The Shaykh’s discourse on supernatural events and their categories based on their source, and a warning against some of the extremists among the Sufis and regarding the so-called miracles.
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The Shaykh : I want to seize this opportunity to mention that many people believe in supernatural events of another type and consider them to be miracles (karamat) of the awliya (close friends of Allah), for no reason other than the fact that they are supernatural events. We must also know this legal reality, which is that supernatural events are divided into two categories: miracles (mu'jizat) for the prophets, or miracles (karamat) for the awliya. This is the first category.
The other category is supernatural events that are a trial from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for their owners, and they are not a miracle or a karamah for their people; rather, they are a fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), as you have seen regarding the Dajjal (the false messiah). These two categories are a matter of agreement among the scholars of the Muslims. The supernatural event is sometimes a miracle or a karamah, which is of course a beautiful thing, and sometimes it is a fitnah for the one from whom it issues or through whom it issues. Distinguishing this type from that type, or this category from that category, is done by looking at the source of either type. If its source is a believing man, a prophet or a righteous person, then it is a miracle or a karamah. But if its source is a person you see who does not pray, does not fast, and you may even hear from him statements of disbelief (kufr) that some people interpret by calling them "exaggerations" (shatihat), then this is not a karamah, because the one from whom this so-called karamah issued cannot be described as righteous, let alone described as a prophet. Once we know this, what we hear from many people—that so-and-so used to walk naked in the streets, and yet supernatural events issued from him, so they are karamat for him—this is not permissible to attribute to Islam. Rather, these are either tricks and... and deception by some of these people, or they are a trial from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as we mentioned. This is mentioned in the Noble Qur'an So the trial by the supernatural event is sometimes good and sometimes a fitnah.
The other category is supernatural events that are a trial from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for their owners, and they are not a miracle or a karamah for their people; rather, they are a fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), as you have seen regarding the Dajjal (the false messiah). These two categories are a matter of agreement among the scholars of the Muslims. The supernatural event is sometimes a miracle or a karamah, which is of course a beautiful thing, and sometimes it is a fitnah for the one from whom it issues or through whom it issues. Distinguishing this type from that type, or this category from that category, is done by looking at the source of either type. If its source is a believing man, a prophet or a righteous person, then it is a miracle or a karamah. But if its source is a person you see who does not pray, does not fast, and you may even hear from him statements of disbelief (kufr) that some people interpret by calling them "exaggerations" (shatihat), then this is not a karamah, because the one from whom this so-called karamah issued cannot be described as righteous, let alone described as a prophet. Once we know this, what we hear from many people—that so-and-so used to walk naked in the streets, and yet supernatural events issued from him, so they are karamat for him—this is not permissible to attribute to Islam. Rather, these are either tricks and... and deception by some of these people, or they are a trial from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as we mentioned. This is mentioned in the Noble Qur'an