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.
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:
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.
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.