When Abu Huraira RA met Shaytaan

[Imraan]

Assalam walaikum

There is a hadith which narrates when Abu Huraira RA met shaytaan who disguised himself as a thief in human form. What confuses me is that shaytaan directed Abu Huraira RA to recite or invoke Ayatul Kursi and gives the purpose it should be recited for. The general perception of shaytaan is that it would be normal for shaytaan to promote or encourage :

anything that goes against the sunnah,
anything against the worshipping of Allah swt or
anything that would go against protecting oneself in this life and the hereafter.

So why this act? What is shaytaan goal, what is shaytaan out to prove?

What wisdom should we take from this..?.... that shaytaan is not always bad?

Jazak Allah Khair, stay blessed and please remember me and my family in your prayers.....

Your brother Imran

 

[IslamLife00]

Wa alaykumussalaam

Brother, this is explained in the Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Read the tafsir for Surah Sad 82-83. Satan does not have authority over the true servants of Allah.

[FONT=me_quran]

﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لأغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَإِلاَّ عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴾​

[/FONT](﴿Iblis﴾ said: "By Your might, then I will surely mislead them all, except Your true servants amongst them.'') This is like the Ayat:
[FONT=me_quran]

﴿أَرَءَيْتَكَ هَـذَا الَّذِى كَرَّمْتَ عَلَىَّ لَئِنْ أَخَّرْتَنِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ لأَحْتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُ إَلاَّ قَلِيلاً﴾​

[/FONT](﴿Iblis﴾ said: "See this one whom You have honored above me, if You give me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize and mislead his offspring all but a few!'') (17:62).
These few are the ones who are excepted in another Ayah, which is:
[FONT=me_quran]

﴿إِنَّ عِبَادِى لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَـنٌ وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ وَكِيلاً ﴾​

[/FONT](Verily, My servants -- you have no authority over them. And All-Sufficient is your Lord as a Guardian.) (17:65)
[FONT=me_quran]

﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لأغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَإِلاَّ عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴾​

[/FONT]

 

[Imraan]

Wa alaykumussalaam

Brother, this is explained in the Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Read the tafsir for Surah Sad 82-83. Satan does not have authority over the true servants of Allah.

[FONT=me_quran]

﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لأغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَإِلاَّ عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴾​

[/FONT](﴿Iblis﴾ said: "By Your might, then I will surely mislead them all, except Your true servants amongst them.'') This is like the Ayat:
[FONT=me_quran]

﴿أَرَءَيْتَكَ هَـذَا الَّذِى كَرَّمْتَ عَلَىَّ لَئِنْ أَخَّرْتَنِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ لأَحْتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُ إَلاَّ قَلِيلاً﴾​

[/FONT](﴿Iblis﴾ said: "See this one whom You have honored above me, if You give me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize and mislead his offspring all but a few!'') (17:62).
These few are the ones who are excepted in another Ayah, which is:
[FONT=me_quran]

﴿إِنَّ عِبَادِى لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَـنٌ وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ وَكِيلاً ﴾​

[/FONT](Verily, My servants -- you have no authority over them. And All-Sufficient is your Lord as a Guardian.) (17:65)
[FONT=me_quran]

﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لأغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَإِلاَّ عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴾​

[/FONT]

Apologies sister... im still struggling bear with me.

is the moral of this narration emphasising the instruction coming from Shaytaan himself (which is what we should avoid), as opposed to instructions to muslims should come from Allah swt alone..

?

 

[IslamLife00]

Apologies sister... im still struggling bear with me.

is the moral of this narration emphasising the instruction coming from Shaytaan himself (which is what we should avoid), as opposed to instructions to muslims should come from Allah swt alone..?

And Allah already clarified it in the Qur'an. Obviously we should never follow Satan.

O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. (Al Baqarah 208)

Even in the hadith, it is narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar. Do you know whom you were talking to, these three nights, O Abu Huraira?"
Abu Huraira said, "No." He said, "It was Satan." (Sahih Bukhari 2311)

Again, Satan is absolute liar.

As explained in the tafsir, Satan has promised to mislead - lead humans to destruction - but Satan will not be able to mislead a few of them. These 'few' are the true servants of Allah.

Satan has no authority over true servants of Allah, so he cannot mislead them. If you have authority over someone, you can say and do anything you want, and that person will believe and follow you - so you can either lead this person to the truth, or to destruction.

Satan cannot do this to the true servants of Allah - which are few - and Abu Hurayrah radiyallahu 'anhu is one of these few.

So it's not that Satan tells the truth and we should follow him. It's that Satan does not have authority over those who believe and completely enter Islam - and those are few.

Satan cannot mislead these 'few' - look at this tafsir again :

[FONT=&quot]﴿Iblis﴾ said: "By Your might, then I will surely mislead them all,'' [/FONT][FONT=&quot]83.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] "Except Your true servants amongst them.'' Sad 82-83

[/FONT][FONT=&quot](﴿Iblis﴾ said: "See this one whom You have honored above me, if You give me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize and mislead his offspring all but a few!'') (17:62).
These few are the ones who are excepted in another Ayah, which is:[/FONT]

[FONT=me_quran][FONT=&quot])Verily, My servants -- you have no authority over them. And All-Sufficient is your Lord as a Guardian.) (17:65)[/FONT][/FONT]​

Let's say you want to mislead someone, but you can't do so - what will you do? You will not mislead that person.

Allah permits Satan to mislead all descendants of Adam alayhi salaam, but does not give Satan the permission to mislead true servants of Allah. And Satan knows this. remember Satan said, "except a few"

 

[Imraan]

And Allah already clarified it in the Qur'an. Obviously we should never follow Satan.

O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. (Al Baqarah 208)

Even in the hadith, it is narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar. Do you know whom you were talking to, these three nights, O Abu Huraira?"
Abu Huraira said, "No." He said, "It was Satan." (Sahih Bukhari 2311)

Again, Satan is absolute liar.

As explained in the tafsir, Satan has promised to mislead - lead humans to destruction - but Satan will not be able to mislead a few of them. These 'few' are the true servants of Allah.

Satan has no authority over true servants of Allah, so he cannot mislead them. If you have authority over someone, you can say and do anything you want, and that person will believe and follow you - so you can either lead this person to the truth, or to destruction.

Satan cannot do this to the true servants of Allah - which are few - and Abu Hurayrah radiyallahu 'anhu is one of these few.

So it's not that Satan tells the truth and we should follow him. It's that Satan does not have authority over those who believe and completely enter Islam - and those are few.

Satan cannot mislead these 'few' - look at this tafsir again :

﴿Iblis﴾ said: "By Your might, then I will surely mislead them all,'' 83. "Except Your true servants amongst them.'' Sad 82-83

(﴿Iblis﴾ said: "See this one whom You have honored above me, if You give me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize and mislead his offspring all but a few!'') (17:62).
These few are the ones who are excepted in another Ayah, which is:

[FONT=me_quran])Verily, My servants -- you have no authority over them. And All-Sufficient is your Lord as a Guardian.) (17:65)[/FONT]​

Let's say you want to mislead someone, but you can't do so - what will you do? You will not mislead that person.

Allah permits Satan to mislead all descendants of Adam alayhi salaam, but does not give Satan the permission to mislead true servants of Allah. And Satan knows this. remember Satan said, "except a few"

Aaah sister, thank you so much, that makes sense to me now...

Stay Blessed!

 

['Abdullah]

Assalam walaikum

There is a hadith which narrates when Abu Huraira RA met shaytaan who disguised himself as a thief in human form. What confuses me is that shaytaan directed Abu Huraira RA to recite or invoke Ayatul Kursi and gives the purpose it should be recited for. The general perception of shaytaan is that it would be normal for shaytaan to promote or encourage :

anything that goes against the sunnah,
anything against the worshipping of Allah swt or
anything that would go against protecting oneself in this life and the hereafter.

So why this act? What is shaytaan goal, what is shaytaan out to prove?

What wisdom should we take from this..?.... that shaytaan is not always bad?

WaAlaikum Assalam WaRahmatullahi WaBarakatuhu Brother Imran,

The hadith you mentioned is Sahih and is narrated by Imam Bukhari and by others. Complete hadith with its reference is below:

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) put me in charge of charity of Ramadan (Sadaqat-ul- Fitr). Somebody came to me and began to take away some food-stuff. I caught him and said, "I must take you to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." He said, "I am a needy man with a large family, and so I have a pressing need." I let him go. When I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) next morning, he asked me, "O Abu Hurairah! What did your captive do last night?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah! He complained of a pressing need and a big family. I felt pity for him so I let him go." He (ﷺ) said, "He told you a lie and he will return." I was sure, according to the saying of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that he would return. I waited for him. He sneaked up again and began to steal food-stuff from the Sadaqah. I caught him and said; "I must take you to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." He said, "Let go of me, I am a needy man. I have to bear the expenses of a big family. I will not come back." So I took pity on him and let him go. I went at dawn to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who asked me, "O Abu Hurairah! What did your captive do last night?" I replied, "O Messenger of Allah! He complained of a pressing want and the burden of a big family. I took pity on him and so I let him go." He (ﷺ) said, "He told you a lie and he will return." (That man) came again to steal the food-stuff. I arrested him and said, "I must take you to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and this is the last of three times. You promised that you would not come again but you did." He said, "Let go of me, I shall teach you some words with which Allah may benefit you." I asked, "What are those words?" He replied, "When you go to bed, recite Ayat-ul- Kursi (2:255) for there will be a guardian appointed over you from Allah, and Satan will not be able to approach you till morning." So I let him go. Next morning the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked me, "What did your prisoner do last night." I answered, "He promised to teach me some words which he claimed will benefit me before Allah. So I let him go." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked, "What are those words that he taught you?" I said, "He told me: 'When you go to bed, recite Ayat- ul-Kursi from the beginning to the end i.e.,[ Allah! none has the right to be worshipped but He, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursi encompasses the heavens and the earth, and preserving them does not fatigue Him. And He is the Most High, the Most Great].' (2:255). He added: 'By reciting it, there will be a guardian appointed over you from Allah who will protect you during the night, and Satan will not be able to come near you until morning'." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Verily, he has told you the truth though he is a liar. O Abu Hurairah! Do you know with whom you were speaking for the last three nights?" I said, "No." He (ﷺ) said, "He was Shaitan (Satan)."

Sunnah.com reference: Book 9, Hadith 30
Arabic/English book reference: Book 9, Hadith 1020​

https://sunnah.com/riyadussaliheen/9/30

It is important to read entire hadith and notice that Shaytan lied the first two nights when he was caught and both times, it was prophet (peace be upon him) who confirmed his lied. On the third night, Shaytan knew that there is no way out. So he told Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) that he can teach him something. Notice that Shaytan knew that Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) loves to seek knowledge and may be that's how he can get away with it. So he taught him to read Ayat al Kursi before going to bed. This could have been another lie, but Prophet (peace be upon him) confirmed that it was the truth. In other words, the knowledge and confirmation came from our Prophet (peace be upon him) - not from Shaytan. Some times, an evil doer can also teach us something good but we only make it part of our religion if that is confirmed through Quran or authentic hadiths.

And Allah knows the best!
Ma'aSalaam