Part 37

If the person follows what has come from Allah in his beliefs, actions, words, worship, law, and so on, and avoids what He 4% has forbidden, then he would be protected from Satan. Allah says in the Qur’an: (O you who believe! Come, all of you, into (silm) submission (unto Him); and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Verily, he is to you

' Recorded by Abu Dawud.

? Surat al-Mujadilah, verse 19.

3 Surat al-An‘am, verse 153.

* Recorded by Ahmad, al-Hakim, who called it Sahih, and by al-Nasa’i.

an open enemy}'. The Arabic Silm in the verse refers to Islam while some say it means obeying Allah, and Mugaatil says it refers to all acts in which there is righteousness. From that, we see that it is an order to apply all of the branches of Islam, and all the aspects of its laws, according to one’s abilities; while the verse prohibits the following of Satan’s footsteps. Whoever fails to follow any part of Islam has, in fact, followed some of the footsteps of Satan. Therefore, any kind of acceptance of what Allah has prohibited or rejection of what is allowed is a following of Satan. Eating any forbidden food is also following in the footsteps of Satan, which has been declared as prohibited for us: (O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Verily, he is an open enemy for you)’.”?

The sixth shield: Seeking help from Allah % against Satan

You should know that you cannot beat Satan, except with the support of Allah 38 and His Success (granted by Him 3%) to you. It was narrated that one of our pious predecessors asked his pupil: “What would you do if Satan seduced you with his footsteps?” He replied: “I would strive against him”. He answered: “And if he should return?” He replied: “I would strive against him”. He said: “And if he returns again?” The pupil replied: “I would strive against him, again”. He then asked him: “This may take a long time. Imagine you are passing by a flock of sheep and their guard dog barks at you, preventing you from walking through, what would you do?” he replied: “I would endure him and fight back”. He said: “It would take you long to overcome him. You just need to seek help from the owner of the flock to spare you the hassle of the dog.” So if one wants to overcome the stratagems of Satan, just seek help from Allah 8 (his. Creator) who will protect you from him.

' Surat al-Baqara, verse 208. ? Surat al-Bagara, verse 168. The World of the Jinn and the Devils.

The seventh shield: Increase pious deeds

Increasing pious deeds defies and breaks Satan’s will. Abu Hurayrah @ reported that the Prophet 4 said: “When the son of Adam recites the Ayat sajdah (a prostration Verse) and then falls down in prostration, Satan goes into seclusion and weeps, saying: “Woe unto me, the son of Adam was commanded to prostrate and prostrated, so he was entitled to Paradise, yet I was commanded to prostrate but I refused, so I am doomed to Hell.””

The eigth shield: Seeking refuge in Allah (isti‘adha)*

Al-Hafidh ibn Kathir said: “Jsti‘adha is to seek refuge in Allah, and to adhere to Him in the face of any possible evil. The meaning of ‘I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed’ is to seek protection from Allah against Satan, the accursed, such that he would neither harm one in one’s religion nor worldly life. Satan should not be allowed to prevent one from fulfilling one’s obligations, nor entice one to commit prohibited acts; for it is Allah, Alone, who can stop Satan from harming mankind. So He %€ requires that you seek refuge in Him %& against the devils of the Jinn, not accepting bribery. Since no other means would affect him, due to his evil nature, he may only be stopped by Allah 3%, his Creator.’

The times for seeking refuge in Allah

First: when one feels the insinuations of the devil or satanic inspirations; Allah 4% said: {If an evil impulse from Satan provokes, seek refuge in Allah)‘.

Second: When reciting the Qur’an: Allah 3% said: (Whenever you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan)’.

Ibn al-Qayyim shows the wisdom behind this, saying:

' Recorded by Muslim and Ibn Majah. 2saying: "aoe! Glau) Ge aly dyel" 2 Tafsir Ton kathir (1/15).

* Surat al-A ‘raf, verse 200.

> Surat al-Nahl, verse 98.

“1. The Qur’an is a healing for everything in the heart; it removes whatever comes from Satan, such as his whisperings and attempts to evoke evil desires.

Tis is an antidote to what Satan has placed into the heart. For man is ordered to reject whatever resides in his heart from the influence of Satan, and this will allow the medicine to find a cleaner heart, in order to foothold and have its proper effect.

2. The Qur’an is the fundamental source of divine guidance, knowledge, and good in the heart of its reader, like water is to a plantation. Satan (is a fire that) burns the plants one by one; whenever he notices a good plant taking root in the heart, he quickly moves in to destroy it. So Allah commands us to seek refuge in Him to prevent Satan from damaging any good that is present in the heart.

The difference between seeking refuge in Allah in the latter context and the former one is that the objective of the latter is to acquire benefit from the Qur’an, while the former is to preserve and safeguard it in the heart, from Satan.

3. Angels come closer to those who read the Qur’an aloud, listening to their recitations. In one Hadith, Usayd ibn Hudayr was reciting Surat al-Bagara, when his horse became startled, and when he stopped his recitatoon, his horse became quiet. But when he started reciting again, his horse became troubled again. He did the same three times, then he decided to stop for fear that his horse might trample over his son. The next day, he informed the Prophet 4% who said: “Recite, O Ibn Hudayr! Recite, O Ibn Hudayr!” Ibn Hudayr replied: “O Messenger of Allah, Yahya was near the horse and I was afraid that it might trample over him, so I looked towards the sky, and went over to him. When I looked at the sky, I saw something like a cloud containing what looked like lamps, so I left so as not to see it.” The Prophet 4 said: “Do you know what that was?” Ibn Hudair replied: “No.” The Prophet 3 said: “Those were angels who came near to you because of your voice, so if you had kept on reciting till dawn, that would have remained there till morning when people would also have been able to see it as, it would not have disappeared.”'’ Satan is the enemy of Angels, so Allah 3

' Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim

commanded the reciter to seek refuge in Him in order to keep Satan away, and allow the presence of angels; because this situation does not permit for the gathering of both angels and devils, at the same time.

4. Satan endeavours to distract the reciter of the Qur’an, as much as he can, away from the objective of the recitation, which is to ponder and understand its meaning and the message of the Speaker (Allah) 34. So he strives to prevent the heart of the reciter from attaining the intented message of the Qur’an, which results in incomplete benefit, despite having recited it. Therefore, Allah $¢ commanded that any recitation should be preceded by isti‘adha (seeking refuge in Allah).

5. The reciter of the Qur’an invokes his Lord $ with His Own Words; and Allah 3 listens more closely to His Words when recited in a pleasant way, than a singer listens to his/her own song. The reader has been ordered to seek refuge from Satan so the latter could be removed from the private conversation (with Allah), and so Allah would listen to the person’s recital.

6. Allah 3€ has informed us that whenever He sent a Messenger or a Prophet, Satan tried to interfere in what he is preaching, by adding words or ideas that did not come from Allah a%. If he could do such a thing with regard to Prophets and Messengers, what must. be the case with regard to others? This is why the reciter sometimes makes mistakes, or gets confused and cannot recite properly. Therefore, it was necessary to start with isti‘adha in order to avoid any disrturbance and confusion.

7. Satan always focuses on the person who intends to do good deeds, in the hope to deprive him of its reward. Once, the Prophet # offered prayer, and after he had finished he #2 said: “Satan came in front of me perisistently trying to divert my attention from salah, but Allah gave me the strength to overpower him.”!

Subra ibn Abi al-Fakih heard the Prophet % say: “Satan has intercepted the offspring of Adam in many of his paths; he laid in wait for him on the path of Islam, saying: ‘Do you embrace Islam, abandoning your religion and the religion of your fathers and grandfathers?’ But he

‘ recorded al-Bukhari and Muslim.

disobeyed him and embraced Islam. Then Satan stood in the way of his emigration, saying: ‘Do you emigrate, leaving your land and heaven? But the son of Adam disobeyed him and emigrated. Then he stood in the way of his path for jihad — jihad with the self and wealth — and said: ‘Do you go for jihad to fight and die, so that your wife will remarry and your wealth will be divided between others? But he disobeyed him and went for jihad.”

Satan lays in wait for a person, on any path leading to goodness; so Allah 3 has ordered His Servant to fight the enemy who should stand in his/her way, firstly, by seeking refuge in Him 38, then carrying on his way. Just as a traveler would repel an attack from the highway robber then proceed on his journey.”

Seeking refuge in Allah 4 upon entering bathrooms

Anas bin Malik 4 related that whenever the Prophet 4 would enter the place to relieve onself, he would say:

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil male and female Jinn.”?

Seeking refuge in Allah 3 when starting salah

Jubair ibn Mut‘im saw the Prophet 3 observing salah, and he 3 said: “Allah Akbar Kabeeraa, wal hamdulillah kathiraa, wa subhaan Allah bukratan wa aseelaa (three times); a’udho billahi mina shaytani rajeem, min nafkhihi, wa naftihi, wa hamzih”.