How true are the stories circulated among common folk about the presence of Awliya (saints) and their miracles (karamat) when supplicating to them for help in times of distress?

People have differed regarding the karamat (miraculous graces) of the awliya' (saints/friends of God) into three categories: one category denied them, and another category exaggerated about them, and both are mistaken. The Ahl al-Sunnah (People of the Sunnah) affirmed karamat for the awliya' in accordance with the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Denying karamat is an act of stubbornness against the Sharia and common sense. A karamah is not merely a breaking of norms, for devils can perform extraordinary feats and exploit them to mislead people and cause them to fall into shirk (polytheism), by making them believe that these extraordinary feats are karamat of saints, leading people to invoke them instead of Allah. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah clarified that devils deceive people and corrupt their religion, as many do not differentiate between the actions of devils and the karamat of the righteous. They assume that every extraordinary feat is a karamah, even if its performer violates the Sharia. Devils may appear in the forms of righteous people or relatives to "help" people or delude them with certain things to mislead them. So, whoever invokes other than Allah or seeks help from other than Him has committed the major shirk. And whoever believes that other than Allah removes harm or answers the distressed has committed shirk. And any benefit obtained by invoking other than Allah is a deception from the devils.