damascus (Al-Rabwa).

So, God deprived them of the great blessing that was Jesus (pth) because of their lack of belief.

• The noble verse tells us that there is no use in seeing miracles unless the person him- or herself is honest in seeking the truth. God says: "Even if we opened out to them a gate from heaven and they were to continue ascending therein, they would only say: 'Our eyes have been intoxicated: nay, we have been bewitched'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 14-15

Thus, miracles have not turned any previous population from unbelief to belief. Therefore the noble verse was sent down, declaring the cessation of the sending of miracles. God says: "Nothing hinders us from giving signs except that the ancients disbelieved them..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 59

We can achieve true belief only when we think carefully of the indications and demonstrations we hear, or spend time in contemplation of creation after having feelings of fear of our unavoidable death. God says: "Surely in that is a lesson for any that has a heart (to realize thereby) or who gives ear. And this will be a witness."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 50, Qaf (the Letter, Q = very near to God), verse 37

Believing in Al'lah, other than whom there is no God, is essential if we are to understand the meanings that are contained in the Qur'an, and thus perceive any aspect of its secrets. In this way we can acquire a vision by which we can follow God's orders and turn our backs on those illusionists of which we speak.

2) If God, according to their claims, creates whatever they want for them when they utter their magic words, then why does He not create for them the things that they need, and which will be enough allay their hunger, as we have previously asked?

Does God not say, "...those who believe in their Provider should not fear for sufficiency or stress"?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 13

As for those magicians, you only see them in a state where they are defeated, stressed and beggarly. Is not that proof that shows that they are nothing other than hangers-on, and that all their actions are but illusion?

3) If any person studies their deeds, they will find them absolutely far from God's Statute. They will see that they indulge in offenses and wrongdoing, while God says, "...I would never take the misleading as assistant"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 18, Al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 51

So, how can it be said that He helps them and supports them in things which lead His obedient followers astray? God is Blameless!

4) To help with his migration from Mecca to Al-Medina, why did the Almighty not acquaint His apostle (cpth) with the kind of words that magicians claim to use to transport themselves?

Why was he (cpth) not one of the people of one step?

Those fakers claim that God's saints travel from their country to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage by taking only a single step, and then with another step they return to their home!!

I wonder, why did he (cpth) not step one step to transport himself from Mecca to Al-Medina?

The fact that he did not do so certainly refutes their allegations. And if the conjurers claim that this is the concern of the angels, we say that the messenger (cpth) is the commander of the angels, and they keep in communication with him. Thus, if anyone thinks that they can help or support the mission of Islam with such tales, they should think a little and refer to the commands of God that are outlined in His Holy Book which is the decisive arbiter. Only in this way will they avoid being misled or humiliated.

## The Magical Professional is a Brother of the Devil and is Intimate with Him

Some people hold the view that learning magic is not disgraceful or forbidden. They depend on the story of our master Solomon, about when the jinns were subjugated to him, and on the interpolated story of the two angels. They also rely on a saying ascribed falsely to the chosen Al-Mustafa (cpth) although he did not actually say it. This invented saying ascribed to him is as follows: "learn magic but do not practice it".

In fact, no one dares to deal in magic unless they are an unbeliever, and they soon learn that magic will make them a brother to the devil and one of his troop and his assistants. They will become an enemy of humanity and will feel pleased at the infliction of misery and pain.

God says: "And yet among men there are some who dispute about Al'lah, without knowledge, and serve every rebellious devil!": this means that such people think that the devils have some power over people, such as bringing people together or separating them, helping people, or enriching them and helping them to find treasure.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 22, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), verse 4

Whereas in fact: "It has been decreed for him (the devil) that whoever turns to him for friendship will be led astray, and the devil will guide him into the scourge of the Fire."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 22, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), verse 3

This is a rule: the one who follows the devil will be misled by the devil and will be made unhappy by him.

And anyone that chooses the devil to be his friend will find themselves with an evil friend.

### The acquittal of our master Solomon (pth) from magic

As for the story invented about our master Solomon in which it is said that the jinns had been subjugated to him by use of magic, it is untrue and baseless. On the contrary, it gives us evidence against those who want to falsely give credibility to the permissibility of using jinns and magic in the service of good deeds.

This case was mentioned in the Holy Qur'an in its correct and unadulterated meaning. It shows that the Jews accepted what the devils dishonestly said about our master Solomon (pth), namely, that he had the power of magic.

God says: "They accept what the devils tell of Solomon's reign...": the devils said that Solomon's reign had been brought about by his use of magic after he controlled the jinns and bewitched them, so that they would help him to come into possession of his kingdom. The contention is that they built things for him and on his behalf.

Thus, with their wicked pretense, these devils turned to magic instead of reciting Scripture and applying it. They fabricated tales to the effect that Solomon had controlled the world by witchcraft, but the Almighty said to them: "...not that Solomon was an unbeliever...": that is, Solomon (pth), did not do such a thing, but instead asked God alone for help. He did not see any agent except Al'lah, and nor did he turn away from God but rather continued communicating with Him.

So, he did not ascribe the events of this time to the devils. The devils can do nothing. God says: "...Satan's machination is weak indeed": the devil has no power and no strength; he is like a sick person who is too weak to fight. All actions are in God's Hands.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 76

All the stories about Solomon (pth) which suggest that he achieved what he achieved by use of magic are untrue and unfounded. They are reported only in books of the Talmud, and not in God's Book, the Scripture.

How can they make their untrue declaration, to "learn magic", when God says: "...it is the devils who are unbelievers. They teach men witchcraft..."?! That is, they teach men to display unreal things.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Magic results in disbelief, and nobody deals with magic except those who follow the way that leads to unbelief.

Since the noble verse denotes that the devils are the ones to teach people magic, I wonder how could it be possible for the messenger (cpth) to order us to follow the devils' command, and to learn magic without practicing it, as is stated in the interpolated Hadith? Far be it for him (cpth).

Furthermore, when our master Solomon (pth) invoked his Provider, he said, "...and bestow upon me such power as shall belong to none after me. You are the Bountiful Giver."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 35

This noble verse shows us that our master Solomon asked God to grant him power, and not to grant it to the jinn-kind or the devils. Then God satisfied him and He subjugated certain numbers of the jinn-kind to him.

Thus it was Al'lah who rendered the jinns devoted to him, and it was not he himself (pth) who subjugated them by magic, as they dishonestly pretended.

The Almighty also subjected the birds and the wind to Solomon's control so as to help him in inviting people to God as he (pth), wishing to do good deeds, had tired out his horses by training them extensively.

So, how could this power have then gone to any of the magicians that followed him? This is what they claim, although it is clear that our master Solomon (pth) prayed to God to ask Him not to allow that to happen.

Besides this, when the Almighty did this for our master Solomon (pth), the subjugation of the jinns was real rather than mere deception. This is in stark contrast to the magic trickery that is practiced by the magicians. That is, the jinns appeared both in body and spirit and they were working under God's command.

God says: "Then We subjected the wind to him, to blow softly at his bidding wherever he was headed; as also the devils, (including) every kind of builder and diver, and others bound with chains. "

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 34, Saba' (Sheba), verse 12

"Then We subjected the wind to him, to blow softly at his bidding wherever he was headed...": that is, to carry him and his army. "...as also the devils, (including) every kind of builder and diver...": in order to build military bases and sea platforms for him, and to dive into the sea and onto the land. They made whatever he wanted for him, including war machinery, weapons (similar to those of the enemy), basins as large as reservoirs, and built-in cauldrons. "...and others bound with chains": he (pth) was holding them in whatever place he chose.

Whoever the magicians were and whatever character they were masking, if their aspect had been real, why would they not avoid beggary and stop asking people to reward them for their shows, or to offer sacrifices for them?

The Almighty said that if any jinn deviated from our master Solomon's order, He would make them taste the fire of hell. God says, "...those of them who did not do Our bidding, we shall punish in the fire of Hell."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 34, Saba' (Sheba), verse 12

Why do devils make friends with people who are stressed, and continue to tire them out every night until they deprive them of sleep during the night because of their deception? It is a fact that this happens, and it is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an when God says, "Some people have sought the help of some jinns, but they made them more stressed."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 6

### The acquittal of the angels of practicing magic

When it was claimed that there were two angels called Harout and Marout, and that Al'lah had sent down magic to them, He answered them by saying:

"It (magic) was never revealed to any two angels named Harout and Marout in Babylon, and they (these two angels) did not teach anyone without saying: 'we are only here as a trial for you, so do not be unbelievers'. Yet they (people) learn from them both (the devils of both humankind and jinn-kind) the means to sow discord between husband and wife. However, they can never harm anyone with it without Al'lah's permission, and indeed they learn what harms them and not what benefits them, although they knew full well that anyone who engaged in that traffic (magic) would have no share created for them in the life to come. Vile is the price for which they sell their spirits, if they only knew it!"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

They said in their Talmud, without returning to the Torah, that Harout and Marout were two angels that had been sent down to teach magic to the people. Surely, this claim is baseless and untrue, and these two angels did not exist. Magic was never revealed to any of God's angels as was alleged; rather, this was slyly interpolated to make people accept magic. Therefore God says: "It was never revealed to any two angels named Harout and Marout in Babylon."

They also claimed that these two angels had pledged their services to certain magicians, to whom they taught magic. However, Al'lah refuted this claim, and condemned it with His words: "...and they did not teach anyone...": those who teach are the devils of humankind and jinn-kind; "...without saying...": according to their false story; "...'we are only here as a trial for you, so do not be unbelievers'...": devils say that those who follow them will benefit greatly, so people should not leave them. However, this saying is not true, and there is no benefit from following these devils. Here, Al'lah is reporting what they said in their false tale of these two angels in order to unveil their trickery. Does what they claim seem right or logical?! Surely not.

God continued by saying, "...they (people) learn from them both...": the 'both' here refers to both the devils of humankind and jinn-kind; "...the means to sow discord between husband and wife. However, they can never harm anyone with it without Al'lah's permission...": Al'lah is the real Doer, and therefore such harm does not occur unless He pleases. The evil effects of magic do not affect anyone other than those who deserve it: if an obedient person is straight, none will have any domination over them; one who remains with Al'lah the Almighty will never be injured; they will not be affected by the false impressions that come from Satan.

God then revealed the defeat they would draw upon themselves, saying: "...indeed they learn what harms them and not what benefits them...": that is, they learn from the devils about how to gain all the pleasures of this lower life; "...although they knew full well...": from the Holy Qur'an; "...that anyone who engaged in that traffic (magic) would have no share created for them in the life to come...": this means that such a person will attain none of the goodness that is prepared and created for their sake.

Magicians know that magic results in destruction, but they follow their bestial and fatal lusts, and in this way they are surely surmounted. "Vile is the price for which they sell their spirits, if they only knew it!": that is, if they only knew what would afflict them in the hereafter, they would know how vile this magic was.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Had they believed in God, they would not have done what they did. Thus, they will always be defeated, since they did not believe the truth: that there is no God but Al'lah. On the other hand, if they were believers, they would not have been overcome by their low yearnings, nor would they now be helpless.

The Almighty says: "The angels all prostrated themselves together."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 30

That is, they all submitted to the Godly command, so we know that the Almighty did not exclude any of the angels as they have untruly claimed. Rather, He reveals this truth to us when He uses the two words: 'all' and 'together'. Thus they all obeyed and yielded to Him, the Almighty. Since they had all given possession of their spirits to Al'lah, they were named as angels, [18] who by definition "...never disobey Al'lah's command and promptly do his bidding."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 66, At-Tahrim (Prohibition), verse 6

They apply the instructions that have been given to them by Al'lah, the Almighty. Is it acceptable to say that the Almighty, who does not accept belief from His servants, could give the order to learn magic? He calls us to live a safe and peaceful life both here and in the hereafter. God says, "Al'lah invites us to the house of peace...", rather than inviting us to the parting and sowing of discord between married couples as instructed by magicians.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 10, Yunus (Jonah), verse 25

God says: "...would He enjoin you to be unbelievers after you have surrendered yourselves to Him?!"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 80

## How Dare They Ascribe the Command of such an Atrocity to Al'lah, who would never Do Such a Thing?!

As for the fabricated saying that was purported to have come from the tongue of the selected prophet Mohammad (cpth), which states, "learn magic but do not practice it": it is surely false and baseless because:

The Noble Qur'an confirms that learning magic is only for devils. It is considered to be a betrayal of the Almighty. This is found in the verse saying: "...but it is devils who had disbelieved (in God). They teach people witchcraft..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

So, would he (cpth) then contravene the saying of Al'lah by inviting his companions to take Satan as a teacher?! God forbid! It is absolutely far from him.

Satan does not instruct except with evil and enormity; as God says: "...and do not walk in Satan's footsteps, for he is obviously your sworn enemy; he enjoins you to commit evil and atrocity and to assert about Al'lah what you do not know."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 168-169

To see through this fabricated saying which was untruthfully ascribed to our prophet (cpth), it suffices us to know that learning magic requires one to commit serious offenses and sins, to disrespect Al'lah's grace, to waste water uselessly instead of making use of it, [19] and to travel in spirit at night with the aim of meeting devils of jinn through one's imagination so as to do deals with them. Would the messenger (cpth) command anyone to commit evil and acts of atrocity?! It is impossible for him to do so; he is incapable of this.

Saying that the messenger (cpth) ordained for us to learn magic means that Al'lah is the Issuer of this command, as the messenger is the one who informs us of God's Speech. God says of him: "He does not speak out of his own inclination; this is but an inspired revelation."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 53, An-Najm (The Star), verse 3-4

Thus, when Al'lah gives His messenger an order, it must be obeyed, as one who obeys the messenger has really obeyed Al'lah. God says: "...would he enjoin you to be unbelievers after you have surrendered yourselves to Al'lah?!"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 80

So, should we perpetrate abomination and depravity in order to learn magic?!

The Holy Qur'an refutes such impudence towards Al'lah's presence and towards His messenger in His Noble saying: "Al'lah enjoins justice, kindness and charity to one's relatives, and forbids indecency, abomination and oppression..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 90

And further, "...He doesn't accept disbelief from those who are obedient to Him..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 7

What kind of science is magic? Does not Al'lah say: "...and indeed they learn what harms them and not what benefits them, although they knew full well that anyone who engaged in that traffic (magic) would have no share created for them in the life to come"? Doesn't it destroy its practitioner, leading them into hellfire in the afterlife?! Does the messenger (cpth), then, invite us to attain such science?!

It would be impossible for him to instruct, or even to permit, the learning of magic, even though a biased person with evil intentions interposed the false statement: "learn it, but don't practice it", saying that this was one of the prophet's sayings (cpth) in order to make magic acceptable to people's minds. On the other hand, the noble verses show the untruthfulness of this claim and the prophet's blamelessness in this, and his lack of responsibility for saying what they claim that he said, for this science is obtained from the devils of mankind and jinn-kind, and unquestionably, our prophet (cpth) never urged us to learn it.

God says: "...and they did not teach anyone...": herein meaning the devils of humankind and jinn-kind, and God told us that they said: "...we (the magicians) are only here as a trial for you (testing your faith), so do not be unbelievers...": the devils tell us that we will get great benefits by following them, and that we should not separate ourselves from them for this reason. They are trying to capture the people who are naïve and those whom they have deceived by making them think that they are some of Al'lah's Saints, or that they are people who are attracted by God's love. They seek to make their targets fall into the commission of sin and forbidden acts. Then, if their prey fail to respond to them as they hope, they say: "...we are only here as a trial for you...": that is: they were only seducing people as a test to see whether they were steady on the path of righteousness, because they would not want you to become unbelievers.

It is said that when the victims of these magicians do not fall into committing sins, then they diversify the malicious and cunning wiles that they use against these victims, until they fall into sin because of one of these other methods. Here: "...Yet, they learn from them both...": refers to the devils of humankind and jinn-kind, and "...the means to sow discord between husband and wife...": refers to the ways that they seduce them and make them fall into sin, sowing division between married couples and destroying families, and causing misery for children. God says: "...However, they can never harm anyone with it without Al'lah's permission...": since the only true agent is Al'lah. Accordingly, if a person is upright, magic will never have any sway over them, for it only strikes wrongdoers who are deserving of it, whereas Satan can never cause harm or give a false impression to one who always turns to Al'lah for refuge – as we have already revealed. Al'lah says: "...Satan's scheming is weak indeed."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 76

This will soon be illustrated through the coming passages.

### Those who believe in magic and magicians do not believe in what was revealed to Mohammad (cpth)

The messenger (cpth) dealt with magic and magicians in many of his noble sayings, which warned people about them in whatever shape they take.

Below, we mention a very small number of his noble sayings.

"He who comes as a foreteller or a diviner, [20] believing in what he is saying, has stopped believing in what was revealed to Mohammad".

"He that learns science from the stars has learnt a branch of magic".

"O, Ali, do not sit with people who claim to have knowledge by means of the stars".

"Driving away birds and seeing good omens in their voices and names, pessimism, and geomancy are all brought by Jibt." [21]

Pessimism is that which prevents one who is struck with it from taking action, and geomancy is throwing stones or making traces in sand and reading the future in this way. These are the tricks of diviners. All of these are things which are attained through devils; we can see that the companion Ibn Ab'bas (may Al'lah be pleased with him) said, "Al-Jibt is everything brought about by means of Satan". These honorable words refer to all sorts of conjuring and magic, like soothsaying by reading cups, fortune-telling, conjuration, the use of talismans and charms, astrology, and augury.

One should stay away from these deeds and refuse to deal with those who practice them. This is the best way to forestall magic and will lead to the most extreme exclusion of magicians, and means absolutely turning away from everything that could lead to the forbidden acts of magic, either directly or indirectly.

Thus, the currency of false sayings supports the spreading of these magicians, and destroys the basis of the nation by making religion falsely and untruly become an opium of the people.

The only aim of the enchanter is to earn money through stealing from naive people by seeming to them to be a foreteller of invisible affairs who can unveil the secrets of metaphysical matters (by means of necromancy, reading cups, astrology, etc.), and seeming to solve their problems, such as dealing with separation or making peace between married couples.

The magician often appears in the capacity of a spiritual doctor or a hypnotist who tries to cure people's diseases by giving false impressions and talismans, and creating spiritual effects through satanic recitations, robbing people's money after dominating them with charlatanism.
A True Story

### Chronic Headaches

Now we will cite an example which represents the complete range of social categories, not centered in only one country, but spread across all lands.

It tells of one of the simplest of men, whose son was suffering from chronic headaches that caused him to faint repeatedly. After just one visit to a modern treatment foundation, where he failed to attain a quick recovery, following the advice of many people, this man's father arranged for him to frequent a pretender who claimed to possess the keys to the knowledge of secret matters and sorcery. Such men are to be found everywhere, especially among simple countryside people.

The hidden 'solutions' and reasons for the malady suggested by this charlatan varied: he posited that the sufferer was being affected by the glance of an envier's eye; he mentioned buried magic tools and the snatching fear which occurs shortly after sunset; he called for the offering of sheep to the magician, that had to be immolated; such proposals continued until the father became utterly pauperized while his son remained ill, because he was simply suffering from chronic migraine!!

Had this man applied cupping [22] to his son with all its correct rules, he would have immediately been cured.

What a poor man!! And so is it with his fellow...

He resorted unawares and completely surrendered to his enemy, who was a devil of oblivious humankind that led him only to the path which would lead to his loss, because this poor man complied with what had been dictated to the magician or the seer by the devils. Al'lah says: "...Satan is ever treacherous to man."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 25, Al-Furqan (The Criterion), verse 29

And in another verse, the Almighty cautions us against Satan when He says: "Satan is verily your enemy: therefore treat him as an enemy..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 35, Fatir (Orignator), verse 6

And this is because he instructs you to commit evil and atrocity, leading you to poverty, which is the end result for anyone who seeks refuge in a magician or soothsayer. They will occupy the victim through a kind of spiritual influence and domination, so that they will leave the practice of their labor, which is the source of their livelihood, and become absorbed in visions until their spiritual condition becomes one where they fully believe in magic and the magicians' power. Magic and the magicians will take total control of this person's life.

Consequently, the victim's spiritual and physical powers will become paralyzed and at last, their life will often end up in death or defeat or incarceration inside a mental hospital.

This is Satan, and this is the start and the end of his magical science.

Most of his followers finally wind up in a lunatic asylum. Satan has no sway or control over anyone except those who are evil like him; they are the only ones who respond to his call. God says: "He has power only over those who befriend him and those who take him as another god besides Al'lah."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 100

As for the true believer, Satan is driven away from holding sway over them.

Here you have before an actual occurrence showing us the patterns of the true believer.
A True Story

### The True Believer (the Magician and the Golden Lira)

Once Mr. Mohammad Amin Sheikho and his brother, the general Saleem Bey, who had come from Istanbul to visit him in Damascus, were invited to attend an official festival.

They sat together, with the son of Mr. M A Sheikho between them. Although his son was a small child of only ten years of age when he witnessed this incident, he cannot ever forget it.

Many leaders, officers and rich men had been presented with that invitation. At that time, especially on such an occasion attended by the rich, a great and famous magician was inclined to be there, who was well-known across the Middle East. The aged of this time may remember him if they were reminded of him. Due to his various imaginary shows and artifices, [23] he became widely known in Damascus although he was not Syrian.

On this particular occasion, it was not long before this magician arrived. When the invited guests saw him, some of them asked him: "What are you going to offer to us today, oh, hypnotist?"

The magician said: "Let each of you take out one golden lira and put it in his hand, and let him close his hand and close his fist over it as strongly as he can; then I am going to read over his hand, trying to open it without touching it. So, if I succeed, I will take the lira for myself. Do you agree?"

"Yes, we do!", most of them answered.

They wanted to kill their time and to spend it playing and in fun, and in watching these wonders of which they knew nothing and without understanding their secrets. They only sought amusement and filling up their free time. The game began, and one of the wealthy guests took a golden lira out of his pocket.

He put it in his hand and closed his fist tightly.

The magician then walked towards him and stood in front of his hand, and then started his motions and murmurs. It was no more than a few minutes before all in attendance saw how the challenger's hand began to open in spite of himself. The rich man began to tighten his fingers around the coin as strongly as he could, trying to keep it closed so as not to let it be opened, but he failed. His hand kept being opened in a magic and obscure way as if there were many people grasping it and setting about forcing it open.

Nevertheless, the man did not despair. He kept resisting and kept tightening his hand around the coin to try to stop it being opened. But, alas! It had gone out of his control.

The attendees were astonished by what they witnessed, but the victim was the most astonished of all. He spared no effort in trying to stop his hand from opening, but all of his exertions came to nothing, and his hand was opened forcibly and coercively. At last, he yielded to the fait accompli. The evil magician then stretched out his hand, taking the lira and putting it in his pocket as his mouth watered.

Thus, he had won the first round, and on this day he planned to earn more and more money through his malicious magic and cunning artifice.

It was theft of a new kind but with a license. It was open theft that had been agreed upon.

Now, it was the turn of the second challenger. He was the richest man in Damascus at that time. He had many factories in many foreign countries like Turkey, Italy, France and Switzerland.

He took a golden lira out of his pocket, put it in his fist and closed it strongly, conceited by his large body and his strong muscles.

He spared no strength and tightened his hand until its knuckles whitened, its veins protruded, and his muscles swelled.

Again, the magician approached the man and started his gesticulations and his recitation of occult murmurs.

Little by little, the closed hand began to open as if by some force that could not be seen, but that surely existed. This hidden force was opening the hand and overcoming the strong clenched grip of its owner.

The rich man increased the tightening of his hand, calling up all his energies so that he might defeat the invisible force which was obliging his hand to open.

His face congested and his temperature assuredly rose due to the great effort he was exerting in squeezing his fist closed.

He began to feel tired without getting any result from his labors. Thus, he failed and his hand became fully open, clearly showing the golden lira.

The defiant thief then took the second lira and put it in his pocket with his lips curled into a smile that was filled with guile. His eyes were as dark as the darkness of a pitch-black night and were sending sharp looks out around the room. This was the second lira that he had earned.

Mr. M A Sheikho was carefully watching the situation. He knew well the secret behind the deeds of that magician due to his deep belief in God. He could discern that the magician had no power except over people who were far from God and who deserved to be overcome.

Had those men truly resorted to God and sought His protection, the devilish consorts would have fled the scene without affecting their spirits. They would not have been able to disable them by making them lose their control of their body's functions, nor would they have been capable of enabling the devil's brother, the magician, to take the liras from their hands which were no longer under the control of their spirits.

Before the third man put his hand in his pocket and got caught in the hands of this wily thief, as had happened with his friends, and before the magician continued his round of all those present one by one, in accordance with the foxy deal which they had all have agreed upon, Mr. M A Sheikho acted. He was not happy to let that evil magician complete his round of those present, stealing their golden liras, as this was an act that would be disapproved of by anyone who had a free conscience. He turned towards the magician and said to him, "Come on! I accept your challenge. Come here! I face up to you."

The magician then left the person whose turn had come and walked towards Mr. M A Sheikho, swaggering proudly in front of all the attendees.

He was quite sure of his success as he thought that there were no true believers in existence at that time.

He stood in front of Mr. M A Sheikho who addressed him, saying: "I accept your trial and your challenge on one condition: if you can open my hand and take the lira, I will give you ten more liras besides that one, but if you cannot, I want you to turn away from these actions, as this magic causes you nothing but more destruction.

"Do you agree?"

With full confidence, the magician accepted this, as his gluttony and greed for the eleven golden liras had made his heart blind.

"I will make a great profit on this day", he thought to himself, for he knew that he would usually need many months to collect such a sum through his quackery.

General Saleem, Mr. M A Sheikho's brother, was surprised at what he had heard from his brother. He had seen what had happened with the two men before him, so he thought that his brother would definitely lose eleven golden liras instead of only one.

So, why would he get embroiled in this game?

What for? What was wrong with him?

Trying to dissuade his brother from this course of action, he poked him lightly with his hand and secretly expressed his advice to him as if he had said: "Stop that! What is the matter with you? Is there any cause for you to throw away eleven golden liras?!"

Salah Ad-Deen, Mr. M A Sheikho's son, sitting between his father and his uncle, noticed his uncle's gestures of admonishment towards his father and his attempts to turn him away from this challenge.

Yet Mr. M A Sheikho paid no attention to his brother's request, and he took out his lira.

The golden lira was a type of currency in circulation at that time which most people used, and the men there were all rich.

In spite of himself, his brother, General Saleem, stopped his motions and remained silent and quiet, and then he set to watching his brother, who put the lira in his hand and closed his fist over it in the normal way.

The magician drew near to him and stood opposite him, and then started his attack with his motions and murmurs.

How strange!! The situation did not change. It was still as it had begun.

The hand of Mr. M A Sheikho was still closed tightly and normally, while the magician was still murmuring and making different signals with his hands.

The magician spent a long time doing the same thing, but nothing changed. He kept trying and trying, murmuring, gesticulating, and making signals and motions with his hands, but all was in vain.

Indeed, the situation was still as it had been!! Although about twenty minutes had passed, the magician did not despair. He did his utmost until he became tired and exhausted.

What the boy Salah Ad-Deen saw, and what he still remembers until now, was that the magician's disgusting and stinking sweat was flowing all over his face, wetting his chin, and then falling to the ground drop by drop.

The magician used all his so-called science and skill but alas, this time he could not achieve his goal.

Suddenly, he began to look through the window and then through the door and move his gaze between them as if he was calling for help or support!!

Whose help was he seeking?!

Who was it that he was calling upon for support?

At this point he murmured some strange and obscure words in confusion, and then his movements became jumbled. It seemed as if fear had filled his heart and wholly obsessed it.

Opposite him Mr. M A Sheikho was still sitting in his place with his hand closed around the golden lira.

He sat there, full of satisfaction and calmness. His face was brilliant and shining, with a pure epidermis that was overwhelmed with cheerfullness and happiness.

The situation had become unendurable for the magician, so he burst out shouting in a roaring and irregular voice as if he had entered a struggle to the death. He started saying to Mr. M A Sheikho, "You, bey!! You hold a name!!"

"I hold the Name of Al'lah!!", answered Mr. M A Sheikho strongly, in a voice higher and stronger and clearer than the magician's, that struck him and all those present as if it was the sound of rumbling thunder.

"I hold the Name of Al'lah!!" Those words rattled around that room with a terrible echo which imposed a state of silence on the place, mixed with astonishment and stupor, which prevailed over all the men there.

Yet there was also a strange and unusual feeling of delightful bliss that had flowed into the hearts of those present.

Actually, the magician had failed and what a great failure it was! It was an absolute failure.

He became sweaty, excited and inflamed; and all that he gained was total stress.

Yes, he had forfeited the round.

When he heard those words – which came to his ears like pealing thunder, and which swept away his evil and falseness – he said nothing and uttered not a single word more. Then he walked out of the place, leaving it with an insulted and abased spirit, dragging behind him the tails of his failure and his huge defeat. He was reeling as he walked and seemed about to fall, taking each step like one ashamed, with his head bowed towards the ground.

A fact had settled in his spirit that made him realize something: "This man has a strange secret. He really is a believer". That was the sum of his knowledge.

Once again, this same meeting took place in a wonderful park in a region dependent on Damascus. It was at Abo-Shafeek's Park on Al-Rabwa hill.

Again, many rich men and leaders were invited to attend that celebration, and once more our virtuous man Mr. M A Sheikho was one of those present.

So it was that when the magician came to that place to practice his quackery and sorcery, he was surprised to see our merciful scholar, and thus his evil and falsity were immediately defeated in the face of the truth. He felt aggrieved and humbled as he knew he would not be able to execute his tricks and magic on that day.

Begging and lowly he approached Mr. M A Sheikho and said: "Oh, bey! Please, for the sake of your beloved Al'lah! Please... Let me work... Let me earn my livelihood today... Oh, bey! Look at all the attendees, one by one: do you see any whit of goodness in any of them? All of them are far from God, and the devil is their companion, so please, leave me alone with them. I want to earn my living".

Yet Mr. M A Sheikho paid no attention to him. The magician wanted him to leave the place so that he would be able to control the men there with his magic.

But when Mr. M A Sheikho looked at those present, he felt that all of them wanted the magician to stay. They wanted to laugh, to have fun and to enjoy his magic artifices.

He said to himself: "Since they all want the magician, I should leave them to it, as it is their own concern".

He left them alone as there is no compulsion in religion.

Afterwards, whenever the magician saw Mr. M A Sheikho in any setting, he knew that this meant his failure, so he either fled away from him or approached him humbly, begging and cringing.

# Chapter 10

* * *

## Studying Magic

Concerning their contention that the study of magic is a class or a branch of science:

Seeking to understand science objectively is a noble demand that is in accordance with God's saying: "Are the wise and the ignorant equal?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 9

However, in reply to their claim about the scientific basis of magic, we say that such statements hide poison inside fat, delicious food, and confuse a harmful and damaging type of science with a type that is profitable and serviceable; for the messenger (cpth) says: "O, God of all! I take refuge in You from getting science that avails nothing." [24]

There is also his saying (cpth): "Sometimes science may be ignorance in its reality." [25]

After we know and have defined magic as a hidden and harmful black profession, because its reality involves dealing with the world of devilish jinn, we can say the following:

We can see from the previous research that the upshot of such magical science is to separate the wife from her husband as a means to spread adultery. This will leave their children without control, as their divorced mother will not be able to bring them up adequately. In the case that she is not completely occupied with her new husband, the problem is that her ex-husband – the divorced father – will be involved with his new wife and so will neglect the supervision of his children. They will then become subjected to wretchedness, and acquire their morals and vulgar manners from the street. What will the street provide them with? It will certainly present them with meanness and vices, and this is the utmost wish of the devil: to find a wretched evildoing errant idle generation so that they will grow up abounding with obscenity, vice, and misery, just as children today are adults tomorrow.

God the Almighty has revealed to us the status of those who learn this black art, and what result they will arrive at. This is clear from what He says: "...they knew full well that anyone who engaged in that traffic would have no share created for them in the life to come...": that is, nothing will be created for such people in the hereafter; they will have lost access to the heavens and eternal life in exchange for the passing transient vanities of this world. Moreover, the magicians themselves know that magic ends up in destroying its practitioner; they know the truth, but they deviated from the right path because their low whims defeated them. "...Vile is the price for which they sell their spirits, if they only knew it": what will afflict them later? Had they believed, they would not have done what they have done; they were defeated by their whims because they did not believe and witness the reality of the words: "there is no God but Al'lah"; had they believed, they would not have been beaten: "Had they believed and seen by Al'lah's light, far better for them would his reward have been, if they but knew."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102-103

If they had believed in Al'lah, they would not have been abandoned, and Al'lah would have granted them all their desires by means of a high straight way, without their being diminished. This worldly life is temporal, but the hereafter is endless, and the science of magic results in eternal defeat and destroys its practitioner.

This fabricated Hadith "Learn magic" and those similar to it (which were invented by conjurers and magicians) justify the learning of magic for people. They are like an appeal to the wish to seek knowledge or to confirm the correctness of Islam by way of wonders, although the Holy Qur'an definitely disapproves of giving signs in God's saying: "Nothing hinders us from giving signs except that the ancients disbelieved them..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 59

This is because after the miracle, as we mentioned before, comes inescapable and utter destruction, unless people believe. As for the seekers of wonders who are immersed in their blind spirits' whims, no matter how many wonders they see many times over, they do not repent. How can they believe in Al'lah since they do not think of his signs and favors, but amuse themselves with vices?!

In old times, people saw miracles but still did not believe. People who had asked their messengers (ptt) to show them miracles to prove that they had been sent by Al'lah still did not believe, and failing to believe in miracles made them more deserving of death since they had accused these messengers of being magicians. They said to our master Moses (pth): "You, magician, pray to your Provider for us and invoke the promise He has made you; then we shall follow your guidance."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 43, Az-Zukhruf (Ornaments of Luxury), verse 49

One who regards such actions as proof that confirms the correctness of Islam is wrong, and one who believes that learning these actions is necessary is also wrong.

Did God's messenger (cpth) – far be it for him – stab himself with a skewer, or tread on fire, or eat glass, or release the dead from a furnace, brought to life again having been put inside it, or do any other such deceptive actions??

Here are the results of such science: you will find that its practitioners graduate from the insane asylum and from hospitals of psychiatric diseases, or you see them in places where sweepings of dirt are gathered.

Is there any person with even a whit of mind or thought who wants to lose their abilities and their dignity and sit in such places to access this harmful knowledge from the devil?? Of course, there is not. God's messenger (cpth, far be it for him) did not do such deeds, and neither did the noble companions, their followers in charity, the leaders of Muslims or the common people: they neither learnt magic, nor did they teach it. Would they really have chosen to learn at the hands of the magicians, who are the enemies of Al'lah and the servants of devils?

Such actions and wonders can be carried out by many non-Muslim hypnotists, and even by pagans, adorers of cows and fire, and by the infidels, so would they be considered as supernatural for these people?

Finally: Islam is a faith of logic and sublime rules which uplifts all the worlds to the level of humanity, so that all people become brothers and sisters to one another, feeling sorrow for the sadness of others, feeling glad at the gladness of others, and feeling grief at the distress of others: "...they prefer the others to themselves, though they are in want..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 59, Al-Hashr (Creation-Gathering), verse 9

These rules include that there should be no breaking of the magnificent strict cosmic disciple, which, if you think deeply upon it, will generate true faith in your spirit. Then, when you truly contemplate creation, you will be led to know the Creator to whom might and majesty belong, and then you will trust in Al'lah and yield to Him after you yourself believe in Him through thinking about the cosmic favors and signs, and after knowing for certain that you will die and leave this worldly life, thus becoming afraid of this inescapable end.

This is the way that was followed by the prophets and the messengers, and it leads to straightness, loftiness, and sublimity.

### The educational qualifications for learning magic

Concerning one who wants to learn magic, it is preferred that they have a religious background so that when they graduate as a magician, they will be known to be a person who is attracted to God, or one with supernatural powers, so that then people will trust them and give them their reins, which is when they will start causing harm. For the devil, there is no use for an adulterer who separates a wife from her husband, or a homosexual person who brings up an immoral generation, or a wine-drinker who becomes like a donkey for the devil, who rides and steers them wherever he wants, so that this person may commit forbidden things unconsciously.

The desired one is one with a slight imitative faith, whose spirit spreads in the darkness to imagine prohibited actions. An example of such a person is as follows. He releases his sight to enjoy temptation, and relishes hearing of exciting matters, and as he prays, his heart is thinking of beautiful women and of the cinema or television screens. He is a waster who does not preserve the graces. He oppresses the weak who are under his leadership (his brothers, his students, or his workers), and inclines to harm all of the animals, especially cats, just to oppose God's messenger's direction (cpth): "Be kind and generous with the cat (the male and the female)." [26]

## Offering to Learn Magic and the Conditions of Membership, the Principles and the Beliefs of Followers of Magicians Loyal to the Cursed Devil

The conditions that must be fulfilled in magician to be long to the cursed Satan's school are summarized in the following points:

1. It is necessary for the membership to exclude thought so that they become exactly like animals, even to the point where an animal may be more conscious than these people.

2. Their faith will never be accepted unless they are known by people to be crazy, so they act as if they are like this in order to let people say of them that this is so, in order to allow them to carry out disgraceful actions and then to escape from the punishment of the law. There are different ways for people to achieve this – to do so, one may be required to run bare-footed through the streets, or shout loudly, using repulsive words, or curse people and annoy them by making shameful movements with their body. They may even blaspheme against the Godly presence, the messenger (cpth), and religion, so as to get a reputation as a lunatic, and thus to avoid blame, so achieving the status of a representative of the devil. Sometimes they raise their voice in a strong, loud cry in the streets, using words of deception such as, "communicate with the prophet, and then you will gain". They may repeat this many times.

3. Their first teachers are their devilish companions, and after this the magician, to whom they will go frequently, and head for with their spirits. This is one who supports and aids the devil, and spares no effort in bringing about the destruction of others.

4. Places for studying: first, they need privacy in graveyards and deserted places, where they fast from water for a long time, and associate themselves with severe feelings of hunger so that the spirit can become transparent and put the body aside in order to couple with these evil spirits who aim to engage this student in hidden adultery, where the mechanism of the brain becomes entirely inoperative and all thought comes to an end. Later, they stop caring about people and what they say, and so they leave the practice of profitable work, as they are made to feel covetous of imaginary treasures and fanciful possessions through their desire (for example, they are told things such as: you don't need to work, because Al'lah is the Provider).

5. They take an interest in the water closet (W.C) as that is the place where the devils appear to them, and they boast of how their science is gotten from the W.C.

6. With hidden vices, they distract their students from supervising their children and from taking care of their responsibilities so that they will be destroyed. They deceive them with vain hopes and dreams in order to make them neglect their children, who become street dwellers and derive many vices from this life. However, despite their damaging actions, this student of the magicians will not be considered to be a sinner by most people, because they will have become one of the greatest and most famous personalities around, and their stars will blaze brightly in their immediate future.

7. Their spouses will commit adultery, but because the adulterer magicians are close to the devils, the students pay no attention to this so as to be nearer to their masters. Besides, nobody will believe the resistance of the victim since they are insane, and such a follower, indulging in their lusts, has no power to repel such forces.

8. They will lose all their money and trade until they are without a penny, and by such methods, they will reach the apex of allegiance. The patient followers before them will have already been afflicted with such outcomes. They will take bread from the sweepings and eat it after washing it.

9. Their bodies will collapse and their strength dissipate until they become as lean as a ghost, and unable to say comprehensible words. The lanes, the deserted corners, and the dunghills will witness their struggle and their continuous presence.

10. They will not leave any paper or nylon or newspaper in a place where they might see it with their own eyes lest it should contain the Name of Al'lah, but instead they take them and put them in the cracks of the walls as a sacrifice all throughout the time of their study. No one will understand what they do, nor will they themselves. This is just blind and absolute obedience and worshipping.

11. People will sympathize with them. Their beloved son or their wife will throw them in the insane asylum, or in a psychiatric hospital, where they will forget them until they graduate and get their certificate. Their stinking smell will never be forgotten by those who have smelled it once, and that is how they enter the gate of glory.

12. During this stage, they will discover their inability to return to their ordinary life, for their spirit's whims will have overcome them. They will have lost their life to come as they will have no belief in it by this stage, so that, for them, this lower life is the hereafter and everything.

13. The devilish oppression and pressure from which they suffer increases more and more until their spirits obey and yield to them, and it then transpires that they like the evil, harm, and cruelty that they like, and hate the virtue and perfect qualities that they hate. Thereupon such a person becomes one of the majestic ones, ascending to the highest rank so that they are given a title from the accepted military grades such as a captain, a brigadier general, or a general, although they beg and wear clothes that are old and ragged.

14. When the flow of knowledge or the assistance ceases, they will head for the W. C to get further aid.

Notice: the dead-hearted ones who are not conscientious, who are consumed with evil thinking about Al'lah, and who tend to harm and cruelty deserve such a humiliating meeting to submit to the command of the devils, and these people will soon be led into a situation where they care about nothing except fulfilling their hellish pleasure in secret. They will be led into this situation by following their destructive whims.

In the circles of magicians and their followers, there is an organized school which holds divans (work meetings) which they attend, according to their ranks. If somebody is a servant of the devil (whether this devil is of humankind or jinn-kind), they must continue to attend such divans. May God protect us and you from obeying the devil, the open enemy of humanity, and from sitting with the enemies of religion lest their damage should afflict us; instead, we should keep the company of those who are loyal to Al'lah, and be guided by His straight Holy Book, wherein God says: "You, who believe, see by Al'lah's Light and be with the true men."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 9, At-Tawba (Repentance), verse 119

God's Envoy (cpth) was truthful when he said: "Indeed, the virtuous companion and the evil one are like the musk carrier and the bellows blower. Concerning the musk carrier, either you buy from him, or you find a sweet smell from him; but as for the bellows blower, either he burns your clothes, or you find a foul smell from him." [27]

The following section presents two factual tales proving the quackery of magicians and conjurers who pretend to have the ability to heal people of their diseases, and who allege that the magical actions in which they take part are kinds of wonders that confirm the rightness of Islam, although Islam is quite distant from them.
A True Story

### The Shoemaker is Barefoot and the Knitter is Undressed [28]

A bold idea was shining in his mind.

"I am the most famous pharmacist in my village, and all the inhabitants harbor respect and reverence for me, but what do I gain from that? The profits from the pharmacy do not fulfill the needs of my family, and I have no other craft. I must put together a medicine that is needed by the majority of people, and advertise it in order to bring in profits... So what should I make?!"

He sat there, thinking and thinking all night, and asking himself: "What will I do? What medicine shall I make?" Early the next morning, he rushed quickly to his pharmacy and brought various chemical materials back to his home, where he entered his special laboratory joyfully and happily. He sat there working for about an hour, humming his favorite songs to himself. His son, who was barely fifteen, heard his voice and he entered the laboratory saying:

"Daddy, it is not usual for you to be so happy in the morning. What's going on with you?!"

The father answered: "It's true, my son, I'm very happy, because I have invented a medicine which will produce great profits for me, and we will live a life of ease and comfort, and I will buy you everything you need and everything you desire".

"What medicine is it, Daddy?"

"You don't know it, son. It is made up of complex chemical compounds, and I am going to write on its label that it is made in foreign parts, yes... that it is imported medicine".

"What are its benefits Daddy? I want to know so that I can tell my friends at school about it, so that it will become popular and well-known?"

"It is to treat baldness, my son. It strengthens the roots of the hair, and supports the growth of the hair. There will be no more baldness after today."

The boy replied with a smile: "And what shall I tell my friends when they tell me that my father is bald and has no hair on his head?!!"

The inventor had never expected such a reply, which blew out the blaze of the glimpse of his hope... He became embarrassed and bowed his head in front of his young son, finding that he had no reply.

## The Teacher of Magic

The general manager of the academy of astronomical revelation in Egypt and the eastern countries, Abdul-Fattah As-Sayyed Abdo At-Toukhi, published books about magic and how to learn it. These books included the instructions for, as he purported, how to control whatever you want and however you want to do it, methods of treating and healing, how to establish links or loosen bonds, and also many other subjects. The important thing is that Mr. At-Toukhi had a photograph of himself at the beginning of his books, and with that very picture, he revealed the falseness of his science. This picture showed that his eyes had been afflicted with a squinting aspect which had led to a considerable loss in vision, so that he had become short sighted. Had his science been capable of providing real healing, he would himself have been able to benefit from his own arts.

Thus is the situation with all of the magicians who cannot bring themselves the money that would keep them from begging and humiliating themselves just to allay their hunger, though they are, according to their claim, the discoverers and revealers of treasures.
A True Story

### A Strange Witty Discussion

A group of young men pretending to have supernatural powers hovered around a pure simple man who became dismayed; his heart was beating and he felt terrified because of what he had seen: long spears, swords, knives, startling movements where these people ascended and descended through the air. These actions were carried out by these people as they made vague, murmuring sounds. He inquired of himself: "Is such the reality of Islam? Does a mindful and sober person turn into a distracted and insane one when they reach the highest status of receiving the manifestation of Glory?! Did the noble companions or God's Envoy (cpth) undertake such actions?!"

He turned to Sheikh Amin Keftaro for help (may God have mercy upon him), as he was well known to be a man of faith and uprightness. The young man told the sheikh about what had been worrying him (he was afraid that the reason for this spiritual attack on him was his own refusal to believe that this magic was somehow linked to the religion of Islam). He feared lest he be cursed by Sheikh Abdul-Kader Al Jaylany (who was called a falcon) because of his rejection of any religious basis for these actions. Sheikh Amin asked this man, who was a relative of his, to put him together with the Sheikh who was now the head of the school of thought in which this group of young men studied. When they met, Sheikh Amin took off his overcoat and put it under him to sit on it, showing his concern for it, guarding it as though a treasure had been put inside it, as if he was afraid lest it should be robbed. The attendees reviled his doing so and smiled mockingly at him. The person who had brought him thought that this Sheikh Amin had been touched or afflicted by the teacher of the school and his followers, so he asked him, "Why do you do such a thing, although you are known for your sobriety and reasonable behavior?"

Sheikh Amin replied to him with a ringing voice, "The people who are from this school robbed the shoes of the messenger (cpth), and it would be no wonder for them to do such a deed to their opponents".

The Sheikh of the school laughed loudly and was about to faint from laughter, and his disciples imitated him. When he controlled himself and could hold the reins of his breathing again, he addressed Sheikh Amin in his broken voice, "But, you ignorant man, this school had not been in existence at the time of the messenger, and not even during the time of his companions".

Then Sheikh Amin answered loudly, amazing all of those present:

"I condemn you with your own words! Where have you brought them from?! Since this school was not present at the time of the Envoy (cpth) and his companions (may Al'lah be pleased with them), or at the time of those who followed them in charity and transferred the religion from him (cpth) to us, then from where have you brought this school, and inserted it into Islam?"

The Sheikh of the school gaped as though thunderstruck, and was immediately at his wit's end and found no reply. The crowd was astonished, since they had not expected that their sheikh would give testimony against himself, with words through which he confessed that their school was based on false heresy, and that he did so with a finishing stroke at the first moment of the meeting, without opposing what is right with what is false, and identifying truth and untruth. Then it was easy for those who had cleverness and intelligence to recognize what was right from what was false by way of reasonable rational evidence and proof.

# Chapter 11

* * *

## A Glimpse of the Magic of Olden Times and the Magic of Recent Times

### The Methods and Aims of Magicians

Religious moral retrogression and deterioration are associated with the appearance of sorcery and conjuring. For example, the stage of religious weakness which the sons of Israel had reached led them to the stage of horrible degradation within this dangerous vortex.

Magic was also common during the time of Pharaoh and his people and was a sort of science that had its rank and its influence in people's hearts. This was true to the point that they had a high regard for the makers of magic and for those who specialized in it, and venerated them. Because of this they were all destroyed.

The Almighty told us how the Jews abandoned the Scripture and followed the books of the Talmud and what had been told to them by the devils and magicians.

God says: "And when an apostle came to them from Al'lah confirming what was with them, a party of the people of the Book cast off the Book of Al'lah...": that is, they relinquished Al-Torah, and their scholars turned away from God's words. Furthermore, this occurred "...behind their backs as though they know nothing": that is, it took place in such a way that it was as if they did not know anything about it. They did this because they were controlled by their whims, due to their lack of belief in Al'lah, other than whom there is no God; though the fact is that if man believes and recognizes God's Attributes, he will oppose his lust and overcome his evil inclinations.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 101

In African societies, conjuring was considered to be one of the pillars of the combinations or the main tribes, and was like the sanitary office or the clinic, used to remedy people's ills and cure them.

But recently, since the Middle Ages, when magic began to spread in Islamic societies, the heralds of Islam entered a real war against it. They set about disclosing its reality and warning people about it in line with what the Almighty God revealed in the Holy Qur'an, when He notified us and warned us of Satan's enmity through the story of our master Adam (pth): as the messenger (cpth) mentioned in the noble saying: "A magician's penalty is to be killed with a sword." [29]

AL-imam Al-Shafi'ei said: "a magician should be killed if he performs something that leads us to unbelief by magic." As he said: "None dares to make magic except an unbeliever."

AL-imam Al-Nawawi said: "Making magic is forbidden and with one accord, it is considered one of the great sins. So, learning or teaching it is also forbidden."

So is it for the societies of Europe. Their ancient culture was absorbed in a conflict between magic and the church. They used to burn witches and conjurers, and would destroy the villages in which it was known that the teaching and practicing of magic was common.

There is a form of magic called white magic. In this type, the magician uses unbelieving jinns to bewitch people's eyes and make them see unreal things which appear to them to be preternatural.

In general, this white magic has a big role in drawing the admiration of a lot of people.

This was known in the past. The Holy Qur'an mentions it at the point when, after Pharaoh's challenge, our Moses said to the magicians: "He said: 'Throw ye'. And when they threw down (their staffs), they bewitched people's eyes and terrified them by showing a great (feat of) magic."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 116

In fact, a magician can only bewitch the eyes of people who are negligent in remembering God. Such kinds of magic were widespread in India and in other countries. That is why those countries became weak and poor and reached their current degree of degradation. Despite their large populations, they turned into easy morsels in the hands of the great powers with small populations.

In his book, the traveler Ibn-Battootah mentioned many situations which he had seen, all depending on magic. This issue continued to grow in importance until, in this age, people and groups of magicians appeared who display their magic deeds to people.

Despite the recent success of medicine, and despite the messenger's commands (cpth) relating to the field of treatment and the cure of illness (such as the noble cupping which leads to great results in the case that it is applied in accordance with its correct rules and norms); [30] nonetheless, we find that some people spend a lot of money for an incantation or for a sitting of suggestion, just as we find others who tend to pay more, even to the point of borrowing money, for magic writing and lines.

Societies all over the world, both rich and poor, are implicated in these trends, but they still remain within certain limits. Yet this belief and this inclination to magic and conjuring have now found access to the means for an increase in publicity through modern methods of communication and the Internet.

For example, you can find trade pages to meet all purposes and needs in modern mass communications media, such as how to plant seeds of love and reconciliation between two people, or how to do the opposite; and also methods for treating and subjugating people, for achieving superiority over them, and ways to use spells.

As for the costs of such spells and prescriptions, they can be paid by credit card. Similarly, the use of express mail order services means that magic medicines, writings, and spells written on folded pieces of paper can all reach people easily, accompanied with the exact directions of use and instructions for their application.

All of these are but extortionate ways of making money and having control over spirits that shun God and are unmindful of remembering Him.

A new field study – carried out by Dr. Mohammad Abdul-Azeem in the Center for Criminal Research in Cairo – shows that there are about thirty thousand people in Egypt who claim that they can foretell the future (including telling fortunes, divination by use of cups and palmistry), as 70% of Egyptians believe in the supernatural ability of these people to know the hidden future events that are fated for people, with their expertise also extending to other abilities such as treating their 'patients' through their souls.

A group of social scientists in Egypt said that Egyptian and Indian movies circulate awareness of quack magicians through tens of their films.

Other than that, there are the old narrative books such as the story of Saif Ibn Yazan, and of Hamza Al-Bahlawan, and other tales from The Thousand And One Nights, which are all illusive tales that ascribe agency to magicians and publicize sorcery.

The findings of the study show that about 50% of Arab women believe in magic, and there are about half a million charlatans that practice their charlatanry both openly and secretly in the Arabic world.

On the other hand, the Arabs spend more than nine thousand million dollars a year on sorcerers. But on this issue, the most serious problem is that this disaster is still not restricted to a specific country, but has spread across nearly all of the Arab countries.

In spite of all these bitter facts, from which all humanity suffers because of their deviation from God's open way and His straight Statute, in this domain, the Arab countries do not have a bigger share than the developed European ones.

Magic rages there in all its different forms, and it is widespread among large groups of European compatriots; yet due to materialism's dominance over their minds, it does not have that great an effect.

Thus, they live between two evils: the control that materialism has over their minds, and the efficiency of magic and magicians, which is lighter and weaker.

Accordingly, magic – including the people who practice it or advocate it – does not spread unless the religious moralities of people disappear and their tendency turns toward forbidden things and fornication. In this case, the devil becomes active and it becomes easy for him to catch his prey.

It is not only individual people that he controls; he controls entire communities and makes them fall under his influence through the use of any of the available forms of such magic, as happened to people in the past, such as those of Pharaoh, Lord of Stakes (i.e the great Pyramids). This is one of the problems of this age.

The phenomenon of magic and conjuring has become widespread and is continuing to spread in the age of material progress due to the weakness of the lofty religious side of our spirits. It has its ceremonies in the most developed nations in the world, just as it has its associations, institutes, and unions.

Moreover, conferences and symposiums are held for it, and particularly notable are the deceitful sessions of conjuration wherein it is claimed that the spirits of dead people are in attendance, whereas, in reality, it is the jinn-companions of the dead who surely attend in spirit rather than in body.

However, materialism is more effective in those nations.

So we see that there are many factors which have caused such a wide spreading of magic across the globe, alongside its makers and those who attend sessions of magic. However, the main factor is the abandonment of God's Legislation and the following of one's deadly whims.

Thereby the magician's inclinations and wishes correspond to the destructive bent of the devil, and they agree to draw those who go to them and who trust them to the way of aberration and everlasting ruination.

God says: "And their brothers...": that is, the devils' brothers; "...supply them with error with no delinquency": that is, they do their best to influence people and lead them to that which causes evil.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 202

# Chapter 12

* * *

## Did God Make Anyone into a Devil?

We shall know in this subject the origin of magic, who is the first Satan appeared on earth? And unveiling the methods followed by the magiciens and the devils to seduce people.

### The birth of magic

In fact, all the different parts of creation are equal in their origin, but the one that follows the Godly rules becomes high. The Almighty brought creation into existence for it to enjoy witnessing Him, and to sink into viewing the endless Godly Beauty through watching itself and the graces and gifts with which He has obliged all of creation.

Godly Justice required the creation of no differentiation between all of the spirits. So, at the beginning of creation in Al-Azal world (the pre-material world), all creation was enjoying witnessing that great treasure of endless Godly Beauty and Perfection.

Yet allowing these spirits to remain at just one level of witnessing and at a single position would later make them feel bored with it. Therefore it was necessary to exchange this one state for various states, through which humanity could ascend, moving from one state to another that was more beautiful, brighter and more pleasant than the last. Thereby, feelings of boredom would find no way to creep into these spirits; on the contrary, cheerfulness, happiness, pleasure, and increasing eagerness and delight would be the things which would overwhelm them.

Since the Grand and Wide Almighty (glory to His Grandeur and His sublime and glorious Prestige) has no end, then why would creation remain at one level of this great witnessing when there were and are endless levels of it; that is to say, when high paradises exist with the Provider of the worlds which have no limit?!

Such was to be the nature of life, and such were to be the paradises of rising eternal beatitude for which all hearts would beat with passion.

Out of God's love for us, He wished us to have this kind of a continuous and rising high, lofty, beautiful and pleasant life, and so for this reason He put an arrangement into place for the spirits through which they could achieve these paradises voluntarily and willingly and possess them, and it is there that their satisfaction and happiness can become perfect.

Therefore, the Almighty has put a rule into place for the spirit. He allows it to draw near to its Provider and to advance by means of those of its own spontaneous deeds that it witnesses. In this way, it acquires a confidence in God's satisfaction, and so, with this, it ascends through His paradises, from one to the next that is higher than the one before.

Thus there will be no weariness or tedium. There will be only longing and passionate love in a situation of truth before the Generous Grantor and the Omnipotent King. This is the reason for our coming to this world. God offered all spirits an exodus to a world where they could commit actions and deeds by which they would be able to ascend.

The confidence that is generated in spirits from their good deeds is the basis by which they approach their Provider and the mystery of their happiness.

It is that which made this world an abode of deeds and a path to the other world where the heavens and rivers, as previously mentioned, are in a situation of truth before the Generous Grantor and the Omnipotent King.

For this reason the Almighty put a yearning into these spirits, for without yearning, there is no inclination to rush to perform a deed, or to incline to it or seek it. Rather, without yearning, one will stay still and motionless, finding no taste and no pleasure, and not tasting the flavor of happiness.

This yearning gives the good deeds proportional values according to the spirit's sacrifice, patience and strife.

Performing these deeds voluntarily through the spirit makes them have high value in the eyes of the spirit itself, so that it relies on them to enter the Presence of its Creator, and the nature of this entry will be equivalent to the good deeds it has committed and to the great sacrifices it has made to approach the Honor of its Great Provider.

### Bearing the trust

The Almighty God wanted to offer Trust to all of creation. He says: "We offered the Trust to the heavens, earth and mountains and they refused to bear it for they feared it; Man bore it. Man was unjust to himself and ignorant of its results!"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 72

This was God's purpose in offering the Trust. The will of all of creation is His alone, but He offered to entrust this will to them, and make it a trust with them, thus giving them the freedom of choice in achieving the deeds that result from their yearnings.

On the day that God offered this Trust to the spirits, it was an offering that included no coercion or force or any deviation from Godly Justice. He showed the spirits the fruits of bearing this Trust: if they chose to perform high deeds they would enter paradises, but if they chose to draw far from the Creator and follow an evil way, fire and pain would be their lot. Thus they knew all of this, and got it into their minds.

All of creation feared to bear this trust, and so they retreated from it: "...they refused to bear it for they feared it..." This was so, except for one category, which took an adventure and undertook to bear this Trust: "...Man bore it..."

This category includes humankind and jinn-kind, who are both in charge of bearing the Trust.

As for the statement "...Man was unjust to himself and ignorant of its results!", it serves to pose the question: were humanity and jinn-kind unjust to themselves in making such a pledge, even though it meant that they would be on top, and above all other creatures?!

Were they ignorant of the blessings that were folded beneath bearing this Trust, or of the highest levels of success that they could gain by rendering sacrifices and good deeds? Of course not.

With this glimpse of the world of Al-Azal and the first creation [31] (the world of incorporeal spirits) which preceded our coming to this material world, we have seen the Godly Justice manifested among all of creation in the most gorgeous garment of perfection. The Almighty did not prefer some people over others. Nor did He create a group to be prophets and a group to be disbelievers. Instead, each creature chose, and then each of their choices was fulfilled.

Thus, the Almighty did not make one person into a disbeliever and another into a believer, and nor did He create a devil in the first world. Distinction and differentiation of ranks arose due to the different degrees of spiritual direction towards God that are in evidence, and the different degrees of continual communication with Him and adherence to Him, or due to those differences in the level of shunning Him and of turning towards any other thing besides God, and of the level of immersion in desires and drawing away from Him (glory to His Names).

There are many verses which show that the word 'Man' mentioned in the verse "...Man bore it...", includes both humankind and jinn-kind; for example, when God says: "I created mankind and jinn-kind in order but to worship Me. I demand no livelihood of them nor do I ask that they should feed Me."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 51, Adh-Dhariyat (Sun Rays), verse 56-57

So both of them are in charge of worship, because they will both be asked about sins, as mentioned in God's saying: "On that day no question will be asked of man or jinn as to their sin!"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 55, Ar-Rahman (The Mercy Giving) , verse 39

And in God's saying: "Oh ye assembly of jinns and men! Did there not come to you apostles of your own, setting forth unto you My revelations...", there is an admonition for both of them, too.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 130

Thus, God never created a devil at all. He only created mankind and jinn-kind who undertook possession of their own free will without coercion or favoritism, so that the results and consequences of their own deeds, be they good or bad, fall upon them both.

## Who Was the First Devil?

### How Did He Become a Devil?

The Almighty ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam (pth): "Then, We said to the angels: 'Prostrate yourselves to Adam'. They prostrated themselves...": meaning that they all obeyed God as they knew that He was their Creator and Provider. "...except Iblis (Satan)..." who was one of the jinn-kind.

The Almighty had brought him together with the angels and had let him attend that festival of prostration so as to raise his rank and to uplift him. But the devil rejected that and he did not prostrate himself. He had mistaken what was right for what was wrong, and therefore he was called 'Iblis' which indicates such a meaning in the Arabic language.

He refused, opposed and had disdain because he did not know his Provider. "...he (the devil) said: 'Do I prostrate myself to whom You have created out of mud?' ": what he meant was: "Adam is not like me".

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 61

He also said: "...I am better than he; You have created me out of fire but he out of mud."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 76

Although the devil had entered the heaven of our great master Adam (pth); although he had tasted the same Godly manifestation that had descended upon our master Adam; although he had witnessed the world of angels who had been immersed in Adam's paradise (just as he had), and who had all prostrated themselves together: nonetheless, he felt envy for Adam's rank (pth), and he failed to esteem him (pth) due to his own self-conceit. Therefore, he did not prostrate himself and turned away, so drawing far from him (Adam) and from Al'lah.

Thus, he deviated from what was right and deprived himself of the life that was coming to him from the Living, the Sustainer.

The springs of his spirit became dry until they became inflamed and they burned and he turned into a mutinous devil.

The word for 'devil' in Arabic is 'Shaitan'. In idiomatic language, it is derived from 'Shatana' and 'Shata' which mean 'to draw far away' and 'to be burned'.

So, the devil drew far away until he burned with the flames of distance from God and His messenger Adam (pth).

The word for 'mutinous' in Arabic is 'marida'. It is derived from 'rad'da' which means "to refuse" and from 'rada' which means 'to seek'. So, the devil set about refusing what was right and seeking what was false.

In another verse, the devil also said: "...Seest Thou? This is the one whom You have honored above me! ...": so, he charged God with injustice when He chose Adam above him. He did not know that Adam (pth) got that rank because of his truthfulness before his Provider and his adherence, love and obedience to Him. The devil continued: "...if Thou give me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway – all but a few!": this was how he described his actions to himself.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 62

Since that time, he declared himself to be the enemy of Adam's children because of his blind jealousy and envy. This is mentioned in another Fortress wherein he says:

"...I will take of Thy servants a portion marked off", which means that anyone who follows him will be his. He then continued by saying:

"I will mislead them, and I will rise vain hopes in them...": i.e. he would make his followers become driven by the deception of wishes and daydreams, and would "...order them to slit the ears of cattle...": although it is claimed that this is done to prevent them from being alarmed, actually they just cause them intense pain by doing this. They do what the devil said, when he said, "...I shall order them to tamper with Al'lah's creation...": just as they castrate sheep. Actually, castration does make the sheep grow fatter, but it also means that they have no energy or nourishment within them. "...indeed, whoever, forsaking Al'lah, takes Satan for a friend, has of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest.": and this is so because his purpose is only to cause harm to all of humanity, whoever they may be.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 118-119

## Revealing the Devil's Ways

The Almighty warned us about the devil and uncovered his ways. The noble verse mentioned what the devil said: "He said: 'Because You have thrown me out of the way, lo! I will waylay them within Your straight path, then I will come to them from between their hands and from behind them, from their right and their left: nor will You find, in most of them, gratitude (for Your mercies)'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 16-17

To clarify the warnings of our enemy, Satan, and his troops that are included for us in these verses, we will explain each one of them in detail separately.

### Explaining part one of the verse: concerning the first type of satanic deception mentioned in the verse

"...I will waylay them within Your straight path": this is in reference to the path of righteousness. He means that he will tempt them to stray from this path and induce them to commit sins. This is why you see that the magicians – who are all his followers – are to be found in mosques, in places of worship, and in graveyards (where spiritual purity is high). You will also notice that they have learnt the Qur'an and the prophet's sayings by heart.

Furthermore, you can find some witches wearing turbans and jubbahs, while the women among them sometimes put on veils and yashmaks which portray an outwardly Islamic appearance.

They pretend to be pious worshipers, and dissemble in enjoining justice, forbidding evil and spending the night in prayer. They do that only in order to fill minds with doubt about Islam and make people disincline to Islam. They will seize any opportunity that will help them to cause damage.

They take corruption as their watchword and work to realize this aim; they make magic their practice and take cunning and deception as a way of life. They plot against people and deceive the common people using different methods. Sometimes they use the guise of religion, but can use any other guise according to their tendency or inclination. When they succeed and their tricks work against people, they start spreading corruption among their followers as much as possible. They grasp at worldly gains and try to bring about corruption. This is in accordance with the covenant they made with their master, the devil.

Some of them appear to offer a perfect picture in terms of their clothes, their appearance and their good looks, but the majority come out before people in a dowdy and foul-smelling way. This is a scheme to make simple-minded people think that they are attracted by their love for God, and that they feel loathing for this worldly life. They seem to display affection, sympathy and gentleness, and appear to set things right, but in reality, they are hiding nothing but perfidy, mercilessness and treachery. However, as the prophet (cpth) says: "But the true believer is astute, discerning and cautious." [32]

The true believer follows his statement (cpth), which was related to people of heresy: "Beware of people by mistrusting them." [33] Because of this, the magicians' tricks do not work on such a person, as they know that a saint is one who follows God's orders and does not exceed His bounds, rather than one who claims to have been granted false supernatural powers, who creates deceptions and who breaks Gods orders. As for the unbelievers, on the other hand: they become subordinate to them and a conduit for their seduction and evil.

The noble messenger (cpth) warned the common Muslims of weak belief about the rebellious ones when he said: "I do not feel worried about my nation: neither about believers nor polytheists, for the believer is restrained by his belief and the polytheist is repressed by his disbelief. But I feel worried about you who is an eloquent hypocrite who says what you know, but does what you disapprove of." [34]

Now, we will relate to you an actual event which clarifies that a saint is one who only follows God's commandments and stops at His limits, and never exceeds them whatever the attractions may be.
A True Story

### "I Do Not Make my Neck a Bridge Leading to Hellfire"

The requests fell upon him in a heap and followed one another with insistence and without interruption. "She is an old woman, and advanced in age; moreover, you can see nothing of her behind her dark black veil. As for you, you are a virtuous and magnanimous man who is known for his piety and probity, and nobody thinks any wrong of you. She is a rich woman and her family has excessive wealth, so she may overwhelm you with her money so that it will even suffice for your grandchildren".

The speaker was the eldest son of Sheikh Eissa Abi Shamsud-Deen Al-Kordi (may God have mercy upon him), who was furious at his father. The sheikh had refused to respond to the request of a number of people who had come to him to seek his aid. They had brought an old woman to him, and were asking him to massage her so that she might be cured of her illness. Although they offered him two golden liras for this service, he answered them with his known inflexibility and famous attitude: "I am not a person who may ever exceed any of God's bounds. Whatever the specifics of a case may be, there should be no playing or illusion in religion. If a man is forbidden to get together with a strange woman, how then can he touch her?!"

But they said: "Oh, sheikh! Oh sir! Do not touch her with your hand; only massage her with your stick from afar".

Yet he also rejected this suggestion until they despaired of him and left the house without hope, without any result, and without a massage for the woman.

His son, who had seen what had happened, was aflame with rage. He turned towards his venerable father, saying, "Oh, father! Don't you see the poverty from which we suffer and our need of those two golden liras? [35] She is a rich woman, so what would be wrong with your massaging her with a stick?! You would not touch her body. You would not even see her from behind her dark black veil."

With pure eyes, the father gazed at his son and said: "Oh my son! In the course of time, people would not say that I massaged her with a stick from behind a thick veil without seeing her, or that she was an old woman, but they will only say: 'Sheikh Eissa massaged a woman'. Those who do not know the true story will exploit it and take it as a pretext for getting together with simple-minded women, to massage them without the use of any veil or covering. Thus, shameful deeds will be committed in my name, and violations will take place alongside things that are prohibited, until God's bounds are exceeded. So I do not make my neck a bridge leading to hellfire for nothing but my own vanity and transitory money. Be sure, son! God never forgets me, and He is the best Provider".

And here is an incident which uncovers the quackery of those who claim to have access to imaginary supernatural powers, and the stupidity and silliness of those who believe them and are tricked by them
A True Story

### The Greatest Magnate and the Basin of the Tenure

In breach of his usual habit, it happened that one of the disciples of Sheikh Amin Keftaro did not attend the meeting of citation (reminding ourselves of God's Attributes) for a number of successive days. The sheikh did not feel at ease about his absence! He wondered about what it was that was engaging him, although he had devoted himself to the meetings of citation. The sheikh decided to visit his disciple at home. When the sheikh entered the disciple's house and asked about the secret behind his absence from the meetings of knowledge and citing, the disciple's mouth gaped open in astonishment and he stood up to address the sheikh:

"Have you not been told?"

"About what?! What is the matter?" asked the sheikh.

The disciple said: "If you were not my sheikh, I would not inform you. He – I mean the greatest magnate – comes to my house every night, and stays with me as a guest. I have the honor of his service".

The sheikh cried: "The greatest magnate! What is his name? Can you describe him to me? Why has he chosen you from among all people, and how could you recognize him?"

Showing ardor, the disciple answered, "He is the greatest magnate himself, the basin of the tenure, the reliever magnate. He told me that God has chosen me to be in his service, and has honored me by making him my guest and making me spend money for his sake".

"But how could you know that he is the greatest magnate?" the sheikh asked.

His disciple said, "Every day, after I put food out for him for his dinner and give him the money which God has donated to me, obeying him and asking for his blessing, I leave him alone for a while; he then soon flies away on the wing of pleasure and on the carpet of righteousness to the honorable Medina, where he spends the night near the most greatly beloved, Mohammad (cpth)."

The sheikh then turned his attention inwards and set about studying this case and considering it carefully. He knew very well that God chooses His saints from among His creation so that they will help people to love Him and will guide them to the path of obedience to Him. In this way, they achieve bliss and enjoy closeness to Al'lah. Surely the Almighty never chooses an ignorant saint; even if He does, He will teach them. However, He teaches them only to make them, in turn, show the rest of creation the way that leads to their happiness and benefit. This being true, would it be the wisdom of God, the Great Almighty, to make a selection of a group of people obedient to Him, in order that they just spend their nights at people's houses in such a way as to straiten them in their livelihood, to eat their food and drink their drinks, and moreover, to stand in the way of their attendance at meetings of goodness and knowledge? He said to himself: "In all probability, this man is just a sly liar that exploits the simplicity of people! So, he intrudes upon their dining tables and their houses, masked by any name and character that he likes". So, Sheikh Amin looked at his disciple and said:

"Did he tell you that he goes there and spends the night near God's messenger (cpth)?"

"Yes."

"Have you seen him do that with your own eyes?"

"No, but whenever I leave him alone in the room for his own privacy, and then come back to see him, I do not find his body therein, and yet I see his honorable body again in the morning".

"Is there any other door in your room?"

"No."

"Is there any window?"

"No."

"Is there a hole in the wall for your bedclothes?"

"Yes, there is!"

Thereupon, Sheikh Amin Keftaro (may God have mercy upon him) said: "Then, search it tonight, for I think that he will spend the night inside it".

In the evening, when the suspect magnate came and ate his dinner and then put the money in his pocket, the disciple left him to his privacy. But that night, he entered the room again. He was still very uncertain until that moment. He was asking himself: "Where is the magnate at this hour? Has he been carried by the wing of pleasure on the carpet of righteousness, or is he sleeping inside the hole in the wall?"

It only took a moment for the suspicion to change into certainty, for when the disciple shook one of the bedclothes that were arranged inside the hole in the wall, he saw His Excellency, the greatest magnate, having wrapped himself in one of them, snoring away in a deep sleep.

In fact, the cosmic laws are strictly accurate and God never changes their rules or vainly breaks them. Is it reasonable that on one hand, He let His beloved (cpth) suffer the troubles of migration, but He meanwhile makes the wind carry such a slothful, dull and inane traveler, just after he has eaten a fatty dinner?! Absolutely not.

### In a few words we say:

God says: "We have made the devils over those who disbelieve."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 27

This is inevitable, because their spirits have been filled with wickedness and Satan has become a remedy for them. He adorns them with vicious yearning so as to remove it from their spirits, and then Al'lah subjects them to distress and affliction. In this way, they may withdraw from their tyranny and follow the path of righteousness.

The invisible devils may appear like ghosts, wearing white clothes and performing their ritual ablutions in the house's pond at night. This kind of appearance indicates the past occurrence of transgressions and sins that were committed in the name of religion in the location where these ghosts appear. In places where such things have taken place, the malignant devil is enabled to manifest itself as a visible specter without a material body; that is, as an immaterial ghost, similar to a faint white electric light. This manifestation is a sign that people will start committing adultery in this location. The devilish magician companions will have chosen this as the venue for their activities because of the perpetration of offense and wrongdoing here, which allow the devil to appear in this deceptive religious appearance.

If the deceived victim draws back at this point, and disdains the act of adultery, the companion will be driven away. Otherwise, fornication will be committed in such a house, and a tormenting torture will be necessary to allow the person in question to repent. They can then be straightened within the bounds of what is plainly right. Beware of sowing evil and following those who call upon Al'lah as a witness to what is folded in their heart, despite the fact that in reality, they are vehement disputers.

### Explaining part two of the verse: concerning the second type of satanic deception mentioned in the verse

"...then I will come to them from among their hands...": during a person's work, when they are unaware due to absorption in their labor, the devil will hurry to them. He will whisper evil ideas about Al'lah and his messengers (ptt) to their spirit, stirring up mean yearning. His aim is to make them fall into adultery or into other things that will lead to evil outcomes for them.

But "If those who see by Al'lah's light were touched by a passing shade of devil, they will remember Al'lah, and then they will discern the truth.": the answer is to reflect truly on the signs, and then straighten upon the orders of God and communicate with Al'lah, to derive perfection from Him; and then to bind up with the owners of perfection and enter into God's Presence with those true men in order to get a brand of Al'lah's light by which it is possible to see. If a person does so, they will resort to Al'lah in their heart when being unaware and tempted by Satan to commit wrongdoing, and so they will witness the reality lying behind this satanic temptation and so be able to avoid it.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 201

Piety, which is the seeking of illumination by Al'lah's light through the shining lamp (cpth), aims to make you remember Al'lah. By so doing, you will witness the evil that is folded within the devil's insinuation, thus preventing you from following it and allowing yourself to keep away from it. Therefore it is necessary to adopt the way of true belief, so as to escape from satanic temptation and prevail over Satan. Faith is not a hollow, false pretence uttered by the tongue, but is achieved on the basis of seeking the truth honestly, and by searching oneself for the existence of Al'lah through the contemplation of God's creation and His universal signs. This is similar to the searching that was carried out by our master Abraham (peace is through him). If a person follows this method, creation will lead this thinker to know the Great Creator. They will witness the signs that lead to God with the eye of their heart after first seeing them with their physical eye. They will witness His light and the existence of the Almighty, and then they will become infatuated with Him because of the graces He offers to them and to all the worlds. Such a person will know well the way that leads to their Provider, and so will resort truly to Al'lah and will always put death and the meeting with God in front of their eyes.

### Explaining part three of the verse

The third way mentioned in this verse is: "...and from behind them...": and it means: I incite them to work for the future. That is, Satan deceives people with vain hopes and false golden dreams of collecting and saving money for the future, so warning them against charity and spending money generously, for fear of falling into poverty. Satan wants people to be miserly and not to do the good deeds for which they have been created.

God says: "Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit what is indecent..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 268

Faith and miserliness never gather together in the heart of a believing person who is obedient to God. Satan orders his followers to be extremely stingy with money, and to seek their own personal advantage, without caring about whether the money is legal or ill-gotten. With this attitude, people become niggardly and humble-spirited, looking at what people possess and yearning for it, and they are stinting with what they possess. They envy people for what favor Al'lah has granted them, and wish to dispossess others of their graces in order to possess them themselves.

They deprive people of their natural rights and suppress themselves and their families so that hatred, aversion, and problems are present among them. Their chests boil with grudges whenever they see a man whom Al'lah has obliged. Consequently, quarrels, sedition, and competition will occur about this worldly life, and then enmity and evil will arise, and the links of cordiality and brotherhood will be cut. Eventually, this niggardly one will become a beast, hiding behind the shape of a human.

### Explaining part four of the verse

The fourth way is "...from their right...": that is, through the path of righteousness, while communicating with Al'lah and doing good deeds, or through performing high deeds so as to drive a person into conceit. Thus, when a person does good deeds, Satan will adorn them to themselves in order that they will admire themselves. One who becomes conceited in this way will consider themselves to be better than other people. Then their conceit will gradually increase to the point that Satan will possess them through their megalomania, making them turn him away from the path that leads to Al'lah.

### Explaining part five of the verse

The fifth is "...and from the left...": and is in reference to passing through the way of harm or of vice:

1) Passing through the way of harm takes place when a slip occurs due to inattention on the part of the follower of the path of righteousness, and so Satan drives them to despair of the mercy of God, the Merciful, the Most Forgiving.

2) Passing through the way of vice takes place when such a follower commits a wrongful deed, and Satan magnifies it in the perspective of its doer. This is to drive them away from Al'lah and make them become despondent about Al'lah's compassion. This will lead them fail to repent, although the gate of repentance is wide open, even for those who do not believe. God says: "Tell those who disbelieve that if they stop their tyranny, their past shall be forgiven..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 8, Al-Anfal (Spoils of War), verse 38

How can this Muslim believe their enemy, the devil, even though Al'lah forgives even those who do not believe when they repent and refrain from committing errors?

God has revealed to us how the devil acted with his followers after he was released to his own free choice when He says: "(Al'lah) said: 'Go on your way; if any of them follow you, verily hell will be the recompense of you (all): an ample recompense'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 63

Some adopt the guidance of the devil and do deeds like his, and then become unable to distinguish between their own goodness and evil. Such people start to mistrust Al'lah, and they are indeed followers of the devil, since they have pursued his way and behaved like him.

### How does this satanic temptation take place?

God the Almighty says: "And rouse whomsoever you are able with your voice, and muster against them all your deceptive actions and your forces, and be their partner in their riches and in their offspring, and make promises to them. However, Satan makes promises to them only to deceive them."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 64

"And rouse...": he whispers evil; "...whomsoever you are able...": he incites them as much as possible; "...with your voice...": he calls to them; "...and muster against them all your deceptive actions...": he lets them see fancies without reality to make them become distracted. However, although he cannot affect everyone with these deceptions, he approaches and affects those from whom he gets a smell of malignancy and shunning of Al'lah, as Satan is blind and only has a sense of smell; "....and your forces...": he uses the utmost might and determination, and works through those humans who are his, and who are subjugated in order to fulfill his aims – which means the magicians.

"...and be their partner in their riches and in their offspring...": if there is a person who draws far away from Al'lah, and does not mention His Name when eating so as to think of the grace by which they eat, and does not think of how Al'lah, the Almighty, created food for them, and how He directed the sun, the moon, the wind, the soil, the seasons and all of the universe in order that they be created, grow, and ripen: then He has provided them with these things for nothing. However, if this person mentions the Name of Al'lah and thinks of the favors bestowed upon them, they will love their Provider and incline to Him. Then they will become glad and will achieve spiritual nutrition through their directing themselves towards Him, and by delighting in their food both spiritually and physically.

This is the purpose of mentioning the Name of Al'lah: to think of what you eat and to praise Al'lah for His graces, showing that you love Him and acquire happiness from this. However, if people do not do this, Satan will always be with them, and will eat and copulate with them.

"...and make promises to them. However, Satan makes promises to them only to deceive them": here we see that Satan deceives with wishes, fancies, and vain false hopes. This is similar to the way that all magicians throughout the world ask people to give them money for what they do, and cannot save themselves from being humiliated.

We have already clarified how and when magic arises, and how a person can descend to the lowest level in order to become a magician, or one of their supporters who is attracted to their world. Such matters are not limited to a certain period of time, but have occurred since the beginning of creation, when humanity turned away from Al'lah and committed actions that were forbidden.

In fact, we have two choices before us:

1) To be with Al'lah

2) To be with the devil (may God protect us and you from this spiritual disease).

When a person man forgets to mention Al'lah in his spirit, Satan rushes to them, whispering evil, so as to destroy them step by step, as we have mentioned previously.

As for the believer: they pay attention to whatever satanic temptation the devil has sent into their spirit, and remember the reason that has made Satan approach them: that they have forgotten to mention Al'lah and to communicate with His messenger (cpth). As soon as they remember God and communicate with His messenger (cpth), making their spirit become overwhelmed with Godly light, the devil will flee and will avoid them.

Those who draw far from Al'lah and indulge in forbidden deeds are exposed to such destructive states, and are apt to follow the devil in this dirty course. They then become an instrument in the hand of Satan, who controls them however he wants through the authority of their mean, prohibited lusts. God says: "Shall I tell you upon whom the devils descend? They descend on every lying sinner."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 221-22

Therefore we see that magicians are always the enemies of righteousness, of humanity, and of all humankind, except those who are like them. There is nothing mentioned anywhere in the Holy Qur'an that contradicts these facts. God says: "The magicians were gathered on the appointed day, and it was said to people 'will you be assembled, for we shall follow the magicians if they win?' And when the magicians came, they said to Pharaoh: 'shall we be rewarded if we win?'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 38-41

These verses indicate that the magicians were enemies of righteousness and faith, in contrast to our master Moses, God's messenger (pth), because they were dealing with magic before they were defeated at his hands. They then abandoned their way, admitting its falsehood. As he (pth) showed them a real Godly miracle, they believed, and said: "We have put our faith in our Provider so that He may forgive us our sins and the witchcraft you have forced us to practice. Better is the reward of Al'lah, and more lasting."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 73

They then began to despise their magical knowledge, and prostrated themselves before our master Moses (pth), but Pharaoh and his people thought that this miracle was one of the magicians' actions because of their blind–heartedness. They saw it as similar to the deceptions and illusory, profitless magical actions that they had seen from the magicians of their time. God says: "...the magician shall never prosper whatever he does."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 69

At any rate, religious and moral impotence or regression is always associated with the emergence of magic and conjuring. For example, the period of religious impotence and the abandonment of Al'lah's law, 'Al-Torah', led the Israelites themselves into a period of frightful descent into a dangerous spiritual whirl, which was a case similar to that of Pharaoh and his people before them, when magic had prevailed due to their retrogression (as we have previously noted).

## Can They Affect Every Person with their Magic through Causing Harm or Separation or Causing Whirls of Spiritual Disorder?!

But how can they affect any person so that they see whatever deceptions and fancies they want to show them?! Is there anyone they cannot bewitch or inflict with the least of harm, or make see false fancies?! Or is it possible that there exist those who witness the reality of these matters!!?

Whatever suffering and disaster a person meets, and whatever their spiritual pains may be, they must be careful not to resort to magicians [37] of any kind. It does not matter if goodness appears to be evident in the false appearances and names – such as hypnotist, astrologer, spiritual doctor, etc. – which they use in order to conceal their true nature and deceive people.

The true believer grieves and feels sorrow for them, for their loss will be great in the case that they die without repenting. God says, "...they learn what harms and does not avail them, yet they knew full well that anyone who engaged in that traffic would have no share created for them in the life to come..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Therefore, we wish them access to correct guidance after they truly repent and withdraw from this destructive and frightening path.

Here is an incidental question:

Is it possible for a magician to repent? Yes, they can repent, but only if they are truthful, reflect on death, and fear the results of their deeds. They must then link up with those who see by God's light, and turn away from the path of wretchedness. This is similar to the case of Pharaoh's magicians, after they had repented at the hands of our master Moses (pth), and then were able to see by Al'lah's light.

But if magicians disbelieve and insist on the use of magic in a Muslim state, it would be better to kill them than to leave them alive to continue to cause harm and evil. The gate of repentance is always wide open and will never be closed, for they who have not yet died have still not missed the opportunity to mend their defect.

Thus take care not to be a polytheist or to believe in their ability to harm or benefit you, but improve your behavior and correct it, and then be straight and follow God's order, and Al'lah will drive every distress and illness away from you. Change what is in your spirit and seek Al'lah's love and nearness by doing good deeds and offering charity, and then trust Him to be your guide. He will preserve you.

God says:

"It is alike whether you whisper (talk in secret) or speak aloud, whether you act hiding behind the night or act broadly in the daylight. Everyone has guardian angels before him and behind him who watch him by Al'lah's command. God does not change people's conditions until they themselves change. If Al'lah seeks to afflict a people with a trial, none can ward it off; besides Him they have no manager."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 10-11

"It is alike whether you whisper (talk in secret) or speak aloud; whether you act hiding behind the night or act broadly in the daylight.": this is in reference to those who act in secret, hiding their actions.

"Everyone has guardian angels before him and behind him who watch him by Al'lah's command....": the angels – who watch over us in obedience to Al'lah's command – are always around us, preserving us, as otherwise the devils may kidnap our spirits. These angels record our deeds, following the command of Al'lah. All our deeds are recorded.

"...God does not change people's conditions until they themselves change...": if we repent to Al'lah, then He will dispel all affliction from us.

Grace will not be taken away from you unless you move away from good intentions and good conduct, and if and when you change, God will change your conditions. There is no Azali (pre-material) predetermination that considers you to be one of the people of hellfire and wretchedness; rather, Al'lah drives what suits your state to you at every moment, every hour and every day.

"...if Al'lah seeks to afflict a people with a trial, none can ward it off...": when a person deserves to have an affliction, none can repel it from them.

"...besides Him they have no manager.": Present some of your money, your prestige, and your scientific knowledge to a deserving person in order to please God, the Great and the Almighty. Repent to him, pledging not to return to disobedience. Then Al'lah will accept your repentance and replace your humiliation with honor, your poverty with riches, and your disease (whether physical or spiritual) with health and a happy spiritual life.

God says: "Do they not know that Al'lah is He who accepts the repentance of His obedient followers and takes alms, and that Al'lah is the Forgiving One, the Merciful".

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 9, At-Tawba (Repentance), verse 104

"It is He who accepts the repentance of those obedient to Him and pardons the sins"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 42, Ash-Shu'ara' (Consultation), verse 25

So, the goodness and the evil which befall humanity depend on us ourselves.

Do you think that any person on earth can benefit you or harm you in any way unless Al'lah wills it? What He wills will certainly be, but what He does not will will never be, and there is no power or might except with Al'lah who is (glory to Him) the steering God of all people.

It is clarified to us that all matters are fully in the hands of Al'lah, the Almighty, and that a person takes no action except by His will, and this person is subject to good and evil; if their spirit becomes virtuous and they do things that deserve to be repaid with goodness and welfare, God will employ people to treat them well; but if their spirit becomes vicious and they act in a way that deserves harm and damage, God will drive people to them who will treat them in accordance with what they deserve. None can change or replace what Al'lah has predestined for people according to what they have done and what acts they have committed. God says: "Whatever misfortune happens to you is because of the things your hands have wrought, and for many (of them) He grants forgiveness."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (Consultation), verse 30

If they refrain from their aberration and repent to their Provider, their grief and sorrow will be replaced with bliss and joy, and they will return and approach God after being far away from Him, and they will enjoy their communication with Him and will join the blissful ones.

All matters, indeed, are organized justly and deservedly, and are in Al'lah's hands. The Holy Qur'an refers to this in many verses. In one of them, God says, "...if He bestows on you a favor, none can withhold His bounty..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 10, Yunus (Jonah), verse 107

Then, seek refuge in Al'lah, the Almighty, and straighten yourself within His order, which is the absolute of good for you. Therein, you will recover both spiritually and physically and your good conduct will produce health, riches, honor, and high standing for you, and you will achieve the happiness of this life and the life to come.

# Chapter 13

* * *

## Very Important Cases

These must be well clarified due to their gravity and the serious results that come from believing in them, and they are:

1) Had magic any influence upon God's messenger (cpth)?!

2) "If Satan tempts you, seek refuge in God; He is the All-Hearing, the Omniscient."

3) Seeking refuge in God through His messenger (cpth) burns the devil and defeats him, whereas the believing person who likes to be with his Provider enjoys heaven through this.

4) How could the devil whisper evil to our master Adam (pth)?!

5) How did the devil touch our master Job (cpth)?!

## Did Magic Act upon the Messenger of God (Communication with Al'lah and peace are through him)

In the books that interpret the Holy Qur'an and the related books of prophetic tradition (known as the Hadith), it was reported that the two noble fortresses, Al-Falaq (All that's coming to Appearance) and An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind) were revealed because of an incident involving Lubaid Ibn Al-A'sam. According to this account, Lubaid Ibn Al-A'sam bewitched the messenger of God (cpth) using a comb, hair combings, dried pollen husk, one male pollen and a tied string that contained eleven knots and had needles stuck into it. The contention is that the two noble Fortresses were sent to the prophet Mohammad (cpth) for this reason. After this, whenever he read a verse, one knot unraveled and he consequently felt that his energy levels increased up to the point that the last knot became untied, at which point he got up as if he had been released from fetters. The people who reported this story also claimed that he didn't know whether or not Satan was entering into his chaste wives during his affliction.

Such claims about bewitching him (cpth) were mentioned in the books Al-Bukhari and Al-Jalalein Interpretation that were written by Lubaid the Jew, and through other books of explanation that were filled with interpolated sayings. So, what is the extent of the truth of this account?! This devilish report of wicked falsehood tells us that Satan entered into the prophet's chaste and purified wives; moreover, it was related in some of their statements that the messenger Mohammad (cpth) remained under the influence of magic and its devils for about eighteen months. So, we wonder did the inspiration cease to be sent to him during this period?! Did not the Almighty say: "Nor is this the utterance of an accursed devil"?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 81, At-Takwir (Extinguished!), verse 25

Was it Satanic inspiration, then?! This contention disparages the Great Qur'an, charging it with having been whispered by devils, which is the same claim that was made by the envious and spiteful polytheists of Mecca. God says: "...when the wrong doers declare: 'the man you follow is surely bewitched'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 47

And undoubtedly, devils never approach those who are pure, for the Almighty says: "Shall I tell you upon whom the devils descend? They descend on every lying (departing) sinner."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 221-222

A departing sinner is a person that turns away from the path of righteousness and insists on loving this lower life and its mean yearnings. Thus, is this devilish description appropriate with respect to Al'lah's messenger (cpth), the most perfect one in all creation, whom Al'lah the Almighty had confirmed in his perfection, and who is the guide of worlds to the straight path? The Almighty says: "And the star when he stoops, your compatriot (Mohammad), is not in error, nor is he deceived! He does not speak out of his own fancy. This (all his sayings and actions) is but an inspired revelation. He is taught by the Powerful and the Mighty."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 53, An-Najm (The Star), verse 1-5

So he (cpth) never went astray from God's way, nor was he tempted by this lower life, nor did he utter anything that came from his own personal inclinations. All his sayings and actions were inspired revelations from Al'lah's Honor. He did not utter a word without Al'lah's Permission, and he was always working according to His Order. His knowledge (cpth) was directly obtained from the Presence of Al'lah, who is the Manager and the One who steers the reins of heavens and earth at the top level of perfection. And what about Quraysh and the Jews? Would they have kept silent if they had found even a single blemish upon God's Envoy (cpth)?! If this fabricated account was true, would they not have said that the Holy Qur'an came out of the devils' whispers? However, the Almighty says: "It was not the devils who brought down this Qur'an. It is neither in their interest nor in their power."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 210-211

These interpolated stories indicate that devils had an influence over God's Envoy so that they could make him sick, although devils can never in fact attend his assemblies (cpth) at all. Al'lah says: "In fact, they are expelled from hearing it (The Qur'an)."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 212

So, would any illustration serve better than Al'lah's? The Almighty says: "No power has he (Satan) over believers who put their trust in their Provider. He has power only over those who befriend him and those who take him as a god besides Al'lah."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99-100

Since Satan is chased away from holding any sway over a true believer, would it then be logical to think that he had power over Al'lah's Envoy (cpth)? God forbid! Surely not!

Thus, Satan's domination acts only upon malicious people and polytheists who have turned away from spiritual surrender to Him, whereas this domination never affects God's Envoy (cpth), who is the head of the monotheists.

Besides, Satan himself trembled with terror and turned tail when he saw Al'lah's Envoy (cpth) with those who believed alongside him. Indicating that, the Almighty says: "...but when the two armies came within sight of each other, he took to his heels, saying: 'I am done with you, for I can see what you cannot. I fear Al'lah for His punishment is so stern'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 8, Al-Anfal (Spoils of War), verse 48

That was what happened when he saw the Godly support for the believers, so how would it be with God's Envoy (cpth) who is His successor on earth and His ambassador to all of creation?! For more illustration of this point we say that the word 'peace' in the statement, "communication with Al'lah and peace are through him" serves to show that Al'lah the Almighty kept him safe from every mutinous devil and from all the evil in creation due to his continuous recourse to Him and the fortification by his Provider of all of Creation and the oblivious humankind and oblivious jinn-kind. We also say: "peace is upon him." The word 'peace' here indicates security from every evildoer. On the contrary to what is claimed, Al'lah's messenger (cpth) surmounts them at all times. The Almighty says: "...but Al'lah gives His envoys authority over whom He will..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 59, Al-Hashr (Creation-Gathering), verse 6

Also: "Is Al'lah not All-Sufficient for those who are obedient to Him?! Yet they threaten you with those who are inferior! ..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 36

Furthermore, "...Al'lah will protect you from all the oblivious mankind and oblivious jinn-kind..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 5, Al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 67

All that Al'lah, the Great, says is true. Al'lah is enough as a witness against their false statements. The messenger (cpth) said: "I was granted victory by the disbelievers' fear of God while one month distant from them (on foot)." [38]

This refers to the time when the prophet (cpth) was on his way to fight the disbelievers. They had decided to stay and fight him at first, but in the end they fled because they were filled with horror at his impending arrival. They ran away when the distance between the approaching prophet and the group of disbelievers was one month's march on foot; that is to say, approximately one thousand kilometers. In those days, distances were measured by the time it took to travel the distance in question on foot. Because the prophet was sent by God to be a mercy to all of both humankind and jinn-kind, in order to release them from darkness and allow them to enter into light, God allowed the prophet (cpth) to triumph over the disbelievers. This happened because God always gives His prophet a light through which he is able to conquer and defeat the darkness of the disbelievers. Al'lah gives support to His prophet (cpth), just as the devil gives support to the disbelievers. Al'lah filled them with horror and they ran away, just as the devil runs away in horror as soon as he sees the light of the prophet, because if he stays and is close to this light, he will be burnt and will die. The prophet relies on his Provider, the Mighty, whereas the disbelievers are followers of the weak Satan, who abandoned them and fled in order to escape his own death.

Besides, when Satan tried to whisper to our great master Adam (peace is through him), aiming to prove that Adam might come to disobey his Provider, he achieved only failure and defeat, as an evil plot affects none but its designers. As for our master Adam (pth), he acquired endless heavens instead of the single paradise he had been enjoying, whereas Satan dwelt in misery and hellfire, and this will remain his abode. So, when Satan viewed this outcome he said: "He said: 'my Provider! Since you have led me astray, I shall adorn this life before mankind on the earth and seduce them all, except your selected (true) followers from among them'. God said: 'This is the right course for Me. Surely you shall have no power over my worshippers, except for the sinners who follow you'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 39-42

As shown through the noble verses, Satan realized his loss when he approached Al'lah's selected sincere followers who are the prophets. He himself avoided them of his own volition and that is indicated by his saying in the noble verse: "...except your selected followers from among them."

Yet the Almighty asserts that Satan has no influence over the true believers when He says: "Surely, you shall have no power over my worshippers, except the sinners (tempted ones) who follow you." The 'tempted ones' refers to those who do not make use of their ability to think to carry out the real search that would lead them to know their Provider. They have been seduced by the lower life, thinking that it has something real within it, but the truth will be unveiled to them when death comes, and they will realize that it contains nothing, and everything was only a gift, a kindness, and the benevolence of Al'lah. Thus, they shall suffer regret and remorse, and then their abode will be in hellfire for the purpose of diverting them with their hellish pain.

So, we ask: was not God's messenger (cpth), whom the Almighty had selected to inform people of His Mission, the lord of prophets?! Al'lah the Almighty is the Hearing and the Omniscient. Al'lah heard the prophet's sublime saying and knew about his high status and intention. So, due to Mohammad's purity and elevated intention, He chose him to guide creation to Al'lah. Is it reasonable or acceptable, then, to relate such an account about him (cpth)?!

Does not the Almighty say: "What does Al'lah gain by your punishment if ye are grateful and you believe? Al'lah is Thankful and Omniscient.": that is: what does He attain by afflicting you with torment? Why does He punish you?! He has created us to make us happy here and in the hereafter, but since the spirit hides what illnesses it has inside, He sends us this distress so that we may withdraw from our sins, and repent and communicate with Him to have our spirits purified of their illnesses.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 147

So, as God's messenger (cpth) has the utmost pure spirit because of its continuity in remembering God without a single moment's disconnection from Him, therefore the Almighty utterly prevented any one of humankind or jinn-kind from being able to touch him or cause him even the slightest of harm. Al'lah met his requirements (cpth) due to his constant resorting to Him. God says: "Is Al'lah not All-Sufficient for those who are obedient to Him?! Yet they threaten you with those who are inferior!..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 36

So, who would dare to face he (cpth) whom Al'lah supports?!

Al'lah says: "...Al'lah will protect you from all the oblivious mankind and oblivious jinn-kind...": Al'lah preserves him, thus none can cause any damage to him (cpth).

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 5, Al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 67

The Almighty also says: "He alone has knowledge of what is hidden. His secrets He reveals to none, except to the apostles whom He selects. He sent down guardians to be before them and behind them.": that is: there are angels protecting him (cpth) from ill or from any harm that may issue from any creature, whoever they may be, from among humankind or jinn-kind.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 26-27

We realize the messenger's dependence (cpth) upon Al'lah the Almighty through this noble verse: "...say: 'Call on your false gods and scheme against me. Give me no respite'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 195

This is so because He is the only Doer, and he (cpth) is completely pure, so nobody can hold sway over him. He has never committed a mistake or an error through which one may have power over him, since there is no power or might except with the only God.

The messenger of God (cpth) is the first humane doctor. He heals hearts before treating bodies, so those that adhere to him will be protected from the slyness of devils and magicians. Wherever a believer who seeks refuge in God and His messenger is, the devils shall certainly fall into forfeiture and failure. It was said: "when he who is supported by God's messenger meets lions, they shall fearfully keep to their woods."

Communication with Al'lah and peace are through the one who became the greatest of realities' suns, unmatched by all of the universe's suns in his great illumination, which restores and refers to the Grandeur of God. The Almighty says: "Prophet, we have sent you forth as a witness, a bearer of good news and a warner; one who invites to Al'lah by His leave and a shining lamp."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 45-46

Thus, anyone who has witnessed even just a little of his exalted reality will discern the futility of what has been related about him (cpth). How could a devil draw near to him?! Furthermore, since Satan enters into people's spirits when bewitching them, controlling their affections, senses, thoughts and even their acts, then how could a weak devil, that can be easily burnt just by the slightest beam of Al'lah's light, penetrate the focus of descending Godly revelations?!

The true believer will recognize the reality of this statement and will never believe that report, because when they measure matters according to their own status and correctness after they connect themselves with God's messenger (cpth) and remember Al'lah, they will find that every sneaking whisperer of evil will be driven away from them, and any magicians who have woven webs and plotted against them will promptly fail and be defeated. The Almighty says: "If those who see by Al'lah's light are tempted by a passing Satanic temptation, they will remember Al'lah and then they will discern the truth."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 201

### Al-Mihrab

It is the messenger (cpth) who protects and defends all believers. God mentioned the word 'Al- Mihrab' [39] in the Holy Qur'an, using it to describe how the messenger fights against devils and wards them off his followers who surround him and pay attention to what is right. That is to say, when the devil comes whispering in the chests of those followers who have begun to follow the messenger (cpth), trying to make them commit forbidden acts so that they become desperate, or trying to sow doubt in their hearts so as to make them shun the messenger, he (cpth) confronts the devil and drives him away from them with the power of his luminous, magnificent, and lovely spirit. Such things can never be seen with the physical eyes, nay – they can only be seen with the eye of the heart and the insight. The Almighty says: "The angels called out to him (our master Zacharias) as he was communicating with Al'lah in Al-Mihrab (fighting the devils), saying: 'Al'lah bids you rejoice in the birth of John, who shall confirm the word of Al'lah. He shall be a master whose spirit always heads for Al'lah, and a prophet that deserves our donation'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 3, Al 'Imran (The Family of 'Imran), verse 39

So it was for our master Zacharias, who was absorbed in his fight against the devils, trying to repel them from his disciples.

Al'lah the Great also says: "Then he (Zacharias) came out before his people from Al-Mihrab (after fighting against the devils) and exhorted them to glorify Al'lah morning and evening."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 19, Maryam (Mary), verse 11

In another verse He says about our master David: "Have you heard the tale of the two litigants who entered the Mihrab?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 21

Similarly, our master David (pth) was fighting against the trespassing devils, burning them or pushing them away from his Muslim adherents.

Thus, the word 'Al-Mihrab' indicates combat against devils and warding them off the followers of the prophet. It is also used to indicate the place where the messenger isolates himself in order to enter into Al'lah's Presence through communication with Him, and each Mihrab (prayer niche) was established in order for believers to perform communication with Al'lah. In this way, the evil of the devils will be forced out. The Almighty says: "...pray for them while communicating with Me, for this prayer will give them comfort..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 9, At-Tawba (Repentance), verse 103

The messenger (cpth) has the light of Al'lah upon him, and through such prayer, he immerses the believers in this great illumination, thereby driving the schemes of every mutinous devil away from them. Besides that, sending his spirit – which is in constant communication with Al'lah – to his followers helps to abate their inclination to the lowly yearnings, as he floods them with his Provider's sacred Manifestation by sending them that which makes them forget all their inclinations except those that are high-level and virtuous and towards the Originator of perfection and the source of Beauty and Majesty – the Great and the Almighty. Thus, since Al'lah's messenger (cpth) is our rescuer, how could Satan dare to approximate him? How impossible!

Using that fabricated story about how the prophet (cpth) was bewitched, and the other false statement (that we should learn magic but not practice it), evil spirits have crept into Muslims' houses, for they believed these lies and convinced themselves that they were true. It seems as if they are saying to themselves: "Since the prophet himself was bewitched, or affected by magic, how would it be with us, when we are so weak compared to him?!" It has slipped from their memories that their deeds that infringe on the noble statute of God brought Satan upon them, to increase their distance from the path of repentance and virtue.

In the current era, those who wish to recount the prophetic tradition (the Hadith) and the interpreters of the Holy Qur'an should, with greater judiciousness, revise these books and compare them with what they read within the Noble Qur'an. Then, only if these Hadith agree with It can they be regarded as true sayings. But if any of them are in contradiction with It – such as the report about the bewitching of the prophet, and the statement that one should learn magic but not practice it – they must be neglected completely and Muslims should be warned against such reports and their like. By eternal God! That is the function of the real religious scholar: clarifying the Holy Qur'an, which is the Provider's declaration for people; teaching them the wisdom of its verses and the lessons hidden behind its stories; instructing them about its laws and commands; and informing them that adhering to It will save them, whereas forsaking It and turning to books that are filled with fabricated sayings will cause them destruction.

Now, through the books that have been issued from the eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho (his soul has been sanctified by Al'lah), the Almighty has facilitated us in having the ability to distinguish between truth and untruth, and knowing the difference between distorted sayings and correct ones. These books reveal to us the ways to guide people to what is right, and spare us the difficulty of returning to the contents of other books to unveil the truth.

## The State of Prophets and Messengers

### How could the devil throw suspicions upon the wish of the messenger Mohammad (cpth)?

The Almighty described the state of messengers and prophets (ptt) to us when He revealed that when humanity enters into His Presence, they derive the power of mercy from being in this situation. So, the prophets were the most merciful towards creation due to their unceasing existence in God's Presence. A prophet wishes people to be guided out of compassion for them.

God says: "Every time we sent an envoy or an apostle before you (Mohammad), and this envoy or apostle had a wish, the devil would throw (suspicion) into their wish, but Al'lah duplicates what the devil throws in, and Al'lah confirms His own revelations: Al'lah is Omniscient and Wise. (He acts thus) that He may render Satan's insinuations a temptation for those who hold a disease in their hearts and whose hearts have been hardened. Certainly, wrongdoers are distant (from Al'lah) and in opposition (to the truth). And (He acts thus) that those to whom knowledge has been given may learn that it (the Qur'an) is the truth from your Provider, and thus their hearts may be made humbly open to it and they will believe in it. Al'lah will surely guide those who believe to the straight path."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 22, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), verse 52-54

"Every time we sent an envoy or an apostle before you (Mohammed), and this envoy or apostle had a wish...": this means that any such an envoy or apostle would have had a wish, which was to guide people, and so the Almighty only sends apostles if they wish to lead people to the right path. This desire comes out of the tenderness, mercy, and clemency towards creation that their spirit acquires by their closeness to God. Had our master Mohammad (cpth) not had such worthiness and a high claim, he would not have been charged with His mission.

God described His messenger by saying that he was "...one who is solicitous over you and who is clement and merciful to true believers."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 9, At-Tawba (Repentance), verse 128

When people draw near to their Provider wholeheartedly, they will derive mercy from Him that makes them wish to guide people. So, each messenger and apostle wanted to show people the right way. This was due to the sympathy and the compassion their hearts had towards all of creation.

Therefore, the wish of the messenger (cpth) was to reach people's hearts to give them guidance and for their own happiness, just as a lenient mother wishes nothing for her children except their safety and pleasure.

But whenever a messenger begins to show people the right way, the devil comes and creates suspicions within them.

"...the devil would throw (suspicion) into their wish...": that is, he whispers in the heart of the person whom the messenger wants to guide. Guiding people is the aim of the messenger (cpth), but the devil approaches these people and sends his whispers into their hearts;

"...but Al'lah duplicates what the devil throws in...": that is, the Almighty shows a copy of the devil's insinuations to the messenger so that they can be refuted for the truthful disciple. The Almighty shows this disciple the truth through their entering into His presence (glory to Him) and makes them witness the reality of what the devil has whispered;

"...and Al'lah confirms His own revelations...": in this way, the apostle clarifies the truth logically so that doubts vanish, and perfection, what is right, and the true interpretation take their place in the spirit of this disciple;

And "...Al'lah confirms His own revelations...": here referring to the true call in the heart of the truthful man who really seeks to know the truth;

"...Al'lah is Omniscient...": of creation;

"...and Wise.": meaning that He gives each one what is appropriate for them. Due to His scientific knowledge of the truth of any person, He copies what insinuations the devil creates;

"that He may render Satan's insinuations a temptation for those who hold a disease in their hearts...": and the Almighty does that in order to excise the wickedness that exists in their spirits so that they may really repent after this treatment and become believers;

"...and whose hearts have been hardened...": in reference to those whose hearts do not relent when they are reminded of God.

"...Certainly, the wrongdoers are distant and in opposition...": their saying is illogical. They always oppose the messenger, Mohammad (cpth), due to the lusts that exist in their spirits, and the love of this world that dwells in their hearts. The oppressors become far from their Creator, because of the bad deeds they have committed. They obeyed Satan instead of Al'lah, so they became far from Him; they became misled and strayed from the right way and deprived themselves from happiness and nearness to God.

"...those to whom knowledge has been given may learn that it (the Qur'an) is the truth from your Provider, and thus their hearts may be made humbly open to it and they will believe in it. Al'lah will surely guide those who believe to the straight path": if a person thinks of their beginning and their end and realizes that there is no God except Al'lah, they will ascertain that the prophet's sayings are really derived from God's, in the same way that they will know that the devil's whispering is actually a kind of goodness and mercy, as it alerts the believer and drives out the malice from the spirits of those who oppose from afar.

But if man neglects his thinking, his situation will become critical.

There is always an angel calling you like so: "You, man or woman! Think of your origin. You were but semen that was created from fruit."

The believer's heart will be quelled; i.e. they will feel calm and reassured, so that they surrender to God because they see that all His actions include nothing other than goodness; and surely He will guide them to the path of righteousness.

Thus, the devil's intention is viperous, but the Almighty fulfills it for him in a way that leads to goodness. He makes the devil's insinuations into a cure for wicked spiritual ailments. For this whisper is a means that helps in bringing out the evil that exists in the spirit of this person who is in opposition, who is ill-hearted and far from God, and who is hardhearted. It allows them to be transformed by what wrongdoings they commit. After that, they will be subject to treatment; that is, after the evilness comes out of their spirits, there will be medicine and bitter treatment for them.

So the devil's deed is like a laxative which takes the malice out of the sick spirit.

Accordingly, 'duplication' here means 'copying' and 'confirmation'. For the believer, it is done to make them firm of belief, so that they rush to do what is right and fair; but for the malicious one who is in opposition, it serves to clear out the field of his spirit, healing it of its malignancy so that treatment becomes possible thereafter.

## Satan's Insinuation

As for God's saying: "If Satan makes insinuations against you, seek refuge in Al'lah. He is All-Hearing and Omniscient.": it is an address to the believer, and not to His noble messenger (cpth).

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 199

The believers wanted to guide those of their people who were idolaters, and so they set up meetings and sat down with them in order to advise them and show them the way of belief. Yet that did not convince them since they were polytheists; that is to say, they did not know that the Almighty controls everything.

Therefore, the prophet (cpth), ordered his companions, the believing admonishers, to follow God's saying in the noble verses which is: "Show forgiveness, speak for justice, and turn away from the ignorant.": that is, do not let them impress you. Do not care about those who do not follow this way of belief. Turn away from them with your spirit and do not let them befoul it. Admonish them, but do not let your heart be attached to them. "If Satan makes insinuations against you...": that is, against you, the believer, who seeks to guide people. If the devil's insinuations reach you through those ignorant men, then you should "...seek refuge in Al'lah...": meaning resort to Him, because "He is All-Hearing and Omniscient.": He hears what you are saying and knows your state, believer! They may speak with you, so turn to God in order not to be affected by what they are saying. And if one is impolite with you, the Almighty will protect you. Seek refuge in God. This is what the pious do everywhere and every time.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 199-200

Insinuation may also occur:

• Either when the pure faithful heart inclines to people of suspicion and distance from God, and thereby the status of one to whom the faithful spirit was attached and to whom it inclined will become imprinted in its mirror.

In this case, such a person has but to break with this other person who is far from God, and then thank God for His protection and His rescue, and seek refuge in Him from the state of people who are far from Him and who shun Him;

• Or as a result of one's inclination to mean and worldly desires. This is because when the heart admires something and inclines to it, this thing will settle in it and distract such a heart from God. God says: "Al'lah has not made for any man two hearts in his (one) body...": the worldly life and the other life – that is, vice and paradise – do not exist together in one heart.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 4

So, in such a case, the devil will hurry to this person and seduce them with their desire, wishing to allow them to attain what they desire so as to turn them away from their link with God and their entrance into His Presence.

As for the believer, when the devil approaches them with his whispering, they feel his temptations and insinuations and suffer from heartache and dejection. Yet they soon remember God's recommendations to them when He (glory to Him) says in His Holy Book: "If Satan makes insinuations against you, seek refuge in Al'lah. He is All-Hearing and Omniscient."

So, they resort to Him and enter His Presence, and meanwhile, the devil retreats, defeated, and absents himself from the scene. Thus, the spirit becomes pure of what had been attached to it because it is now near to its Provider, and it towers a rank higher than its previous rank. The Almighty says: "Those who are illuminated by God's light, when a thought of evil from Satan touches them, bring Al'lah to remembrance, when lo! They see (the reality of this thought)."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 201

Piety (which is to become illuminated with God's light) aims at making you remember God so as to view the evil that is hidden within this temptation, and thereby you are able to avoid it and abandon it.

That is also the direction of the messenger (cpth) which he revealed to the believers in Fussilat Fortress, when God says: "Nor can goodness and evil be equal. Repel evil with what is better: then will he between whom and you was hatred become as though he were your dearest friend! But none will attain this save those who endure with fortitude – none but people of the greatest good fortune. And if insinuation is made against you by the evil one, seek refuge in God. He is the All-Hearing, the Omniscient."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 41, Fussilat (explained), verse 34-36

"And if insinuation is made against you by the evil one, seek refuge in God...": this is addressed to the believer; "...He is the All-Hearing, the Omniscient.": this was an address of the noble messenger (cpth) to the believers during his celestial lessons: who demonstrates that Al'lah is the All-Hearing, the Omniscient? It is the messenger (cpth).

He advises the believers to seek refuge in God in the face of the devil and his insinuations, when calling people to truth and leading them to the straight path.

But how does this 'seeking refuge' work? And what is it?

## Seeking Refuge in God Through Al'lah's Messenger (cpth) Burns the Devil and Defeats Him, and Through It Paradise is Achieved for the Believer

God says: "When you recite the Qur'an, seek refuge in God from the cursed Satan."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 98

What is the meaning of 'seeking refuge'?

What do we mean by saying 'in God'?

Who is 'Satan'?

What is the meaning of 'the cursed'?

'Seeking refuge' means to resort to and to seek protection and might from the possessor of might and strength. When we do that, the devil flees, frightened, defeated and humbled, afraid of being burned by the Godly light that comes into the heart of the believer who seeks refuge and protection in God.

Refuge and protection should only be sought from someone with strength and might, as can be seen from the following example. Suppose that there is a child walking in the street when an unfriendly man or an animal follows him to cause evil and harm to him. While he is in the highest degree of fear and terror, he sees his father coming towards him. I wonder, will he resort to or seek protection from anyone other than his father in such a case? Of course not! He will seek refuge in his father because he knows of his love for him, his honesty and his ability to overcome his enemies and defend his child from them. So is it for the believing person; they should only seek refuge in their Provider and enter into His Presence with their spirit by means of the messenger (cpth), who has the inseparable illumination; and thereby, they will be kept safe and protected and will escape from evil and hurt. Moreover, they will derive a light from God through the messenger (cpth); and since light and fire cannot be gathered together, therefore, the devil will leave him on the run, seeking to save himself before being burned by a light that is greater than that of the piercing star, the light of God and His messenger (cpth). He will feel scared and will draw back to be as far away as the east is from the west.

But if the devil was suicidal, in a rush, and desperate to cause evil and damage to those whom he wanted to hurt, soon the light of our master Mohammad (cpth), by which the believer is enlightened, would burn him until it led him to a death from whence there would be no return. God says: "Communicate yourself with your Provider and repulse:" (Oh Mohammad).

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 108, Al-Kawthar (Abundance), verse 2

Over and above this, by seeking refuge in God, such a believer would rise high and become elevated. It is possible to see a good example of this in God's apostle and his noble companions, on the occasion when the devil shook all over and ran away from them in Honain Battle. The Holy Qur'an said that the devil took to his heels, saying: "...I am done with you, for I can see what you cannot. I fear Al'lah. Al'lah is of stern chastisement."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 8, Al-Anfal (Spoils of War), verse 48

Regarding the word Satan or devil, it designates one that is far from the truth, who will be burned and vulnerable to destruction when trying to institute aggression against the believers. God says: "No power has he over those who believe and put their trust in their Provider."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99

So, due to his shunning the right path, he is afflicted with burning and damnation. As for the word 'cursed', it refers to those who always suffer torment because of being deprived from being near to God. It also indicates a person who is continually hit with affliction and misery. Yet affliction and misery descend upon them only because of their wrongdoing, their aggression and their shunning, for distance and shunning God are the reason behind every affliction and the source of any sort of unhappiness.

So, the statement 'I seek refuge in God from the cursed Satan' as a whole means: I seek protection and might in the One who is Obeyed, whose commands control everything, and I seek refuge in God from the devil, whose distance from the truth causes him to always be tortured and deprived of every goodness.

If you spiritually resort to Al'lah when reading the Qur'an and enter – with the company of the messenger (cpth) – into the Presence of the One who is Obeyed after you have believed in God in self-belief, and have attained a degree of love for the messenger that is proportional to the perfection that you have, with that you will enter a fortified fort, and an inaccessible place, where no devil dares to enter; and even if they try, they will burn and die. In this fort, the insinuations of Satan will not reach you, the deafness of ears will disappear and the veil over the eyes will be uncovered, and therein you will hear the speech of the Speaker (glory to Him), while you are in the hearty company of the messenger (cpth) as well as seeing and witnessing the benefits and the good things that are folded under God's commands.

At that time, the Almighty will overwhelm you with good health, money, honor and power. God says: "...Honor belongs to Al'lah and His apostle and to the believers..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 63, Al-Munafiqun (The Hypocrites), verse 8

Only then will you be in a position where the Almighty will never empower a devil over you. God says: "No power has he over those who believe and put their trust in their Provider."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99

Thus, taking care to be unaffected by any form of magic made by the magician, such as creating the deceptions which they call 'white magic', separation, sowing dissent or establishing relationships, causing damage through the eye or through envy, etc., and even if one feels that they have fallen victim to the claws of a magician, a person just has to remember God truthfully and to settle a strict account with themselves. They have to see if they did anything negligent or anything that was in breach of God's legislation. They have to remember whether they have denied someone their rights, have aggressed upon someone with injustice, or have done wrong to others, or whether their hands or their eyes have touched upon any forbidden thing, and look for other such breaches of God's legislation or overstepping of His bounds. Then, they have to correct this negligence and change what intentions their spirit keeps to persist with such negligence. God says: "...verily, never will Al'lah change the condition of a people until they themselves change..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 11

They have to turn to their Provider in repentance, seeking protection in His High Honor, and to mention Al'lah; thereby, He will transform that which they suffer and the devil will run away from them. Thus the plot and the tricks of magic will fail.

By their resorting to God, their spirit will turn towards Him, the Almighty, and hence the Godly light will flow into it and protect it from the evils and the black plots which are being hatched against it.

This will be manifested more clearly to us if we refer to the noble Fortress, Al-Falaq (All that is coming to Appearance), where we find that the messenger (cpth) was protected and preserved from the evil of the 'spitting on the knots' due to his resorting to the Provider of everything. This spitting on knots is a type of magic used by the magicians, whereby they tie knots in a piece of string or rope, and spit on them in order to bewitch people. It was said that this was used against God's messenger (cpth), but he was protected against its effects. Therefore, neither could a magician find a way to reach him, nor could a devil dare to approach him to show him false things.

How could a magician cause harm to the messenger (cpth), since he was always abiding in God's Presence with his noble spirit?!

That is why he (cpth) was impeccable and free of sins, be they minor or great. It is absolutely true that no devil – or any other creature – had any influence over him at all.

Was there any devil that would have dared to approach him (cpth)? Had there been any, he would have soon been burnt.

That is the purpose of this 'seeking refuge'. It acquaints us with the facts, showing us that the believer who seeks protection in God following the example of the apostle (cpth) will not be harmed by a magician or be touched by a devil.

As for those who draw far from God and commit sin and aggression, they are subject to every evil and every injury as there are no weapons in their hands and no shelter to which they can resort.

## The Qualities of the True Ascetic

We often hear about spiritual diseases and how widespread they are and about their large increase. There is no street you may walk on without meeting someone who is a patient of such a disease.

You will see them wearing tattered, dirty and disgusting clothes, with beards that have grown until they reach their bellies.

If you sniff the bad odor that comes from them, you will soon feel like you are about to fall unconscious. You will find that they sometimes speak with themselves or wrestle with the air. They claim to be people of God although God says: "...Honor belongs to Al'lah and His messenger and to the faithful..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 63, Al-Munafiqun (The Hypocrites), verse 89

They may also claim to lead an ascetic life while, in fact, they are far from God and His supreme religion. They have followed the devil, their enemy, and have taken him as an intimate to the point that he has drawn them into his world. He has shown himself to them and they have seen him.

So, their speech in the streets in loud voices is nothing other than talking to the devils of jinn-kind whom they see and follow, and indeed, their spirits live in the same mean worlds. Thus, every one of these people has become a human devil that is used as a mount for the devils from among the jinns so as to achieve their purposes and aims, which are to cause harm, to use magic, and to engage in other kinds of evil.

Such a person has chosen this ignominy as an end for themselves in their present life before their life to come, since they have followed their enemy, Satan. God says: "Some men of humankind have sought the help of some of the jinns, but they made them more stressed."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 6

It was reported that some Muslim women said to the Lady Aisha (may God be pleased with her): "There is a man, ascetic and Sufi, putting wool on his body, walking barefooted and running in the roads." [40]

But she said: "He is not an ascetic. He is a liar that wants to discredit the Islamic religion. He makes it objectionable in people's eyes with this kind of behavior.

Then she continued: "Omar was the most ascetic man of all people. Yet, when he walked, he sped along (that is, with a walk that indicated honor and strength, like that of a lion); just as he caused pain when he hit people (when establishing what was right and vanquishing what was false); and gratified whom he fed (which indicated his noble spirit and his generosity)."

So, she showed that this imposter did not have any quality of asceticism or piety and confirmed that religion is free from displays of such a type.

There is another group of people who hate those devils who are devils of humankind and jinn-kind. They fear them and are apprehensive about them to the point that they become obsessed with them and scruples fill their chests. They wish to free themselves from such a state but they find no way to do so. They do not know that these devils have power over them because of their own misdeeds. So they make their own lives bitter because of things that oblige them to resort to psychiatrists. But alas! When they do so, the disaster will grow graver and more dangerous and they will get no benefit from their actions.

Those psychiatrists will ascribe their states to physical and bodily matters which are completely moved from the real reasons. So they will prescribe calming and sleeping pills for them until they become addicted to them and are unable to sleep without having them. Thus, the problem will become worse and worse until those maniacs finally surrender to the dirty end which will drop them into the valley of lowness and degradation in this life and in the life to come.

They will become friends of the devil, who will use them to achieve his lowly, evil purposes of vice and wrongdoing by means of magic. Sometimes, they will hide their true nature by acting like crazy people, trying to make people feel sympathy for them. Thus, they draw people's hearts down into lowness and degradation, exactly as the devil does.

In fact, these poor people will not be cured unless they turn to their Provider in repentance of their wrongdoings, as this is the only healing and effective medicine and there is no substitute for it at all.

They should resort to God, seeking His protection, and should ask Him to save them from this horrible and fearful situation, and should promise Him not to return to whatever actions they were doing that were in violation of God's Law. By resorting to their Provider, they can recognize their sins, and so they should turn to their Provider in true repentance and become entirely straight and follow His Commands. The Almighty would then protect them from all evil and damage and would overwhelm them with heart's bliss and happiness, in this way making them dispense with the delights of those vices of which they have repented.

Congenitally, the human spirit does not surrender and seek refuge and protection unless it is to seek it from a powerful one, and nor does it have trust, except in one that is full of strength.

But how can the spirit yield to God when it has not yet witnessed a part of His might, His strength or His singularity in perfection?

This witnessing can be accomplished only by real belief, which arises from a personal reflection on the cosmic signs, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, the day and the night, and the different plants and seasons. At such a time, the spirit shall see that all that is in the universe was brought into being and moves only by the provision, the sustenance and the steering of Him, the Almighty, and shall also see that He owns and controls everything, whether small or great. In such a state, the spirit shall fear death and the meeting with God, and so, it will seek refuge in God (glory to Him) and resort to Him, and only then it shall perform real and heartfelt communication with God, as opposed to the formal kind of communication. With that, a person can be rescued and protected from all evil, all kinds of suffering and all sin. There will be no hand that can cause them any evil as long as they remain in the fort of the Great Almighty and are resorting to Him, and doing so directly upon His order with no deviation. Thus they will be freed from all that distresses them and will turn back to enjoy the bliss and the heavenly gardens for which they have been created by performing good deeds and charity. Now, let us read the following story, which shows the effect of mentioning God's Name when it is issued from the heart of a truthful believer who seeks refuge in Him, the Almighty.
A True Story

### The Haunted House

One day, Mr. Mohammad Amin wanted to buy a new house. So, helped by one of his relatives, he was able to find a good, suitable one with specifications that fulfilled his purpose. But when he asked about its price, he was astonished at the figure he was quoted. He did not expect that such a fine house with so many wonderful qualities would be so low-priced. "How strange!" he said to himself, "It is an Arabic house with a roomy courtyard, with water streaming from a fountain in its centre. Fresh air flows throughout all the different parts of the house, and the sun shines into it for most of the day; it also contains many large rooms. "So, how could it be so cheap, despite all these advantages?! The price they want me to pay for it is even less than half of what it should be worth. "How strange!! There must be something wrong with it that the eye cannot see."

So, the virtuous master asked, "What is wrong with this house that makes you sell it at such a low price? Come on, come on! Tell me what hidden defect it has, for otherwise I will not buy it!"

The owner of the house replied: "But if I do, you will feel bad towards it and will not buy it." "I will buy it if God wills. So tell me, what is its fault?" "This house is haunted!" said the man. He meant that a clique of evil spirits from the devils of jinn-kind lived in the house. They caused troubles for its inhabitants and made their life hard, which made them leave it after a short time and run away. Yet from his deep belief in God, our noble and pure man knew that the Almighty controls and directs everything justly, so he feared nothing and cared about nobody except God, due to his high straight conduct and his blamelessness. He was always seeking God's satisfaction, which amounted to the extent of his hopes and aims.

So, he decided that he would buy the house and accepted the price despite its dangerous defect, and gave the house's owner the money saying:

"Such a problem is not important. Here is the money."

After a few days he brought all of his belongings and furniture and settled in the new house with his wife.

The day they changed their residence was a hard and onerous day, filled with cleaning and organization. When the night set in, it was not long before Om Fathi – the wife of Mr. Mohammad Amin – walked to the bedroom of the new house, worn by toil and with a swinging gait. She was soon snoring in a deep sleep.

As for Mr. Mohammad Amin, Abo Fathi, he went to sleep in his own small room at about ten o'clock in the evening as was his habit. He had put a strict rule for himself in place, which was to sleep at ten o'clock in the evening and to awake at two after midnight so as to perform the night communications, praising God and approaching Him, the Almighty.

The time passed and the hands on the clock face began to move towards two o'clock at night. Thus, at the appointed time that venerable master woke up. But how strange!!

It was unusual not to find that calm and silence were prevailing over his home at such a late hour after midnight!!

He heard the noise of a coal oil burner as if someone had prepared it and set it alight. "Is it possible?!", he said to himself in astonishment, "Is it possible?!

"God's blessing! God's blessing! Om Fathi must have awakened to perform the night communications before me, and then she must have begun to do the washing after her prayer! How active she is!!!

"Despite all this hard work of moving house, and arranging all of our belongings and furniture, and cleaning the place, here she is! Awake many hours before the call to the dawn prayer, in the full flow of activity and liveliness!! God bless her! She has preceded me in doing her duty and good work."

He left his bed and opened the door of his small upstairs room, and then came down the stairs to the courtyard to perform the ritual ablution, and then to pray and perform the two bows of the night communications as he was used to doing.

Actually, his supposition had to be true, because when he looked through a window that overlooked the kitchen, he saw a heap of accumulated washing and the coal oil burner alight at the door of the kitchen, where a big container filled with water had been put over it. So, definitely, Om Fathi was in the kitchen!

He finished his own ablution, and then went ahead to the courtyard, where he saw three young children holding each others' hands and jumping.

He found plenty of oddity in this matter. "How strange!!" he wondered, "How can they jump and play, laughing and rejoicing, at such a late hour of the night? And how could they have entered the building when the outer door is closed and locked??!

"Really, this is an outlandish matter!"

So, he asked them: "Who are you?" At this point, the three children stopped, but they kept holding each others' hands and jumping on the floor in a cheerful and lively way. Then, the oldest one of them said, "I'm Kberoon."

"I'm Azgar", said the middle one.

"And I'm Zgeroon", the youngest said.

As soon as the third finished his words, "I'm Zgeroon", our master – who was still puzzled at the situation – uttered the word 'Al'lah', a word that came from a heart that was witnessing its Provider, and then, suddenly, the three children changed into columns of smoke and everything that was there disappeared.

It became so that there was no burner, no washing, no Om Fathi, and no noise or hurly burly.

There was only absolute silence, as if nothing had even been there.

The virtuous master felt worried about his wife Om Fathi, so, barefoot and in a hurry, he went up the stairs. He was heading for the bedroom, where he found that his wife was sleeping. She had been sleeping soundly from the moment she had laid her head on her pillow until that very moment, and perhaps she had not even tossed or turned, or moved from the side on which she lay due to the effort she had exerted and the fatigue she felt from her work the day before.

So she definitely knew nothing about what had happened.

Later, when she woke up a few minutes before sunrise, her husband asked her calmly, not wanting to disturb or dismay her: "Did you get up last night, Om Fathi?"

"No!" she answered, "I felt absolutely nothing, from the time I put my head on my pillow until I woke up to pray before sunrise."

Nevertheless, Abo Fathi continued to hide this event from his wife for six years more in order not to let her become afraid, due to any whispers or bad ideas that may have come into her mind.

After that night, no more events of that kind occurred in their home ever again, and the haunted house turned into a house that was haunted only by the family's happiness which spread bliss all over it, which was constantly flowing out of the spirit of that noble man.

Thus, when somebody rightfully resorts to God and really seeks refuge in Him, when they yield and apply His orders, and when they become truly straight, all evils and offenses will be driven away from them as they will be fortified by the fence of their true belief.

In this way, God will protect them as long as they stay within His bounds and keep seeking refuge in Him.

So, those that follow the right path will perform real communication with God, and then the divine states, tastes, gleams, and witnessing will enter their spirits and uplift them to God where they will become cured of their defects and diseases. Then none will have power over them, as they will have become clean and pure.

That is the state of anyone who truly believes in God. God says: "No power has he (Satan) over believers who put their trust in their Provider. He has power only over those who befriend him and those who serve other gods besides Al'lah."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99-100

Verily there is a great lesson in that for those who want to learn a lesson.

## Satan Has No Power over God's Messenger (cpth), but Only over the Unbelievers Sitting before Him

You may wonder: how can I avoid being taken away from the remembrance of Al'lah by Satan? In the verse, it says that Satan made the prophet forget his Provider because he was talking with unjust people. The Almighty then advises His noble messenger (cpth) to remind these unjust people about God, but not to sit in long discussion with them. It seems that the devil had power over the prophet in this example, so how can I be safe from this evil, when I am weaker than the prophet?

Now let us explain the true meaning of this verse, wherein the Almighty says: "When you meet those who speak wrongly about Our Revelation, turn away from them till they engage in some other talk, lest Satan may cause you to forget. So, do not sit with unjust people after preaching to them."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 68

Out of the messenger's (cpth) tenderness and care for people, when he found them in error as they spoke about the noble verses, he became confused by their arguments. This was because their spiritual states were imprinted on him due to his eagerness and desire to allow them to receive guidance. That was why the Almighty ordered him not to sit with them. Accordingly, he only reminded them of God, and then left the gathering. The phrase "...turn away from them..." means to raise them off your spirit: do not allow your heart to cling to them, and turn yourself to something else.

The phrase "...lest Satan may cause you (Mohammed (cpth) to forget..." refers to how, if he (cpth) failed to behave in such a way, Satan would have made him forget the proof and evidence of his Provider. If you listen closely to such people, their states will be impressed on the brilliant sheer mirror of your clear spirit. So, they shall cause you to forget the importance of remembering your Provider, and subsequently, you will be unable to make recommendations or reveal anything to them. The word 'Satan' mentioned in this noble verse is intended to refer to a devil of humankind, as these wrongdoers are the devils of humankind rather than of jinn-kind, and therefore people should not incline to them with their hearts or hearken to those who have turned away from Al'lah, lest their negative spiritual states be imprinted on people's clear spirits.

Say the word of righteousness and leave. "...so, do not sit with unjust people after preaching to them...": after reminding them of their Provider; "...with unjust people": meaning that they are unjust to themselves firstly, and afterwards, unjust to others. Out of the prophet's sympathy and tenderness towards them he became confused. This was a consequence of the imprinting of their states on his spirit when he was suffering severe pain and was deeply affected by them. So he became greatly distressed, until he was on the verge of being unable to know what to say to guide them. Such a situation is normal, since Al'lah's messenger is a human being who feels affected by events and is sometimes sad, which is the same state as any of the prophets (ptt).

So it was with our master Moses (pth), who was dwelling in Pharaoh's palace, but was engaged in his supreme spiritual world and did not care about Pharaoh's people. This was because this was at a time before he had been charged by Al'lah with guiding them, whereas they themselves were engrossed in their own world. The position of our master Mohammad (cpth) was similar to this before he had been charged with his mission, at which time he always kept himself away from Quraysh's amusing and careless gatherings which indulged in the dissoluteness that resulted from ignorance of Al'lah, isolating himself from the people, in spite of his good fortune, along with his wealthy wife, our mother Khadeejah (may Al'lah be pleased with her). Thus he lived alone in his lofty spiritual world, paying no attention to infidelity and its people, contemplating and deeply considering God's Graces in the mountains of Mecca in He'ra Cave. But when he was charged with guiding his people (cpth), he turned towards them with his noble spirit with the aim of leading them. His spirit was pure and spotless for being free of the dirt of this lower life, whereas, on the other hand, the spirits of his people were filled with its filth and dirt. In addition, their offensive hearts hurt God's messenger (cpth), who was aiming to get them out of darkness and into the light, and since they were turning away from the path of righteousness and were committing sins, his chest became painfully filled with distress when he directed himself to guiding them, and consequently he became unable to inform them of his Provider's message. Similarly, that was the normal spiritual status of having feelings of grief that was experienced by our master Moses (pth) when confronting Pharaoh and his people. That's why our master Moses had previously asked his Provider to send our master Aron – his brother – with him, to aid him when he faced the people. For when he (pth) would direct his noble spirit towards them in an effort to guide them, the Godly Manifestation coming down over him would overwhelm them. But since their spirits failed to become righteous, this made him feel depressed by the devils of humankind who had shunned righteousness, so that their spirits were filled with evil, just like those mentioned in the noble verse. So our master Moses would center the direction of his heart upon his brother Aron, feeling comfortable with his pure spiritual company, illuminated by God, and thus being able to face Pharaoh and his kinsfolk strongly and effectively. Concerning the request of our master Moses (cpth), the Almighty says: "He (Moses) said: 'My Provider! May you please relieve my heart, facilitate my state, and untie the knot in my tongue, so that they may discern my utterance'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 25-28

God also made another statement in another fortress through the tongue of our master Moses (pth): from the Holy Qur'an: "He said: 'My Provider! I fear they may charge me with lying; then my chest will be gloomy and my tongue will cease to utter fluently, so would you please send for Aron too!'.": this was because his spirit was pure, whereas Pharaoh's people had foul hearts due to their mean deeds and their drawing far from Al'lah, the source of all goodness. Therefore when he turned towards them he became extremely upset.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 12-13

Then he continued his saying: "and let me have a supporter of my family; let him be Aron, my brother, with whom You consolidate my power. May You give him a share in Your command to me to preach to them, so that we may overwhelm them with Your praise so much and remind them of You so much.": thus, He appealed for the sending of this untainted spirit so that the two pure spirits could lean on each other, which would enable them to present confuting evidence and aid the truth.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 29-34

These matters are confirmed by psychology and can never be denied, for how could our master Mohammad (cpth) not feel aggrieved, since Al'lah the Almighty says: "Then, you may wish to conceal some of that which has been inspired for you...": he did not want to inform them of some of the noble verses, for they were still ignorant about Al'lah and vulgar; "...feeling aggrieved with announcing it (to them)": i.e. feeling distressed, as his noble spirit had become deeply dejected, for they disapproved of him and never appreciated him, as they aspired to nothing except this lower life.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 11, Hud (Hud), verse 12

Regarding this, the Almighty also says: "We know that your chest becomes sorely distressed due to what they say.": that is: when they were saying these things, the messenger's heart became greatly dispirited, as he wished goodness for them and yet they were accusing him of lying, so he took it to heart because of his great mercy and tenderness for them.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 97

The Almighty refers to that in his saying: "Oh Ta-Ha...": meaning pure, referring to Mohammad (cpth). "...it was not to distress you that we have revealed the Qur'an to you": the meaning is that the prophet would not be deprived of rest or ease in this life by experiencing pain on behalf of creation, because people had not received God's guidance from him at this time. At this point in the Qur'an, after he had received the revelation from God, Mohammad (cpth) was very upset because the people did not yet know the truth, and he wanted to share it with them. He wanted to allow people to escape from darkness and come into the Godly light, so that they could reach paradise and avoid hell. He found it difficult to rest and feel at ease at this time because he was concerned with the people's spiritual condition. For this reason, God revealed this verse to him so that he would feel more comfortable and not worry about people so much, because they still had no true knowledge of Al'lah. This verse showed that he would achieve his wish to help people, but it would not happen immediately.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 1-2

Concerning this explanation of enduring spiritual distress and heartfelt sorrow on behalf of creation, the prophet Mohammad (cpth) said: "The most afflicted and distressed people are the prophets, and next are the perfect and worthy men, and then the most alike to them and so on." [41]

Clearly, through these noble verses the Provider of the worlds praises the prophet's qualities (cpth), for he never spared any effort in saving His obedient followers to make them happy by getting them out of the depths of darkness and into the light, which made him attain Al'lah's satisfaction with him.

You may wonder: How could Satan whisper to our master Adam (pth) as was undoubtedly mentioned in the Noble Qur'an?! Before starting to unveil the reality of this case, we should clarify its facts, starting with the following:

## Our Master Adam (pth)

### The state of our master Adam in Paradise

In paradise the spirit of a person surrounds their body, that is to say, in paradise the spirit embraces the body and surrounds it on all sides. It is the garment of the body and its light surrounds it as the flame of the candle surrounds the wick. If the wick represents the body, then the blaze and the flame represent the spirit.

Therefore, we can see that the state of a person in paradise is completely different from their state in this worldly life which we live now. If a person's spirit, in this worldly life, tastes things in the mouth by means of the tongue, looks through a veil and does not see anything with the eye except shadows and pictures, and hears sounds through their ear but only perceives the echo of the sound, then in paradise the opposite is the case. The spirit does not taste with the tongue, that small member, and nor does it see with the eye, nor hear with the ear.

As the spirit surrounds the body on that day, it tastes everything by itself – all of it tastes: all of it sees and all of it is an eye, all of it hears and all of it feels. It tastes, hears, speaks and sees all by itself, directly, without any intermediary. In such a state, therefore, its taste will be great, its witnessing vast and its bliss perfect. In their worldly state, people sometimes feel sated and do not perceive the flavor of food after eating a certain amount of it. In paradise, people never feel sated, and nor do they feel bored of anything, and nor do they feel hungry or thirsty. This is referred to in the noble verse in which God says: "It is for you to neither feel hungry nor naked therein. And you neither feel thirsty, nor does the sun's heat injure you."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 118-119

That is because in paradise, the rays of the spirit flow to things by themselves and mix with them, in the same way that the sun's rays penetrate the depths of the water and absorb it continuously, causing seasonal rain clouds to form, which then travel to reach the crops in the fields. The spirit's rays also reach fruit and other food, and since on that day all of it is a tongue, the spirit tastes continuously and enjoys increasing bliss without feeling heavy, bored or sated. Thus, its enjoyment is always increasing without its becoming embittered by anything. This is referred to in the noble verse where God says: "The example of paradise, which the people who see by God's light have been promised, is that rivers flow under it, its eating is eternal and so is its shade...."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 35

That was our master Adam's state in paradise (pth) and that was how he ate with his wife. Their spirits surrounded their bodies, and they ate happily and freely from paradise. That is to say, they enjoyed a spiritual tasting that was filled with bliss. In addition to this, they were perpetually witnessing the Creator's Beauty and Perfection, overwhelmed by their continuous enjoyment of this nearness to God, which is the highest aspiration.

Briefly, we say: our master Adam and his wife ate in paradise without making any effort in planting, reaping or any of the work that preparing food usually requires. And the Almighty's saying describes that state: "It is for you to neither feel hungry nor naked therein, and you neither feel thirsty nor does the sun's heat injure you."

The spirit had ruled the body and had been in control of it, and the body thus had been no more than the center of this spirit. But after eating the fruit and putting its flesh into their bellies, this state changed for Adam and his wife. Control and authority was then exercised by the body and the spirit existed merely within the body, as is the case now for us here, in our worldly state. [42]

There is no doubt that this state is completely different from the original one, and within it life depends upon nourishing the body, invigorating it, and providing it with the material necessary for its existence. In this state, the body will weaken and feel hungry and thirsty, and consequently the spirit will be in pain when the body is in need of this nourishing material. Undoubtedly, the maintenance of life in this state requires people's steady effort and continuous toil.

Moreover, the spirit's ability to taste and enjoy things will be veiled, and this can take place only through intermediaries. It will not be able to taste things, except by means of the tongue, and it will be the same with the senses of sight, hearing, and smell – which are achieved respectively by means of the eye, the ear, and the nose. In addition to all that, the spirit will not be able to enjoy things vastly and infinitely, as the body will be sated by a certain amount of food and drink, and if it has more than it needs it will become confused, and consequently, the spirit will start to feel pain. Accordingly, taste is limited in this case, and one is obliged to work so as to provide for the needs of the body, and cannot stop working. For that reason, there will be exertion and exhaustion. The noble verse refers to that wherein God says: "...you will be of the unjust."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 35

In addition, this is referred to in the noble verse in which God says: "...don't let him get you out of paradise lest you would be tired.": due to the toil and the bodily work.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 117

We have presented this introduction about our master Adam and the conception of paradise so as to be able to discern the following:

### The causes of our master Adam's (pth) exit from paradise

Our master Adam knew of the troubles that would follow eating from the tree and the effort and toil that living would require once one had eaten from it, and he knew that God had forbidden him to eat from it to protect him from having to carry such a burden. But his great love for his Creator made him forget God's advice, and this love allowed him to ascend to a level of virtue that qualified this noble prophet (pth) to be God's successor on His earth, and also caused all the noble Angels to prostrate themselves before him. The Almighty says: "...I will make a successor of Mine on Earth..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 30

This noble verse shows that the aim of the Provider of the worlds extended beyond creating Adam (pth) on Earth. His descent (pth) was an inevitable matter, but it came in the way that it did so as to acquaint him and us with Satan's enmity towards him and his offspring. The Almighty sought to make us know and understand for all time that love for God, true-heartedness and sincerity must exist within a context of law and order.

Anyone, whoever they were, even including one of the apostles, would definitely have eaten from the tree had they been put in the position of our master Adam (pth). This is because Adam was in a spiritual state in which the organs of the body were not functioning. His brain was not working at this time, and he was unable to think, and this inability to remember God's advice occurred because the memory can only exist in thought and in the brain. Because his organs (including the brain) were not functioning, this ability to think was not active, and so Adam was not able to remember the advice he had been given. Before the spirit's entry into the body it would immediately forget any advice, as if it had been received while the body was asleep.

### The thought's inactivity (suspension)

Indeed, thinking becomes suspended in the hereafter, for its employment is restricted to this lower life, where the spirit uses this ability to think for worldly purposes. The unbelievers' saying: "My authority (power) had gone away from me." describes the state of the spirit without that authority: that is to say, the power of thought.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 69, Al-Haqqa (Truth-Control), verse 29

This capacity for thought remains inactive unless the spirit makes use of it in solving its problems. If it turns to thinking, shining its rays upon its problems, by doing so it will immediately disassemble the matters which the spirit wants to understand and show it the solution.

In the afterlife, remembrance of the acts which we have done in this lower life occurs by means of the angels. They remind us of these acts from time to time, according to Allah's command, for otherwise we do not remember any of our deeds. When they remind us of one of our good deeds, we enter into Allah's pleasure because of it and ascend to a higher degree of bliss and beauty; that is, to a loftier paradise and so forth. The Almighty says: "...and the angels enter them through every entrance.": that is: through all of their previous good deeds.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 23

Thus, it is their deeds which uplift people in this world and in the afterworld if they were good, and conversely, it is through their deeds that they will descend if they were bad. This paradise to which they are raised amplifies the inferior blessings like food, drink and the like, which, when they taste of them directly, without any veiling, they enjoy them even more.

Such was the state of our master Adam (pth) in paradise. Then, when he received the advice – the command of the Provider of the worlds that he should not approach the tree – he was in a state of being in which he was unable to remember; but then, after eating from it, his spirit retreated into his body; that is, it followed the tree's fruit from the outside to the inside of the body, and settled there, inside it. It became connected to the universe through the five senses when the body set out to fulfill its desires and dispose of what it had eaten. Thus, as the digestive apparatus acted to get rid of the remains of what had been eaten, so it was with the nervous system which acted to set the body in motion and steer it, and the brain, which was set to analyze its surroundings, and so forth.

At this point, our master Adam (pth) remembered his Provider's advice which he had forgotten at the time he ate from the tree. The Almighty says: "We have covenanted Adam before but he forgot and we found no intention on his part.": that is: we found no evidence that he intended to infringe upon us.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 115

God also says: "Then, his Provider chose him (Adam), forgave him and gave him guidance."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 122

After the mechanism of his thought set to action, our master Adam (pth) remembered his Provider's Advice, and then, the Almighty addressed him with words showing him that he had disobeyed His Orders through no intention of his own – for he had been in a state of forgetfulness – and told him that his exit from paradise was due to the Almighty's Will and Management. Forgetting the Godly Command was not related to his free will or choice, so he would never be blamed for this. He was in an absolute spiritual state where control belonged utterly to the spirit, inside which the body was inoperative and its systems, including memory, were not functioning. Consequently, there was no escape from the oblivion which was normal in this state. The noble verse refers to that wherein Allah says: "Then, Adam received words from his Provider and He made him repent and accepted his repentance. He is the Pardoner, the Compassionate.": Adam (pth) had the initiative to take refuge and submit. Then, the Almighty inspired his spirit by telling Adam that his intention was high and honest, and that He would never blame him for this.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 37

Thus, this is the way by which man came to this lower life, where favor and charity can be carried out. Here you can do many good deeds that shall revolve before your sight in the hereafter, and through which you are promoted from one state to a higher one, and from one paradise to a higher one. If you pursue the path of righteousness you shall be a true believer, and if you enter the school and exert yourself you shall be elevated, but without entering the school you shall stay at a lower rank.

Al'lah the Almighty has mentioned His command and Adam's forgetfulness (pth), as related in this story, only in your own interest, to make you happy through understanding it, to allow you to avoid Satan's deception while thinking strictly and acting positively. Thus, you shall rise up and attain bounty.

Al'lah the Almighty was Omniscient of Adam and his wife (ptt). He knew exactly that Adam had no thought yet at that time, in addition to knowing that he would surely forget His command. But the Almighty instituted this approach of giving Adam an order, and Adam's forgetting of this order, only to remind us of Satan's enmity and make us aware of him, as well as to tell us that anyone who falls through no intention of their own can easily return to their place in Al'lah's presence. However, whoever does so on purpose can never return until they repent.

### Learn a lesson from this story

Satan has no access to the true believer, for Al'lah the Almighty is the Protector of those who believe, whereas Satan comes near to those who have no true faith. So seek to achieve true faith, for anyone who does not believe truly in Al'lah will certainly be destroyed. Faith is not achieved merely through speaking, through being mindful and witnessing that the Almighty is the All-Hearing and the Omniscient force who steers every motion. If you seek to reach that level of faith, consider this universe, think carefully, and you will believe that there is no God but Al'lah and take a lesson and remembrance from this story.

So, the devil whispered to our master Adam (pth); that is: he addressed him from afar, saying, as is mentioned in the noble verse: "...Oh, Adam! I shall guide you to the tree of Eternity and to an immortal property."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 120

"...the tree of Eternity" is meant to be the tree that, if Adam was to eat from it, he would remain forever in paradise: that is, in that spiritual bliss in which he could be near to his Creator. The words "an immortal property" mean: you will have access to that spiritual state which you enjoy and you will not cease from immersion in this witnessing of Godly Perfection, remaining perpetually pleased with Him.

### How did the devil whisper to Adam when prophets are impeccable?

You might say: how did the devil whisper to Adam (pth) when prophets are impeccable?

I would say; if one of us met a disbeliever and talked to them, that would not mean we controlled their spirit or overruled it. So it was with our master Adam when his spirit surrounded his body: his meeting with the devil was a meeting of one spirit with another from a distance. In that, there was no question of one of these spirits controlling or overruling the other one.

Regard the noble verse, wherein God says: "He (the devil) has sworn to them I am one of the advisers for you both."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 21

We say: as Adam knew of his Creator's Greatness and Majesty, and he did not think that anyone would dare to commit perjury, so the devil swore by God to him and to his wife (ptt).

Since the great people such as our master Adam (pth) appreciated Al'lah, the Almighty and the Greatest, therefore Adam believed the devil because he never thought that anyone might swear a false oath by Al'lah, the Greatest.

Thus, he forgot Al'lah's advice for him not to eat from the tree. Due to his great love for God and his aspiration to attain the eternal vision of the Generous Almighty's Face, the source of Beauty and the Creator of Might and Majesty; and since he was unable to remember the instruction, because of the suspension of his thinking; he ate from the tree and so did his wife (ptt). Their intention was to stay in that beautiful spiritual state of being in the Creator's presence and to continue this witnessing of the Godly perfection, but his love for his Creator made him forget His advice. The noble verse shows this when God says: "We have covenanted Adam before but he forgot and We found no intention of his.": that is, he forgot God's advice unintentionally and He knew that he did not intend to be disobedient.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 115

The noble verse, in which God says: "So, he (the devil) let them down with conceit...": refers to the devil's deceit and his charm, and warns us to avoid him.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 22

"So, he let them down...": means that he brought them to the fruit and made them put it in their mouths and eat its flesh. "...with conceit...": means that one imagines that one acquires greater good by an action than what is already in one's possession, when in fact the opposite is true. So, the devil let them down; that is, he brought them to the fruit with conceit; that is, he made them imagine that eating from the tree would cause them to remain in that elevated state of nearness to God perpetually, despite this being a lie. His aim was to cause them shame and diffidence before God, by disobeying His advice, in order to achieve his purpose of creating a distance between them and God. From this the enmity of the devil for humanity is revealed to us along with its opposite: our master Adam's love for his Provider and his hope to remain in His presence. [43]

Being of a sublime nature, our master Adam (pth) never knew any kind of evil, but thought that all people were goodhearted. Even had he been informed otherwise, he would surely have forgotten this, because he was in a spiritual state in which his capacity for thought was dormant and he had no memory. He also possessed a genuine innocence which made him unaware of people in practice at that time. Since his spirit contained nothing but goodness and perfection, he didn't anticipate the existence of any enmity from anything in God's creation; nor did he know that there was such a thing as a lie, for he (pth) was still behaving in accordance with the perfection with which Al'lah created humanity. The idea of a lie had never occurred to him at all, especially when Satan swore a false oath by Al'lah. But afterwards, he knew that there existed enmity, the shunning of Al'lah, slyness, and treason. He also recognized Satan's hostility towards him. Had he previously known Satan and his capacity for deception, he would have responded to him with a piece of God's Light, which would surely have burnt him as punishment for his cunning and his turning away from Al'lah. However, since he had not started to think yet, he could not remember his instructions from God.

Subsequently Satan realized that he could not approach the prophets (ptt) at all once he had been unmasked and his evil intentions had been unveiled, as referred to by the noble verse wherein God says: "...verily, I shall seduce them all (humankind), except your pure selected obedient followers from among them."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 82-83

The noble verse plainly asserts the aforementioned when God says within it: "Then, the devil whispered to him...", whereas He never says that he whispered in Adam's chest or spirit.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 120

This would be the same way that is mentioned in the noble verse: "Who whispers evil in the chests of oblivious mankind.": (oblivious mankind, oblivious jinn-kind). This refers to those who have separated themselves from Al'lah, the Almighty.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 114, An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind), verse 5

And it is clear that the preposition 'to' here refers to a disconnection, whereas the preposition 'in' indicates a circumstance of spiritual embracing. Thus, the whispering that took place from afar cannot be considered to be an instance of Satan entering into our master Adam (pth), or even coming near to him, and it is inconceivable that we should regard this story as an assertion of the probability that Satan may ever penetrate the spirits of prophets (ptt).

## How Did the Devil's Influence Touch our Master Job (pth)?

You may ask: did the devil's influence touch our master Job (pth)?

This concerns the following verse: "Remember when our true obedient Job called upon his Provider, saying: 'Satan touched me with fatigue and torture'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 41

Certain devilish explanations of this verse are often relayed in books claiming to interpret the Holy Qur'an. They suggest that our master Job (pth), God's prophet and His messenger, was touched by the devil, who controlled his body, his properties, and his wife. These explanations claim that his people threw him on a dunghill where the animals quarreled over his holy body; moreover, they insinuate that he was afflicted with infectious diseases.

They contended that all of this was fulfilled through collusion between Al'lah and the devil against His noble messenger, so that He debased him unjustly, in a way that was unprecedented, without his committing a sin (far be it for Him).

Since it is impossible for the devil to have authority over a believer, how would it be possible for him to approach a prophet and messenger? God, the Great and the Almighty, says, in a clear verse: "He has no authority over those who have always believed and trusted in their Provider."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99

Indeed, the devil himself realized this, as is shown by the following: "He (the devil) said: 'Oh my Provider, since You have led me astray, I will adorn to them (humanity) this lower life on earth and seduce them all, except Your pure chosen obedient followers.'

"He (God) said to the devil: 'This is the straight course for Me: you shall have no power over My obedient followers except those who follow you and are deceived by this lower life."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 39-42

We can see that God's law is exactly the opposite of those false interpretations of the Holy Qur'an, and states: "...Al'lah gives His messengers authority over whom He wills..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 59, Al-Hashr (Creation-Gathering), verse 6

In fact, the summary of our master Job's tale (pth) is as follows: our master Job (pth) is one of the examples for us provided by Al'lah in the Holy Qur'an. He is an example of how to be resolute and patient as regards the mission of God, and also of how to be merciful to people. This noble messenger asked and invited his people to believe in God, and in the beginning he met nothing but stubbornness and shunning of what is right, and did not realize the fruits of his efforts. As a result, he felt much pain from this, and found great distress, sadness, and regret in his spirit.

This messenger, in his pain and sorrow for his people, was like a father with a son who suffers from an incurable disease that is destroying his body, but the father can find no way to save him from the claws of this disease. We wonder how great is this father's pain, and how much distress and sorrow he feels whenever he looks at his son.

The state of this noble messenger (pth) in relation to his people was similar to this, and this is referred to in the Holy Qur'an, wherein God says: "Job called upon his Provider, saying: 'I was sorely afflicted. You are the Most Compassionate of those who show mercy'.": that is: remember our true obedient Job in his compassion and feelings of pain for his people, that were revealed in the face of the rejection and severe opposition he had met from them.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya' (The Prophets), verse 83

We repeat again: "Job called upon his Provider: 'I was sorely afflicted'...": meaning 'harmed'; that is, the distress and the grief that he suffered from, and the sadness and regret that he found for his people in his spirit led him to call upon God, asking Him to dispel this distress from him by guiding his people to the right path. "...'You are the Most Compassionate of those who show mercy'.": here, Job asks his Provider to have mercy upon him by guiding his people, for this was the means for him to achieve his spirit's salvation, and its recovery from the spiritual torture and pain from which it suffered because of his people's lack of belief.

God the Almighty responded to His messenger's call after he had borne so much so patiently without being importunate with his Provider, and without reaching a state of desperation in seeking to guide his people. He expressed his grief and sorrow to none but Al'lah, and so He guided him to the way that would rescue his people, as referred to in the noble verse: "We heard his prayer and relieved his affliction when We granted him his people and as many more with them, rightly guided in compassion from Us and as an admonition to the guides."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya' (The Prophets), verse 84

So, Al'lah relieved his affliction, and dispelled the distress that had afflicted him, so that his people – along with more people equal to them in number – came to believe in God, due to the compassion of Al'lah for this noble messenger and his people.

"...and as an admonition to the guides.": that is, as a reminder for those who are truly obedient to Al'lah and who shoulder the guidance of people to God, the Creator. This reminder will let them know that whatever opposition and distress they face, Al'lah will certainly relieve them and send goodness through their hands, and a good outcome comes for those who see by God's light. This tale, which has been summarized in the two previous verses, was mentioned in detail in other verses by God, wherein He has shown us the way that He ordered His messenger to follow in order to achieve the successful guidance of his people. He says: "Remember Our true obedient Job when he called on his Provider, saying that 'Satan touched me with fatigue and torture'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 41

To understand what is meant by the words: "Satan touched me", we say: the word 'touch' mentioned in the Holy Qur'an – which is the word 'mass' in the Arabic language – indicates only the immaterial meaning; that is, 'touch' in the spiritual sense and not the physical sense. If it was intended to refer to a physical touch, as is falsely contended concerning this noble messenger, the word in the original Arabic of the Qur'an would be 'lamas' rather than 'mass'.

God says: "Those who live on usury will rise up before Al'lah like he whom Satan has caused to welter, distracted by his touch...": that is: Satan destroys and overcomes such a person spiritually.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 275

Does the devil appear to man physically or spiritually?! Of course he comes only through his spirit. God says: "Truly, it is a Holy (Glorious) Qur'an, hidden inside a book. None can touch it except the purified ones.": that is, only those who are purified (i.e. those who communicate with Al'lah and enter into His Presence, where He purifies their spirits) can touch the lofty meanings that are folded within the Qur'an, and thus understand its realities. So, the meanings are immaterial; they are not handled physically but imprinted on the hearts; moreover, the material copy of the Holy Qur'an can be physically carried by both the disbeliever who is a sinner and by the believer: by both the pure and the impure. They can all carry it equally, and thus touch it physically, but not everyone can touch the Qur'an in the spiritual sense. The disbeliever may be able to touch its material form, but cannot touch its meaning.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 56, Al-Waqi'a (The Inevitable Event), verse 77-79

And, from God's saying: "If those who see by God's light are touched by a passing shade of the devil, they will remember Al'lah, and then they will discern the truth." Such a shade is not handled intuitively.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 201

We also mention here the word 'touched' [44], which is 'mamsoos' in Arabic, and means 'the insane one'. It is derived from the Arabic word 'mass' referred to above.

So, this touching was spiritual and immaterial, and the damage that afflicted our master Job (pth) was spiritual grief and sorrow, as we have mentioned, and not physical, bodily damage as it has been claimed.

The devil can never affect what is material. For example, whatever food you leave behind, no bite will be taken from it by a devil, even if all the devils on earth were to gather in that place. The devil comes only through his spirit which has been released from his body, but he did not dare to approach God's messenger Job (pth). God says: "I did not seek the aid of those who were to lead humanity astray.": it would be impossible for Al'lah to collaborate and collude with the devil against His prophet and messenger Job (pth) as they slyly pretended, and there should be no dispute about that which is clearly worded in the Holy Qur'an.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 18, Al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 51

God the Almighty clarified to us how our master Job (pth) was afflicted with this harm spiritually, not physically, in His saying: "Remember Our true obedient Job when he called upon his Provider, saying that: 'Satan touched me with fatigue and torture."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 41

By the words "...Satan touched me...": it is meant that Job was afflicted by Satan because of what he whispered in the spirits of his people, and "...with fatigue...": means toil and exhaustion, for as soon as his people leave his house, after he has offered them the proof and evidence to persuade them, Satan comes to them with his whispering temptation and causes suspicion about what Job has revealed to them. Had they followed his guidance and believed, they would not have been frustrated by the devil.

As for the word "...torture..." it refers to the spiritual pain that this noble messenger felt on behalf of these misguided people, due to his compassion and tenderness for them.

The fatigue and the torture which he suffered were because of what the devil had whispered in the spirits of his people. God says to Mohammad (cpth) in the Holy Qur'an: "Say, 'I proudly seek refuge in the Provider of oblivious humankind, the Possessor of oblivious humankind, the Steering God of oblivious humankind from the evil of the sneaking whisperer, who whispers evil in the chests of oblivious humankind, by means of both oblivious jinn-kind and oblivious humankind'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 114, An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind), verse 1-6

Similarly, our master Mohammad (cpth) was also afflicted with the spiritual pain and distress that had befallen our master Job (pth) before him, because of the stubbornness of his people – the people of Quraysh – and their insistence on disbelieving in the beginning. This affected him to the point that his noble spirit was distressed by sorrow and spiritual torture, leading the Almighty to address him in His Holy Saying, as discussed previously: "Oh Ta-Ha, it was not to distress you that We have revealed the Qur'an to you."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 1-2

And in another verse He says: "...do not destroy your spirit feeling sorry for your people..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 35, Fatir (Orignator), verse 8

And the holy prophetic saying tells us: "The most afflicted and distressed people are the prophets, and next are the perfect and worthy men, and then the most alike to them and so on." [45] This is in reference to a spiritual affliction that comes from their great compassion and tenderness for everything in creation.

When this noble messenger, our master Job (pth), called upon his Provider, He, the Almighty, responded to his call and taught him what to do by ordering him to migrate from his own country to another. This was in His saying: "Run with your legs; this is cool bathing and a drink.": this means that our master Job should move to another place in which the people he is trying to help will believe the truth. Their spirits will be made clean and pure by his spiritual bath: they will drink truth and perfection from him. Thus, he had to leave the country in which he was – where he suffered the spiritual distress he suffered because of the opposition he faced – and go instead to another country close by, where his people would find this cleansing and this drink for their spirits.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 41

No sooner had our master Job (pth) heard of the place to which God had ordered him to go than he rushed hastily to it.

God the Almighty made this migration of His messenger into a means for him to guide his people along with many more with them. This is referred to in the noble verse: "We granted him his people and as many more with them rightly guided..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 42

This tale is exactly the same as what happened with our master Mohammad (cpth), who was patient, despite his people's shunning of him, until he was given the permission to migrate: "As your Provider bade you to leave your home by right..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 8, Al-Anfal (Spoils of War), verse 5

So, he migrated with his migrating companions to Medina, where he met people who believed in him and who stood by him, and then he went back with them to his people in Mecca, where Al'lah granted him victory over them and let them be guided at his hands.

The situation with our master Job (pth) was the same. He also returned to his people, and by that time they were ready to appreciate and venerate him as one of might and authority. They then believed along with him, and consequently a great Islamic revival took place during his age, which was similar to the age of our noble messenger (cpth).

# Chapter 14

* * *

## The Various Styles of Magic

We now return to our task of unveiling the various styles of magic.

We have already shown the reality underlying the practice of all supernatural wonders and have proven the truth that lies behind many kinds of magic, such as stabbing oneself with skewers, eating glass, being able to walk on water, and bringing the dead back to life. This is because the destructive disease of magic has spread among all Muslim communities. But there are many other magical styles, as discussed in the following sections:
Firstly

## Astrology

The dark shade of astrology has spread over the lands of all the Muslim countries, and has also spread across the world in general.

The ancients observed the sun's passage through the constellations, allowing them to know the days of the year, define the beginning of the seasons, organize their farm-workings on this basis, and be rightly guided on land and by sea. But a group of people (known as astrologers or fortune tellers) used these solar constellations as the basis of augury, and used them to compose predictions about the future. In this way, these people set about arranging the course of some people's lives falsely, according to how their devilish companions instructed them. Alas, to this day, some people still believe what their horoscopes tell them. Meanwhile, the truth tells us that these solar constellations have no link to people's lives, as we will demonstrate with the following scientific evidence:

1) The nearest star in the constellation Leo (which is also called Regulus) is a distance of 78 light-years away from us, while the nearest one in the constellation Scorpio (known as Antares) exists at a distance of 230 light-years away, and then the constellation Taurus is a distance of 64 light-years from us.

What, then, could be the influence of these constellations upon our spirits across these amazing distances?

Since these constellations and their stars are millions of billions of kilometers away, and we don't feel any of the radiation that may reach us from them, how can they then affect our life and behavior?! One should take into account that the amount of radiation that reaches us from the most brilliant of the stars of these constellations is less than one thousandth of a millionth of the amount of radiation from the sun's brightness that reaches the earth.

2) The motion of the planets in the zodiac differs according to the place from which they are seen, for the space shuttle and the astronauts and cosmonauts who move among the planets can see views that are totally different from those that we see from the earth. Although it may seem from a distance that two stars are side by side, in reality, this proximity between them is a mere illusion, because there is a vast distance between any one of the stars of our solar system and any other star in the sky.

3) The idea of such proximity existing between two stars with a huge distance separating them can be compared to the case of two mountains with a vast, wide plain between them: they never approach one another at all, so what bond exists between the stars of our solar system and those of other constellations?! And how can such a matter affect us directly?! Of course, there is no such influence at all.

4) Astronauts and cosmonauts have traversed space using rockets, space shuttles, and satellites, seeking information about the scientific facts relating to the planets, such as their locations and their orbits. They made huge telescopes with lenses of diameters that exceed ten meters in length, but in spite of all this, they are unable to get the information they require. Is it then possible for a person who pretends to know about astronomy – and who holds a glass ball with a diameter of mere centimeters – to observe the stars and the planets, and to watch the changing of their locations, even when they inside a closed room?!

5) The natural construction of the planets does not differ from that of the earth, which consists of rocks, stones, sand and other elements, but the other planets are lifeless, because neither water nor air exist on them. This is contrary to the situation on earth, and accordingly, can the greatest desert or the mountain range of the Himalayas have any influence upon either your life or your spirit?!

Thus, the astrologers are greatly ignorant of astronomy, and there is no link between them and this science whatsoever.

These astrologers believe that a person's life is determined by the locations of the sun, the moon, and the planets, depending on the whereabouts of the constellations at the hour at which they were born, for they have classified the planets haphazardly into planets of good and bad luck. These beliefs relate to the magic of Al-Kashdaneyeen, who worshipped the circulating planets, thinking them to be the managers of the world, and believing that they affected people's lives and brought about good and evil events in this world.

It was reported in the prophetic Sunna:

"The creation of these stars had three purposes: making them into an adornment for the sky; allowing them to be meteorites that are thrown at the devils; and creating them as signs by which one may be guided." [46]

"He who derives knowledge from the stars is adopting a branch of magic." [47]

"He who goes to a fortune-teller or an augur and believes their sayings has stopped believing in the revelation that descended on Mohammed." [48]

The fortune-teller, the augur, and the astrologer all pretend to know what events will happen in the future, and so the one who believes them has stopped believing in Al'lah and his messenger (cpth).

Ibn Abbass said of people who practice astrology: "Nothing good will be created for him by Al' lah in the hereafter who does such a deed" (referring to the practice of astrology).

You may say: sometimes the astrologers may be right, but the holy prophetic saying says: "Astrologers tell a lie even when they tell the truth." So how can they know that which is unseen?

In fact, the astrologers are magicians who seek the help of people's evil jinn companions. Every person has an invisible jinn companion, but the magicians can see these jinns, although they are usually invisible to the human eye. These astrologers use these jinns to find out about people's lives. They send their own jinn companion to ask other jinns about people's lives in order to find out their secrets. These jinns then allow the magicians to tell people about various conspiracies that are being plotted against them by their enemies, and which only take place when these people deserve this. Thus, the companion jinn is the one who reports news about people to the magician astrologers, quoting to them the secret plans and purposes of people's enemies who have adopted the devil as a companion. The astrologer uses the information that the jinn tells them to make people think that they can see the unseen, thereby making simple people believe that they can tell the future. So, we can see that what happens to people is not indeed caused by the astrologers or their astrology, but happens because of the forbidden actions the victim has committed. Thus they deserve what happens to them.

As for the believers, they are not afflicted with harm from their opponents' plans and plots, for when the victim is pure and straight, the plotters do not succeed, and then astrology does not bring anything into being, except the failure of the devil's wishes. The jinn of the pure believer is prevented from telling anyone about this believer's secrets because he is rendered blind and weak by the strong belief of this believer
Secondly

## The Propaganda of Conjuring up Spirits, [49] or the New Spiritism

The definition: this is the claim to be able to conjure up the spirits of the dead through what are alleged to be scientific methods.

The aim: to introduce doubt about the divine religions, and to preach a new religion in line with these claims.

The beginning: during the nineteenth century, many groups appeared in the United States of America and practiced this sort of magic, whereby they pretended to conjure up the spirits of dead people by various means, with the goal of revealing unseen matters. This was motivated by the disbelievers of the Jewish religion.

Their propaganda then spread throughout the Muslim and Arab worlds, where sessions of conjuring up spirits are still held in homes and clubs, during which the attendees receive messages written down on paper, supposedly without the prompting of the medium or psychic. During these meetings, these magicians sometimes say that they can hear these spirits' voices, especially when these sessions are being held in a room that is in deep darkness. These conditions give the magicians more control over the situation.

### The foundation of this practice and its most notable personalities

None of the founders of this practice from Europe or America have yet become known. However, the disbelievers of the Jewish religion, who proliferate there as minorities, played a large part in establishing this practice when they went against Al'lah's Saying that had been sent down in the Torah. The Holy Qur'an revealed their situation; as God says: "They accepted what the devils had told them about Solomon's possession. Solomon did not disbelieve, but the devils did..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Nonetheless, at the beginning of the twentieth century many notable characters actively promoted this practice, including:

• Jan Arthur Findley, in his famous book On the Edge of the Etheric

• Eden Fredreck Pours, in his famous book The Phenomenon of the Room of Invoking Spirits

• Arthur Conan Doyle, in his book The Edge of the Unknown

• The famous infidel Jew, David Wajeed

Besides these examples, many institutions were established in those countries to support this propaganda, such as:

• The International Institute for Spiritual Research in the United States of America

• The Spiritual Institution of Mulborn in England, whose owner is Mrs. Wood Smith who pretends to invoke spirits

And in Muslim countries, there were many people who enthused about, adopted, and propagandized this practice, such as:

• Mr. Ahmed Fahmi Abul-Kheir, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Institution for Spiritual Research, who published the magazine The World of the Spirit, which is a mouthpiece for destructive propaganda about this practice. He started carrying out his activities in the year 1937, and translated the two books of Findley and Pours mentioned above into Arabic

• Mr. Wahib Doss, the lawyer and head of the former institution

• Dr. Ali Abdul-Jalil Radhi, the head of The Spiritual Institution of Al-Ahram, who published a book under the title My Witnessing in the Spiritual Institute of London

• Hasan Abdul-Wahab, the secretary of the former institution

• The Lebanese poet, Halim Dammoos, who was known for sanctifying Dahesh, who he glorified as a prophet. He wrote many essays which were published in the magazine, The World of the Spirit under the title The Mission of Dahesh

This propaganda now has a great influence, especially in America and Europe, where you find no city that does not include an outlet for such destructive propaganda, and furthermore, many newspapers and magazines speak its name.

In America, there is the International Center for Spiritual Research, and in the Arab and Muslim worlds, these dangerous ideas are spreading very quickly. This is the case in Egypt in particular, where you find many institutions related to the promotion of this practice, and many Egyptian magazines and newspapers propagandize it, such as the specialized magazine The World of the Spirit.

It is said that its practitioners are interested in reviving the mission of Pharaoh along with other pagan missions, with the aim of destroying the true divine religions.

It has also been suggested that many of its promoters are people who have lost a dear friend or member of their family. Such people console themselves through fancies, and some of the most famous of these include Oliver Lodge, who lost his son during World War I, and the founder of the Spiritual Institution in Egypt, Ahmed Fahmi Abul-Kheir, who also lost his son in the year 1937, and had only been blessed with this child after waiting for a long time after his marriage without having children.

### The main content of this propaganda, and the ideology and beliefs of its founders and followers

1) These people say that they conjure up spirits and invoke dead people in order to consult them about whatever mysterious problems they have, and to seek their help in treating both spiritual and physical patients. Other supposed goals of this practice are to get information about criminals, to unveil hidden matters, and to foretell the future. Those who follow these beliefs pretend that the spirit can be perceived because it can become manifest and can be touched, and suggest that some spirits think that they are still alive, leading us to wonder here: can a body move without a soul?! And how can the owner of such a soul remain alive after it has left his body?! And what could follow the exit of the soul except death, at which time there is no return of the soul to the body until Doomsday?

2) The spirits are like servants for these people, as they are said to answer any call or respond to any signal that they make.

They pretend that the spirits that they supposedly conjure up are sent by Al'lah to humanity, just as the messengers had been sent before them. But the contention is that their teaching and direction are loftier than those of the messengers.

They also claim that these spirits help them to reveal crime, discover the sites of the ancient monuments for those in search of gold, and can help to treat spiritual diseases. So, this is propaganda for a sort of magic.

3) The supporters of this practice claim that they can photograph these spirits by means of infra-red rays, but the strange thing about this is that infra-red rays examine material, inspect its nature, and make it known, so how can they examine spirits and photograph them?! Does the spirit have a material form?! Can even the most modern of cameras and spectroscopes using infra-red rays photograph the soul of a person after they die, and show what has happened to it after death? Of course not. Thus, they try to put a scientific stamp on their work, although it is far from scientific, as their actions do not rely on clear principles; and besides, they cannot recreate the results afresh each time, as would be the case if they were truly scientific experiments.

Indeed, this is nothing more than trickery and deception, and a kind of hypnosis that aims to take hold of the attention of those present and make a connection with the devilish jinns.

4) They perform their actions in a special dimly lit room, where the only source of light is a weak red light. The charade of the embodiment of the spirits and their addressing of them cannot be seen by those people present, but instead is reported to them by the medium, making them the most important person present when these events take place.

5) The medium can see and hear that which is unseen and unheard, and also receives words from these spirits that are supposedly written down without any prompting, and it is only the medium who has the ability to communicate from afar with the spirits through telepathy. This is really nothing but a sham that is practiced on naive people.

6) They admit the truth of the prophets' and messengers' missions (ptt), but their mediation is what distinguishes these magicians. They believe that the prophets' wonders were spiritual phenomena, just like those which occur in the room where they conjure up the spirits, and they say that they can recreate the prophets' wonders. In this they are aiming to confuse the believers and distort their faith.

7) They regulate the attendees of the session quantitatively and qualitatively, and when there are women among them, they let the people present sit in a way that alternates between the sexes, so that there is a man, then a woman, then a man, etc. They do this because they know that whenever a man and a woman meet, the devil will soon come and be the third one present.

8) Sometimes they play music to control the spirits of the attendees, and they claim that each session has a guardian spirit who watches over it.

9) They show their thoughts to each person according to what suits them, and therefore they sometimes support their propaganda with wordings that are borrowed from the Divine Books, making them bear false meanings that serve their purposes.

10) They attempt to disprove religious inspiration, saying that there is nothing in the divine religions to confirm it, and besides, they mock pious people.

11) They say that their god is mightier than that of the messenger (cpth), and that he has less human qualities and more godly properties; that is, they contend that their god is loftier and mightier.

12) They use brilliant watchwords such as humanity, brotherhood, freedom and equality to brainwash common and simple people.

13) Their work is wholly aimed at sowing misgivings about religious beliefs and moral standards, and they declare that 'Spiritism' is a new religion that supports universality and that invites people to give up all other religions. They assert that its rites and religious duties are limited to giving people practice in how to concentrate their spiritual power, and besides, it presents a new way of life and a different idea about Al'lah.

14) They pretend that the spirits which address them live in happiness and bliss, even if they had been unbelievers. The goal here is to destroy any faith in resurrection and reckoning, suggesting that the gate of repentance is always open, even after death. Concerning heaven and the fire, they consider them to be mental states that were brought into being by thought, so rendering them nothing more than the creations of imagination.

15) They have made many statements glorifying the communists, the pagans, the pharaohs and the Indians, who have the mightiest spirits, according to their claim.

16) They justify the commission of crimes, believing that their perpetrators are compelled to do them, and consequently, that they should not be punished.

17) They seek to actualize Judaism's control over the whole world, in order to establish their own state on the ruins of the wholesale destruction that is supported by those who adopt the dogma of divide and rule. The Scientific American magazine announced that they would give a great financial prize to the person who proves the truth of their spiritual claims, but is still waiting for the winner to announce themselves. This is also true of the prize which has been set aside for the same purpose by the American magician Danger, and this is one of the greatest proofs of the falsehood of this propaganda.
A True Story

### "Why don't You Conjure up Your Friend's Spirit?!"

"Why not?! Since I have heard that there are those who can conjure up spirits, why don't I conjure up my friend's spirit?! I would just pay a few pounds and then have the chance to find out what is in his mind. Then, when I talk to him, I will be closer to him and he will appreciate me more.

"Today, during the night, I will go to attend one of these sessions. It will cost me only a few pounds, but I will definitely win over his heart".

These were my thoughts on the day that I witnessed the reality of this practice first hand.

That night I entered the room of conjuration, and in that room I saw some people waiting for spirits that had been called.

A sense of stillness mixed with fright and horror were the main words I would use to describe the ambience there. There were women mixed side by side among the men, with men placed in between the women.

How odious and lustful it was!

According to the organization of the seats, I sat in my chair, and then the conjurer came in and switched off all the lights apart from a single faint red bulb.

He began to mumble obscure words as he looked around with his bulging, magical eyes, that dislocated the hearts of those present because of their horrible appearance. I was about to lose consciousness and cry out in a tremulous voice, but I felt as if my breathing had been suppressed and I began to shake all over. Then, when my turn came, I felt as if a magnet was attracting my gaze to the face of the conjurer who was going to call up my friend's spirit.

Just as I was experiencing these feelings of dreadful silence, the voice of my friend was heard in the room, saying: "I am X's spirit! I have come from the other world!"

"Oh my God!! Oh my God!!" What I heard was so shocking that I lost my mind and asked myself: "How could this be? My friend has died without my knowledge!!! How could this have happened?!"

I had left him healthy earlier in the evening. He must have been involved in an accident. Maybe a car had struck him or something else had happened.

So I left the session and went out into the air, running wildly through the streets and breathing heavily, without regard for anything. I headed straight for my friend's house and knocked on the door in annoyance, in secret blaming his family for not telling me about what had happened to my friend.

"Oh my God!!" It was the second shock that I suffered that night. The person who opened the door to me was my amazed friend, who was surprised at my impolite behaviour in knocking at his door at such a late hour, in the middle of the night.

His voice – the same voice I had heard in the session – spoke to me, saying: "Hey! What is the matter with you?! Have you gone crazy?"

"Surely, yes, I have," I said, and then I turned back, reproaching myself for believing such swindlers.
A true story

### Conjuring up spirits

An event happened in Egypt in the year 1939 which was covered by all the newspapers, and which many people can still remember until this very day.

It took place at the beginning of the year 1939, before the outbreak of World War II. Mr. Al-Badri, the deceased – who was the manager of the Halawan secondary school – had disappeared, and nobody could find a trace of him. It was then that one of the spiritists living in Egypt circulated some strange information in the newspapers. He claimed that he had conjured up the spirit of one of the chiefs of a Native American tribe, whose name was the White Buzzard. Apparently, this chief had told him that Mr. Al-Badri was still alive in Tanta. However, a few days later, they found the corpse of Mr. Al-Badri mutilated in a hole in the deserts of Halawan.

### The false baseless belief

There is a dramatist called Patricia Jowdri who has an interest in the spiritual sciences. She says that the spirit of George Bernard Shaw, the well-known dramatist, comes from the other world to write her dramas, and that Victor Hugo, the giant of French literature, was a spiritual medium (psychic). Besides this she claims that some spiritual groups receive spiritual messages from Charles Dante and Charles Dickens.

#### A number of Egyptian scholars have commented on such matters.

Dr. Mustafa Mahmood is one of those who gives his opinion, telling us: "I don't believe in the truth of such news (of conjuring up the spirits of dead people), and I think that the one they invoke in such sessions is not the spirit of the dead person, but that of the jinn who accompanied him throughout his life, and consequently, he can imitate his voice and unveil his secrets."

Dr. As-Sayed Jamili agrees with him in his opinion.

Dr-Ar-Rakhawi adds: "We do not want more submission to an unknown world, because the deficiency in creativity from which we suffer results from a lack of thinking and a want of earnestness and diligence. Conjuring up the spirits of dead creative people will not solve these problems."

Sheikh Mahmood Shultoot disproves of such heresy because there is no proof to confirm it. Finally, some leaders of schools, depending on this old and silly idolatrous belief, pretend that they meet the spirits of those who have preceded them in passing to the other world. They then congratulate these dead spirits on the occasion of feasts, such as Al-Khedher (pth), Al-Jaylany, and Ar-Rifa'i (may God have mercy upon them), claiming also that they attend their sessions, and that they take pledges, covenants, secrets, and Godly sciences from them.

Is this not absolute craftiness, charlatanism, and falsehood?

After the ideological and ideational roots of this propaganda about conjuring up spirits have become clear to us, and in view of its wide dissemination, and because of the serious results that follow on from believing in this, we say in some detail the following, which is drawn from Al'lah's Book which falsehood cannot reach:

This propaganda is, in fact, one of the branches of magic, for God the Almighty sent down many noble verses that definitely disprove any possibility of communication between the living and the dead, be it through talking or any other means. Describing a person's state when they are at the hour of their death He, the Almighty, says: "Up until then if death comes to one of them, he will say: 'My Provider! Send me back, in order that I might do good in the world which I left behind'. No! These are the very words which he will speak. There shall be life in the grave for the spirit that is left behind them, up until the day on which they will be resurrected."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 23, Al-Muminun (The Believers), verse 99-100

The world 'No' undoubtedly indicates a refusal of the request, because "If they were sent back, they would return to that which has been forbidden to them, for they are indeed liars."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 28

God also describes their state in another situation: when they had been a person who had sought to enjoy their lower life, who then fully realized their yearnings – be they for buildings, cars, telephones, farms, electricity, adornment or decoration. These were people who had paid no attention to the rights of the poor and the miserable, and who then passed away into death, from where they could not come back to life again: "...Al'lah put their light out and left them in darkness: they cannot see. Deaf, dumb, and blind, they never return to this life."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 17-18

Accordingly, they do not see, hear, talk, or return to this life after their death.

This is the speech of Al'lah, the Almighty, so how and from where do these spiritists and conjurers bring the spirits of the dead?!

There are a lot of verses that illustrate this fact, such as the following: "Have not they seen how many generations We have destroyed before them? Never shall they return to them."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 36, Ya Sin 'Ya-sin' (Safe & Pure), verse 31

"They await nothing but one call which will overtake them whilst they are disputing. They will make no will; nor shall they return to their kinsfolk."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 36, Ya Sin 'Ya-sin' (Safe & Pure), verse 49-50

Thus, every spirit will remain unable to come back to this life and unable to talk with those who are living, from the hour of their death up until Doomsday. The allegation that it is possible for these magicians to bring back the spirits of the dead is, indeed, a false and baseless allegation.

God the Almighty predetermined that the dead can never come back to life again; otherwise the prophets and kings could return. The Almighty says: "No man before you have We made immortal. If you yourself are doomed to die, will they live forever?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya' (The Prophets), verse 34

#### In short we say:

Conjuring up the spirit of the dead is, in its reality, invoking the spirit of the jinn who accompanied them, who imitates the voice of the dead person and speaks instead of them, so that simple-minded people think that the dead person is the one who is talking to them. Before knowing the person who talks to these magicians during their sessions – or with whom they talk – the first important thing we should mention in this respect is that we have previously explained and made it clear that all humans are composed of a spirit, a soul, and a body, and have explained and made clear the specificity of each, according to what is mentioned in God's Book. Let us now recognize the outcome of each component after death:

1) The body ends up in the ground in which it is buried.

2) The soul is taken back by the angel of death: "Say: 'The angel of death who has been given charge of you will take you back (your souls); then to your Provider you shall all return.' "

The Holy Qur'an

Fortress 32, As-Sajda (The Prostration), verse 11

The angel of death withdraws the soul from the body as soon as life comes to an end and the term appointed to a given person has expired, according to the Will of the Almighty. Then the Godly support for this soul stops as their lower life has ended.

So, the soul is the Godly supply which keeps the person alive in this life. It is like the electric power that provides for us, and sends electricity into machines so that they can be operated and can produce goods etc.

The important thing is that the soul has no feelings, consciousness, senses, or perception, but rather supplies the body with life and power. How, then, can they pretend that they are invoking the souls of the dead so as to speak with them and allow them to utter words and so on...? For the soul is not the conscious self which expresses its feelings and speaks with others: this description applies to the spirit.

The soul is indeed a Godly light that supports the body and allows it to live. Then, when death comes, it is withdrawn from the body, which is buried in the ground when life ends.

3) The spirit is, as we have seen, the conscious feeling and perceptive self. It senses, enjoys and appreciates things. It suffers. It expresses its own ideas and thoughts.

After death, the soul is withdrawn by the angel of death, and the body becomes motionless and lifeless. It is then that God takes back the spirit, which tastes death, and after the body has died, the spirit leaves its current state in this present life, for in the grave, the spirit's state changes. God says: "Every spirit will taste death..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 29, Al-'Ankabut (The Spider), verse 57

This is because death does not mean the non-existence of the spirit, but the separation of the spirit from the body. Before this moment, the body had been the means for the spirit to carry out its deeds.

Thus, death is the ceasing of these deeds, as the verb 'to die' in Arabic also means 'to cease', and does not indicate the non-existence of the spirit. It is the spirit (rather than the soul) that is always addressed in the Qur'an and charged to follow the straight path. It abides in heavens of bliss or in hell during the interval extending from the moment of death until Doomsday.

God says in the Holy Qur'an: "Oh, you spirit, feeling tranquil with this life! Return to your Provider satisfied and pleasing Him. Bind up with My true obedient followers and enter My paradise"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 89, Al-Fajr (The Coming Appearance), verse 27-30

The spirit is the core of the human and the center of its existence, while the body and the soul are its means to achieve its inclinations and desires in this lower life, be they high or low.

The spirit is taken back by Al'lah, whereas the soul is taken back by the angel of death, and this is a clear difference between the spirit and the soul.

It is Al'lah Who takes back the spirits during their sleep; that is, He takes back the conscious self, so that a person's senses and physical (bodily) feelings are inactivated while they are asleep. Nevertheless, their body remains alive while the soul is poured upon it, spreading life into it, making the heart beat and the chest ascend and descend, and when Al'lah wants them to wake up, He sends out their spirit again: "It is He who takes back your spirits by night, and knows what you have done by day..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 60

When we die, Al'lah takes back the spirit entirely, and it does not then return to its body until the Day of Resurrection. This is the day on which life is breathed into the bodies again: "It is Al'lah who takes back the spirits when one is dead, and from those who have not died during their sleep. He takes back those on whom He has passed the decree of death, but sends the rest away for an appointed term. Surely, there are signs in this for thinking people."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 42

Thus, the spirit is in the hands of the Compassionate by night, when He directs it according to what suits its state. It is the same after death, where the spirit either becomes captive in the tomb, occupied with its pain and great loss, or else abides in one of the gardens of paradise, enjoying an elevated state that has been obtained because of its love for the Almighty, and also enjoying its entry into His Presence. This will take place according to the good deeds it has to offer: "Each spirit is the hostage of its own deeds, except the benevolent ones who offered good deeds, who are in paradises wondering."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 74, Al-Mud'dathir (All Divine Perfection he achieved), verse 38-40

The spirits of the living may meet with those of the dead through dreams, or may meet with those of the jinn who accompany them (through devilish dreams).

Such matters are in the hands of Al'lah, Who drives what is suitable and brings what is good to each spirit.

So we can see from this that the propaganda of the New Spiritism is false and baseless.

It was reported that on the day of the Battle of Badr, twenty-four valiant people of Quraysh who had been killed were brought before God's messenger (cpth), and then thrown into one of the wells of Badr. Then it is said that God's messenger (cpth) stood at the edge of the well and started calling them by their names and those of their fathers, saying: " 'You, so and so, and you, so and so! Have you found the promise of your Provider to be true? For I have found what my Provider promised to be true.' Our master Omar said to Mohammad (cpth): 'O, God's messenger! Do you talk to people who have become carrion?!' He (cpth) answered: 'You do not hear what I say any better than they do, but they cannot answer'." [50]

This is God's messenger (cpth) who hears them by means of Al'lah, so how can these conjurers get answers and knowledge from the dead when they cannot answer?!

Verily, what these spiritists pretend about conjuring up the spirits of the dead is, in its reality, conjuring up the spirits of the devilish companions of those who have passed away. These are the ones with whom the magicians seek refuge, and they are the enemies of humanity. And like all sorts of magic, they invoke the spirits of these devilish companions so that they will impersonate the sought-after dead people. They adopt their characters and their names, and in this way they affect the nerves of the bewitched people, so allowing them to imagine that the spirit in attendance is that of the dead person in question. As God the Almighty says: "Thus We have assigned for every prophet an enemy: the devils of humankind and jinn-kind, who inspire one another with vain and varnished falsehoods. If thy Lord had willed it, they would not have done so. Therefore leave them and their inventions alone. Let the hearts of those who have no faith in the hereafter incline to such (deceit): let them delight in it, and let them learn from it what they may."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 112-3

A person may have gone and witnessed this supposed conjuring of spirits, and may have believed what they saw. Had this person been pure and had they been seeking refuge in their Provider, they would not have seen any of these imaginary things, nor would they have been affected by a nervous spiritual influence. As a result, they would have avoided these sessions and disbelieved any falsehoods that were encountered during them. This is the correct behavior, which has the power to save us from the claws of the devil.

### The testimonies of the ones who have repented

Let's listen to what was said by Mr. Hassan Abdul- Wahab, the former secretary of the Spiritual Institution of Al-Ahram, who declared his repentance and resigned from this institution. Afterwards, he distributed a publication in which he expressed his opinion about what he had learned from his experiment in this field, announcing this information to all people.

This was published in the newspaper Al-Jumhooriyah (meaning the republic) on the 23rd of Ramadan in the year 1379 after the Hijra, and here are some excerpts from it:

"God has dispelled the veil of aberration from my heart in Ramadan, and finally it has been definitely proved to me that the characters which are conjured up and supposed to be the spirits of dead relatives and dear ones are nothing but the spirits of their devilish companions, who deceive people by letting them imagine false things. Now, after I have put an end to this wretched period of my life, I restore my Islam, regain my faith, and leave my dear fellows, for whom I find that I have great sympathy, pity, and commiseration in my heart, asking God importunately to illuminate their hearts and save them from the mud of this false belief."

The methods used to conjure up the evil spirits of these devils vary. However, they are all poured in a single stream in terms of their effect on people and their control over their spirits, deluding people and making them think that they hear voices: "And rouse whomever you are able with your voice, and muster against them all your imaginary actions..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 64

Hypnotism may be one of the methods relied on by these conjurers, which resembles and converges very much with the conjuring up of spirits.

Hence, the propaganda of the New Spiritism is another type of recent magic practiced under the pretense of foretelling that which is unseen, or treating people spiritually.

In this respect, the former secretary of the Spiritual Institution in Egypt (who resigned from his post) says:

"As for the spiritual therapy which the Spiritual Institution of Al-Ahram propagandizes from time to time, it is, in fact, nothing more than false suggestion, for I myself have spent half of my age in the practice of this activity, and throughout this period, I was continually suffering from many diseases which continued to affect me until this very day, though it would have made more sense for me to be treated, myself, since I was the founder of the institution, and the owner of one of the largest spiritual libraries, but I regrettably say that nothing like this happened."

Dr. Mohammad Hussein practiced this heresy. He started with the way of the cup and the table, which did not persuade him. He then reached the stage of being a spiritual medium, and tried to witness the embodiment or the voice of the spirit that they claim to be able to conjure up. According to their own accounts, this proves the truth of their contentions. However, neither he nor the others involved succeeded, as such claims indeed have no reality. They are only false deceptions which have no relationship with the truth. Rather, they aim to spoil people, deceive them, and destroy the divine religions. Since he was not convinced of the truth of such unsound thoughts, and instead unveiled the truth about them, he withdrew from this practice and determined to clear up the reality for people:

"These errant ones keep practicing their trickery on people until they pull out the faith and belief that had settled in their spirits, and then deliver a confused mixture of fancies and doubts to them. Then, when they fail to conjure up the spirits of the dead, they say that the medium is not fortunate, or he is exhausted, or the attendees of the session are not accordant with one another, or there is one among them who has come to the meeting to doubt or challenge the veracity of their practice."

One of their false pretenses is that Gabriel (peace is through him) attends and blesses their sessions!! May God make them loathed and despised!!
Thirdly

## Augury – One of the Claims of the Magicians

### Necromancy

This kind of magical deed is well known by the specialists in this field.

The necromancer claims that he can tell people about matters that are hidden from human knowledge, whereas the fact is that he only tells people what his masters among the devils dictate to him.

God says: "Thus We have assigned for every prophet an enemy: the devils of humankind and jinn-kind, who inspire one another with vain and varnished falsehoods as an allure...": that is, they do this to allure each other. That is necessary so as to draw out the wickedness that is settled in their spirits. With that, they become enemies of what is right, and this enmity is like treatment for them.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 112

They claim that they know about what is hidden from human knowledge, although nobody knows about it except Al'lah. God says: "Say: 'none in the heavens or the earth has knowledge of what is hidden except Al'lah. Nor can they ever perceive when they will be raised up to life'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 27, An-Naml (The Ants), verse 65

Anyone who pretends anything that is in conflict with the open Holy Qur'an – such as making claims to have this ability to foretell the future – is nothing but a fabricator of falsehood against Al'lah, unless they are a prophet, or they take their knowledge from the prophets.

God says: "He alone has knowledge of what is hidden. Nor does He reveals His mysteries to any except to a messenger whom He has chosen..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 26-27

So, are those necromancers messengers?

Or did the messenger (cpth) ever deal with necromancy?

On the contrary, the messenger declared the truth openly "Say: 'I have not the power to acquire benefits or to avert evil from myself, except by the will of Al'lah. Had I possessed knowledge of what is hidden, I would have availed myself of much that is good and no harm would have touched me..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 188

The following is a story that shows the falsity of this necromancy. Its events took place in the life of the scholar Mohammed Amin Sheikho.
A True Story

### The Tale of Employing Necromancy to Reveal Thieves

The great scholar, Mr. M A Sheikho, was lying on his bed, groaning quietly, breathing deeply from time to time, and then stopping breathing for a while. His face was colored with a feverish redness, and drops of sweat fell from his forehead so that they wet his pillow. He had a severe fever, and it had progressed to a severe stage that led to him losing consciousness. The room he rested in was medium-sized, with his bed lying on the right side of the room, with a medium-sized cupboard settled on the opposite side.

An extremely precious and luxurious Persian carpet lay in one of the corners of the room. It was still wrapped up, just as it had been when Mr. M A Sheikho had bought it a few days beforehand, before he had become confined to bed after being afflicted with this severe fever.

Two or three days passed before the honorable master recovered consciousness, his temperature decreased, and his face returned to a more natural color than its previous shade of red. He then started to eat small portions of food.

Although he had recovered from his fever, the effects of this illness on him were still apparent.

Another day passed, and Mr. M A Sheikho had obviously improved to the point that he could sit upright and walk, and so he returned to living his life as usual.

A few days later, while sitting on his bed having a small breakfast, he noticed the absence of the new carpet which he had left lying in the corner of the room before he fell sick. He began to wonder where it might be! It had disappeared! Might his pure wife have taken it and spread it out on the floor of one of the other rooms?!

If not, where might it have gone?!

After he had finished his breakfast and got up, he picked up his little table and went down to the kitchen where his wife was still cleaning the room. He handed her the little table then asked her,

"Oh, Om Fathi, where have you put the new carpet?"

She answered in astonishment, "Is it not in the corner of your room?"

He said in bewilderment, "No, it is nowhere to be found in my room."

She replied, "The last thing I knew about it, it was in the corner of your room."

He said, "Yes, that's true... I remember that it was there before I got ill, but I can't find it now, so where could it be?!"

He and his wife started searching for the carpet everywhere, but they were unable to find it.

Thus it seemed that the carpet had been robbed... but how?!

And who could it be who would dare to rob a carpet from right inside the room of the manager of the citadel and the prison?!

Our officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, was feeling worried as he put on his uniform. He then went hastily out into his work base in Damascus Citadel, where he looked through the lists he had previously prepared, detailing the names of many criminals and people who had been previously convicted. He got hold of each of these suspects and interrogated them. However, this inquest did not achieve its intended result.

Our officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, became steadily more interested and absorbed in the case. His concern was not for the carpet itself; rather, the focus of his interest was limited to knowing how the thief had been able to enter his house and steal the carpet without being noticed by anyone!!

This case had made him feel weary, and there was no real sign of a positive result.

One day, a man told him that he could reveal the identity of the thief by using necromancy. Our officer replied, "How could this be?"

(At that time, God had not yet revealed His lofty guidance or His Holy Qur'anic revelations to him.)

The man said, "Oh, honorable officer! If you should only go to this necromancer, he will discover the identity of the robber. Moreover, he will tell you how somebody was able to fulfill this theft through employing necromancy about such matters".

Obviously, an expression of great interest appeared on our officer's noble countenance, and he asked the man to show him the way to the necromancer. They then went to him together. When they arrived, Mr. M A Sheikho entered and informed the necromancer about the case of the theft, whereby the latter told him not to worry about the matter, for his problem would be solved. He called a boy who was playing in the courtyard, asking him to come inside to him, and then he ordered him to sit in order to apply his necromancy. The boy sat with his face bent over a container filled with hot water, looking at the water. The necromancer took a towel and put it over the boy's small head, so that the steam from the water suffused his face. The necromancer then then sat close to him, murmuring in vague words, "Hary... Bary... You, appear! Jai... Mai... I abjure you; you... Ahdoosh! Tawoosh!"

A few minutes had passed by the time the man stopped his murmuring, and then he asked the boy, "What do you see now?"

The boy replied, "I can see the market, Souq Al-Hamidiyah." [51] Then he started describing what he was witnessing, "Here I am passing by the entrance of Souq Al-Hamidiyah, and here I am coming to a lane called Souq AL-Taweel that leads to a shrine."

The boy continued, "Here is the shrine called the shrine of AL-Say'yeda Jabiyah. Now, here is another lane that starts from Souq AL-Souf stretching before me... and on the right side of the entrance to this lane, there are many houses with wooden doors. The sixth of these doors is a wicket [52] (called 'bab khokha' in Arabic)."

The boy continued to describe the images he could see before him on the surface of the water. "This wicket belongs to a Damascus house with a wide courtyard, and with an old well that is out of order lying to the left side of the wicket. Opposite this there is an old staircase that leads to a big, upper-storey room, inside which there is a big wooden box that is adorned and inlaid with white shells.

"There it is! There it is! A new carpet, all wrapped up, with fresh, bright colors which indicate that it is new."

The necromancer said, "What else do you see, boy? Do you see anything else?"

The boy said, "No, now I see nothing but the carpet which is in the middle of the box."

When the boy's vision ended with this image of the carpet, the necromancer raised the cloth from the boy's head. At this point our officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, said in joy and astonishment: "So, it is my stolen carpet inside this box."

The necromancer said in response, "Yes... Yes it is."

Mr. M A Sheikho then began to become optimistic because of what he had heard, and whispered to the necromancer, "Let's go now. Bring your tools of necromancy with you, and come along with me to the site in question."

All of them got up and left the place. They walked along the same path that had just been witnessed by the boy while under the influence of necromancy. They moved from one place to another, and from one lane to another, until they reached the lane that was their goal. There, sure enough, just as in the boy's vision, they saw before them the place with the wooden doors, where the sixth one was a wicket ('bab khokha').

Hence, all that the boy had witnessed was true, and necromancy does not lie.

Mr. M A Sheikho sent for the mayor of the quarter and ordered him to inspect the house, and specifically the box inside the upstairs room.

At that time, the mayor of the quarter had amicably been given a broad remit by the inhabitants of the quarter, as most of them liked him and thought of him as a merciful father to them all.

The mayor presented himself to the great officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, and then they all headed for the house in question. The group was composed of the officer, two policemen, the mayor, the necromancer and the boy. When they reached the house, the mayor, who was standing to the right of the door nearby our officer Mr. M A Sheikho, knocked loudly for admittance.

The door opened a little, and from behind it, a woman's voice answered the mayor's knock:

"Who is knocking?"

She remained behind and slightly to the right of the door in order not to be seen by anyone (this was a time when women were completely veiled).

The mayor answered: "I am the father of such and such, the mayor. We want to enter, my daughter, so open the way for us."

In the meantime, our officer was looking through the opening and saw the well situated to the left of the door. This told him for certain that this was the same house that had been seen by the boy in his vision. He was worried that the woman would close the door and then refuse to open it again when she became aware of the arrival of an officer and two policemen to inspect the house. To prevent this, Mr. M A Sheikho put his foot between the bottom of the door and its sill as the mayor continued talking with the woman. Then she concealed herself in one of the rooms with the rest of the women of the house, while the mayor waited for a few moments before entering the house with the rest of the group.

The officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, was longing to see the rest of the details that the boy had witnessed, so after the door was opened, he rushed toward the well, and then looked opposite it and saw the old wooden staircase lying in the same place as described. They were indeed old, just as the boy had told them. The mayor and the rest of the group followed the officer in haste without knowing the cause of his hurry, but they kept in step with what our officer Mr. M A Sheikho wanted.

As for our officer, he was getting more certain of the truth and the great revelation that was contained in this necromancy.

Wherever he turned, he found that what he saw before him corresponded to the details that had been described by the boy.

They entered the room the boy had described, and there they found the locked and adorned wooden box.

The mayor went back to the room in which the women were concealed, and called from behind the door, "We want to open the wooden box. Is there any objection to this, or anything inside which we should not see?"

The woman said: "No, no... It is under your orders; it contains nothing but some winter clothes. Here is its key." She then opened the door slightly and from inside, threw out a big key. The mayor took a few steps forward and stooped to take up the key, and then returned to the room to open the box. However, when he raised its cover, the necromancer was amazed. Alas! The box contained only some winter clothes and there was no carpet inside it, and the vision of the boy had come to nothing!

Mr. M A Sheikho did not expect such a result after all the previous facts had corresponded exactly to what the boy had witnessed.

So, the carpet was not there, but how could such a thing have happened?!

Thereupon, he turned to the necromancer, saying, "Come now, quickly, and practice your necromancy again, so that we will discover the location of the carpet."

The necromancer followed his order.

He hastily arranged for the boy to bend his face over the container of water again, and started his magical murmuring, and then asked the boy, "What can you see now?"

The boy said, "I can see the market of Souq Al-Hamidiyah."

The necromancer continued to press him. "What else?"

The boy continued describing his vision, "I can see a large department store filled with different kinds of carpets... The carpets are lengthwise, stacked row by row along the walls."

The necromancer said: "Can you see anything else?"

He replied: "No, it is just a store for selling carpets, with the upper floor filled with carpets."

When the officer Mr. M A Sheikho heard this, his thoughts sailed outwards, making some calculations, and when his thoughts guided him to a result, he said to the mayor, "Is the house owner a carpet merchant?!"

The mayor said: "Oh, master! By God, I don't remember, but wait a moment."

He went hastily down to the room of the women, and called out to them from in front of the closed door, "At what does the householder work? Is he a merchant of carpets?"

One woman answered, "Yes, he is... And his store is located in the market of Souq Al-Hamidiyah."

The mayor came back with an answer that confirmed the right thinking of our officer Mr. M A Sheikho, who had perceived the reality of the matter in detail.

He had unveiled the secret of such a merchant of carpets. Such a man will sell a carpet, and then send someone out to follow the buyer home, in order to know the exact address of their house. Then on the same night, or whenever he has the chance, he will send his thieves to rob the carpet and bring it back to his store.

The mayor looked at the officer master who had sunk into thought, so that his appearance was colored with the stain of earnestness. The mayor then asked him, "What shall you do now, master?"

The officer turned slowly to the mayor who had interrupted his train of thought, and said in a prolonged voice, "Now... Now..." Then he rushed quickly into action, ordering the two gendarmes and the rest of the group to come along and follow him quickly. He went down the stairs hastily, accompanied by the two gendarmes who were running alongside him, and followed by the mayor. The necromancer was also close behind, having poured the water out of its container and taken note of the name of the merchant. Mr. M A Sheikho walked from a lane into Souq Al-Hamidiyah, where he headed for the largest carpet store there, first asking about the owner of the store, from whom he remembered buying the carpet. When he arrived, he found that the store exactly corresponded to the description given by the boy, meaning that the owner of the house was one and the same as the owner of this carpet store. There he was, sitting on a chair behind a big table, and drinking a cup of green tea.

When he saw Mr. M A Sheikho and the others behind him, he got up quickly and went to Mr. M A Sheikho, who began addressing him in annoyance, "Is it appropriate to do such a deed? Is it permissible? You sell your carpet to a customer, and then you send someone to rob it from his house!! Is this legal commerce? What trade is this, man!? And why did you rob my carpet after you had sold it to me?"

The merchant stumbled and his skin turned as yellow as that of a dead man, and then he said in confusion and with difficulty, "I'm... No... No sir... I did not rob anything... I don't steal."

Our officer replied forcefully, "And yet you did... You robbed my carpet, and necromancy is witness to this – do you accuse it of lying??"

The merchant could not do anything except swear by God, denying ever being involved with such ugly doings. Nonetheless, Mr. M A Sheikho was sure that this merchant was a big thief since the necromancy had asserted that this was the case; otherwise, had the vision of the boy and his revelation of the theft come out of nothing? Would he disbelieve what the innocent little boy had seen with his own eyes?

Surely this merchant was the thief; otherwise, why had the boy revealed him personally, him and nobody else?? Our officer shouted to his men, "Come on! Throw him down." Then he took his lash in his hand, preparing himself to thrash this robber and head of merchants, and chastise him for his immoral act. Within moments, the big merchant had been thrown down on the ground, with his legs in the air.

Meanwhile, before the lash could reach his feet, a group of merchants came in who had heard the raised voices and the noise, and had been made aware of the arrival of the gendarmes. All of this made them come as quickly as they could to see what was the matter. When they saw their leader lying down on the ground, they were extremely astonished and uttered at the same time, "What's the matter? What's the matter, our master?!"

The officer master then lowered the hand that he had raised in the air, holding the lash; he did not beat the merchant but turned to them, exposing the thief by saying, "He is a robber. He sold me a carpet and within a few days he had robbed it from my house... What boldness!"

The merchants said, "What do you want now, sir? Do you want a carpet to replace the one that he stole? Take any carpet you want, but please release the merchant." The gendarmes then let the man go, and he got up, dusting off his clothes.

He had never expected to face such a fate at all, where a necromancer would be able to unveil him and inform an officer about him.

The merchant gave the officer master a carpet similar to the one he had lost. It was so similar to it that it could yet have been the self-same carpet. He ordered the gendarmes to carry it and left the store, followed by the necromancer and the two gendarmes carrying the carpet.

Our officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, wished to recover the losses of all of the people who had been swindled by this merchant and to start an official investigation into this occurrence. The problem was that the government did not accept necromancy as a legal eyewitness, so he could do nothing but regain what was his own by right. He did so, and because of this the merchant's spirit would no longer dare to allow itself to enter the house of Mr. M A Sheikho.

Outside the store, the gladness that he was feeling was expressed clearly on the face of our officer.

The results that had been attained would have been impossible to achieve without the use of necromancy, and these results pleased him greatly. Because he was so impressed, he asked the necromancer to teach him how to use this power to expose criminals and thieves. The necromancer replied "As you like, sir."

They continued walking side by side as the necromancer taught Mr. M A Sheikho the rules of practicing necromancy, and then he gave him his container, saying, "This is for you, and I will get another one for myself."

Mr. M A Sheikho bid him farewell, and they separated after our officer had paid him an ample fee for his services. Then our officer continued onwards to his house, with the two gendarmes carrying the carpet behind him.

Days and months, and then a year, and then a second year passed. Eventually, one day, one of the convicts asked for a meeting with the manager of the citadel prison, Mr. M A Sheikho. The criminal told the officer in his hoarse voice, "Sir... Sir... I want to tell you about something that happened... Two years ago, a criminal named such and such robbed a carpet from your house... He broke into your house and stole it."

Mr. M A Sheikho was astonished at what he had heard and said with great interest, "Are you sure of what you are saying?"

He said, "By God sir, I say nothing but the truth, and the proof of my honesty is that I know that you were sick at that time, and that you lost consciousness because of a severe fever."

The thief of the carpet had told his secret to this man because these two criminals had been friends, but when a violent quarrel took place between them, the latter came to inform the manager of the prison, Mr. M A Sheikho, against his former friend.

That tale astonished Mr. M A Sheikho and greatly surprised him, to the point that he asked himself, "Did this necromancy deceive us? But how? How could the boy have witnessed all that he witnessed? Moreover, all the witnesses agreed with the facts, and now the result has proved to be wrong!!"

Can it have been possible? But these were the facts.

Mr. M A Sheikho brought the man who had been accused of stealing his carpet before him, and he interrogated him: "Two years ago, you robbed a carpet from my house, did you not?"

The criminal replied in amazement (as he was surprised at having himself revealed after such a long time), "No sir, I did not."

Officer Mr. M A Sheikho said, "You! Admit the truth! You are the culprit and I have witnesses that can testify that this is the case."

When the man did not confess, our officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, ordered the gendarmes to throw him down, and then he heaped fifty lashes of his whip upon him. He then threatened him with these lashes as his daily share at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and promised that he would imprison him in the prison dungeon below ground. This treatment would continue until the man confessed the truth. At once the criminal shouted entreatingly and promised to admit the truth. The officer stopped whipping him, and the gendarmes released him, and he got up and sat there, defeated. He then spoke quietly, "It is true sir. Two years ago I stole a carpet from your house."

Mr. M A Sheikho asked, "In what way?"

The criminal continued his story, saying, "While I was at home I was suddenly attacked by a patrol composed of many gendarmes, so I quickly made my way to the roof of my house. From there I ran from one rooftop to another in flight from your patrol, sir. I continued going from roof to roof until I came to a building with a lemon tree nearby. This tree grew tall enough to reach the roof, so I went down this tree, suffering the pricking of its spines, until I was opposite an open window. I looked inside the room and found a sleeping man within, so I jumped from the tree to the window, and sneaked through the window and into the room as quietly as I could. All the while, the sleeping man remained asleep. I crept along quietly, on the tips of my toes, and then – what a surprise!!

"The sleeping man was you sir, so my heart beat with fright at first, but I controlled myself when I saw that your face was colored with a feverish redness. I could see clearly that you were suffering from a severe fever that had made you unconscious... It was only then that I discovered that the patrol which was chasing me was not under your leadership.

"I noticed the handle of a pistol under the edge of your pillow, and I quickly stretched out my hand and snatched it away. I then loaded it, aimed it at your head and pulled the trigger, but as it did not fire, I tried to fire again and again but without avail (the firing mechanism had become inoperative). I looked around me and found a new, wrapped-up carpet in the corner, so I picked it up and went out, and once I got to the street I began shouting:

"Carpets! Carpets!" When I had got far enough away from your house and came to the fields, I took the pistol out and pulled the trigger again, and this time the gun fired from the first attempt. It was a very strange thing sir. I do not know why the pistol did not fire when it was aimed at you, but when I was outside, it fired on the first attempt."

The house of Mr. M A Sheikho was done in an Arabic building style and had two floors, an upper and a lower one. It was located in the quarter of Al-Mohajereen. Since this area is on the slope of the mountain, the upper floor of the house opened directly onto the street via the main door of the house, whereas the lower floor was below the level of the street and a descending staircase lay behind the main door leading to it.

So, the thief had entered the room of Mr. M A Sheikho on the upper floor, and when he had left, he had gone directly from this room to the main door leading out into the street. Because of this, nobody had noticed him sneaking into the house.

Just then Mr. M A Sheikho remembered the secret of the vanishing pistol, but he had not realized that it had vanished just at the same time that the carpet had also disappeared. Mr. M A Sheikho was responsible for the arsenal in the citadel, and could choose whatever arms he wanted. Because of this, when he lost his pistol, he thought that he had forgotten to bring his substitute with him and nothing more than this. However, now he knew what had really happened with this pistol.

Mr. M A Sheikho asked: "Where is the carpet now?"

The criminal answered: "It is in my sister's house, in the village of Dooma."

Our officer then took the criminal with him, and they went together to his sister's house where they found the carpet. It was still wrapped up rather than spread out on the ground. His sister had dared not spread it out lest her brother might one day be angry with her if he asked her for the carpet back, and then found it spread out on the ground and covered in dirt. She had thought that then he would beat her, and so she had left it wrapped up for the time being.

The gendarmes picked up the carpet, and took it back to the house of Mr. M A Sheikho. After he had given the pistol back to its owner, the criminal was submitted to another trial in the citadel prison.

So it had become clear that necromancy and its practitioners tell lies, and he who believes an astrologer has disbelieved the prophets.

With great enthusiasm our great officer, Mr. M A Sheikho, immediately began to invite some of the big merchants in the market of Souq Al-Hamidiyah to a lunch banquet, with the big carpet merchant among them. He emphasized that the merchants he invited should bring the big carpet merchant to the banquet with them. It was time for lunch when the merchants came, bringing this head of the carpet merchants with them. Mr. M A Sheikho received them with great hospitality and asked them to sit down; then, to the surprise of all, and guided by the principle of equity on which his noble spirit rested, he sat on the floor, raised up his legs upon a chair and tied them up with a rope. He then threw his lash to the carpet merchant and shouted to him: "Come on! Get up and beat me, because you are an innocent man and I unjustly accused you of thievery. Your innocence has become clear to me, and the falsity of necromancy and its practitioner, the astrologer, have been unveiled."

The attendees were astonished at what they saw: the big officer, the commander of Damascus citadel and its prison, lying down with his legs raised, asking the merchant to beat him!! The merchant was also amazed and refused to beat him, and so Mr. M A Sheikho said to him: "If you don't beat me, I shall beat you. Come on and beat me as I order you."

Thereupon, a merchant interrupted him, saying, "But sir, we quite remember that you threw him down, so that his position was just like yours now, but you did not beat him; and here and now you have lain down like him, so why do you want him to beat you?!"

The carpet merchant said: "That's true sir, you did not beat me, and so I will not beat you."

Mr. M A Sheikho then got up and apologized to the merchant, once again announcing his innocence before all the attendees.

All the invitees enjoyed their lunch happily and joyfully, and then left filled with cheerfulness and honor after witnessing Mr. M A Sheikho giving the merchant back the price of the carpet which he had taken from the store two years ago. All of them left the house pleased and satisfied, especially the big carpet merchant himself.

After that event, Mr. M A Sheikho knew full well that anything that has conjuring and magic as its basis is nothing more than deception and has no reality or truth, and that nothing but evil and damage may result from those conjurers and their brothers, the devils, who sow the seeds of discord and hatred among people by unjustly accusing the innocent.
A True Story

### The Amazing Hat of Hiding

Here is a wonderful and funny event that happened to the publisher of the great eminent scholar's books, and ended with my being saved from the danger of black magic.

When I was eight years old, I was very fond of reading and the perusal of books. I read all the books of my father – who was the greatest preacher and scholar of Hadith in Damascus – one example being The Encyclopedia of Prophetic Tradition. After reading The Holy Qur'an fourteen times the same year, my desire increased greatly and, in my curiosity, I aspired to read any book available.

The following laughable occurrence happened to me when I found a magic book that revealed the secret of how to make a hat of hiding. This was supposed to be a hat that could hide a person from the sight of others as soon as they put it on their head, so that they could see other people without being seen themselves.

Undoubtedly, this idea was one that would fulfill the wishes of anyone with a longing for adventure and a thirst for exciting and funny situations. I decided to make this hat for myself, and I set about preparing it by following the directions and the requirements detailed in the book, following all the measurements given minutely and accurately.

I kept imagining how nice it would be if I was able to be present among my friends as they played, hiding myself from their sight. I imagined how I would touch their necks from behind, jokingly. Surely, each of them would think that the one behind him was doing it, and consequently, there would be a battle of accusations and denials as I watched, all the while invisible to their eyes.

At that moment I would take off the marvelous hat and reveal the game I had been playing, appearing amongst them and unveiling the reality behind those taps on the back of the neck.

Furthermore, I would do many wonders at home with my brothers. I imagined how my days would be full of exciting events. Because of my yearning for such possibilities and such amazing episodes, I bought precisely all that the book said was required to make and prepare such a hat. It cost me a lot of money, and so I ended up spending all my pocket money on this project. I bought a gazelle skin from the leather market that is located behind Bab-Al-Jabiah, some incense from Souq-Al-Bzooriah, and all of the various other materials which were necessary to make and prepare the hat of hiding.

According to the directions, the preparations were to be made in broad daylight for Shamhorash, the king of the Red Jinn. They should be carried out when the sun was radiant in the middle of the sky. I should also be out of sight of others at this time.

Therefore, I chose the roof of our house as the place for this activity, because I was able to have the required privacy there. The weather became hotter and hotter as I burned the censer to incinerate and fumigate all the necessary ingredients as required. I remained there for a long time working on the dictated lines that were to be read out, and repeating them as directed.

At last, the ultimate moment approached when I would put on the hat. After the appointed term mentioned in the directions had passed, and having carried out all the necessary duties, I put the hat on my head as the air around me on the roof became aromatic and filled with the rising fumes of incense vapor.

What a wonderful moment that was, and what overwhelming ecstasy I felt, seeing everything without being seen by anyone (or so I thought). Such was the fancy that possessed me at that moment.

But alas!!!

As soon as I came downstairs with the hat on my head, I met my mother, who was astonished at my appearance and made that clear by asking me, "Why are you wearing such a hat on your head, my son?!!"

It immediately became clear to me that there was no such thing as a hat which makes a man invisible. I realized then that these magical talismans and charms were nothing but trickery, without a shred of truth behind them. I became absolutely certain that there was no hat in existence which could hide a person from sight, because this would mean a perversion of truth and a break in the strict universal discipline of the world.

People had never been able to make such a hat before, so surely there was no basis for thinking that it could possibly be done. Had it been real, thieves and criminals would have learnt how to make it in order to commit their crimes without detection, and moreover, the governments of the world would have taught their spies how to use it. If this were the case, crimes and felonies would have become widespread; there would be no restraint on their incidence and no law that could control them, since the perpetrators could remain unknown and unseen. Truly, one that believes a diviner has given the lie to seventy prophets.

Here is another event that happened to our beloved officer, Mr. Mohammed Amin Sheikho. In the same way that magicians deceive people of spiritual and nervous imagination, many fraudulent swindlers also trick people by using sensible and tangible material because they have not yet reached the degraded rank of magician.

As an example, let us read about the occurrence of the following simple event concerning our eminent scholar.
A True Story

### A Scion of an Important Ancestor and his Marvels

One day, when Mr. M A Sheikho was a public security officer, he was passing along a particular street wearing his elegant military uniform, displaying his own seemly appearance. He was walking staidly along with his usual firm footsteps, and was surrounded by a peerless halo of reverence, gentleness and dignity that was unmatched in its perfection.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn by a crowd of people who had gathered together around something. He wondered what was in their midst. What was the cause of their fascination? To find out, he walked towards them and stood with them, and asked the man beside him:

"You sir! Tell me what is going on here? What has made these people gather together in a circle?! What is at the centre of this gathering?"

An impression of astonishment could still be seen on the face of the man, who replied:

"Oh, sir! There is a man here performing wonders! Can you believe, sir, that he holds snakes and scorpions in his hands without being stung or bitten by them?! Take a look for yourself! He is holding a big scorpion in the palm of his hand!!"

"Is that so? Okay, I will take a look at this", said Mr. M A Sheikho, and then left the man and rushed into the crowd of people, shouldering his way to the middle of the group. When people saw him, they recognized that it was the brave and honorable officer himself, Mr. M A Sheikho. They promptly cleared a path for him so that he could pass through as he wished. He proceeded to push forward until he reached the midst of the throng, where he found the performer standing before him.

This man was standing in the middle of the crowd, encircled by people, all of whom were bewildered and astounded by the unusual and extraordinary acts he was performing.

When Mr. M A Sheikho looked at the man, he saw a big scorpion in the palm of his hand. He went closer and stood nearby him, looking closely at his hand. He was absolutely sure that no man could normally hold a scorpion in this way without being stung by it. He deduced that there must be some secret to the scorpion itself, rather than the man who was holding it. He addressed that false superman as follows:

"You, man! How can you hold that scorpion without being bitten by it?!"

With confidence and pride, the man answered:

"Oh sir! I am the scion of important ancestors. I am descended from Sheikh Al-Rifaee (his soul has been sanctified by Al'lah)."

At this point, Mr. M A Sheikho opened his palm and stretched out his hand, saying "Put the scorpion in my hand."

The man was shocked and thunderstruck, and immediately said, "No, no sir! It will surely sting you!"

Mr. M A Sheikho said to him, "I too am descended from a high ancestor, [53] my good man. Come on! Put it in my hand."

The man unwillingly stretched his hand out to Mr. M A Sheikho, and put the scorpion in the scholar's hand in spite of himself. Mr. M A Sheikho scrutinized the scorpion which was settled in the palm of his hand. How odd! It failed to bite him, or even to affect him in any way, despite its many attempts to do so.

Then, all doubt and wonder vanished from this case when the reason for the strange phenomenon was unveiled. The scorpion had been deprived of its poisonous stinger, as the performer had extracted it from the end of its tail with some kind of tool. So it was that the scorpion had lost its weapon of deadly poison, so that if it tried to sting its molester, it would fail.

Thus the man's trickery and cunning was unmasked, and he bowed his head in shame, especially when the throng mocked him after his charlatanism had been unveiled. Our bold and dear officer, along with all the people in the crowd, could see that the secret was in the scorpion. Although they had heard a lot about this man being descended from high ancestry and his ability to do wonders, these were nothing but baseless statements, for Al'lah does not care about our descent. Even Sheikh Al-Rifa'e himself (God had mercy upon him) would never take part in such deeds, and he is absolutely innocent of any such things that may have been ascribed to him. These ideas are unacceptable according to logic and sound thinking. If descent or lineage was of assistance in helping people to escape from punishment for their wrongdoing, then our master Noah (pth) would surely have delivered his son from the flood, and additionally our master Abraham (pth) would have rescued his father the idolater, and our master Mohammad (cpth) would have interceded for his uncle Abo-Lahab, just as he would not have had to caution his daughter Fatima and his uncle Al-Ab'bas against breaking Al'lah's orders!

That is because no intercession is of assistance to those who are disobedient, except their returning to obedience to God. In this way only will they profit from the intercession of intercessors.
Fourthly

## Divination

This magic is practiced in many forms, such as palmistry, use of cowry shells, or reading the dry traces of coffee that are left on the sides and the bottom of a cup. The reader of such things makes predictions about the situations, the predicaments, and the incidents that will befall a given person. Accordingly, a person's life will be different depending on whether the coffee's consistency is thick rather than thin, for example. The course of a person's life will change depending on the different formations in the lines and the curves on their palm, as these lines supposedly tell us something about the events of somebody's life. This is what the diviners claim. After consulting them, people will feel either pessimism or optimism about their illusory future.

Yet the statute, in fact, denies and repeals all of this, just as God's messenger (cpth) prohibited it. He said: "Driving away birds or seeing a good omen in their voices or their names, feeling pessimism, and geomancy are all methods of jibt." [54] (jibt refers to what is brought about by the devil).

This means that these methods of enchanters and diviners are false, because none can know about unseen matters except Al'lah.

The Almighty God told us that the jinn utilized by Him to complete hard and exhausting labors for our master Solomon (pth) continued to undertake their work for many decades after he left this life and moved to God's abodes.

He (pth) seemed to them to still be alive, as his noble body was put on a chair throughout those years, according to His command. As time passed and woodworms ate away his staff, his pure body fell down upon the earth with the result that the truth of his death was unveiled to the jinns. Had they known about this fact, which had been invisible to them, they would not have stayed and suffered this torture for such a long time. This tells us that at this time, it became clear that they did not know the unseen, because if they had been acquainted with the truth, they would not have tarried in this wearisome torture of hard labor for so many decades. They did so out of their feeling of fear of our master Solomon (pth) and their feeling of reverence for his prestige. They feared him because they thought he was still alive, sitting there on his throne.

Although he (pth) was right before their eyes, they knew nothing about his departure from this life. How then can it be said that they are able to foretell unseen matters themselves?!!

The Almighty says: "And when we had decreed his death, nothing showed them his death except a worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff. So when he fell down, the jinns saw plainly...": that is, the reality became known to them. "...that had they had knowledge of the hidden, they would not have continued in the humiliating servitude."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 34, Saba' (Sheba), verse 14

Thus, fortune-telling is absolutely unreal. It is nothing but delusion and fancy, and its custodians, the diviners, are inspired in this by their devilish consorts, so as to deceive naive people with prolonged vain hopes in their lowly life.

Yet any rational person knows well what effect this prolonged hope has on anyone who believes in it. It makes them forget the hereafter. They fall prey to the control of their whims, so that they become wholly absorbed in desire, and yield to their desires and follow them. They will incline to this lower life and its worthless adornments, and will be misled by its temporary pleasures.

Consequently, they will neglect religion's proper share of their attention, and unaware, will prefer false things to the eternal and everlasting concerns. They will disobey God and His messenger (cpth) since they are fully controlled by an agent who has no pity for them. They will have resigned themselves to their bitter enemy and will have adopted the destructive suspicions and illusions which the devil will dictate to them.

The devils dictate to them a course that creates despair, hopelessness, failure, and many other feelings that dishearten them and discourage them from performing fruitful and useful deeds.

Thereby they will become easy prey in their hands because of their negative doubts about their Provider. Because of this, they will continue to resort to the devils until their utter doom is all that they achieve.

That is the utmost aim and wish of Satan with regard to the children of Adam. Whatever the multiple methods used, the aim is this alone: to cause our destruction by leading us to distance from God by obeying other gods besides Him (glory to Him).

Who is more truthful in speech than God, who says: "...no spirit knows what it is that it will earn on the morrow..."?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 31, Luqman (Luqman), verse 34

How can these so-called diviners claim to know about their own future or anyone else's, when the Almighty's saying is so clear and apparent?!!

Now, here is a true and factual story. It shows us that the reading of certain fortresses from the Qur'an foils and neutralizes the transcendental sciences of these magicians – when this reading issues from the heart of a true believer in God and His messenger (cpth) – because it causes the flight of their devilish consorts. These fortresses are: Al-Falaq (All that's coming to Appearance); An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind); and Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity).
A True Story

### The Magician and the Needle

On the hills of Damascus, a town has been established that the Hand of Godly Potency has endowed with fascinating beauty and all the captivating charms of nature.

It truly infatuates the hearts and fills the eyes with glorification. Its weather is pleasant and clement, and the houses therein are surrounded by thickets and trees from which ripe fruit and refreshing, enchanting flowers dangle.

Such is the artistry of Al'lah, who has perfected everything. Gentle whiffs of air blow and dally among the twigs, making the leaves shake with the joy and passion and refreshment that come from the diffusion of the coolness of the breeze. The night envelops the place in darkness and a light silence spreads over the area.

Once upon a time, an Arabic house stood here, in the middle of a farm, with a faint light beaming through its windows. Although this was just the light of a simple lamp, nonetheless it contained a kind of tranquility, a heart's ease and a strange spiritual purity.

Within this house, in one of the rooms in particular, an unusual calmness prevailed. It was mixed with a pureness and magnificence that overwhelmed those who were present.

A charming, melodious, tender voice could be heard sounding a tune, beautifying the stillness and sending forth a halo of purity and delicacy that spread into the air. A number of visitors sat there listening. They had come to see their beloved eminent leader, and to hear his sublime interpretation of the Holy Qur'an, which took up all of their attention and satisfied their hearts with bliss. These were the disciples of the great guide, Mr. M A Sheikho. One of these disciples had brought some guests with him, who had had a great, insistent desire to see this virtuous master, whose noble qualities and high sayings were the talk of people everywhere. So it was that when Mr. M A Sheikho had finished speaking, one of those guests – who had been affected by an event that had happened many times before his very eyes – said:

"Oh sir! I wish to talk to you about 'Al-Gawi', who people regard as one of the people of God. He has a kind of supernatural power which enables him to know hidden things. Oh sir! What he does is, he asks one of his attendants to take anything he likes from the room, even if it is as small as a needle, and to go and hide it out of sight wherever he wants, without telling anyone where he has put it. Then, after he returns, Al-Gawi goes out and in no more than a few minutes he comes back holding the very thing that was hidden by that person! He is easily able to discover the place where the thing is hidden and bring it back, even if it has been buried beneath the soil of the earth. What a strange secret this Al-Gawi has!! Is it not so, sir? He has become widely known, and the news of the supernatural powers which he displays has spread by word of mouth. So, what do you have to say, sir, about such actions as these? And what position does he have himself? No doubt, somebody who does such things can be regarded as one of God's people. Is this not so?"

With a nice smile, the great guide answered him:

"No, my son, he is not as you say. He is none other than one of the devils' people. He performs such actions by means of the devils with whom he has coupled himself. You could also say that he is now nothing but a vessel for them. He helps them to achieve their aims and use their wicked cunning to work with simple-minded people."

Showing astonishment on his face, the questioner said: "What great cunning he has! What a deceptive fox he is! He claims that nobody can do such a thing without being one of God's people, with a special rank before Him!"

The righteous master said, "My son! If his claims were true, the messenger (cpth) or any of his noble companions would then be more deserving than him of having the greatest share of such supernatural powers.

"Have you ever heard that the messenger (cpth) did such kinds of things? Is there any mention of the Companions in relation to such activities?

"Listen, my son! Islam is a religion that depends on sound logic and righteous mind. It is based on lofty facts and it is absolutely above such silly wonders. When the noble companions continued Islam's advance and conquered many countries, they made people's hearts adopt this religion only through rationality, high logic and deep wisdom. They made people actually cling to God's Book and yearn to absorb this religion, in the same way that they yearn to smell the fragrance of the sweetest musk. Through it, they clarified to people God's justice, wisdom, patience, compassion and grandeur, until they made all of the hearts of creation fall and prostrate themselves before His Majesty, and before His other Supreme Attributes.

"As for miracles, they were stopped after the age of our master Jesus (pth), for they were of no use.

"In fact, nothing can bring a reward to people unless they themselves seek to ascertain the existence of God, and His greatness and kindness and all His Attributes. They should ascertain this through their own thought and rationality, and by reflecting on God's cosmic signs, such as the sun, the moon and the stars.

"Any state of being impressed by a miracle – whatever of it lasts – will vanish; then people's spirits will turn again to their bestial lusts and to oppression and aggression.

"Behold the folk of our master Saleh (pth)! Did they get any advantage from the miracle of the she-camel? Surely not.

"They even bereaved her of her young, which made them incur God's wrath. There are many other examples. God says: 'Nothing hinders Us from giving signs, except that the ancients disbelieved them. To Thamoud, We gave the she-camel as a visible sign, yet they oppressed themselves with it...'

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 17, Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 59

"Anyhow, my son, you can bring this Al-Gawi here and I shall show you his deception and lying, as well as his worthlessness."

Thus, a date was set for a meeting between Al-Gawi and the great guide Mr. M A Sheikho. The meeting was to take place in the presence of the questioner, along with some of those from among his company who had seen wonders and unusual actions performed by Al-Gawi.

On the appointed day, the aforementioned meeting was held before a number of the disciples of Mr. M A Sheikho, who welcomed his guests.

However, when Al-Gawi entered the place, he set to looking stealthily at the great leader. Al-Gawi cast looks upon him that were full of exploration and anxiety, and then turned his eyes towards the floor. He repeated this behavior many times.

When everybody had taken their seat, Mr. M A Sheikho began the discussion by saying:

"So, what have you decided?"

The questioner answered, saying "Sir! This is Al-Gawi. He has come to show us some of his strange miracles."

Mr. M A Sheikho said, "Good! Let him then do whatever he likes."

The look on Al-Gawi's face was still strange, and an expression of fear had appeared on his face, as if he was afraid of something.

What a strange case this was! At first, his facial features had shown conceit and disdain, but at this moment they showed only humbleness and languor. He kept silent for a long time. His face became dingy and sullen. Meanwhile, his eyes still seemed to be trying to look at the great guide in a cursory and hostile way, but they continually failed to do so.

Mr. M A Sheikho's face, on the contrary, was clear and luminous. His piercing gaze dispersed the darkness, just in the same way as the rays of the sun. He seemed to be surrounded by signs of magnificence, augustness and beauty, as if he was swimming in and crowned with the light of his Provider, living in a state of infatuation with and absorption in His Presence. A smile could be seen on his lips, expressing his faith in the Provider of the people.

Suddenly, Al-Gawi broke his silence, saying, "Today I am unable to practice my work in the normal way, for I feel worried and absent-minded, so I cannot show you my wonders unless the object is hidden by a female."

Those in attendance found his request to be very strange. They were used to seeing him perform these actions unconditionally, whether the person hiding the objectwas male or female. So what was the matter with him?! Why did he not dare to do this thing in front of the great guide?!

The solemn master Mr. M A Sheikho then rose and went towards the room of his wife. He entered, and said to his wife, "Om Fathi! I want you to take a needle and then go to the end of our farm's orchard. Go to the mulberry-tree, and hide the needle under it. Bury it in the soil, but do not forget to pinpoint its location with a mark such as a fire stone, so that I can find it later on."

She said: "I hear and obey! I am going at once to do what you want."

Mr. M A Sheikho continued, "But I want you to keep reciting An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind), Al-Falaq (All that's coming to Appearance), Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity), and Al-Fatiha (The Opening) fortresses as you walk there and back."

"I will do so."

She took a needle from her room and went up to the farm while Mr. M A Sheikho stood waiting for her to make her way there and return.

She reached the far end of the farm and chose the tree under which she would hide the needle. Then she put a medium-sized fire stone near the hiding place. According to her husband's directions, she kept reciting the Qur'anic fortresses until she returned to the house, where she found him waiting for her.

"I have done what you want", she said. Then she told him where she had hidden the needle and described the marker under which he could find it.

"Very good! God bless you!" the virtuous master said.

He returned to the room where his guests were waiting and addressed Al-Gawi, saying, "Come on, Al-Gawi! We have done as you asked."

Al-Gawi stood up and then he went out to the farm, followed by the rest of the group.

He walked among the trees, and then stopped as if he was unable to decide where he should go.

Those present did not find his actions up to this point to be in line with what they knew about him previously.

It was not long before Al-Gawi turned to them and said, "She has not hidden anything."

Mr. M A Sheikho replied: "Come with me! I will show you where she has hidden a needle."

They all followed Mr. M A Sheikho to the assigned place. He stooped to the ground and removed the white flint, and then dug at the soil lightly with his finger until the needle appeared clearly to the eyes of those present.

Mr. M A Sheikho picked it up, and then turned towards Al-Gawi and said, "So, what do you have to say about this?"

"Let her do that again", Al-Gawi said, "but this time, I want you to stay in the room with us until she returns."

The venerable master smiled and said, "As you like. Let us go back to the room."

Once again, they all entered the room. Mr. M A Sheikho asked his wife to hide the needle again, but in a different place that they both agreed on, and then he entered the room and stayed with the group.

Despite this, again Al-Gawi's fate was to face failure.

They repeated the exercise a third time according to Al-Gawi's request, but he did not fare any better than on the first two occasions.

Thus, Al-Gawi realized that if he had truly possessed hidden knowledge, he would have been able to find the hidden object, and he would not have failed.

Therefore, he could only confess his failure, and so became humbled in the view of all those present. He had lost his prestige in their eyes, and especially in the view of the questioner, who had previously been highly impressed with him to the extent that he had thought him one of God's people, whereas in reality, he was nothing but a magician, as the faithful guide Mr. M A Sheikho had said all along.

A magician cannot thrive in the presence of a true-hearted believer that seeks power and refuge in his Provider and mentions Him wholeheartedly, as in the case of Mr. M A Sheikho. This is because the magician's devilish consorts will be unable to approach the place, as light and fire cannot come together. When the angels come, the devils only run away. God says: "He it is who keeps communication with you, as do His angels, so that He may bring you out from the depths of darkness into light..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 43

Certainly, magicians have no power over believers who have been illuminated by God's Light.
Fifthly

## Spitting in Knots

Spitting in knots is the work of magicians, and therefore the Almighty recommended to us in Al-Falaq Fortress All that's Coming to Appearance) to seek refuge in Him "...from those who spit on knots."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 113, Al-Falaq (All that's Coming to Appearance), verse 4

For more illustration of this we say that 'to spit' means 'to throw' or 'to cast'. For example, you say: "Someone spat the spittle out of his mouth"; that is, he threw it. Also, you say: "The snake spat out the venom"; i.e. it cast it into the body of the one who was stung. Accordingly, the statement "those who spit" means "those who throw", and in this noble verse it refers to the spirits of witches, who have taken witchery as a craft and an occupation.

In this form of magic, knots represent social ties, and this magic relates to the fastening or unfastening of such ties. To work his or her magic, the magician takes some rope or string or a piece of thread from the clothes of the person they intend to bewitch, and then breathe upon this material. At this moment, the magician's spirit turns towards this person to allow the devil to ride this ray of the magician's spirit, reaching the victim's spirit in this way, and having a negative effect on them. This happens because the devil himself is blind and would never be able to reach his target, except by means of this magician. The devil can smell wickedness, and if the victim deserves this treatment due to their evil deeds, the devil will cause harm to come to their relationships. This can relate to friendships, family relations and business partnerships as well as marriages. To bring about separation between a husband and wife is a bad deed. In addition, it makes men and women who are not married to each other meet together, because one of them will have left their partner.

That is the magicians' craft. It is nothing but sowing division, stirring up discord among people, and driving a wedge between a husband and his wife, a wife and her mother-in-law, or a person and their sibling, their partner, their child, or their parent.

To understand the meaning that is indicated in the statement "those who spit in knots", we say the following:

The magician, in fact, is an unbeliever who has drawn far from God. They have taken the devil as a consort and as a means to help them to achieve their ends. When they spit over the knot, they direct their spirit towards the one who is to be bewitched, so as to let the devil follow the line of the ray that flows from their spirit and mount it. The devil is blind. The only smell he smells is the smell of malice, so he reaches the spirit of the bewitched one by using the ray of the magician's spirit, which is directed towards the victim. Thus the devil can find the one to be bewitched and comes to them, but this is only possible if the latter has committed some kind of bad act and is deserving of such treatment. If this is indeed the case, the devil will make them see unreal things and will whisper evil into their chest.

For example, if the magician wants to stir up discord between a bewitched man and his wife by means of the object over which he spits, the devil will make this man disincline to his wife by sending deceptions and insinuations into his chest. So, if the wife is slow in preparing the man's food, you will find the devil whisper within his spirit that she does not love him; and if she smiles while talking in secret with her mother about something, the devil will fill his chest with untrue misgivings and insinuate in his spirit that they are talking negatively about him, and that their smiles amount to mockery of him. The devil's work is made up of planting this kind of baseless doubt, which is far from the truth but which sows dissent between the two parties. In this way, the devil keeps control of the bewitched man until disputes and hatred arise between him and his wife and a separation takes place between them. Thus, magicians fulfill their own purpose by using the devil as a means to help them do their work and cause the harm that they intend to inflict.

The Almighty God reveals that by saying, "...they learn from them (the devils of mankind and jinn-kind) what makes them create discord between husband and wife..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Accordingly, the magician and the devil are both accomplices in causing such damage. The magician drives the devil and leads him towards the bewitched, and then the devil sets about whispering evil things to his victim, throwing misgivings into their mind, and creating false images, until both the magician and the devil get their wish.

This throwing or 'spitting' of the magicians takes two forms:

1) Either the purpose of the throwing is positive; that is, it aims to bring two people close together; in this case, the effort fully focuses on making a tie and establishing a relationship;

Or the purpose is negative; that is, it aims to sow division and stir up discord and aversion between one person and another; in this case the effort focuses on untying a tie and unsettling an existing relationship.

We should refer here to something that is done by magicians that causes a husband to become impotent. This form of magic is called 'holding magic'. The outcome of this deed is division between a husband and his wife.

To understand this inhumane method and its negative results for society, let us pay attention to the following touching story which took place in the country of Egypt.

A True Story

### The Wife who Remained a Virgin for Two Decades

This story occupied the whole population of Egypt in the middle of the 1980s.

It was reported in the newspapers as a journalistic subject that was tackled by all of the Egyptian press. It is the case of the wife who remained a maiden for nineteen years!!

The story happened in one of the delta villages in the depths of the Egyptian countryside.

A man that was working in a textile factory had married his cousin, but what a pity! From their first night together and right through their relationship, he failed to consummate his marriage.

This strange failure lasted throughout all of nineteen years.

Whenever that poor man approached his wife, he began to ooze sweat until he fell unconscious. This was because of something called 'holding magic'.

Despite their situation, his wife lived honestly with her husband. Since she was his cousin, she bore up patiently, and continued living this hard life of suffering with him for nineteen years.

One day, the poor husband found out the secret of his suffering. It so happened that one day, one of his colleagues in the factory told him that he had knowledge of what he was undergoing.

"What a strange thing!! How could he know?!" This matter baffled the poor husband, so he asked his colleague insistently to tell him how he could know about his secret. At this point, his colleague said:

"Before your marriage to your cousin, I had asked for her hand, but she refused me because she preferred you to me. At that time, my heart flamed with rage, spite and jealousy, and I could not deal with her refusal. Because of this, I went to a sheikh that deals in black magic to ask him to make you impotent."

When the miserable husband heard this, he pleaded with him to counteract the magic's effect, offering to pay him whatever price he wished. His colleague agreed to this request and told him where the holding tool was hidden.

They then went to that place together, and next to one of the deserted water wheels that are found there, his colleague dug into the soil and uncovered a knife that was shaped like a gazelle's horn. It was locked, so he opened it and undid the knots that fastened it.

The husband then took the knife and headed directly for his house in the hope of consummating his marriage with his wife after nineteen long years.

But what happened after that?!! What did he do after he was freed from this magic, and from the consequences of that merciless action against him?!

He went to his colleague and plunged the same knife into his heart in a single thrust, so that the man was killed at once.

Later on, when he was remitted to the prosecution, the legal investigation found that the murderer's wife had actually been deflowered only a few days beforehand. In light of that information, the court decided to commute the husband's penalty to imprisonment for only five years, taking into consideration the circumstances of the case and the difficulties through which he had passed.

Yet the killer, in fact, was blind-hearted. He did not take responsibility for the wrongdoing he had committed so that he could repent of it. He needed to realize that his bad deeds were the cause which allowed the magician to have influence over his sinful body.

A number of reports and studies by researchers indicate that about 90% of Egyptians still deeply believe, until now, in the superstition of sexual holding between husband and wife. But the fact is that this action only has an effect on those who deserve it and who do lowly deeds, and therefore the devil judges them rightly when he is given the power to make them impotent.

There is no difference between rural people and urban people in terms of their belief in sexual holding and the necessity of using amulets in this case.

Indeed, about 80% of Egyptians use these amulets for various purposes, such as: to protect themselves from disease, to neutralize the effect of demons, to draw their beloved's heart to them, to be a success in their work, and others. This is true although the noble saying states: "Neither a toper nor a believer in magic nor a man that has broken off the ties of blood may enter paradise." [55]

Also, about 60% of Egyptians have confessed that they do not see an evil omen in anything as much as they do in a black cat; however, the messenger (cpth) said: "Be willing to please the he-cat and the she-cat." And he (cpth) said: "The cat is one of the family. He or she is one of those who are round about you." [56]

People think that using an incantation or putting some salt in a pouch tied around the neck of a child can protect them from the evil eye, as can the fang of the wolf or the hyena, or the head of the hoopoe.

To understand the meaning of talismans and spells, we say the following.
Sixthly

### Spells and Talismans

In former times, people and men of religion were good-hearted and simple.

Some of them turned for help to writings written on paper – including Qur'anic verses and invocations of God that ask Him for their recovery – although they are, in fact, fruitless, and avail nothing, as God does not change people's conditions until they themselves change.

Such cases require honest repentance, with true citing of Al'lah and seeking refuge in His Holy Lofty Presence, followed by straightening oneself for His orders.

But later, magicians exploited this method to create false talismans, spells, and amulets on which – if you examined them – you would find language and Qur'anic words written, as people of evil used to do, reversely or head over heels. Their creators may even omit some words or verses, or add symbols and vague words to them, and then advise people to always keep the item with them, or to drink the water over which the wording has been read or in which it has been soaked. This poor man or woman, who has been afflicted with something which they deserve, will keep spiritually heading for the magicians and thinking of them.

They also give them drugs containing urine mixed with water, or containing decadent blood, or anything that will cause damage to the victim and will inactivate the mechanism of their thinking, so that they become mentally deranged.

If such unfortunate people do not change what is in their spirits, and are determined to carry out wrongdoing, and if they continue to elevate other gods besides Al'lah, real harm will afflict them. People sometimes continue to resort to such gods, although they are vehement disputers.

God's messenger (cpth) was asked about a report that included a spell and a drug for someone who might have been touched by the jinn. In response, he (cpth) said:

"Three men will never enter heaven: A habitual drinker of wine, one who breaks off ties of blood, and one who believes in magic." [57]

And in another quote from the prophetic tradition he gives the following warning:

"A person who is pessimistic and who makes others feel pessimistic is not one of us (a believer); nor is one who makes predictions or asks others to make predictions for them, or who bewitches people or asks the magician to bewitch others for them; and one who turns to an augur and believes their sayings is one who does not believe what has been revealed to Mohammad." [58]

To reveal the reason that magic is inserted in the category of polytheism and disbelief, Sheikh As-Sa'dee (may Al'lah have mercy upon him) says: "Magic comes under the heading of polytheism in two regards. Firstly, this is so in regard to dealing with devils and adhering to what they say, so that the magician may even seek to be near to them in order to serve and fulfill his aim (where he aims at nothing but spreading indecency and wickedness). Secondly, this is so in regard to pretending to know about unseen matters and participating with God in His Omniscience, and then in adopting the methods that lead to such a situation that come from the branches of polytheism and disbelief."

It was reported in the holy prophetic saying: "The penalty for the magician is killing him with the sword." [59]

In fact, diseases, poverty, and stress are means for turning the spirit away from this lower life and diverting it from its lusts. This is so that a certain person – who gives up this worldly life because of whatever of these afflictions have befallen them – may then turn to their Provider in repentance and recognize Him, the Almighty. Thereupon the way of belief will be opened before them, after misfortune has taken away whatever obstacles of yearning had been standing in the way of the belief of the spirit. Then, if the spirit reaches true faith – which is to know scientifically that there is no God but Al'lah – and becomes certain of it, how imminent its attainment of purity will be, and how easy its achievement of perfection! At that time, there will be no need for hardship, disaster, or affliction; besides, no enchanter will be able to affect such a spirit. Instead, this believing spirit will gain happiness piled upon happiness, which is, by right, real life, with its most supreme purposes, for God says: "What does Al'lah gain by your punishment if you are grateful, offering good acts, and ye believe? ..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 147

So we can see that distress and calamity are just the means for making people repent to God and return to the straight path of righteousness. "And indeed, we will make them taste of the lightest chastisement before the greatest chastisement in order that they may repent and return."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 32, As-Sajda (The Prostration), verse 21

If they repent and return to their Provider, then what are these remedies for "the lightest chastisement"? He or she who frequently goes to the people who create such spells and talismans, seeking refuge in them to relieve his or her affliction, indeed throws him- or herself on the brink of a crumbling precipice and forgets the noble verse: "...God does not change people's conditions until they themselves change...."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 11

Such a person has forgotten the sins they committed that caused their affliction. "What has befallen you of misfortune is the fruit of your own labors. He forgives much." What God the Great says is true.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 42, Ash-Shura' (Consultation), verse 30

Since a believer does not taint his or her faith with wrong deeds, he or she is safe from humiliation, indignity, and loss; but if they incline to this lower life, God will cure them. They should then be patient and search for the cause of their affliction so as to retreat from it in repentance to Al'lah.

This repentant is the one who is rightly guided to happiness and heaven; as the Almighty states: "Those who say, when afflicted with calamity: 'To Al'lah we return'...": the repentant one yields to Al'lah and bears up patiently, knowing for certain that their affliction is a mercy and goodness from Al'lah to him or her, and so they resort to none but Al'lah. "...and to Him is our repentance.": this means that we should say: "Oh, Provider! I have turned to you in repentance, retreating from my wrongdoing." "Upon such ones will be Al'lah's blessings and compassion...": because of the patience they had, and by bearing witness to God's compassion, they turned their hearts toward Him, the Almighty. As a result their spirits became purified and deserved to be overwhelmed with the Godly revelation: "...and such are the rightly guided ones": that is: the rightly guided ones are guided to righteousness, from where they get light from Al'lah by entering into His presence.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 156-157

Those who seek refuge in Al'lah and obey none but Him (rather than an augur or a foreteller or a fortuneteller or a magician) will enter heaven. Meanwhile, those who seek refuge in those types of charlatans will avail nothing by it but more grief, difficulties and fatigue, so confirming the saying of the jinn, who believed: "Some men of mankind have sought the help of jinn, but they caused them more fatigue."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 6

Many magicians may cooperate against a single victim, where this collaboration hides behind the mask of a severe quarrel that takes place among them.

For example, when a woman is possessed by the devil, such a magician will exhaust and oppress her increasingly over time, in a way that will make her family turn to one who they believe can relieve her. This supposed savior will usually be another magician. At this point, the devil will release her because of an agreement between them, thus delivering her to the stronger magician. He will destroy her and make her enter into the entrances of the devils so easily, because she will have has surrendered herself to him and trusted him. In this case, she will not have changed the hidden contents of her spirit, preferring instead to ask for help from other gods than Al'lah. This is polytheism.

Female magicians often pretend to be sick. When one of them does so, she puts on a great pretense and deceives all her family with a supposed disease. She remains in a state where she is groaning and pretending, seeming to derive no benefit from any medicine until such a point as her family turn to a magician sheikh for help. As soon as this happens, she soon recovers from her disease and ends her pretense in order to make her family submit themselves to this magician and couple with him, becoming linked to him by their feelings of gratitude and appreciation, and consequently developing feelings of loyalty to him. The greatest affliction then befalls them: a quick and terrible descent.

Again, you may ask: can the magician and the devil make anyone a target of their harm, playing with him or her as they see fit?!

In reply we say the following: undoubtedly, the devil has no power or might, and his cunning is weak indeed, except against the deserving ones. Where these pitiable people resort to the magicians and call upon those who would sooner harm than help them, verily they have gone far astray.

Had the bewitched one not committed extreme and forbidden actions, the magician would have not affected and bewitched them.

God says: "Thus, We let some of the wrong-doers have power over others because of what they are wont to earn."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 129

The oppressed one was originally an oppressor. If they repent and stop perpetrating forbidden acts and encroaching upon the money and honor of others, and then do as many good deeds as possible, they will be released from the magicians' influence, and their devils shall never have any more effect on them.

The noble verse refers to this when God says: "He has no power over those who have believed and always put their trust in their Provider. Yet his authority is over those who trust him and follow his guidance."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99-100

Note also the noble verse: "You shall have no power over those obedient to Me, except those who have followed you, tempted by this life."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 42

And also God the Almighty says: "Shall I tell you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon every lying sinner."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 26, Ash-Shu'ara' (The Poets), verse 221-222

This means that they descend upon those who yearn for and love this worldly life and who perpetrate the most serious of sins.

If such people do not repent, the devils will oppress and antagonize them until they submit to them, whereby they will taste their hellish company in this life before our elevation comes.

If a person does not withdraw from their tyranny and repent in order to escape, they will surrender to the devils, and then the devils will stop tormenting them, as they will have become a submissive servant to them. Such a person will become a disbeliever and adopt their conduct; that is, they will commit serious sins and forbidden actions until they become one of the pupils of the rebellious devils of humankind. Alternatively, after tasting such bitterness as a result of these devils, they may become one of the magicians who make predictions.

Had such a person turned to God in repentance and believed in Him, they would have been able to escape from their claws, and then they would attain supreme pleasures and everlasting bliss.

The above-mentioned verses show us that these devils have an influence on those who trust them and believe in their power.

This means that all that was said about the noble messenger (cpth) that suggests that he was once bewitched and that he remained affected by magic and its devils for months is false. These statements are nothing but the interpolated sayings of the submissive disbelievers of the Jewish religion, because the noble messenger (cpth) expelled them from the Arabian peninsula due to their breaching of the covenants.

They are false sayings because the Holy Qur'an disproves them, and because God's messenger (cpth) always seeks refuge in Al'lah, and he is too far above the qualities of those over whom the devils deservedly have a dominant influence. He is exalted (cpth) high above their falsehoods.

Hence the devil has power over those who obey him, and over the polytheists, but he has no power over God's messenger (cpth), the apostle of the Provider of all the worlds.

A note: Neither the devil nor the magician approach those infidels who are rich and who live luxurious lives, giving free rein to their lusts and not caring about religion. The devils do not even try to affect these kinds of people, lest they believe that there are other invisible worlds which were previously unknown to them. This suggestion may lead them to become afraid that there is another life to come. As a result, they may start to believe in a deity, an accounting and responsibility, whereupon they may start to believe in God. Thus, the devil does not approach such people as they naturally follow his aberrant conduct, and he keeps away from affecting their nerves so that they will continue straying from the right path.
Seventhly

## Envy, or Afflicting People with the Evil Eye

This happens when a person who is turning away from Al'lah sees a grace that is bestowed upon others, and then admires it, and wishes to get it for him- or herself, and wishes that it was taken away from its owner. With that, this person's spirit becomes like a mount for the devil. When someone is envious of another, rays shoot out from their spirit, directing themselves towards the person of whom they are envious. The devil uses the rays that come from the envious person's spirit as a means to travel towards the person who is the target of the other's jealousy. The devil can travel carried within these rays, and as soon as the devil arrives at the one who is envied and gets in touch with them, he gains influence over them. The devil then prompts his victims to follow a way that causes them to fall into epilepsy, death or illness, so that there is suffering and pain in one of their organs. God the Almighty referred to this in His saying: "And say: 'Provider! I seek refuge in you from the promptings of the devils'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 23, Al-Muminun (The Believers), verse 97

Had the one who was envied entered into God's Presence, seeking refuge in Him and joining up with His noble messenger (cpth) at that time, the devil would not have been able to harm or cause any damage to him or her.

Following on from this, if you want to be preserved, you should only seek refuge in Al'lah (glory to Him) all the time. If you notice a look of admiration from someone who is envious of you, and are afraid that this look could lead to harm and evil for you, you should immediately remember Al'lah and seek His protection, because God the Almighty preserves you when you seek refuge in Him from the evil of the envious ones.

He also (glory to Him) preserves anyone whose spirit is attached to yours, and anyone to whom your spirit is joined or to whom it is headed.

Your wife or husband, your children, even the crops and animals which belong to you, and all who are attached to you by the link of cordiality: all are preserved from being afflicted with the evil eye by your heading for God and seeking refuge in Him, the Almighty. That is because when one spirit loves another, its rays spread toward the spirit that it loves and their rays become connected together.

Accordingly, your spirit surrounds your family and all your dear ones with a halo of its rays so that it is always and incessantly connected with them. If your spirit is preserved by the light of Al'lah the Almighty, the devil will dare not approach or harm any one of them.

It was once said to God's messenger (cpth) that a man had affected another with his evil eye; that is, he had looked at the other with a look of appreciation while forgetting Al'lah. This was something that caused damage to the one who was being envied, and so he (cpth) got angry and blamed the looker for causing harm to his brother, saying to him: "Will you invoke the blessing of God!?"

He (cpth) meant that if a man saw a grace conferred upon another and appreciated and coveted it, he had to mention the name of God the Almighty at once and communicate with His noble messenger. In this way, evil would be driven away and the man's spirit would not become like a bearer for the devil, who could find no way to reach the one who was envied.

Thus, if you resort to Al'lah and seek His protection, you will escape from your enemy and you will plug up all the ways before him by which he may reach you.

### Once again: defining the envier and showing how envy hits the one who is envied

The Almighty says in Al-Falaq fortress: "Say: 'I seek refuge in the Provider of all that is brought into being, from the evil of what He has created, from the evil of the dark one (the devil) when he enters the chest, from the evil of those who spit over knots, and from the evil of an envier when he envies."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 113, Al-Falaq (All that's coming to Appearance), verse 1-5

The following explains the section: "From the evil of an envier when he envies."

The envier is a person who is turning away from Al'lah.

They see grace that has been conferred upon others, and so admire it and yearn for it, wishing for it to be taken away from its owner and given to them instead. This kind of harm may occur by means of any person who forgets Al'lah. Since magicians are the ones among people who forget Al'lah most of all, envy usually comes about through them. This is especially so when they intend to bring it about, and aim to cause harm among people, and adopt such a way of causing harm as a means to achieve their evil purpose.

"...when he envies.": that is: if this appreciation and jealousy and the desire for the grace that is bestowed on others emanates from the envious one while in a state of forgetting Al'lah, it will cause the one who is envied to be harmed by what people call 'being hit with the evil eye'.

As for a detailed explanation of envy, and an illustration of how the envious one afflicts the one who is envied with the damage of the evil eye, we clarify this issue as follows:

It is not possible for everyone to possess all the health, money, or children that they desire and wish for. We often find people who have been deprived of one of the graces due to some wisdom that is willed by Al'lah, which takes account of their goodness and keeps evil away from them. Such deprivation is nothing other than goodness and mercy for them.

This stripping away of graces takes many forms:

Some people are stripped of children and offspring so that all their life, they continue to long to have a single child, either male or female.

Some who have been blessed with male children wish to be blessed with a female child.

Some have been granted only female children and were refused male children.

There are those who have been given ample livelihood and plentiful money, but have been stripped of good health.

Others have been granted good health and strength, but do not have a level of money and property that would please their spirits.

In this, Al'lah is Wise and Omniscient; He gives and He denies, but all of this is in fact nothing other than donation.

If the veil of yearnings is raised up from the heart so that people witness the truth, they will choose only what Al'lah the Almighty has chosen for them, and therefore thank Al'lah (glory to Him) for his favor and for such deprivation as He has willed for them. They will witness the Godly compassion that encompasses them from all people, and among all of creation.

God says: "Say: 'God of all! Possessor of all possessions. You give possessions and power to whom you please; and you strip off possessions and power from whom you please; and you endue with honor whom you please; and you bring low whom you please. In your hand is nothing but goodness'...": i.e. only goodness is in the hand of God, no matter who He cherishes or humiliates, and no matter who He grants with or deprives of possessions. "...verily, over all things you have, you are Omnipotent.": He gives to each of us what suits us, for our good and with wisdom.

Having introduced the topic with such words, we see that the evil eye inflicts some kind of harm on the one who is the victim of envy. Now we will discuss how to know the way to follow in order to always be kept safe from being damaged in this way.

We hereby give an example, as follows:

Suppose a sick man is suffering from a disease which has been affecting him for such a period of time that it has exhausted and enervated him. Suppose he is at the point that he has lost much of his strength, and has become unable to leave his bed.

While in this state of powerlessness, he suddenly sees a man whose body is in good health, and whose face is overflowing with activity and vigor. Because of this, the sick man may yearn for the grace that has been conferred upon his fellow and is likely to desire such good health for himself. He may then become wholly absorbed in a covetous attitude, gazing at his fellow, so that a ray of his spirit spreads from his envious self towards the spirit of the one who is envied. This ray will then get in touch with and interpenetrate the healthier man.

While an envious person is in such a state of absorption that he forgets Al'lah, this allows their spirit's rays to connect with and pierce into the spirit of the person who is the victim of his envy. This allows Satan to seize this opportunity.

If it weren't for the ray of the spirit of the envious one who has turned away from Al'lah, Satan would not be able to pass into the victim of the envy. He uses this ray as a carrier that spreads him, borne within it, in the same way that the currents of electric power that are carried within a mineral wire can severely affect the person with whom the wire is in contact, possibly shocking them to death. Had the wire not existed, the electric current would not have reached the person, and neither would it have caused them any harm.

The example we have presented applies absolutely to the spreading of Satan, for once he reaches a victim of envy and gets in touch with them, he can affect them with harm. This happens when he afflicts them in a way that causes them to fall into epilepsy, death, sickness or painful suffering in one of their vital organs. God the Almighty refers to this in His saying: "And say: 'Provider! I seek refuge in You from the promptings of the devils'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 23, Al-Muminun (The Believers), verse 97

In the previous noble verse the Almighty orders us to seek refuge in Him, because entering into His presence with His noble messenger (cpth) and seeking His protection allow a man or woman to be surrounded on all sides by a halo of Godly Light. This will place them in an unapproachable harbor, so that this Godly Light stands between them and the devil as an invisible barrier, which will immediately burn the devil if he tries to pass through it.

There is a good example for us of this. It comes from the venerable scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho (his soul has been sanctified by Al'lah), and is an event showing us how the devils and their followers are defeated when people seek refuge in Al'lah.
A True Story

### A Magician's Failure

In a large room, a number of men sat, gathered in a circle, listening to a soothing and pleasant discourse. Great expressions of pleasure and enjoyment were to be seen upon their faces, overwhelming them so that they forgot this world and all its grief and troubles.

There, in the front of the room, sat a wide shouldered man with a snow-white face and blushing cheeks that added more beauty to his beauty. His charming green eyes were shining with glamour and liveliness.

He appeared to have been overwhelmed by a great Godly solemnity. He could boast great might crowned with signs of compassion. His assembly was very transparent and untroubled and was adorned with his elevated speech. He was reciting interpretations of the Holy Qur'an that were overwhelming the hearts of his disciples and uplifting them to limitless and lofty paradises. At the end of the lesson, and after performing their communication with God, the spectators came successively to greet their guide, then taking their leave of him in a very polite manner. A few of them were still there when one of them began to talk as another affirmed his speech. The two men had recently joined the circle of this great guide. One of the men said:

"Oh sir! There is a man whose nature is unknown to us. We suspect him to be one of the true men of Al'lah who have supernatural powers, although he is not Arabian."

He peered at them, saying: "Who is he? What do you mean?!"

The new disciple said: "Oh, sir! This news has been passing from mouth to mouth. People are talking constantly about a foreigner that has come to Damascus and established himself in the public square of Al-Marjeh. He has established a shop there and has started receiving people and questioners. It is said that he can surely give you the answer to anything you may wish to ask him about.

"The oddity, sir, is that he asks his visitor, whoever they are, to keep their demands secret, without speaking to anyone or informing anyone about them. He takes out a white piece of paper, totally blank and devoid of any writing, and places it before his visitor. Then, he absents himself in his private room for a few minutes. After that he comes out and unfolds the paper, on which there appears a full written illustration of the need that is hidden inside his visitor's spirit, as well as the reply to the query.

"All of that costs one golden lira, sir!"

The eminent guide, Mohammad Amin Sheikho said:"What? What are you saying, my son?! He is no more than a devil of humankind who is dealing with the devils of jinn."

The speaker replied, backed up by his companion: "But his deeds are really amazing and strange. Sir! Do you know, sir, that a man entered his shop once who had resolved to drill a well in the region from which he came. He kept that to himself without telling anyone. So, when that foreigner drew out the paper, his answer appeared on it, written in beautiful Arabic script. It stated: 'Drill deeply, and you shall succeed'."

Another said: "Yes, sir! We have seen this, and with our own eyes!! But what a pity it was!! Although the man dug deeply and burdened himself with exorbitant costs, eventually the digger reached rock beneath the soil, and not a drop of water gushed out!!"

The former continued his speech, saying: "Another man came to him, hiding inside himself his wish to travel to a foreign country to engage in trade there. He wanted to know whether or not he would prosper by this course of action. That was his intention. So, when the foreigner drew out the paper, he found a clear reply written there that said: 'Travel, and you shall prosper!' – and there are many other men, sir. Moreover, if the person who came to him was not Arabian, he would find the paper written in his own language, and that is the wonder of wonders!! By God, this person is surely in possession of a strange secret – isn't he, sir?!"

Mr. Mohammad Amin laughed and said: "Have not I told you, my sons, that all of his deeds are achieved by means of devils?! He is a devil of humankind. He performs such deeds with the help of the sightless associating devils of jinn who aid the like of him. Have not you heard of Al'lah's saying in His Holy Qur'an: 'And that there were men of mankind sought the help of men of jinn, but they added them nothing other than more strain.'

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 72, Al-Jinn (The Jinn), verse 6

"Indeed my sons, his actions issue from a magician who will never prosper, whatever he does. There is nothing unusual about him, because he has drawn far from Al'lah and turned away from Al'lah with his heart. He has shunned his Creator until he has willingly become a devil, mounted by the devils of jinn. They have employed him to serve their evil purposes of harming creation and alienating the beings of creation from Al'lah. With such deeds he aspires only to two things: one of them is money; the second, which is the most important, is to make people turn away from their love and appreciation of God, so as to make them glorify him instead. He makes them turn their spirits towards him, appreciating his deeds; but meanwhile he is far from Al'lah and has an agonized spirit. Through his distance and through people's directing themselves towards him – appreciating his deeds and his wonders – he allows devils to creep into them. As a result, these people become exposed to being inflicted with spiritual and psychic diseases, and hence they draw far from their Provider and mistrust Him.

"That is, they hold bad doubts about Him just like this enchanter does.

"Thus, they forfeit everything, so that their spirits fall into darkness and become distant (turning away from Al'lah). This is what he seeks, which is the same thing that is sought by the failure, Satan, and is his utmost purpose. Out of his envy and grudges, the failing loser always tries to make the others fall, just as he himself also failed.

"Through the story of our master Adam (peace is through him) and the original Satan, we can glean a warning and a lesson so that we are acquainted with his enmity. Then we can avoid being deceived by Satan. It shows that the one you are speaking about is none other than an enchanter who transmits forth what is concealed by humanity by means of his associates; that is, by means of the devils.

"Had man resorted to his Provider and fully sought refuge in Him, this enchanter would not have been able to do any such deeds by which you would be deceived into thinking him one of Al'lah's worthy men.

"So do not be deceived by these magic actions, my sons. The sign of God's true men is that they draw our attention, thought and appreciation to our Creator, the Gracious and the Obliging for all creation, who provides food, drink, and life. They make us turn towards Him with our spirits through thinking of creation and of the Almighty's universal miracles, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, clouds, rain, plants and trees, and all of the other gifts with which He supports us. Then they appreciate Him as they appreciate His benevolence to them in providing for them, and consequently, they incline to Him with feelings of love. This is their indication. They never ascribe action to themselves at all, nor do they direct people anywhere other than to God and His messenger (cpth). They don't practice acts which are inadmissible and in contravention of straight thinking and sound logic. These are nothing but occult matters that turn people away and alienate them from right thinking and correct logic."

With his lofty and rational speech, the noble master continued admonishing these two disciples who had newly attached themselves to him. At the end of his speech, he turned to the questioner and said: "In any case, tomorrow we shall go to him together.

"What is your opinion now, my sons?"

Eagerly and with curiosity, they both said: "How excellent! At your command, sir!"

The next day, the great master went with them both to the supposed master of wonders and oddities. They reached the place where this foreigner had established himself. It was a large shop inside which there was a small room.

Mr. Mohammad Amin entered, followed by his two adherents. The man was sitting on a chair near an Arabian person. Undoubtedly, the latter was a translator who was employed by the former to help him to perform his acts more easily. The translator got up and said:

"Welcome; come in, please." The foreigner glanced at the venerable master with brief glances, and then stopped looking as if he was not pleased with him. He shifted his attention to his translator, requesting him to ask his visitors what they wanted. When he found out that they were going to keep the subject to themselves as usual, he asked the translator to tell the master to conceal something inside himself. The virtuous master did so, and then said to the translator:

"I have something within myself, so I'm ready." Then, he put one golden lira on the table. The enchanter brought forth a white sheet of paper and showed the spectators that it was blank and empty of writing. Then, he folded it in the middle and put it inside a book on the table near them. He quickly entered his small room and shut the door behind him. As usual, only a few minutes passed before he came out but, how odd! He had gone into the room in a very lively way, but when he came out he appeared to be overburdened and exhausted, contrary to his usual manner. He walked towards the white folded piece of paper with a dull and dusky face, and when he unfolded it, his face's color became even more swarthy and dim. The paper was now off-white and devoid of any letters, which was totally different from the customary situation after he emerged from his room. The two questioners looked at the paper and found it empty of writing, and so astonishment and wonderment visibly appeared on their faces. They turned their gaze towards the dull-faced man, looking at him and feeling strange, while a kind of amazement was still apparent on their faces. But when they looked at their eminent guide, they saw that an expression of elevated confidence, safety and tranquility had appeared on his face. He was standing normally in his usual proud posture. As for the translator, he was looking about himself hesitantly, sometimes at the foreigner and sometimes at Mr. Mohammad Amin. The foreigner kept silent for a short time and continued to look steadily at the white page, biting and sucking at his lower lip all the while. He seemed to be rather confused. A few minutes passed while silence prevailed in the place. The only interaction was made up of mutual glances which expressed nothing but riddles, as they came out of the language of the spirit. Suddenly, the foreigner turned and spoke to the translator, who in turn addressed Mr. Mohammad Amin, saying:

"You have not hidden anything inside yourself!"

Mr. Mohammad Amin said with a smile: "Tell him that I have!"

Then, the man returned the sheet of paper to its place, just as it was, and turned and rapidly went back into his small room. The great guide tended to his two disciples, talking to them in lofty and high-level discourse about Al'lah's Majesty which entirely attracted people's hearts. A quarter of an hour passed, which made the translator look at his watch in astonishment, as had not been accustomed to such delays from this master of marvels in the past. This was the first time he had absented himself in his room for such a long period in order to unveil his secrets. After about twenty minutes, the enchanter came out of the room looking sweaty and exhausted. He was frowning and sulky, as if he had just been weeping over his misfortune on that unlucky day. He approached the group with heavy steps, and then he stood with his head bowed before that grave master and unfolded the paper. Once again, the paper was spotless, without any words. The translator and the two disciples looked at it in a state of surprise and wonderment, with many questions to be seen on their faces. As for the foreigner, the misery on his face appeared to be aggravated and he became still gloomier. He turned to the sedate master – whose face was still bright, luminous and clear – and he said to Mr. Mohammad Amin through his translator:

"No! No! You have not folded anything secretly inside yourself."

The generous master said to the translator: "Tell him that yes, I did."

The foreigner replied through the translator: "If he has really done so, let him secretly and separately inform you about what he has resolved on, out of my earshot. Also tell him that you will stay near him and will not approach me."

When the noble master was acquainted with this request, he smiled and said: "As he likes!" and then went to the translator in two short steps, and the latter drew his ear near to Mr. Mohammad Amin, who whispered to him what he had intended as his secret, telling him: "I want him to inform me about Mohammad Ibn Abdul-lah, communication with Al'lah and peace are through him."

During this exchange, the master of wonders was standing far from them, but was minutely scrutinizing them with his black eyes and closely observing the situation. After the information had been passed on, he signaled to the translator, asking if he had been told. The latter indicated that he had. The enchanter then returned to his room and shut the door. He stayed there for another period of time, even longer than the previous one. He stayed there for nearly half an hour. Then, when at last he came out, he looked as though he had fallen into the hands of a set of men who had severely beaten him up to the point that he had lost his strength and become extremely sluggish. He was sweating and staggering around, as if unable to bear the weight of his own body. When he opened the folded sheet, he found that it was just the same as it had been. Nothing had changed in any way. It was white and devoid of any writing!! He kept silent a little while more, thinking about the problem of his failure on that day, and then he seemed to recognize the cause. He knew that there were still some sentinels who had never been neglectful of foxes. Verily, he was surprised and bitterly shocked by this fact. His expectations had been smashed. He had been thinking that the country had become free of the true faith, so that he would be able to spread his corruption in it easily. But unfortunately for him, he had been frustrated in his aim. The virtuous master turned and said to the translator:

"Tell him that his devil can never approximate our honorable and pure prophet master Mohammad (cpth). Had he done that, he would have been burned by His Godly Light." After remaining speechless for a while, the magician turned to his audience and informed them by means of his translator that his situation and spiritual status were not functioning on that day, but if they were to return the next day, they would find their demand fulfilled. Here, the eminent conductor smiled and said to his two fellows:

"You will not find him here tomorrow, for he will surely flee." Then he took back his golden lira and put it in his pocket. On the next day, the magician escaped from Syria and went back to his own country, disappointed and despondent. He had been scheming to resume his rounds throughout all the provinces of the country of Syria, from Homs to Hama to Aleppo, yet failed in this ambition.
Eighthly

## Hypnotism

This is one of the most widespread types of magic, and this kind of magic has been practiced since ancient times as a science of considerable gravity in places such as old Egypt (during the times of the pharaohs), in Greece, and in Babel. Now however, with the development of science, it has become more popular by far than it was in olden times. That is because magicians have come out in front of people wearing the clothing of hypnotists, and called the magic that they practice on people 'hypnotism'. In fact, however, it has no relation with either sleeping or with magnetism.

Yes, its practitioners wore the clothes of doctors and deceived people by exploiting the revered position that was harbored for doctors. They pretended to cure people of their spiritual diseases in order to achieve their own financial goals and other ambitions, but in reality, they destroyed people's hearts and their bodies too. The situation came to a point where some doctors, and especially psychotherapists, were driven to get behind such magic. The first doctor who worked in this field was the Swiss doctor, France Antoine Yesimer, during the eighteenth century. Some people considered it to be a science and revered it. But we wonder: has the devil ever harbored good intentions? And has he ever tried to do good for anyone?? He is pleased only with wretchedness, disease, and the pain of others: "He said: 'Provider! Since you have led me astray, I will adorn to them (mankind) this life on earth and tempt them all, except your true obedient followers from among them!' "

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 39

This type of magic depends on the magician seeking a controlling influence over the spirit of the bewitched one through what he says and does. The person is bewitched through what the magician says and does with the help of his companion, the devil. This victim is then ordered by the magician to focus his or her sight on a defining thing (for example, a defining point on the ceiling of the room, or anything else). Then, in a state of silence and quiet, the bewitched one listens to the voice of the magician until the eyes close and all the muscles of the body relax, as they pay attention to the teachings that are being given to them. Afterwards, the magician's voice becomes the only thing that has control over the feelings and the consciousness of the bewitched one, who goes asleep through a type of spiritual suggestion and control. Then, the magician continues his control of the spirit of this person, whereby he lowers the volume of his voice little by little until it can hardly be heard. This lets the spirit of the bewitched one spread outwards with the ray of the magician's own wicked spirit, spreading with it the devils. The magician then repeats suggestive phrases that help him in achieving his aim, and which include some soothing words, such as 'sleep', 'dream', and 'relax'. By this time, and in such a situation, the devil can extend himself, by means of his partner and close friend the magician, into the spirit of the poor bewitched one. The devil then starts causing them to see false visions and imaginary things which aim to deepen the process of putting them to sleep, thus achieving the complete domination and mastery of the devil over the spirit of the bewitched one.

Here we can give a simple example of the exercise of spiritual control over the bewitched person's spirit by the magician and his close friend, the devil.

The magician and his devil may suggest that the bewitched person's leg hurts them so much that they will be unable to step on the floor with it. Then, when they are awakened from their state of relaxation, they will get up with an awareness of this very feeling of pain that has spread throughout their spirit, to the extent that nobody will be able to persuade them of the fact that their leg is quite sound and has come to no harm. Instead, this sensation will remain impressed on their mind unless they submit to another session of magic and hypnotism in order to remove this impression from their spirit.

It is stipulated that the magician (or hypnotist) must be strong of character so as to be able to have control over their victims. When someone resorts to their enemy, what can the latter do to them? What proves this spiritual domination is that a bewitched person keeps their eyes open throughout the process of hypnotism, and perceives all that happens around them, but is able to answer no one save the magician, with the help of the devils who are his brothers.

We wonder: how do people who have trust in this kind of magic hope to be relieved from their sufferings by means of it?!

Do not they think of the crimes that occur during the process?!

We offer to you an example of what crimes may be committed in this field:

A young girl resorted to a charlatan seeking to know the reason behind the delay of her marriage. Presently, prompted by his own corrupted morals, the latter gave her a narcotic to drink in order to violate her easily, and then fulfilled his crime. Such are the doings of these charlatans, even when it comes to young men. "He orders you to commit evil and indecency..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 169

This is but a drop in the ocean of what may happen in such a field of indecency, and serious offenses may be committed by the magician against the one who is bewitched during their full surrender to him and to his devil, who takes interest in nothing but causing harm to humanity. Verily, this devil has led him astray, and so the one who is bewitched has yielded himself to the magician, his enemy. The supporters of this method claim that it can save people from smoking, a mania for alcohol, sexual inhibition, fear, inferiority complexes, and some physical and spiritual pains.

The victim may indeed give up a habit such as smoking, but this is because the devils engage him in something that is worse, whereby they lead him to madness. They pretend that this type of magic depends on creating a new impression about the self which gradually merges with one's character, so that a person will become as they wish themselves to be. Is it possible for the morals to improve by means of a magician or a devil?! Of course not, because if someone lacks something, they will not be able to pass it on to others, and each container exudes only what it contains. Is there a spirit worse or more evil than those of the devils? Is it not true that most spiritual diseases result from following the way of the devil, falling into his traps and under his spiritual influence, leading a person to turn away from Al'lah? If this way holds the benefits that they pretend, then why have medicine and science failed in treating addiction? And where are the factual examples of these supposed recoveries from all kinds of addictions?? They are but false pretenses and whitewashing, and the fact is that these people aim to destroy humanity and wreck high moral standards. None but Al'lah can change our nature by our entering into His presence, as perfection is acquired only from Him; by real communication with Allah and entering into His presence, the spirit of a person will recover from its diseases; its ill qualities will be replaced with good and virtuous ones by means of God's Light. In this case one's spirit will escape from the darkness of turning away from Al'lah, which is what has caused its diseases, and will enter the fields of the lights of Godly love, wherein it will enjoy happiness, a hearty life, and renewed hope for a new human birth. God the Almighty says: "Al'lah is the patron of those who believe. He leads them from darkness into the light..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 257

He also says: "It is Al'lah's own dye, and who has a better dye than Al'lah? ..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 138

Can goodness be hoped for from any save Al'lah, the Almighty, who alone is the Creator and the source of all goodness?!

### The only way to recover

God the Almighty says: "If any thinks that Al'lah will not help him in this world and the hereafter...": i.e. if anyone believes that God will not grant them His favor, goodness, and right guidance, and they find no way to escape – "...let him lend a hand for his supremacy...": i.e. let such a person do good deeds and "...then stop...": this refers to stopping evil acts, causing harm to others, and doing bad deeds – "...then let him see if that will remove what enrages him.": i.e. do not his conduct and his good deeds remove what enrages him!!? If you abide by this, God will drive away your worries and grief; follow this and you will be happy. You may say: Why does God afflict me with disasters? Imagine a father with an ill son. Would he try his best to cure him or not?! God is Merciful and Caring. If you become ill, will He try to cure you or not?

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 22, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), verse 15

So diseases, poverty, distress and misfortune are indeed means for turning the spirit away from this lower life and diverting it from its lusts. When a person gives up this world because one of these afflictions have befallen them, they may turn to their Provider in repentance and recognize Him. Thereupon, the way of believing will be opened before them, after this distress has taken away what obstacles of earthly yearning have been standing in the way of the spirit's true belief. If the spirit is true in seeking righteousness and truth – after it has become tired of the methods of cheating, cunning, and double-dealing that are displayed by the people of this world, and after it has grown to hate them – and if it then turns away from this lower life and its illusory adornments and false pleasures, and if it instead seeks the reality and the impartial truth as we mentioned, this spirit will soon reach true belief.

When a person is straight in following God's orders, their spirit will become confident that Al'lah will be satisfied with them. Through its communication, this spirit will then draw near to Him. Then the Almighty will purify it from its unclean things, its lusts, and its spiritual diseases and complexes, all of which cause it sorrow and insomnia. God the Almighty cures us from our spiritual and physical diseases if we straighten up and follow His orders and communicate with His lofty Presence through real communication. Accordingly, all the news that we hear that so and so has recovered from their disease or has escaped from spiritual disorders (psychopathy) as a result of hypnotism are false. Alteration and sublimation are achieved by God and derive only from Him. Apart from this way, all methods are baseless and unreal philosophies. One who seeks the help of magicians, whoever they pretend to be and whatever clothing they wear before people, is indeed like one who resorts to a rebellious devil or turns to fire for help from sweltering heat.

Finally: What is the way to escape from the claws of magicians and devils, to recover from the spiritual diseases they cause?! If person remembers their Provider and turns to Him in repentance, drawing near to Him and straightening their ways in deference to His orders, the devil will sneak away and withdraw, moving away from such a person, defeated and afraid lest he should burn in the Light of God. And dear reader, here is the tale of a woman who experienced the pressure of the devils and escaped from their claws by repenting and following the straight path of righteousness.
A True Story

### The Repentant Woman

She was panic-stricken... Dismayed... Where would she turn? Where would she seek shelter? Her husband was sound asleep in the very same room, knowing nothing of her problem. Meanwhile, she was not able to sleep or even rest, for the moment that she would fall asleep, the devil would come to her, causing nightmares, exhaustion, grief, and distress, until her life had become filled with unhappiness, wretchedness, fear, and a spiritual agony incomparable to the physical pain caused by disease. Her suffering and pain had increased as the devils' stress also increased. She appealed to her husband, "Oh, my husband! Don't you feel this? Don't you see what my situation is, because of what I have witnessed? They attack me and beat me with sticks until I am unable to close my eyelids because of the severe torment of these devils. Do you have a solution to my problem?"

But her husband placated her with polite words, and thought to himself that she may have been hallucinating, or that she was simply acting in order to entice him to pay more attention to her, thinking that it may have been nothing more than the cunning of women. But the days passed by, and the woman really got into a wearisome state. Some women who lived in the same quarter gave her the address of a house where she could find a man of belief. He was known as a saint or holy man during this time, due to the rarity of true believers (although in reality, every believer is a saint). She headed for his house to seek refuge in Al'lah through him, but she was surprised when his wife received her. This was contrary to the manners of those who falsely pretend to be holy men and people with supernatural power, and who are usually quick to directly hunt such victims themselves. When she asked to meet the sheikh, his wife replied:

"He does not meet with women or socialize with them as God has ordered, and a true believer obeys the orders of Al'lah and does not break them."

The poor woman replied, "But what shall I do?? The devils have exhausted me, and I can't sleep because of their annoyance. I was hoping that he might have rubbed me down." She sighed sorrowfully and groaned; her sighs indicated her grief and increasing anxiety, for she thought that the door had been closed to her and that she had no way to escape from her troubles. In the meantime, the believer's wife went to her husband to tell him about the situation of this poor woman, who was really in a bad and miserable situation. She was bug-eyed and had black circles around her eyes due to fatigue, and seemed to be always expecting unpleasant spiritual surprises. Her face was pale and yellow-colored as the spiritual turbulence she felt was clearly reflected there, and her body had become lean.

Then the wife of the saint came back joyfully and said, "the devils have no power or strength, and the power is Al'lah's alone: God says: '...they can harm none with their magic except by Al'lah's leave...'

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

"However, Al'lah gives a free hand to the devils against those who deserve such a remedy. This is because they are capable of doing good, but waste this capability in gratifying their lusts and committing sins and infractions. This means that they mix good acts with evil ones. Thus the devil hurries to them, seeking to encourage them to commit great sins and indecencies so that they will become devils like him. The universe depends on rules and laws which are never wrong: a magnificent strict discipline and definite precision. Similarly, God's Mercy and justice refuse to leave a person in such a mess when they deviate from the straight path, for God's mill grinds slowly but surely. He, the Almighty, waits for a suitable opportunity to send them a cure by afflicting them with disasters, hardship, and devilish commands, like those from which you suffer. All of that is a kind of love and mercy from Al'lah to you, to allow you to repent and return to righteousness. The Almighty (glory to Him) says: "And indeed, We will make them taste of the lightest chastisement before the greatest chastisement in order that they may repent and return."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 32, As-Sajda (The Prostration), verse 21

If you return to righteousness, you will achieve the desired purpose of this cure, whereupon you will recover and feel no more of your suffering."

Then the poor woman said, "But tell me what I must do in order to return to righteousness so that I can recover, please."

The believer's wife answered, "You should get rid of whatever forbidden things may exist in your house, and you should also veil your beauty and anything that may be a temptation for men."

The woman left the house. She had a feeling of great happiness overwhelming her heart now that the wall of desperation had been broken, she had regained some of her life and vitality. Then she veiled her charms and her face completely. After examining her house, she found that it was exposed to the balcony of her neighbors' house through the courtyard, and so she plugged up this hole and closed it off completely. Then she threw out all the forbidden things which could have excited temptation and irritated the sexual instinct in both men and women, whether through the sense of hearing, through the sense of sight, or through both. Verily, she was honest in her repentance. When she finished doing these things, she was able to sleep deep, feeling relieved both spiritually and bodily, and she enjoyed a bloom of good health and felicity once again. She found tranquility in her repentance and was peaceful, as she had pleased her Provider and closed all the entrances through which the devils could enter. Her house was located in the upper boulevards of Al-Mohajereen quarter of Damascus city. At that time, she dreamt that the devils had put all their belongings on a donkey after losing hope and despairing of corrupting this truthful repentant. In the dream, they said to her, "Had you told us that you wanted to follow the path of righteousness, we would have not exhausted ourselves or tormented you." Then, they finally left her house with their belongings packed up on the back of the donkey. She then got up with a feeling of great happiness overflowing her senses. This feeling of gladness never left her, and a strange sense of bliss adhered to her.

Since she had locked all the entrances through which these devils could enter, how would they then remain present in a house whose owners obeyed God's orders?! Thus, the woman lived a happy and delightful life, free from trouble or sorrow, both pleased herself and pleasing to others.

# Chapter 15

* * *

## Epilepsy and the Factors Leading to It

What is epilepsy? According to the medical perspective, epilepsy is a nervous case which causes a temporal disorder in the normal electro-activity of the cerebrum to occur from time to time. It is known that the regular electric activity of the cerebrum results from the passing of millions of simple electric charges along the neurons in the cerebrum, which spread throughout all parts of the body. This natural electric activity may become chaotic as a result of the emergence of intermittent irregular electric charges whose electric effect is stronger than that of the normal charges. These irregular electric charges may then spread throughout the body.

These abnormal charges can affect our consciousness, motion, and senses for a short while, and these physical charges are called epileptic spasms. Epilepsy, therefore, is sometimes referred to as 'spasmodic disorder'. Spells of abnormal electro-activity may occur in a particular area of the cerebrum, whereupon the spasm is known as a specific or partial epileptic spell, whereas an electric disorder may sometimes affect all the cells of the cerebrum and cause what is known as the greater or the general epileptic spell. The natural activity of the cerebrum does not reestablish itself until the electric activity stabilizes and returns to normal.

The condition that causes epilepsy may exist since birth, or it may surface later as a result of accidents, or the existence of abnormal compounds in the cerebrum, or after somebody is subjected to a toxic substance, or for other reasons which are now medically unknown. There are many diseases and severe cases that affect the cerebrum to the extent that they cause a single spasmodic spell. But when the fits of spasm reoccur, and where there is no obvious organic cause to be found, or when the effect of the disease which has caused the spasm cannot be treated, such a case is called epilepsy.

Epilepsy affects people of all ages, sexes, races and nationalities. Convulsion is considered to be one of the symptoms of epilepsy, but epilepsy itself is the predisposition of the cerebrum to produce sudden charges of electric power which upset its other functions. It is a permanent disease that affects the critical areas and systems of the cerebrum that regulate its functions and the passage of electric energy through the different regions of the cerebrum, and it causes disorder in these electric flows, leading to recurrent spells of spasm.

When a person is affected by one fit of spasm, it does not mean that they certainly suffer from epilepsy, because there are many other factors that could cause a single convulsive spasm, such as a high temperature, the loss of oxygen, severe head trauma, and others.

### Is epilepsy of organic or of spiritual origin?

The cause of this disease is not known by doctors in the case of about 70% of sufferers; as for the rest, the cause of this disease may be one of the agents affecting the functioning of the cerebrum. Examples include various head accidents, or when a newborn baby suffers from loss of oxygen during their birth, thus affecting the control system of electric activity in the cerebrum. There are other reasons as well, such as tumors of the cerebrum, hereditary diseases, lead poisoning, meningitis, and encephalitis.

Epilepsy is always considered to be a childhood disease, although it may affect people of different ages. It was noticed that about 30% of new cases have been afflicted with this disease in childhood (and especially early childhood), or in adolescence. Besides this, there is another stage of life during which epilepsy affects people considerably, which is from the age of sixty-five years upwards.

As for hereditary agents: epilepsy rarely results from hereditary causes, and there are few cases that are considered to be hereditary, wherein we find that special types of electric waves in the cerebrum correlate with specific forms of epileptic spells. If one of a child's parents is afflicted with such hereditary epilepsy, the possibility that this disease will befall their children is about 10% (the amount of children who are affected by epilepsy, although their parents are not afflicted with it, is 1-2% of cases).

But when both parents suffer from hereditary epilepsy, the possibility that the disease will affect their children increases to about 20%. The conclusion is that epilepsy is of two types:

1) A type of organic origin, which results from the above-mentioned agents such as: severe head accidents, the existence of abnormal compounds in the cerebrum, exposure to toxic substances, tumors of the cerebrum, meningitis, etc.

2) A type of spiritual origin. We have already mentioned that the cause of this disease is not medically known in 70% of cases.

Simply, we say that these unknown reasons are indeed spiritual, and relate to spiritual deviation and aberrant tendencies, or more clearly, spiritual diseases and maladies of the heart. These allow the spirit be under the command of its vehement enemy, [60] the devil, who enters into it through these deviant entrances after he smells wickedness from it, when the spirit desires fornication, and spreads forth to achieve the object of its yearning. It is a dark way, far from the Godly manifestation and the Godly light, where the devil revels in his lusts and lurks in wait for such a spirit. As soon as the spirit spreads in this way, Satan hurries to it, using the ray of the spirit as a mount to reach the spirit's core. The devil in himself is dark, spiteful, far from Al'lah, and full of evil and darkness; he is burning in the tormenting fire of sin, and he is a fire that flares through the commission of guilty actions and turning away from Al'lah. So, the cause is not a case of electricity, as the doctors think. In the same way that electricity spreads through wires that are invisible to the eyes, in a similar way, the fiery spirits spread invisibly into the spirits of the ill-hearted ones. Therefore, the doctors cannot recognize the reality and think the cause of this disease is related to electricity.

The devil who enters into the spirit of the epileptic is originally created from fire, and it is he who causes such trembling and pains for that person. Once he reaches the human spirit, penetrates it, and touches it with his darkness and fire, he destroys it through his grudge, hostility, and evil, thereby causing pain for such a person.

These severe pains that descend upon such a spirit result from the entry of the devil into it, and his touching it with the extreme evil that is invested in his dirty spirit. The afflicted spirit of this ill-hearted one writhes with great pain, as if it had been shocked with violent electricity. The spirit is the conscious self that flows through the nerves and controls the brain. When they head for the spirit and spread into it through its rays, the fires of the penetrating devils cause spiritual disorder and acute pain. This disorder and pain are reflected on the body – which is a mount for the spirit – and their effect on the body causes the production of abnormal electric charges. These charges arise and spread into the other parts of the body, causing very severe trembling and strong muscular convulsions.

Deviation from the straight path of righteousness and aberrancy of the spirit are the causes of this type of epilepsy, which is of spiritual origin only. The ill-hearted one who is afflicted with this disease has the capability to do good, but instead they repeatedly spread – through their spirit – into the darkness of gratifying their yearnings by committing adultery covertly, or by perpetrating sin and wrongdoing openly. This enables the devil to enter into them and control them. The devil is blind, and he cannot witness the truth, but he smells the wickedness that is folded in the spirit of the person who turns away from their Provider's light. Thus, he hurries to and hunts it, whereby this person falls under the oppression of this humiliating and painful distress, so that they may give up this dark way and withdraw from satisfying their spirit's low whims or allowing it to be absorbed in its horrible dark thoughts.

Owing to the dangerous results of such terrible spreading of the devil, the noble law of Islam has given serious warnings about it and closed the doors to all motives and ways that could lead to this destructive situation. For this reason it has imposed the comprehensive veil upon the woman and warned her of unveiling any of her temptations to men, even her voice, vitality, and perfume. It has obliged her to hide all her beauties and all that could fascinate the male heart and tarnish it with forbidden lusts, so that she must be serious in her choice of words and strict and earnest in her speech, without speaking softly, or using gentle phrases, or turning aside from speaking about anything other than essential subjects. It also has enjoined her to stay at home in order to perform her fruitful and valuable function, which is bringing up her children correctly, and preparing a healthy-bodied and sound-minded generation for the future. If she is compelled to leave her home, she must walk slowly and not strike the ground heavily with her feet lest her body should shake, and the indications of her youth should appear, which would irritate the sexual instinct and awaken the dormant yearnings in men. God's envoy (cpth) warned of such temptation and revealed that women should veil themselves and their charms completely. This is clear in his sayings: "Temptation is asleep; God will be angry with him who awakes it" [61], and "We are not satisfied with seduction."

The responsibility in relation to women does not only fall upon her own shoulder, but it is also the duty of her keeper (her husband, father, brother, or son), for each one of them is a custodian who is responsible for his dependents. God the Almighty has ordered the believers through the tongue of His Envoy (cpth): "Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze...": i.e. they should turn their eyes away from all that could lead them to commit adultery, such as images, cinematic films, and magazines.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 24, An-Nur (Light), verse 30

God's envoy (cpth) says: "The eye commits adultery when it looks at women (save the unmarriageable ones)." [62] The women have also been ordered to lower their gazes and preserve their chastity.

Since the case of humanity has not yet been terminated by death, the gate of repentance remains wide open before us. We should turn to God in repentance and retreat from the dark way before we die and lose the gifts of Al'lah and His envoy (cpth), and access to paradises. If the epileptic one returns to his Provider, repenting and seeking what is right, the Almighty will not allow the devil to approach the spirit of such a person, or to touch it with any harm or evil. When the afflicted one communicates with his Provider – whereby their spirit becomes pure and cleansed of its wickedness – then they walk the chalk line. Satan will find no way to reach their spirit, or even approach it, and at that time the man or woman in question will recover completely from their disease.

Children may be afflicted with spells of epilepsy as the result of a reflection of what is folded in the spirit of one or both of their parents, whereupon these parents should search for the reason for what has happened and change their spirits' hidden contents. They should then repent to God, asking Him to dispel the affliction from their beloved child. God the Almighty has clarified the spiritual cause of epilepsy, which medicine does not yet know, instead ascribing that type of epilepsy to unknown reasons (as we have mentioned before). Let us now scrutinize the noble verse wherein God says: "Those who live on usury will rise up (before Al'lah) like he whom Satan has caused to welter, distracted by his touch, for they claim that usury is like trading..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 275

God the Almighty describes the state of those who live on usury on Doomsday, and represents it as the state of a distracted spasmodic in a fit of epilepsy, and He reveals the cause of this patient's situation. This cause is having been touched by the devil, who has entered into the spirit of this ill-hearted one and has started tormenting it, burning it with the pain and evil that are folded in their spirit. He is an extremely wicked and spiteful enemy who has caught and controlled his opponent, so what will he do to his victim, and cause to happen to them?

Thus, epilepsy is of two types: one type that is caused by physical bodily agents which have been mentioned before, and another with reasons that are unknown according to medicine. In fact, however, the truth is clear for those who have hearts by which they apprehend, or for those who lend an ear to what is right and witness it. The spiritual cause of epilepsy has been proved in the above-mentioned wording of the Holy Qur'an.

Many plain tales have been reported in the Gospel telling us that our master Jesus, the Christ (pth), drove the devil away from epileptic people, defeating and dispraising him through his prophetic luminance, which destroys and burns the devils.

Here is, dear reader, a true tale involving the venerable scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho, which shows us that believing in God and straightening according to His orders protect humanity from being approached or affected by the devil, who flees instead, vanquished and beaten.
A True Story

### The Devil was Kicked out, But Confessed a Truth: "No Power Have I over You"

One day, our noble scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho returned to his home filled with a feeling of great happiness, as loving God was providing him with all the supplies he needed, and His satisfaction with him was his only aim and wish. No doubt, straightness itself is every honor.

There was no trouble or omission therein. Everything was orderly and satisfactory. But how strange!! As soon as he entered his house, unusual sounds came to his ears. This was something unexpected. What had happened?!! Everything had been fine when he left his home, but now he was taken aback by voices that were on the verge of wailing. He could hear the sounds of women crying in grief as if a terrible event had taken place. But all throughout his noble life, whenever he was taken aback, our great scholar Mr. Mohammad Amin Sheikho used to seek refuge in his Provider, the Almighty, who relieved him and saved him from each difficult problem. As always, the spirit of Mr. Mohammad Amin spontaneously flowed to the place of the event, and then it headed from his home towards the holy mosque. It travelled to Al-Ka'ba, which is honored by the world for its holiness and purity and the lights that descended from God upon His messenger and that are constantly descending on him (cpth), because this was the location of the descent of the Godly manifestations. Our eminent scholar put his full trust in Al'lah, without whom there is no refuge or protection, and commended the case to Him. No more than a few minutes had passed before quietness instead of noise prevailed in the place, and the fear and confusion that had existed were replaced with tranquility, so that all signs of distress, trouble and suffering had come to an end. This all happened in a single moment. The scholar's wife then came out of the area that was assigned for women and walked towards him, as she had felt his return home. She set to telling him about the events leading up to that point, revealing the secret behind those loud voices and what had happened before he had come home. She said: "Some of the women of this quarter came here, bringing an epileptic woman with them. She was uselessly and chaotically floundering on the floor. Her limbs were moving but were contracted and extended in an unnatural way, and her whole body was making involuntary motions. Foam was flowing from her mouth while her eyes had bulged out and were about to pop out of their sockets. Her chest was moving up and down in an irregular way, as if her lungs had been stuffed and she was suffering a feeling of strangulation, or, you could say, as if somebody had put their hands around her neck and was trying to suffocate her. Then, the yellowness of death covered her face and she could do nothing except beat herself with anything in front of her eyes that she could find, in an attempt to escape from an inevitable death. It was really a terrible sight. Her state was very affecting. All of the women were sure that it would be only a few moments before death would take her, and therefore they started shouting and crying and lamenting. A few of her female relatives had brought her here, hoping that God would heal her through your blessing. The people advised them to resort to you because of what they know about your uprightness and piety. Although they took her to many physicians, who prescribed different medicines and neural tranquilizers and analgesics for her, these attempts to cure her had no result. These doctors failed to cure her because they do have not any effective medicine for such diseases. Each of their medicines only provided a momentary cure. But as soon as you entered the house, she became calm and got well as if there had been nothing wrong." Mr. Mohammad Amin could understand the case exactly.

He spoke as follows: "Actually, she is possessed by evil spirits. This has been brought about by her wicked consort, who wants to destroy her and lead her to hellfire. But she has resorted to us, 'and anyone who enters your home seeking protection from you, you should protect them'. However, this case is very easy to solve, as Satan's scheme is weak. His nets are ill-founded and are even unreal, although he acts against those who are deserving." The great scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho could hear the cursed devil who had entered into the woman speaking to him.

It said: "I will leave her and enter you."

The great scholar answered audibly, in a loud voice: "And I will break your head." Then, he began to recite the noble fortresses, Al-Falaq (All that's coming to Appearance), An-Nas (Oblivious Mankind, Oblivious Jinn-kind), and Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity), and set about remembering God and directing his heart fully towards the holy mosque. It was not long before that rebellious devil left the woman and ran away from the house, defeated and constrained. The ill woman then regained her health and returned to her normal life, and all the pain and the effects of the attack disappeared. As a result, a feeling of bliss and pleasure prevailed in the place, and a matchless kind of thanks and gratitude colored the faces of those present, who all left the house praising and giving thanks and asking Almighty God to give the great scholar the greatest reward.

Later on that night, Mr. Mohammad Amin was lying in his bed, trying to get some rest and sleep. He was lying there, neither fully asleep nor fully awake, when he suddenly felt the coming of a black spirit. He heard it saying: "No fault!! No blemish!! No way I can enter into you!! I have never met a man like you, who is such a hopeless case for me!!" The black spirit then cursed at the scholar's religion and fled, not caring about anything else, for fear of being burned by God's light when the scholar sought refuge in Him. And if you ask about the reason that the Almighty God allowed the devil to curse and swear at our religion, it is because the Almighty God just wanted to show Mr. Mohammad Amin the enmity of the devil, his disbelief, and his humiliation and defeat.

# Chapter 16

* * *

## Why would Al'lah the Almighty Permit Magic to Have an Effect on Someone, although He is the Controller, and is Predominant over all Creation and is Its Disposer?!

The Almighty's saying states: "...and they can harm none with it (their magic) except by Al'lah's leave..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

We reply: Since there is no might or power except through God, and because of the great wickedness and the destructive evil that is folded in Satan's spirit, Al'lah released him according to his own choice, as there is neither force nor compulsion in adopting the right religion. However, the action and choice of Satan have an effect upon none save the inadvertent oblivious people. They deserve to be affected by him because of their commission of sins and their distance from the true faith. Had they been truthful and duly believed, the magicians' affliction would have entirely been lifted off them. Al'lah says: "...verily, we have made the devils leaders for those who do not believe."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 27

But Al'lah the Almighty does not allow Satan to reach the deserving ones with his whispers and false visions haphazardly and fruitlessly, without letting them profit from this victimization: nay, what happens is merely treatment and cure for those whose ailments and guilt have intensified.

To clarify this, we present the following example. Suppose that some food has become spoiled inside a man's belly, and is causing him painful indigestion that is on the verge of killing him. In this case, would it be reasonable for the doctor to leave him writhing in pain from what had settled inside his belly?! Would he not prescribe an influential laxative for him, which would repel these poisons and rid him of this surfeit material?! Similarly, a wicked yearning that has been strengthened inside the spirit because of its shunning of its Maker is indeed the surfeit of the spirit and the disease of the heart. Therefore, out of the Almighty's compassion for the person, He removes this yearning from their heart by letting them commit what they insist on doing, and this inclination is strongly aggravated inside their spirit and occupies it entirely. With that, the spirit's field is no longer occupied by this yearning, which is always followed by affliction.

Driving this yearning out of the spirit takes place after it had been so adorned by means of Satan and his followers, when they instructed this person to turn away from their Provider. They accomplish this by whispering, insinuating bad ideas in their spirit, spitting, and using other avenues of entry through which the devil can enter into an inadvertent spirit. When this person commits a single sin, Al'lah the Almighty drives affliction upon them, so that they may retreat from their wrongdoing. Through such distress and stern torture, a cure is realized, aiming to purify the spirit and cleanse it of any germs that would generate lust. This distress provides a reason for the spirit to withdraw from its errors and turn in repentance to its Provider, and thereby its cure can be achieved. Al'lah says: "What can Al'lah gain by your punishment if you are grateful in offering good acts, and you believe, yet Al'lah is thankful and Omniscient?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 58, Al-Mujadela (The Pleading Woman), verse 147

Thus, if someone returns to their Creator and believes in Him willingly and voluntarily, undoubtedly, their turning to Him will make them be illuminated by a part of God's Light. With that, they will witness the realities of the fatal and destructive lusts in which people have indulged themselves and to which they have utterly devoted themselves. Having become aware of this, any person would turn away, weeping for these people, feeling sorrow and heartbreak, and wishing to save them if they could.

On the other hand, if a person remains absorbed in wrongdoing and trespassing against what is right, insisting on following this way and keeping away from true realization and illumination by God's Light, they will never – no matter what happens – forsake their wicked lusts and renounce what has overcome them and is before their hands. As long as they remain in such a state, they will be completely removed from charitable donations and favor, deviating from the way that leads to the achievement of worldly and eternal bliss. This is what the Almighty has sent humanity out into this lower life for: only in order to strive for this and make every effort on behalf of finding it. Therefore, out of Al'lah's Mercy for such people, He firstly drives out the vicious lust that has settled in their spirits, and then He follows this expulsion with cure and treatment, giving the magicians the upper hand over them. Then these people may awake from their inadvertence and pursue the path that leads to their happiness, having tasted the company of the devils to whom they flow with their spirits when they commit sins. This is what has led to them suffering calamity, nightmare, grief, distress, embarrassment, difficulty and epilepsy.

Those who do not believe in God with a true belief that purifies the spirit and cleanses it of love for this lower life and its adornments, uprooting the dirt that is attached to it: those who have not achieved this belief, and have sustained their preference for their own mean lusts over the great kindnesses and gifts that Al'lah had prepared for them in the hereafter: such people are recipients of the compassion of Al'lah, which is expressed through their affliction with the magicians' attentions. In this case, He makes the magicians' deeds into a way to reveal the reality of those people's situation, as a way to remove what is hidden inside their spirits. The aim is to allow them to change into a state where they are ready to be cured after removing their ill lusts from their spirits.

### Distresses and what follows them

Thus, with regard to the unbeliever who has shunned the right path and whose spirit has become filled with wickedness, the Almighty sends them another wicked person similar to them, or someone of their like who has turned away from Al'lah, whom we can refer to as a devil of humankind. Such a person is one of the human race who is under the control of a sightless devil of jinn. This devil makes them love only desire, and makes them believe that their bad deeds are good, so that this unbeliever finds these bad deeds to be good, and inclines to them and pursues them, being seduced by them. At this point, after the object of their yearning has been realized, calamities will successively descend upon this ill-hearted person, as Al'lah the Almighty inflicts them with hardships that bring them trouble, grief and distress, so that they can find no remedy or refuge from Al'lah except by turning to Him.

Then, through this state of distress or disease, they cease paying heed to their own evil yearnings and their spirit temporarily becomes free of the many mean things that have been rankling inside it. Now this person renounces this world and all that it contains. Such being the case, they then have two options before them:

1) Either: They follow the path that leads to faith, having been given every opportunity and had the way cleared before them. In this case, by virtue of the hardship described, none of their prior lusts would remain inside their spirit. These lusts would have hindered the spirit from thinking of God's signs and considering the universe, and this would be the process through which the spirit would recognize its Creator and Provider, thus allowing it to fully and truly believe in Him.

2) Or: They may try to forget what has already befallen them, without seizing this advantageous opportunity, when their spirits have become free of their yearning and have stopped clinging to the lower life in which they had been engrossed. Instead of taking advantage of their great chance, when the distress or illness has been drawn away from them they return to their occupation with this world, devoting themselves to it completely. Thereupon the wicked lust – whose germ has not yet fully died – will come back and grow anew inside their spirits, and consequently they will return to their previous state and continue to do what they had been doing previously.

However, the Godly Compassion will keep driving all kinds of domination, distress, and catastrophe to them. As Al'lah says: "Those who disbelieve shall be unceasingly afflicted...": due to what they have committed; "...with misfortune, or it may settle close to their home until Al'lah's promise is fulfilled. Al'lah will not fail in His promise."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), verse 31

Thus, if a person takes the opportunity to return to Al'lah after the affliction has been lifted from them – so that they abandon this lowly world and its people, and strictly adopt the path that leads to belief in God – true faith will surely flow into their spirit. Then, these distresses will have brought them great goodness, and will have caused beneficial results and an important alternation to come about in their lives. Their days will become rich with the offering up of charity and goodness, and will be full of pleasure and everlasting bliss. You may ask:

### Does the spirit turn pure through distress?

We say that neither the dominant influence of the enchanters and the devils over people nor the hardships which the Almighty imposes upon them are the things that purify or chasten the spirit. Rather than this, approaching Al'lah and truly, whole-heartedly facing up to Him are the only things that can purify the spirit. So, if a person enters into their Provider's Presence, directing themselves truly to Him, and then the Godly Light permeates this spirit, spreading into its minute atoms – especially when communicating with Al'lah – this spirit will be purified, chastened and freed from all the germs of ill lusts and all the traces of sin. Had those people who fail to remember their Provider pursued the way that leads to faith by thinking carefully, and had recognized their Creator and then sought refuge in Him, their spirits would have become pure. There would have been no need for the stress of domination, gloominess, distress, and overwhelming trouble and misfortune – all of which compel people to resort to Al'lah. Had they really followed the straight path and voluntarily and willingly communicated with Him, they would have had their spirits purified easily and gently and their medicine would have been pleasant and agreeable: all through communicating with their Provider and entering into His Presence. The Almighty has revealed to us the importance and value of real communication with Him and its influence on the spirit, saying: "...verily, communicating with God interdicts (humanity) from committing indecency and evil..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 29, Al-'Ankabut (The Spider), verse 45

This is because the cause of uprooting the germs of lust from the spirit and getting rid of its dirt is a link that exists between the obedient follower and his Creator, and which is expressed by the word 'communication'.

Thus, such prevalence of magicians, and their gaining the upper hand over people – who then fall into the perpetration of bad acts that are followed by affliction with mishaps and hardships – are all arrangements for which the Almighty is praised, for they may allow the person who turns away from Al'lah to retreat from their aggression, adjust their manners, repent and become straight within Al'lah's orders, and consequently, become worthy of entering paradises and enjoying the bliss that has been prepared for their sake.

### Al'lah does not permit magic to be enacted upon a person haphazardly

The Almighty never enables the enchanter and the devil to cooperate and support one another in harming a person and dominating them, unless this is due to the mean deeds that have previously been committed by their victim. For carrying out such deeds, the victim deserves to be treated with such a bitter cure, as it may lead them to repent and return to their rationality and to the right guidance. Were it not for the victim's oppression of people and their causing harm to others, the Almighty would never empower these two spiteful partners over them; for indeed, all of creation is made up of those who are Al'lah's obedient followers, and He is the Organizer of the whole universe, as no one has might or power except through Him and by His leave.

The noble verse indicates the veracity of this, wherein God says: "...and they can harm none with it (their magic) except by Al'lah's Leave..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 102

Thus, by seeking refuge in their Provider and resorting continuously to Him, the believer will be preserved from every evil and protected from the iniquity of the devils and their supporters, the enchanters, the devils of humankind. Because of this protection, they will not befriend the devil, nor will they offer their obedience to anyone but their Provider. They will be free of the causes that would otherwise drive the devil to them, as the Almighty has mentioned briefly: "Yet his (the devil) authority is over those who trust him and follow his guidance."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 100

How strong, steady, and confident are the hearts of the believers when they are seeking refuge in their Provider through His messenger (cpth)! How effective are their weapons! They do not care about any enchanter or fear any devil, and no scheme of humanity can weaken their determination.

Therefore, referring to the Provider of the worlds helps us to get rid of the evils of those who spit out their magic over knots. So, believe in Him, step by step, following the same method that was adopted by our forefather, master Abraham (peace is through him) in order to believe, until you reach belief in the Provider of Al-Falaq [63] (All That's Coming to Appearance).

He provides everything you need in your life, bringing it from the hidden darkness of the unknown and invisible, out into the dimension of existence and of what is visible to us.

The Almighty had ordered His noble messenger to reveal to us in Al-Falaq Fortress All That's Coming to Appearance) that he (cpth) is always seeking refuge in his Provider from being harmed by an envier's evil eye or from being affected by any trouble, such as magic or its like. And so it is clear that we may seek refuge in the Almighty through the company of His messenger (cpth) in order to attain this kind of preservation and protection. All favor and kindness belong only to Al'lah because of His guidance and revelation.

Thus, if you want to be maintained and protected, or to be cured of the magicians' influence, you have only to repent wholeheartedly and believe truly, resorting at all times to the Almighty. If you forget this, and then you notice a look of admiration from an envious person and become afraid lest their look may cause harm and evil to come to you, you should immediately remember this and remind yourself of Al'lah to seek His protection.

# Chapter 17

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## The Only Way Leading to Purification of the Spirit and Curing it of Spiritual Ailments and Diseases

Finally, we should deal with an important question that may occur to people's minds. One of you may ask:

You have mentioned and repeated more than one time that a link with God is the way that leads to avoiding and being cured of spiritual disease and suffering, and being free of the magicians' control and influence. But I wonder: how can people perform real communication with God, so as to be one of the believers over whom the devil has no power?

In the Holy Qur'an, God says: "No power has he over believers who put their trust in their Provider. He has power only over those who befriend him and those who obey others besides Him."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99-100

According to what is mentioned in this noble verse, the secret to escape and success is nothing but belief. So, how can real and true belief be achieved? To answer this question, we say the following: when a person leaves their mothers' womb and enters into this universe, they come into being knowing nothing. Yet the Almighty God has granted them hearing, vision and mind.

So, when they grow and begin to perceive what is around them, they set to recognizing things. They examine them, turn them, and test the extent of their resistance and the degree of their power in overcoming them.

They sometimes strike them against one another so as to hear their sounds and to know their effects on each other.

Then, when their perception increases and they begin to understand, they look at the sky and what is in it, such as the sun, the moon and the shining stars, just as they behold the earth and what is on it, such as the seas, the rivers, the mountains, and humans and animals. Then, they wonder:

"Why do the stars shine?! Where do the clouds come from?! Where does the sun go in the evening?!"

They may even ask about God the Almighty, saying:

"Where is Al'lah?!"

Through such questions and many others, they seek to recognize this universe and its causes, and even to recognize the Originator of it and the Artificer of what it contains.

I wonder, who dictates such questions to the child?

Who addresses these questions to them?

Undoubtedly, there is a hidden voice that flows in the depths of their spirit from time to time. This is the voice of the angel whom is sent to this child by Al'lah.

They are called to in secret, in order to make their spirit direct these new inquiries to the power of thought, so that it may answer these questions.

So, the power of thought is the system which God has put into humanity in order to help the spirit find out the facts and recognize all that surrounds it; thereby, it perceives and pays attention to these facts, and becomes satisfied and pleased with the knowledge it has attained by means of this ability to think.

By such questions (which the angel throws into the child's spirit), the wheels of this system start working, so its cells begin to grow and its parts begin to be completed. This continues day by day and year after year, until this child reaches the age of maturity, where the full ability to grasp the truth and to know the Superior Maker and the Lord Provider emerges.

If a person of this age of maturity reflects on the wonderful construction of their body, and on their appearance which has been shaped based on the greatest degree of perfection in accuracy and arrangement, and contemplates each of their organs and the order of the systems of their body; if they think of the correlation between these systems and of their continuous movements and functional workings, seeing how they all work together in cooperation and in harmonious order so as to provide for this body and for the whole world; and indeed, the body can also be referred to as a world and as a single unity in itself, in a state of continuous existence and growth; I say, if a person examines their body from such a perspective and thinks in this way, and then returns to their origin on the day when they were a drop of semen that was put in their mother's womb; if they remember that day when they were nothing worth mentioning, and how they had no character, no prestige and no rank, and did not have such an organized body or such an arrangement; I say, if a person examines themselves by adopting these two approaches, one of which is through the lens of the present time, and the other through the lens of the past, and then they bring these two cases to remembrance together, in comparison, inquiry and judgment: there is no doubt that their thought will quickly lead them to realize that there must be a potent Hand that has made them into a complete person and has created them as such a perfect creation. It has taken care of them up to now, and it keeps doing so all throughout their life.

If this spirit keeps thinking deeply on this point, and advances in this field stride after stride, this fact will settle in this spirit's depths until it becomes an axiomatic case, for it is a case that does not need disputation or proof or evidence.

Thus, humanity's origin and entry into this world is an important case which evokes meditation and stimulates thought.

Just as coming into existence is an important case, this also goes for leaving it; in fact, this is even more serious and has a more deep-reaching effect on the spirit.

How many people have had somebody with whom they lived, who they loved, and who they watched work and overwork, so that they entertained great hopes for their life with them, and put plans in place with them that were filled with golden dreams of the future; but suddenly, just like the lamp when a storm blows out its light, death quenched the movements of this lover and left them as nothing more than a lifeless corpse and a motionless body!!

Where is the lamp?!! Where is the light?!

Where are their movement and speech? Where have their wishes gone? Where are the girls, the boys and the children that they were hoping for?

The flame has gone out; the movement has stopped; the storm is becalmed and the person has died.

In this situation, when the spirit watches such things that happen to others, the wheels of thought will run in a different way.

This line of thought differs from the first kind. They are not in agreement concerning the subject, and the direction of each line of thought is different. Nonetheless they fully agree with one another concerning their results and their aims.

This spirit will know that this Hand – which created it perfectly and brought it into its current existence by granting life to it – one day will certainly take the spirit back to Itself at the time of death, and will withdraw the soul from it. This is true no matter how long its lifetime may last. The spirit is what had held the Trust that was given to humanity by Al'lah, which is what allows us to exercise free choice while we are alive. Thus, no matter how much the spirit may aspire to stay or seek to stay, there is no staying.

Our lifetime is temporal, and surely the Trust (and the ability to choose freely) will be recovered by God along with the spirit. After strength comes weakness, after happiness comes grief, and inevitable death follows life.

When death comes and overwhelms us, there will be no avoidance or escape. God says: "If you could only see when they (the unbelievers) will quake with terror; but then there will be no escape, and they will be seized from a position (quite) near."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 34, Saba' (Sheba), verse 51

And He says: "Then why do you not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat? And all the while you (sit) looking on. But We are nearer to him than you, and yet see not."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 56, Al-Waqi'a (The Inevitable Event), verse 83-85

At this time, the spirit will feel fear, and so it will turn to thought, seeking to recognize the Hand which created it and built it up after it was brought into this existence, and which will take back Its charge whenever It wants.

Here, the field of thought becomes larger as the human person exceeds the limits of their own identity. They begin to think about the universal signs which surround them, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the rivers, the seas, the animals, the plants, the day and the night, the four seasons, the winds, the clouds, the thunder, the lightning and the rain.

When a person deeply contemplates this great universe, they will find that everything in it works and moves only according to a general discipline and a comprehensive rule.

They will see that the entire universe is but one unity that is controlled and directed by a single Potency and a single Will, with science, wisdom and compassion.

If a person looks into this universe in such a way, and then they turn to themselves, they will find that they are nothing other than a small piece of this universe, and are also subject to the same discipline. This great earth swimming in such a large and endless cosmos is correlated with the sun, the moon and the stars.

All these bodies and these beings are controlled by this supreme Will and infinite Might, watching over them all and directing them all.

Reaching this point and achieving this witnessing – that is to say, witnessing that there is no God except Al'lah and believing in Him – creates a kind of feeling of awe inside one's spirit for the greatness of that supreme Will, which controls this universe and steers it with science, wisdom, potency and mercy.

Thus, this person will not deal badly with anybody in all humanity, whatever another person's character, or the degree of one's kinship or hostility to them. A person who has reached this level of understanding will not even dare to hurt anything within creation, because they will have found that all creation is but a production of this Supreme Self.

Hence, you will see this person act properly with all of creation. This straightness will make them feel sure of God's Satisfaction with them, so they will draw nearer to Him. Through such nearness and direction, the spirit derives perfection from the Almighty God. That is communication with God in its reality. It is this kind of communication based on such self-belief which you have to seek out and practice.

Only by performing this communication and reaching this state can the spirit be prevented from inclining to the worldly life and the mean desires that it contains.

The spirit will then begin to loathe all that is contained in this life, except for the performance of good deeds and charitable actions.

### Straightness is the impregnable fort which keeps us safe from spiritual complexes and diseases and from falling under devilish powers

All that is good is derived from Al'lah and comes from performing true communication with Him, such as polishing one's morals, disciplining one's manners, and fixing one's habits.

Straightness and communication with God form the impregnable fort which protects us from spiritual complexes and ailments and drives away the evil of magicians and devils.

This is accomplished by believing in God and turning towards Him. Even the messenger (cpth), who was the first humane curer, is just a mediator to lead the spirits of the believers, who turn themselves to God through him. Thereby he (cpth) takes them out of the worldly darkness and into the Godly light, where the real recovery from anything unpleasant and from any sneaking whisperer takes place. God says:

"It is He who brings down clear revelation upon His obedient follower (the messenger Mohammad) so that he may lead you from the depths of darkness into the light. And verily, Al'lah is clement and Merciful to you."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 57, Al-Hadid (Iron), verse 9

For the messenger (cpth) is the shining lamp. He illuminates the way for the faithful spirits, and shows them God's light and supreme Attributes in a way that is proportional to their status, their level of confidence and their nearness to Him, the Almighty.

This is achieved during communication with God.

The believing spirit flows out during its communication and heads towards the Sacred House (Al-Ka'ba), where it meets the messenger's spirit (cpth) and couples with it in a bond of love and appreciation.

Then, through the company of this noble spirit, it ascends through the Godly light. That is where it witnesses the facts and the perfection that make it adore Him, the Almighty, so that it can live wholly in a state of lofty Godly bliss, due to seeing an aspect of His Perfection.

This is communication with God in its reality, and this is spiritual flowing and witnessing with the eye of the heart (by the Godly light) rather than with the physical eye. This is the heart's nurture which the Almighty wants us to achieve, for our own benefit. It helps us become free of all spiritual ailments, and acquire a share of the Godly perfection. In this way, magicians and devils will cease to have power over our spirits and our bodies. On the contrary, they will become subdued, and be lowly and defeated before us.

The Almighty has recommended us to direct our hearts toward the holy house (Al-Ka'ba) during our communication with Him. He says: "So from wheresoever you (Mohammad) start forth, turn your face towards the holy mosque: and wheresoever you are, turn your face thither, that there will be no ground of dispute against you among people, except those of them who have wronged (themselves); so fear them not; but fear Me, so that I may complete My favors to you and you may be rightly guided."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 150

This is just as He has ordered us to communicate ourselves with the great messenger (cpth), who keeps in communication with God so that he can help us to communicate with Him ourselves and perform prayer correctly. God says: "Al'lah and His angels keep in communication with the prophet. You who believe, communicate yourselves with God through him and fully surrender."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56

Through achieving such a sublime state, a person becomes straight and follows the orders of his Provider, and remains far from any breach of these orders.

How can one disobey Him or hurt anything in His creation after they have completely realized that their heart's life is accomplished only through their link with Him, the Almighty?

On the contrary to disobeying Him, they become an open way for everything that is good. The holy saying denotes: "Everything in creation is dependent on God. So, the most beloved to God in creation is the most helpful to His dependents." [64]

At that time, we really seek refuge in our Creator, for we have truly recognized Him when we are at ease. If we only turn to Him when we are in distress, we are only recognizing Him because we need His assistance. However, when we turn to Al'lah at a time when we have no problems and face no distress, it is because we have truly understood His importance, and thus, in this case, our nearness to Al'lah is more complete.

So, whenever we feel that the devil is hovering around us and is trying to hurt us, we soon remember our link with God and communicate ourselves with His messenger (cpth).

It was reported that the prophet (cpth) said the following to the truthful believers around him: "If any one of you, when lodging in a house, says: 'I seek refuge in the Perfect Words of God from the evil He has created', then nothing will do harm to him in that house until the time that they leave it." [65]

In this way, the devil will have no sway over this believing person, as long as they remain within the inaccessible fort of uprightness and connection with God. Furthermore, wherever this believer may be, the devil will soon run away once they seek refuge in God, just as the messenger (cpth) taught us.

Such a person is not affected by magic – nay! Their presence counteracts the sessions of magic and other visionary gatherings (such as conjuration, hypnotism, stabbing skewers into the body, and the like); that is, if they are obliged to be there unwillingly. As for their own will, they would never willingly approach such places at all. Is there any sane person that likes to look at or be close to a stinky sea?

The devil's scheme is ineffective. God says: "...Satan's machination is weak indeed." [66]

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 4, An-Nisa' (Women), verse 76

All responsibility falls only upon humanity. If somebody neglects or forgets the remembrance of their Provider, the viperous enemy will steal up to them, approaching them and whispering to them like a foxy thief. Yet if they remember God and return to His Presence, the devil will draw back from them, retreating, slipping, and defeated. God says: "If a suggestion from Satan assails your mind, seek refuge in God. He hears and knows (all things)."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 200

Through such resorting to the Almighty God, a human spirit comes close to Him, and so the devil, who is the magician's brother and is intimate with him, withdraws, having been vanquished. Meanwhile the spirit, by virtue of its nearness to its Provider, becomes pure and cleansed of the faults that were attached to it, and it even rises up to a degree higher than its previous degree.

This makes the devil feel distressed, so that he wishes that he had not approached that spirit at all.

Regarding the state in which the Almighty wants us to live and keep living: it is a state of permanent nearness to Him, and of continuous seeking refuge in Him, as He is the source of goodness, favor, life, subsistence, food, and drink.

Thus, if we follow this approach, we will always be in an inaccessible place and a fortified fort.

The Almighty described the people of belief who have attained this top rank in the Holy Qur'an, when He says: "People who neither traffic in commerce nor profit from it cannot be diverted from the remembrance of God (whether they are believers or not), nor can they be diverted from performing prayer (communication with God), or from achieving zakat (purity): their (only) fear is for a day when hearts and eyes will be transformed."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 24, An-Nur (Light), verse 37

By having had their spirits colored by such a state by following the messenger (cpth), and by having connected themselves with him, they became permanently safe and protected.

No magician or devil can have any effect on them in the way that they can with people who are far from God. In other words, neither a charlatan nor a magician is allowed to deceive them, nor do they even have the ability to do so. If they try they will bring nothing but failure and frustration upon themselves.

God says: "...a magician thrives not, (no matter) where he goes."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 69

We have presented the truth about those who have relations of love with a truthful believer. By their direction to Almighty God, they will all be protected from the devils and magicians, from the enviers, and from the oppressors and the bastards.

That is because when one spirit loves another, the rays of the lover's spirit flow to those whom they love, so that the rays of the two spirits join to one another.

This pure and immaculate spirit surrounds its family and all that it loves with the shining forth of its rays, so that it is continually connecting with them without cessation. This spirit is fortified by God's light. Accordingly, Satan can never come near to or hurt those who are protected by this spirit. He is beneath having any influence over the believer, whose heart is fully engaged in the remembrance of God, and whose spirit is swimming in the worlds of the Almighty's perfection. Such a spirit is totally absorbed by this remembrance and this Godly light, in the company of His noble messenger (cpth).

### Belief is the way leading to straightness

You may ask about the way that leads to this kind of belief and such unceasing resorting to God. We can say that believing in God is not meant to be a verbal confession, but rather is an interior feeling which arises in the spirit. This takes place because of the spirit's own self-searching and continual thinking, until the owner of such a spirit begins to sink into the Majesty of God, and to bow in prostration to His Might.

This is the way that was followed by our master Abraham (pth). As soon as his contemplation of the creation of his body, his hearing, and his sight guided him to the fact that he must have a providing Creator and a steering God, he set himself to looking for this Provider, seeking to recognize the Owner of this intensive care and continual sustenance.

And so, "When night drew its shadow over him, he saw a star. He said: 'This is my Provider!!' When it faded, he said: 'I do not like those which fade'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 76

He (pth) said so because this Care which kept providing for him never left him or disappeared. Had it left him for one moment, its sustenance would have ceased to affect him, causing his evanescence and nonexistence.

Look at the wick of a candle: if the wax ceases to supply it, what shall its fate be? Surely, it will soon die away, and its light will be extinguished.

And so it was that to recognize his Creator and Provider, our master Abraham (pth) had to restart his search over and again, and that was what he did: "When he beheld the moon rising, he said: 'This is my Provider!!' When it set, he said: 'If my Provider does not guide me, I will then be one of the straying people'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 77

At this stage, he (pth) realized that the moon, whose light disappeared from his sight, was not his God and Provider. Had it been his god, his being would have disappeared as soon as its Creator and Provider disappeared.

Since the one who is sincere in their quest does not feel tiredness or weariness, our master Abraham continued his search: "When he beheld the sun shining, he said: 'This is my Provider (for) it is bigger!!' When it went down he said: 'People! I am done with your idols'.": that is, he was finished with their claims that their idols were gods or that they had any power.

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 78

He (pth) saw that these heavenly bodies did not keep watching over him, but instead disappeared behind the skyline. They are correlated with the other bodies within a comprehensive and perfect system, whose affairs are managed and directed by one Hand.

As for his Provider, it is He who supplied him, as well as supplying the sun, the stars and the moon; He is the One whose sustenance encompasses the heavens and the earth.

His Provider is the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Steerer of the whole universe. Nothing can move in this universe except through Him, for He is, alone, the Director, alongside whom there is no partner.

That is what the statement "There is no God except Al'lah" serves to illustrate.

It is the Almighty Al'lah who provides the generations with food and aliment. He then puts them to death and exterminates them, after reproducing new ones. He also provides these new ones with supplies and builds them up, for He has mercy upon them. Apart from Him, everything is only temporal vanity.

He is the Everlasting, the Maker and the Giver.

Thus, our master Abraham was able to witness his Provider and His perfect supreme Attributes, and therefore he became an ideal for each believer.

Belief is obtained only by searching oneself. When people achieve this belief and recognize their Creator, their Steerer and their Provider, they will get certain knowledge. From that place and from that time they will abide by the right path and never relapse to the wrong one at all. They will realize that the Almighty is the Director of all the affairs of the universe, therefore there is no God except Al'lah, and there is no Disposer except for Him.

Their spirits will then submit to their Provider and fear Him, and this will make them enter the secure fort of straightness, and so they will never break with His orders in any matter. Only then will the spirit of this believer draw near to its Provider, feeling assured of His satisfaction with it. Because of this, it performs the correct communication with God, by which it attains a link with Him and derives perfection from His Majesty.

That is the truth which our master Abraham discovered. His father and his people were idolaters, but nonetheless, he did not follow them.

So was it with our master Mohammad (cpth). He adopted the same way, especially in the Herra' Cave, and kept advancing in it and ascending through the grades of perfection, from one state to the next, until he reached the top rank which none may approach. God says: "Those were (the prophets) who Al'lah guided. Follow then their guidance."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 90

Thus, if you want to really be truthful, you must contemplate God's signs, just as the noble messengers and prophets did. The noble saying serves us in this regard: "To think for an hour is better than to worship for sixty years." [67] This is because thinking is the luminosity of belief.

Furthermore, our master Jesus (pth) said: "Blessed be those whose speech reminds us (of God), whose silence is for contemplation, and whose looks are for learning lessons. Oh, weak son of Adam! See by Al'lah's Light wherever you are, and be as a guest in this life. Teach your eyes weeping, your body forbearance, and your heart contemplation."

In addition, our master Luqman (pth) said: "Long loneliness helps us more in thinking, and continuous thinking indicates touching the door of paradise."

That is the only way that leads to perfection, peace and safety. Darkness and light are never present together, and therefore the devil runs away from the place where the Godly light shines, lest he be burned.

Here are some sayings of the faithful followers (may God have mercy upon them) about cerebration:

• Omar Ibn Abdul-Aziz: "The speech which includes the mention of God is good, and thinking of God's bounties is the best worship."

• Wahab Ibn Manbeh: "The more man thinks, the more he understands; the more he understands, the more knowledge he gets; and the more knowledge he gets, the more he renders good deeds."

• Mogith Al-Aswad: "Visit the tombs every day, for they arouse your thoughts, and see the weightiness of your own situation by means of your hearts."

• Sofyan Ibn Ayneeyah: "Thinking is a light that enters your heart. A man of reason learns a lesson from everything."

• Beshr Ibn Al-Hafi: "Had people thought about God's Might, they would never have disobeyed Him."

In fact, if a person immerses himself in this world without taking lessons from it or without thinking persistently about that which reminds them of God, the light of their heart's vision will be blacked out to an extent proportional to that negligence.

As for the believers, they find pleasure in thinking and delight in learning lessons. Many a person was attracted by this worldly life until their whole lifetime had passed without their feeling it.

And may God have mercy upon the great Ibn Yusuf, who said: "If man spends an hour of his lifetime on a thing other than the purpose of his creation, he should be sorrowful till Doomsday."

Similarly, the noble companions and those who followed them in good deeds made use of their ability to think, to the extent that the devil could never overpower them, and therefore they were given victory.

God says about the Battle of Honain: "...but when the two armies came within sight of each other, he (the devil ) took to his heels saying: 'I am done with you, for I see what you see not'."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 8, Al-Anfal (Spoils of War), verse 48

Therefore, when you reach this position through using the power of thought to reach your spiritual mind, not by hearing others or following traditions, and you achieve spiritual witnessing; when you realize that everything is managed by God and not by anybody from among all the people in the world, and that nobody in all of creation can even do a favor for you or protect you from evil; when you realize that nobody can cause you any harm or change any of your circumstances unless you deserve it and it happens by Al'lah's leave: at this point you will enter the citadel of straightness, from wherein you have no wish to exceed the bounds of Al'lah, and then none of jinn-kind or humankind can hold any sway over you.

The spirit of this truthful believer, who seeks to know the truth and the absolute facts, has been colored by a mark from God.

And who has a better mark than that of Al'lah?!

At that time, such a believer will say truly that "there is no God except Al'lah" while witnessing the meaning of these words in their spirit.

So when they say "I witness" with their tongue, their tongue only expresses what their spirit has witnessed. It expresses what it has viewed of the tenderness and sympathy of that Hand which moves all of the universe, overwhelming it with a flood of kindness, benignity, mercy, tenderness, favor and charity. The more the tongue repeats it, the more the words kindle the light in the spirit, and the more this light increases and glows, adding new witnessing to the witnessing of the spirit. Since Al'lah is Greater and Greater, that beautiful, superior and high witnessing, along with the knowledge it supplies to the spirit, has neither end nor limit nor termination.

As for the messenger Mohammad (cpth), what a great messenger he is, indeed, and what a high rank he has!

He is the greatest master, who attained the highest degree and the loftiest position in his nearness to God.

All believers are led by him and are under his banner, and they have an unceasing link with him. It is only he (cpth) who allows the believer's spirit to enter into God's Presence. He (cpth) is first in this field and he is the imam. For this reason, the Almighty ordered us to communicate ourselves with him (cpth). God says: "Al'lah and His angels keep communication with the prophet. You who believe, communicate yourselves with God through him and fully surrender."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56

How happy the spirit will be if it performs its prayers by means of this pure spirit and attains a link with it! Only then will it enter into the Godly Presence and draw nearer to Al'lah.

These meanings will be sensed by the believing person in their inner self the moment they approach God. They will live a state of witnessing to the fact that there is no God except Al'lah and that Mohammad is Al'lah's messenger (cpth), and they will touch the wisdom behind fasting, communication with God, hajj, and almsgiving. Their spirit will then fly through its rays, leaving its body most of the time to allow itself to be immersed in such feelings. Then it will return, having acquired more learning, more elevated tasting and witnessing, and more knowledge than it had before, as it will praise and thank God more and more.

It will keep rising and living a happy and blessed life. Most people miss out on this, thinking that the Godly orders are nothing more than devotional affairs, regarding them as a performance of the duty of submission. They have forgotten a good part of what they were reminded of, and therefore they mistook the way of happiness, and what is more, they misled many along with them.

So if you witness that there is no God except Al'lah, and follow that with a kind of fasting, [68] communication with God [69], zakat [70] and pilgrimage [71], you will then be qualified to witness that Mohammad is Al'lah's messenger (cpth).

At that time, you will be able to become a member of that university, and will be able to communicate yourself with that great teacher who teaches you communication with Al'lah, fasting, zakat (almsgiving) and pilgrimage. [72] Then you can complete your study, in order to be one of those who has been illuminated by Al'lah's Light and attained full knowledge of Him. God says: "It is He that has sent amongst those who have betook themselves to God a messenger of their own to recite to them His signs, to sanctify them..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 62, Al-Jumu'a (The Congregation of Friday), verse 2

To those who have followed what is right, the messenger (cpth) recites what descended upon him from God, and he purifies them. By their nearness to him (cpth), their spirits rise up to God where they become illuminated by His light. They then acquire knowledge of the Book and the wisdom behind the Godly orders, so that they put everything in its proper place. They have acquired a vision of the heart, although they had been in gross error and knew nothing before him (cpth). Blessed are those and blissful is their end. God says: "But to those who receive guidance, He increases the (light of) guidance and gives them their own piety (heart's sustenance)."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 47, Mohammad (Mohammad), verse 17

### In short, we say:

When reaching the stage of perception during their childhood when the wheels of thought begin to run, if a person recognizes their Creator, who has created them and made them in this way, then they finish the first lesson. They do so by knowing their Creator and perceiving – through thought – that there must be an organizer who organizes this well-organized body. They reach puberty having become aware of this fact, and having it settled in their spirit. Then, by thinking of death and seeing many examples of it, their spirit will feel fear and alarm, and so it will resort to the thought of asking their spirit to seriously search for the Provider. They will see themselves as a powerless creature in need of the one who has brought them up, and who continues to supply them and watch over them.

They need food and drink, sun and air, snow and rain, and day and night. They need He who has created them all and who supplies them with subsistence and existence and moves them only for their own sake. This is because for there to be any existence, there must be one who exists; and for any living being, there must be one who supplies them with life and subsistence.

This person will find themselves in need of all that, for without it they will not stay alive.

So, who is the Owner of such intensive care? Who grants them these things, which are essential for them to live?

There must be a Provider who supplies them with such blessings.

At this point, they move to a higher class, when they realize that there is an omnipotent Provider whose actions support them and keep them alive. Therefore they turn towards Him, the Almighty, with their spirits, and they love Him for what He has granted to them.

Believing in the Provider widens the fields of their thought, so they say: "If this Provider is the One who sends down the rain, who drives the winds and the clouds, who moves the earth in space to create day and night, who makes crops and plants grow, and who directs the whole universe in order to fulfill my needs, then undoubtedly He is responsible for the steering of the universe; therefore the whole universe and all that it includes are subject to Him, the Almighty, and in need of Him.

"So is it for me; I am in His Hands; by Him and from Him I am supported with life and existence." When reaching this point, this person will attain another level of witnessing, which is the witnessing that there is no God except Al'lah. Their thoughts will have analyzed and made a judgment, and then their heart will have witnessed and their spirit will have fully realized the truth.

If they witness this witnessing; that is to say, if a person's spirit has sensed the greatness of this universe and the sublimity of the Hand which directs all of it in one moment, without any cessation, so that nothing in the earth or in the heavens may leave Its control; that is, if the spirit witnesses this witnessing; that is, if it achieves an incorporeal witnessing that there is no God except Al'lah and feels the Godly magnificence and grandeur in its depth: it will then feel in awe of Al'lah.

This awe makes us follow the straight path and refrain from doing any wrong. We do not dare to commit any sin or to fall into any iniquity, because wherever we walk or turn and wherever we may be, we see the Almighty with us: watching and seeing.

Hence you will always see the person who has reached this level treat people as they would like to be treated. They cannot hurt anybody or cause damage to anything in creation.

Such a humane person performs correct communication, whereby their spirit attains a link with its Maker, for they have become sure of God's satisfaction with them and they are protected from any harm due to their uprightness. Do not do harm lest you will be harmed.

The spirit will then feel a beautiful feeling inside itself. This is the feeling of nearness to that supreme Being. It is a unique feeling which the spirit has never sensed before, associated with an elevated witnessing and sublime tastings of the heart.

Neither the rich with their gold, silver and wealth, nor the farmers with their fields and farms, nor the sybarites with their palaces and gardens who take pleasure in luxurious living, nor the rulers with their influence and states, nor even the kings and the princes with their scepters of reigning: I say, none of all of these is luckier than the spirit which is close to its Provider.

If those people knew the sublime and beautiful feeling of such a spirit, they would fight to achieve it and would abdicate their offices and all that they have just to obtain it.

Glory to You, my Provider! How beautiful the nearness to You is, and what a wonderful life the spirit experiences in the times of its nearness to Al'lah, the Creator of every beauty, and the Obligor who grants all boons.

It is bliss, felicity, and the good life, which is free of any trouble. It is paradise.

By my life, that is the real communication with God, which is accomplished only by straightness and abstention from forbidden things.

The lovely link and the lofty feeling that we feel when we approach God make us acquire perfection from the Almighty at the same time. We will be colored with a stain of the Godly Perfection. The light that flows into the spirit that is close and directed to its Creator sanctifies it from the germ that had been settled in it. It puts an end to its bad tendencies; it cleans it of any low inclinations and mean yearnings which may have been attached to it in the past.

So, when this person finishes their prayer, their status will be as clear as possible, their heart as clean as possible, and their spirit as pure and immaculate as possible. When a person's spirit attains such purity, it will not be likely to commit any wrongful acts or sins. Thereafter, if a devil or a magician tries to cause it any harm or to seduce it with the charm and the garnish of mean worldly desires, this person's spirit will give them no ear, nor will it even be attracted to such things.

Instead, this pure spirit will turn back the magician and send them away in failure, overcome by proof. This spirit's perfection, clearness and purity that were generated by virtue of its connection with its Creator will make it disdain every wrong and loathe every vice.

Such a person, who has witnessed that there is no God except Al'lah as aforementioned, will fast true fasting, which is associated with their spirit's fasting, and which means abstention from all things that are forbidden by God.

So, when they pray to God, they will perform real communication with their Creator, the Almighty; when they fulfill their almsgiving they will have a great sense of confidence that will increase their closeness to God during their prayers; consequently, the purity, sanctity, and perfection of their spirit will also increase. Then, if they go on pilgrimage, the spirit of such a person will be high-ranking. It will be different from any other human spirit in its tasting of the meanings of virtue, in its loathing of depravity, in its feelings of contentment that come from being close to God, and in its happiness at entering into His Presence. As for magic, we absolutely do not accept it. "...and the magician thrives not, (no matter) where he goes."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 20, Ta Ha 'Ta-ha' (Pure), verse 69

And praise is to God alone, firstly and finally.

## Conclusion

Verily, I have no power to bring you damage or benefit, nor can I do such things for myself, except by Al'lah's will.

"...I (the messenger) have no power over any goodness or harm to myself except as Al'lah wills. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I should have multiplied all good..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 7, Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 188

That is the messenger's saying (cpth) from the verses of the Holy Qur'an.

Never has God the Almighty sent a messenger that makes people turn towards himself. Instead, their only call was to obey Al'lah and avoid the devils, for to join others in obedience to God is a great wrongdoing. Nor did these messengers ask for people's money: "...I demand of you no recompense for this..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 6, Al-An'am (Livestock), verse 90

How strange is the situation of some Muslims, who took the leaders of magicians as guardians and providers other than Al'lah! Furthermore, they call them people with supernatural powers!!

What evokes even more wonder is the claim of the naive imitators from among the common Muslims, who say that they have taken them as providers and have served them, but that they have only done so in order to be brought nearer to Al'lah. They say: "These are our intercessors for Al'lah", although the Almighty says: "...say: 'do you indeed inform Al'lah of something He knows not, in the heavens or on earth?'..."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 10, Yunus (Jonah), verse 18

This is despite the fact that Al'lah will forbid access to the heavenly garden to anyone who joins other gods with Al'lah.

But alas! Magicians' stratagems and trickery have worked against these people and spread among them, to the extent that you can hardly find a home that is not occupied by one of their followers, whether or not people are affected by spiritual diseases.

In this blessed book, the one who was master over the devilish magicians, the eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho (his soul has been sanctified by Al'lah), has unveiled their secrets. He has done so according to what is mentioned in the Holy Book of Al'lah: "If they do not respond to you, know that they only follow their own lusts: and who is further astray than one who follows his own lusts, devoid of guidance from Al'lah?"

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 28, Al-Qasas (Stories), verse 50

And: "...Al'lah guides not such as are false and ungrateful."

The Holy Qur'an,

Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 3

_Praise is to God alone, the Provider of the Worlds._

# Chapter 18

* * *

## Issued to the Great Humane Eminent Scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho (His soul has been sanctified by Al'lah)

1. Interpretation of Am'ma Part of the Qur'an

2. Visiting the Prophet (cpth) and the Effect of his Love in Elevating the Believing Spirit

3. Impeccability of Prophets

4. High Schools of Al-Taqwa (Seeing by Al'lah's Light) – the Jewels of Rules in Explaining the Pillars of Islam

5. The Sources of Spring Water in the World

6. Interpretation of the Great Qur'an (Lights of Descending & Realities of Meaning) Volume –1–

7. Interpretation of the Great Qur'an (Lights of Descending & Realities of Meaning) Volume –2–

8. Am'ma Encyclopedia (The Compassionate's Gifts in Interpreting the Qur'an) Volume –1–

9. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (The Courageous Boy and the Female Jinni)

10. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (The Dog that Became a Horse) –2–

11. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (The Brave Boy and his Practical Reply to His Uncle) –3–

12. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (Ring of Wrestling) –4–

13. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (Disciplining the Greengrocer) –5–

14. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (God Bless you, Cub of a Lion of the Quarter) –6–

15. From the Heros' Careers for Children and Babies (Adventure of the Little Horseman) –7–

16. Al-Amin Interpretation of the Great Qur'an (The Previous Nations) volume –1–

17. The Sources of Spring Water in the World – English translation

18. Pages from the Eternal Glory (the Life of the Great Humane Eminent Scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho) Volume –1–

19. Reality of Intercession – A Calm Dialogue between Dr. Mostafa Mahmood & Dr. Yousef Al-Qaradhawi

20. The Reality of our Master Mohammad (cpth) Appears in the Twentieth Century

21. The Reality of our Master Mohammad (cpth) Appears in the Twentieth Century – Persian translation

22. Al'lah is Greater – Be kind to Animals: A Medical Scientific Study about the Use of Mentioning Al'lah's Name over the Carcass at Slaughtering

23. Islam... What is the Veil for? What is Divorce for? What is Polygamy for?

24. The West has Disenthralled Man from Slavery Why has Islam not?

25. The Great Scientific Discovery – the Astonishing Reality of the Six Days and the Seven Heavens

26. The Amazing Miracle of the Fundamental Verses of the Book in the Twenty-first Century

27. Faith – The First of High Grades of Al-Taqwa (Seeing by Al'lah's Light)

28. Prayer (Communication with Al'lah) – The Second of High Grades of Al-Taqwa (Seeing by Al'lah's Light)

29. Az-Zakat (Almsgiving) – The Third of High Grades of Al-Taqwa (Seeing by Al'lah's Light)

30. Fasting – The Fourth of High Grades of Al-Taqwa (Seeing by Al'lah's Light)

31. Pilgrimage (Hajj) – The Fifth of High Grades of Al-Taqwa (Seeing by Al'lah's Light)

32. A Calm Dialogue about the Great Humane Eminent Scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho

33. Am'ma Encyclopedia 8 – Interpretation of Al-Ma'un (Almsgiving) Fortress

34. Am'ma Encyclopedia 9 – Interpretation of Quraish (All Creation) Fortress

35. Am'ma Encyclopedia 10 – Interpretation of Al-Fil (the Elephant) Fortress

36. Am'ma Encyclopedia 11 – Interpretation of Al-Humaza (The Traducer, The Gossipmonger) Fortress

37. Cupping: the Marvelous Medicine that Cured Heart Disease, Paralysis, Hemophilia, Migraine, Sterility and Cancer

38. The Great Humane Scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho Retorts his Opposers

39. The Glorious Researches

40. The Mohammadan Revelations – (part 1)

41. Interpretation of the Great Qur'an (Light of Descending & Realities of Meaning) volume –3–

42. Unveiling the Secrets of Magic and Magicians

43. Al'lah is Greater – Be Kind to Animals – Persian translation

44. The Reality of Tamerlane the Great Appears in the Twenty-first Century – (parts 1 & 2)

45. The Second Coming of The Christ

46. Secrets of the Seven Praising Verses

47. Goodbye to Doctor of Al-Muqawqass

48. Contemplations on the Sciences of the Great Eminent Scholar M. A. Sheikho by Dr. Mustafa Mahmoud

49. The Second Coming of The Christ – English translation

THE END

Praise is to God, the Provider of the World

* * *

[1] 'Fortress' this word means a 'Surah' of the Holy Qur'an.

[2] (cpth): communication with Al'lah and peace are through him.

[3] Al-Jami' Al-Saghir, part 3, saying no. 4242

[4] Also mentioned by Ibn Ab'bas and Abd Darda' in another form: "One hour of thinking is better than sixty years of worship".

[5] Such a saying is the very same as what was said by the Quraysh idolaters about idols. They said: "...we worship them only that they will bring us nearer to Al'lah..."

**The Holy Qur'an,  
** Fortress 39, Az-Zumar (The Groups), verse 3.

[6] In the Holy Qur'an there are hundreds of verses that draw humanity's attention to God's creation and incite us to think about it.

[7] Musnad Al-imam Ahmad.

[8] Sunan Abu-Dawud, saying no. 4089

[9] Musnad Al-Iman Ahmad, saying no. 26246

[10] Gospel of Mark, 17/13

[11] Gospel of Matthew, 7/15

[12] Gospel of Matthew, 23-22/7

[13] Ihya Ulum Al-Din, part 2, saying no. 1

[14] Narrated by Abu-Dawud and Al-Turmozy.

[15] Al-Jami' Al-Saghir, part 6, saying no. 9666

[16] The verse: " '...in My Presence, those called as messengers need have no fear' " indicates their implacability and impeccability.

People's deeds are what cause their fear, for their value is assessed and then repaid to them. The messengers are impeccable, as their hearts have never ceased in their communication with Al'lah, so they have never defiled their faith with a wrong deed; thus they are peaceful and peace is through them.

[17] Sunan Al-Nasa'i, Part 4, Chapter entitled: 'The Non Performance of Prayer Over a Person Who Commits Suicide.'

[18] The Arabic word for 'angels' is 'Al-Malaekah', which means those who have assigned their will voluntarily to Al'lah.

[19] This is where their contempt for grace and their enmity for Al'lah reach the extent of shedding water on the ground uselessly, thereby robustly obeying Satan.

[20] A 'diviner' is one who claims that he knows about unseen matters. This person comes in many forms, including: the user of necromancy; the reader of cups; the soothsayer who explains the zodiac.

[21] Al-Jibt is everything that is brought about by means of devils.

[22] For more information, kindly turn to the book of the eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho about cupping: (Cupping) A prophetical (Divine) medicine appears in its new scientific perspective.

[23] This magician was called 'Al-Hawi' or 'Al-Gawi'.

[24] Musnad Al-imam Ahmad, Part 30

[25] Kanz-al-Ummal, Part 3, Saying 8007

[26] According to imam Ahmed, this saying was mentioned by Abu Qatada in the form: "The cat is one of the family that moves and lives among you."

[27] Sahih Muslim, Part 4, saying no. 2628

[28] This is an example given of a man who has a profession, but who himself needs someone to do the work of his profession for him, like a person who brings people water when they themselves are thirsty, a sick doctor, a hungry chef, etc.

[29] Narrated by Al-Turmozy and Al-Daraqutni.

[30] Please refer to the book: Cupping: the Marvelous Medicine that Cured Heart Disease, Paralysis, Hemophilia, Megrim, sterility and Cancer.

[31] For details, please refer to the book Impeccability of Prophets, by the great scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho, paragraph: 'The Godly Justice in Al-Azal World.'

[32] Al-Jami' Al-Saghir, Part 6, Saying No. 9158

[33] Directed by Al-Tabarani in Al-Awsat up to Anas.

[34] Narrated by Al-Tarabani in Al-Awsat and Al-Saghir.

[35] As usual, all humanity passes through both straitened circumstances and easy ones, and at this time, Sheikh Eissa Al-Kordi was passing through difficult financial circumstances.

[36] However, as for the person who perpetrates forbidden deeds willfully and intentionally, saying: "I shall do such and such, and then will repent": their repentance will not be accepted. Repentance, rather, will be accepted from those who slip by virtue of their ignorance or inattentiveness.

[37] A girl of about twenty years old was possessed by the devil, and so she went to some conjurers for help. They told her that she was afflicted with the touch of the jinn, and that the devil was flowing into her blood. They said that her treatment required injecting water that had had some Qur'anic verses read over it into her vein, in spite of the fact that mixing blood and water inside the arteries is a very dangerous procedure. In the end, had she not been prevented from undergoing this treatment by some people, the outcome for her would have been very negative, as such an action would have been dangerous to her life.

Another Event: A young man in the prime of his life had been stricken with epilepsy of devilish origin (rather than of physical cerebral origin). He resorted to some magicians, who treated him by making him listen to the Qur'an through a recorder. They did not stop at this, but reached a stage where they would whip him with a lash after binding him, thinking that they could never get the devil to leave him except by beating and tormenting him. Whenever his pain and shouting increased, they beat him harder and harder, thinking that it was the devil firmly residing in him who was crying and agonizing, and that soon he would be exorcised from him. Therefore they did not stop beating him until he died (at which time they were sent to prison). How strange it is to consider the devil to be a creature of physical nature, who feels pain when the body is beaten!

[38] Sunan Al-Nasa'i, Part

[39] The Arabic word 'Al-Mihrab' is derived from the verb 'haraba', which means 'to fight'.

[40] Wool' in Arabic is 'soof', so a man like this thought that he could become a Sufi if he wore wool, although this word is actually derived in Arabic from the word 'safa' which means clearness and pureness.

[41] Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabeer.

[42] For the story of our master Adam (pth), kindly refer to the book: Impeccability of Prophets from the great eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho.

[43] Kindly refer to Al-Amin Interpretation of the Holy Qur'an, for the great eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho's research on the concept of paradise, and the causes of our master Adam's departure from it.

[44] In English-language translations of the Holy Qur'an, the English verb 'to touch' is normally used as the translation of both of the Arabic verbs 'lamasa' (to touch materially) and 'mas'sa' (to touch immaterially).

[45] Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabeer.

[46] Sahih Al-Bukhari, part 2

[47] Sunan Abu-Dawud, saying no. 3900

[48] Narrated by Al-Turmozy, Al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah.

[49] Before the work of the eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho, people used to refer to 'the soul' as 'the spirit', because none could reveal the difference between these two words. So the word 'spirit' as it is used in this section actually refers to the soul.

[50] Musnad Al-imam Ahmad.

[51] The Souq Al-Hamidiyah market is the main commercial market of the city of Damascus, and is in the city centre.

[52] In the past, the word 'wicket' ('bab khokha' in Arabic) indicated a big door that was designed for the use of large animals such as camels and cows, with a small door within it that was used to allow people to enter.

[53] The fact established before us was that the eminent scholar was actually and truly descended from the progeny of his high ancestor, our master Mohammad (cpth). However, people are estimated according to their deeds more than by their lineage.

[54] Musnad Al-imam Ahmad, Part 5

[55] Narrated by Ibn Hab'ban and Al-Hakim.

[56] Narrated by Al-imam Ahmad with a reference from Abu Qatada in the form: "The cat is one of the family members, and it is doing the rounds among you."

[57] Musnad Al-imam Ahmad, Part 4

[58] Faid Al-Qadeer Sharh in Sharh Al-Jami' Al-Saghir, Part 5, saying no. 7680

[59] Narrated by Al-Turmozy and Al-Hakim; approved by Al-Thahabi in Al-Mustadrak 4/360, Destroyers of Belief/215

[60] God says: "Say to my servants that they should (only) say those things that are best, for Satan sows dissension among them; for Satan is an avowed enemy to humanity." The Holy Qur'an, Fortress 17) Al-Isra' (The Night Journey), verse 53).

And His noble saying is: "Satan is verily your enemy: therefore treat him as an enemy. He only calls on his adherents so that they may dwell in the blazing fire." The Holy Qur'an, Fortress 35) Fatir (Orignator), verse 6).

[61] Al-Jami' Al-Saghir, saying no. 5975

[62] Related to Al-Bukhari and Muslim

[63] For more illustration of this, please refer to the book of Am'ma Encyclopedia from the great eminent scholar Mohammad Amin Sheikho (his soul has been sanctified by Al'lah).

[64] Narrated by Anas and Ibn Mas'ud.

[65] Sunan Ibn Majah, part 2, saying no. 3547

[66] God says: "And when the matter is decided, Satan will say: 'It was Al'lah who gave you a promise of truth; I too made a promise, but I did not fulfill my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you, but you listened to me: then reproach not me, but reproach your own spirits. I cannot listen to your cries, nor can you listen to mine. I reject your former act in associating me with Al'lah. For wrongdoers, there must be a grievous penalty'. "

**The Holy Qur'an,  
** Fortress (14) Ibrahim (Abraham), verse 11).

So keep yourself clear of Satan, for tomorrow he will keep himself clear of you; so reject him for he will reject your association of him with Al'lah. Verily, anyone that follows Satan's direction will lose everything. He has no authority over anyone, but he only calls to those magicians, and they follow him because of their wicked spirits. Therefore, hurry before you lose the opportunity, for fire is the abode of the followers of Satan.

[67] Narrated by Ibn Ab'bas and Abu Darda.

[68] Fasting here is intended to mean abstaining from doing all that is forbidden.

[69] Communication with God during this stage is meant to be the spirit's feeling of God's satisfaction with it, and its nearness to Him. These are states which arise due to the spirit's straightness and good deeds.

[70] 'Zakat' in Arabic means purity, so the spirit's nearness to God will purify it of its evil desires and mean lusts.

[71] The Arabic word for pilgrimage is 'hajj'. It is derived from the verb 'haj'ja', which means 'to overcome with proof', so after the spirit's purification, it will acquire cogency against the devil if he tries to tempt it with any worldly desire.

[72] The High Schools of Seeing by God's Light.
