Whispers from the Shaytaan

Praise
be to Allah

One of the means that the
Shaytan uses to misguide people is by casting doubts and whispers (waswas)
into their hearts. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) has warned us against some of these things. It says in the hadeeth:
“The Shaytan comes to any one of you and says, ‘Who created such and such?
Who created such and such?’ until he says, ‘Who created your Lord?’ If that
happens to you, seek refuge with Allah and give up these thoughts.” Narrated
by al-Bukhari, no. 3277 

The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) taught us two important things: 

1 – To turn to Allah and seek
His protection, and to beseech Him, for He is the most Generous: 

{And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge in
Allah.}
(al-A’raf
7:200 – interpretation of the meaning) 

2 – To put a stop to this matter
and turn away from it, and to keep ourselves busy with other, useful
things. 

The Companions of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to him complaining about the
doubts and waswas that they were suffering. In Saheeh Muslim it is
narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Some of
the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) came to him and said, ‘We find in our hearts things that none of
us dares utter.’ He said, ‘Do you really find that?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ He
said, ‘That is clear faith.’” (2/153). 

What is meant by his saying
‘That is clear faith’ is that their hatred of that waswasah and their
rejecting it was a clear sign of faith. 

The Shaytan only whispers to
people of faith; as for the kafir (non-Muslim), he comes to him, however, he
wants and does not limit himself to waswas, rather he toys with him however
he wishes. 

The belief concerning which
there can be no doubt is that the entire universe, from its heights to its
depths, is in a state of submission to Allah and no one in the universe
possesses any power. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

{Say, [O Muhammad], “Invoke those you claim [as deities] besides Allah .”
They do not possess an atom’s weight [of ability] in the heavens or on the
earth, and they do not have therein any partnership [with Him], nor is there
for Him from among them any assistant.

And intercession does not benefit with Him except for one whom He permits.}
(Saba
34:22-23)

This crafty enemy is keen to
misguide people and to make them doubt. The more you seek the help of Allah,
learn about your enemy and be prepared to face him, the more you will be
victorious over him. If you know your true enemy, the following are the
weapons at your disposal. 

Firstly: 

Adherence to the Quran and
Sunnah in word and deed, and keeping away from the paths of misguidance, for
on every path there is a devil calling people to it. So you should follow
the beliefs, words, acts of worship and laws that have come from Allah and
abstain from that which He has forbidden. Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning): 

{O
you who have believed, enter into al-silm completely [and perfectly]}

(al-Baqarah
2:208)

Al-silm refers to Islam. Muqatil
interpreted it as doing all kinds of good and righteous deeds. 

Whoever gives up any part of
Islam has followed in some of the footsteps of the Shaytan. 

Adhering to the Quran and Sunnah
in word and deed expels the Shaytan and annoys him greatly. Muslim narrated
from Abu Hurayrah: “When the son of Adam recites a verse of sajdah
(prostration) and prostrates, the Shaytan withdraws weeping, saying, ‘Woe to
me, the son of Adam was commanded to prostrate, and he prostrated, so
Paradise will be his; I was commanded to prostrate and I disobeyed, so Hell
will be mine.’” Narrated by Muslim, no. 133. 

Secondly: 

Seeking refuge with Allah from
all kinds of evil and turning to Him. Islam teaches us to seek refuge with
Allah in certain situations, such as the following: 

When entering the washroom: “Allahumma
inni a’oodhu bika min al-khubthi wa’l-khabaith (O Allah, I seek refuge
with You from the male and female devils).” 

When one is angry: “A’oodhu
Billahi min al-Shaytan ir-rajeem (I seek refuge with Allah from the
accursed Shaytan).” 

When having intercourse: “Bismillah
Allahumma jannibna al-shaytan wa jannib al-shaytana ma razaqtana (In the
name of Allah, O Allah, keep the Shaytan away from us and keep the Shaytan
away from that which You may bless us with).” 

When stopping in a place: “A’oodhu
bi kalimat-Allaah il-tammati min sharri ma khalaqa (I seek refuge in the
perfect words of Allah from the evil of that which He has created).” 

When hearing the braying of a
donkey: “A’oodhu Billahi min al-Shaytan ir-rajeem (I seek refuge with
Allah from the accursed Shaytan).” 

When starting to read Quran: “A’oodhu
Billah il-samee’ il-‘aleem min al-Shaytan ir-rajeem (I seek refuge with
Allah, the All-Hearing, All-Knowing, from the accursed Shaytan).” 

After starting to pray: “A’oodhu
Billah il-samee’ il-‘aleem min al-Shaytan ir-rajeem wa min hamzihi wa
nafakhihi wa nafthihi (I seek refuge with Allah, the All-Hearing,
All-Knowing, from the accursed Shaytan, from his madness, his arrogance and
his poetry).” 

The best words with which we may
seek refuge with Allah are al-Mua’wwidhatayn, i.e., Soorat al-Falaq and
Soorat al-Nas. It was narrated from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir (may Allah be pleased
with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Do you not see the verses that were revealed to me tonight, the like of
which have never been seen?
Qul ‘aoodhu bi Rabb il-falaq
and Qul ‘aoodhi bi rabb il-nas.”
Narrated by Muslim, 814. 

Thirdly: 

Keeping busy with dhikr (the
remembrance of Allah), for this is the greatest thing that may protect a
person. In the hadeeth (prophetic tradition) it says that Allah commanded
Yahya (peace be upon him) to enjoin five things upon the Children of Israel,
one of which was: “I command you to remember Allah, for this is like a man
who is being pursued by the enemy, then he comes to a strong fortress and
saves himself from them. Similarly a man cannot save himself from his enemy
except by means of dhikr.” Narrated by al-Hafiz Abu Moosa al-Madani in
al-Targheeb fi’l-Khisal al-Hameedah wa’l-Tarheeb min al-Khilal al-Murdiyyah.
Ibn al-Qayyim said: Shaykh al-Islam used to regard this hadeeth highly, and
I heard that he used to say: “The evidence for its being sound is quite
clear.” al-Wabil al-Sayyib, 60. 

Fourthly: 

Adhering to the main body of the
Muslims (the jama’ah) by living in a Muslim land and choosing righteous
friends who will help him to do good. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you wants to attain the best part of
Paradise, let him adhere to the main body of the Muslims, for the Shaytan is
with the one who is alone, but he is farther away from two.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
2254. Al-Qari said: its isnad (chain of narrators) is saheeh (authentic).
Al-Mubarakfoori said: The entire hadeeth is either saheeh or hasan (sound).
Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 6/320. 

Fifthly: 

Opposing the Shaytan, for he may
come in the form of someone offering sincere advice, so we must go against
him. For if he were really good he would be good to himself first, but he
has caused himself to be doomed to Hell. So if he comes to you whilst you
are praying, and says, “You are showing off (so cut your prayer short),”
then make your prayer lengthy. If he says, “You have broken your wudu,” say,
“You are lying”. If he says to you that the dead can hear you and benefit
you or harm you, tell him, “You are lying.” When you eat, be different from
him and eat and drink with your right hand, and take food with your right
hand. This even applies to taking a siesta, as it says in the hadeeth: “Take
a siesta for the devils do not take a siesta.” Narrated by Abu Na’eem with a
saheeh isnad. Saheeh al-Jami’, 4/147. 

Even with regard to a piece of
food that falls to the ground, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said: “Pick it up and do not leave it for the Shaytan…” Narrated
by Muslim, 12, al-Adab. 

Sixthly: 

Repenting and seeking Allah’s
forgiveness. According to the hadeeth,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The Shaytan
said to the Lord of Glory: ‘By Your Glory O Lord, I will keep trying to
misguide Your slaves so long as their souls are in their bodies.’ The Lord
said, ‘By My Glory and Majesty, I will continue to forgive them so long as
they ask My forgiveness.’” Narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad and classed
as saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jami’, 2/32 

So man should always be in a
state of repentance and turning to Allah. They have an example in their
father Adam (peace be upon him): 

{“Our
Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy
upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”} (al-A’raf 7:23 –
interpretation of the meaning) 

These are some
of the means that will help you to ward off this waswas. We ask Allah, the
Almighty, by His most beautiful names and sublime attributes to grant us
refuge from the madness of the devils and from their traps and whispers.
Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.