Part 50

The twenty fourth shield

Abu Hurayrah 4 said: “A man came to the Messenger of Allah, saying: ‘Messenger of Allah, I was stung by a scorpion during the night’. Thereupon, he # said: ‘Had you recited these words in the evening: ‘I seek refuge in the Perfect Word of Allah from the evil of what He created’, it would not have done any harm to you’””!. And in another narration by Ibn Sinni: “He who said: ‘I seek refuge in the Perfect Word of Allah from the evil of what He created’ (three times), nothing would harm him”. Another narration by Muslim says: “When anyone arrives at a place, and then says: ‘I seek refuge in the Perfect Word of Allah from the evil of what He created’, nothing would harm him until he marches away from that stopping place.””

The twenty fifth shield

‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan reported that the Prophet 4 said: “Any person who says three times, every morming and (every) evening: ‘In the Name of Allah; nothing can harm (one) with His Name, on earth or in the sky; He is the All-Hearer and All-Knower’, so nothing can harm

The twenty sixth shield

“Abdullah ibn ‘Amru said: “When the Messenger of Allah 4 was travelling and night came, he used to say: ‘O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah; I seek refuge in Allah from your evil; the evil of what you contain, the evil of what has been created in you, and the evil of what creeps upon you; I seek refuge in Allah from lions, large black and other types of snakes, from scorpions, the evil of the Jinn who may inhabit a settlement, and from a parent and his offspring.”

' Recorded by Muslim. ? Recorded by Muslim. > Recorded by al-Tirmidhi. * Recorded by Abu Dawud.

The twenty seventh shield: Supplication

Abu al-Azhar al-Anmari 2 said that when the Prophet 4% went to his bed at night, he would say: “In the name of Allah, I have laid down on my side for Allah. O Allah, forgive my sin, drive away my devil (Jinn), free me from my responsibility, and place me in the highest assembly.”

Abu Bakr -& said to the Prophet 38: “Tell us a word which we repeat in the morning, evening and when we wake up. So he # commanded us to say: ‘O Allah! Creator of Heavens and Earth; Knower of all that is hidden and open; You are the Lord of everything; the angels testify that there is no god but You; for we seek refuge in You from the evil within ourselves, from the evil of the accursed Devil and from the evil of his suggestion about partnership with Allah, and that we should earn sin for ourselves or transfer it to a Muslim.”*

Abu Dawud said: “And through the same chain of narrators the Messenger of Allah 3g said: ‘When one rises in the moming, one should say: ‘We have reached the morning, and in the moming the dominion belongs to Allah, the Lord of the universe. O Allah! J ask You for the good this day contains; for conquest, victory, light, blessing and guidance during it; and I seek refuge in You from the evil it contains, and the evil contained in what comes after it.’ In the evening he should say the equivalent.”

The twenty eigth shield: the mention of the name of Allah (saying of bismillah

Umayyah ibn Makhshi 2s said: “The Prophet # was sitting with a man who was eating, but did not mention Allah’s Name, until the last morsel remained. When he raised it to his mouth, he said: ‘In the Name of Allah, at the beginning and at the end’. The Prophet 3 laughed, saying: ‘The devil kept eating together with him, but when he mentioned the Name of Allah, he (devil) vomited out what was in his belly.”

' Recorded by Abu Dawud. ? Recorded by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi. > Recorded by Abu Dawud.

‘Aishah 2s said: “Once the Prophet 8& was eating in the company of six of his Companions, when a villager joined them and ate up the food in two mouthfuls, On seeing this, the Prophet 3 remarked: ‘If he had taken the food in the Name of Allah, the same would have sufficed for all of you”. And ‘Aishah 2 also reported that the Prophet 4 said: “If one of you wants to eat, he should mention Allah’s Name at the beginning, but if he forgets to mention it at the beginning, he should then say: ‘In the Name of Allah in the beginning and in the end.”

The Muslim should mention Allah’s name when he places something or lifts it, and when he sits down or stands up or does anything else, because the name of Allah brings His Blessings and drives away the devils.

The twenty ninth shield: covering one’s yawn

A Muslim should try his/her best to block his/her yawn, by placing his/her hand on his/her mouth when he/she yawns. Abu Hurayrah 45 reported that the Prophet 3 said: “Allah likes sneezing but dislikes yawning, so if someone sneezes and then praises Allah, then it is obligatory on every Muslim who heard him to say: ‘May Allah be merciful to you (yar-hamuka-lah).’ But as regards yawning, it is from Satan, so one must try one’s best to stop it. If one says ‘Ah’ when yawning, Satan will laugh at him.”

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri 2 reported that the Prophet 4 said: “When one of you yawns, he should try to restrain it, with the help of his hand, since Satan enters from there.”

The thirtieth shield: The submission to the Divine Decree without any sense of failure or negligence

Allah 3% said: (O you who believe! Do not be like those disbelieve (hypocrites) and who say to their brethren when they travel through the earth or go out to fight: “If they had stayed with us,

' Recorded by al-Tirmidhi. 2 Recorded by al-Tirmidhi, > Recorded by al-Bukhari “ Recorded by Muslim.

they would not have died or been killed,” so that Allah may make it a cause of regret in their hearts. It is Allah that gives life and causes death. And Allah is All-Seer of what you do)’.

Abu Hurayrah # reported that Allah’s Messenger 4 said: “A strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer; there is good in everyone, so cherish that which gives you benefit (in the Hereafter), seek help from Allah and do not lose heart, but if anything (in the form of trouble) comes to you, don’t say: ‘If I had only done that’, as your ‘if? opens the way for the Satan.””

The thirty first shield: Adhan (the call for prayer)

Abu Hurayrah 4 reported that the Prophet 38 said: “When the call for prayer is made, Satan takes to his heels passing wind so that he may not hear the adhan, then when the call is finished, he returns. And when the igamah is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels, then when the igamah is finished he returns again.”

Suhayl ibn Abi Salih said: “My father sent me to Ibn Abi Harithah with our servant, and on our way, a caller shouted my name from a garden. My companion went to check in the garden but could not see anything; so I mentioned that to my father who said: ‘If I felt you would encounter such incident I would not have sent you. But if you hear a voice next time, make adhan; for I heard Abu Hurayrah saying that the Prophet 48 said: ‘Satan runs away at the call for prayer.”

The thirty second shield: wudu’ (ablution)

Abu Umamah - reported that he heard the Prophet 4% say: “He who retires to his bed in a state of purity and then remembers Allah till drowsiness overtakes him, and does not turn around at any time during the night, and asks Allah at that time to receive some of the good from this world and the Hereafter, Allah would grant it to him.”*

' Surat al-‘Imran, verse 156.

* Recorded by Muslim.

3 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. * Recorded by Muslim.

5 Recorded by al-Tirmidhi.

Ibn ‘Abbas # reported that the Prophet # said: “Purify our bodies, may Allah purify you; for any person who sleeps at night in a state of purity, an angel would stay in his bed all night, and whenever the person should turn around, the angel would say: ‘O Allah, forgive your Servant, for he has gone to his. bed in a state of purity.”!

The thirty third shield

Ibn Mas‘ud #5 said: “A person was mentioned to the Prophet 48 who was told that he had kept on sleeping till morning without getting up for the (dawn) prayer. The Prophet 4 said: ‘Satan urinated in his ear.””?

It means — and Allah knows best — that this man did not rise during the night to perform the night prayer (qiyam al-layl), and this is why alBukhari interpretd the Hadith in a chapter he called: “If a person gets up in the morning having not performed the night prayer, then Satan has urinated in his ear.”

Abu Hurayrah 2 reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “During your sleep, Satan makes three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is long, so keep on sleeping,’ If that person wakes up and celebrates the praises of Allah, then one knot is undone, and when he performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when he prays, all the knots are undone; so he gets up lively and cheerful in the morning, otherwise he would get up dull and gloomy.”

It was narrated that Sa‘id ibn Mansur that Ibn ‘Umar # said: “When a man gets up in the morning not having performed the witr prayer, he would feel as if there is a heavy rope (with which camels are tied) on his head which is as long as seventy yards.”

So we understand from these traditions that when one does not perform any night prayer, one gets up after Satan has urinated in his ear, and

' Recorded by al-Tabarani in “al-awsat”, with a good chain of narrations. ? Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

3 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

* Al-Hafidh Ibn Kathir said: “Its chain of narrationss is sound.”

placed three knots on the back of one’s head, and a long heavy rope on one’s head, which means that Satan has had total control of him; whereas if he gets up at night to perform salah (prayer), one would be distant from Satan, and closer to Allah, the All-Merciful .