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,
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: