Fighting Against the Shaytan During Prayer

Another nice article I received in my email.



The Shaytan strives to corrupt the acts of worship and obedience of the Muslims so as to deprive them of reward. For example, the sahaabi 'Uthman ibn Abi'l-'Aas came to the Prophet (sall'allahu alayhi wasalam) and said:


"The Shaytan comes between me and my prayer and recitation of Qur'an, and he is confusing me."

The Messenger of Allah (sall'allahu alayhi wasalam) said:

"That is a devil called Khinzab. If you notice that, seek refuge with Allah from him, and spit drily to your left three times."


(Uthman ibn Abi'l-'Aas) said: I did that and Allah took him away from me 1


When a person starts to pray, the Shaytan comes to him and whispers (waswaas), and distracts him from worshipping Allah, and reminds him of worldly matters. In Sahih Al Bukhari it is narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (sall'allahu alayhi wasalam) said:


"When the call to prayer is given, the Shaytan runs away breaking wind loudly, so that he will not hear the adhan. When the call to prayer ends. he comes back, but when the iqaamah starts he runs away, and when the prayer begins, he comes back until he whispers into the heart of the person, and says to him 'Remember such and such; remember such and such - things that he did not remember before the prayer - until he does not know how many rak'ahs he has prayed." 2


The Shaytan encourages one to walk in front of a person who is praying


It is narrated that Abu Saalih as-Sammaan said: "I saw Abu Sa'eed al Khudri on a Friday, praying towards something that screened him from the people (a sutra). A young man from Bani Abu Mu'eet wanted to pass directly in front of him, and Abu Sa'eed pushed him in the chest. The young man looked but did not find a way through except directly in front of Abu Sa'eed, so he tried again, and Abu Sa'eed pushed him harder than before. He swore at Abu Sa'eed, then Marwaan came in and (the young man) complained about the treatment he had received from Abu Sa'eed. Abu Sa'eed met Marwaan behind him and Marwaan said, 'What is going on between you and your brother's son, O Abu Sa'eed?' He said: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (sall'Allahu alayhi wasalam) say:


"If anyone of you prays towards something that screens him from the people, and someone wants to pass directly in front of him, let him push him back. If he insists then fight him, for he is nothing but a devil." 3


What is meant by the phrase "for he is nothing but a devil" is that his action is that of a devil as Ibn Hajr al-'Asqalani said.


But Ibn Hajr mentioned another possibility which is more sound than the former, as he said: "It may be that the meaning is that the one who is making him do that is a devil." In the report of Al-Ismaeeli it says: "... for there is a devil with him." Something similar is narrated by Muslim from the hadith of Ibn Umar, where it says: "... for he has the qareen (jinn companion) with him." 4



Footnotes



1) Narrated by Muslim, 4/1728, no. 2203

2) Narrated by Bukhari, 2/84, no.608. See also nos. 1222, 1231, 1232. Also narrated by Muslim, 1/291, no. 389.

3) Narrated by Bukhari, 1/582, no. 509

4) Fath al-Baari, 1/584


Excerpt taken from The World of The Jinn & Devils by Dr Umar S. al-Ashqar. Pgs 87-88