The two sheikhs mentioned that Abu Hurayra had said: "The Prophet (s) offered one of his prayers and said: "The Satan came upon trying his best to interrupt my prayer. Allah helped me that I could throttle him. I wanted to tie him to a pole that you would see him in the morning, but I remembered Solomon's Saying: (My Lord! do Thou forgive me and grant me a kingdom which is not fit for (being inherited by) anyone after me) 38:35 (Quran)."1
1. Refer to al-Bukhari's Sahih, vol. 1, p.p. 143,Muslim's Sahih, vol. 1, p.p. 204 and Ahmed's Musnad, vol. 2, p.p. 298.
The Prophets were far above that and away from it because it contradicted their infallibility and defamed their dignity and high status. Allah forbid! Could the Satan struggle with the prophets or disturb them or even think of that? Allah said addressing the Satan: (Surely. as regards My servants, you have no authority over them except those who follow you of the deviators) 15:42 (Quran).
All the Muslims knew that the Satan was distracted by the birth of the prophet Muhammad (s), astonished by delegating him as prophet, stunned by his hegira, became inapt by his rise with the mission, melted like the salt in the water by his guidance, laws and systems, fled like a ray from his prayer, in which Allah had put maxims and secrets that made it (the prayer) prevent from committing atrocities and abominable deeds.
When the Prophet (s) stood up for the prayer, he gave up everything and divested his soul of every thing save Allah. He offered his prayer with a calm heart in slavery to the oneness of Him, the One and Only. If he began his prayer by saying (Allahuakbar), he would seek protection of Allah from the Satan before reciting Qur'anic verses in obedience to the saying of Allah: (So when you recite the Qur'an, seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaitan) 16:98 (Quran).
Of course, when he asked protection of Allah from the Satan, Allah would grant him that. The Satan knew well this fact even if the dotards ignored it!
Abu Hurayra narrated a tradition 1saying that if the Satan heard the azan (the call for prayers) from any Muslim, he would flee scaredly and would (fart) because of terror. So how would the Satan dare to come to the Prophet, who devoted to Allah, stood in front of Him in a loyal praying and asked His protection? How did the Satan interrupt the Prophet's prayer? Why didn't he flee scaredly with his farting? How impossible it was! Allah said: (Surely he (the Shaitan) has no authority over those who believe and rely on their Lord. His authority is only over those who befriend him and those who associate others with Him) 16:99-100 (Quran).
1. Refer to al-Bukhari's Sahih, vol. 1, p.p.78 and Muslim's Sahih, vol.1, p.p. 153.
If you say: "What do you say about this Qur'anic verse: (And if an interference of the Shaitan should cause you mischief, seek refuge in Allah; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing) 41:36 (Quran)."
We say: "Allah, the Almighty, had educated His beloved Muhammad with morals, by which He preferred him to the entire universe that every prophet, angel, devil and human being submitted to his politeness and surrendered to his morals. There was no order in the Qur'an, unless he obeyed and no forbid, unless he complied with or a maxim, unless he put it in his mind. The Qur'an was before his eyes. He tracked its purposes and followed its suras. The verse above concerned his politeness and morals, as well as the verses before it in the same sura: (Repel (evil) with what is best, when lo! he between whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend. And none are made to receive it but those who are patient and none are made to receive it but those who have a mighty good fortune) 41:34-35 (Quran).
This was the best of morals, with which Allah had educated his slave and prophet (s). He, really, was so since the beginning of his mission when he said while blood was flowing on his face and beard: "O Allah, guide my people for they don't now (the truth)", until his caller cried in the day of Fat-h (victory) when he conquered Mecca and he was at the last days of his life that whoever entered the house of Abu Sufyan, would be safe.
Allah had evened all the ways to make his prophet bear these morals, which made the necks bow to the glory of his characters and the honour of his manners. Allah not only made him bear these morals, but also let him long to them until he reached the highest status and being lucky with these morals. So Allah said: (And none are made to receive it but those who are patient and none are made to receive it but those who have a mighty good fortune) 41:35 (Quran). Then Allah warned him from an incitement of anger, which He had molded the human beings with, and wrath of heart when one was hurt by his enemy. Allah called that as incitement or interference of the Satan, metaphorically, to make the Prophet avoid it and be far above it. So Allah said: (And if an interference of the Shaitan should cause you mischief, seek refuge in Allah; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing) 41:36 (Quran). It meant that if an incitement to anger, which might be like the satanic temptations, would make you uncomfortable or impatient then you (seek refuge in Allah). In the same concern was this saying of Allah: (Take to forgiveness and enjoin good and turn aside from the ignorant.. And if a false imputation from the Shaitan afflict you, seek refuge in Allah; surely He is Hearing, Knowing) 7:199-200 (Quran). Allah wanted to keep his beloved away from to encounter the ignorant, who saw the evidences but they denied them and went too far in their unbelief, so He ordered him to avoid them. And for more carefulness in educating and preferring the Prophet to all the human beings, Allah warned him not to bear any grudge or spite in his heart when the ignorant attacked him with their foolishness and abusiveness. Allah called this natural emotion as incitement or interference of the Satan, in metaphor, to make His prophet avoid it and to shun it, because the prophet Muhammad (s) didn't shun anything more than his shunning the Satan and the deeds that were like the Satan's. Allah wanted, by saying this verse, to tell the Prophet to be patient before the foolishness of the ignorant and not to be angry with them.
If you said: What about these Qur'anic verses: (And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts, then does Allah establish His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise. So that He may make what the Shaitan casts a trial for those in whose hearts is disease and those whose hearts are hard; and most surely the unjust are in a great opposition. And that those who have been given the knowledge may know that it is the truth from your Lord) 22:52-54 (Quran).
It was well-known, as necessity of Islam, that the prophet Muhammad (s) and all the other prophets (s) would not hope anything that Allah disagreed with. The prophets were far away from hoping anything that didn't please Allah and didn't benefit people.
The prophet Muhammad hoped that every one, anywhere on the earth, to believe and be faithful to Allah. The Satan, by his tricks and temptation, distorted this hope and tempted people like Abu Lahab (the Prophet's uncle) and Abu Jahl, who were obsessed by him, and led them away from what the Prophet hoped for them to gain the good of this life and the afterlife. But the Satan tempted them until they fought the Prophet to get rid of him.
The Prophet hoped for every one, who became a Muslim, to be sincere to Allah, His Qur'an, His prophet and to the all of people in a way that his interior would be like his exterior and his openness like his mystery. The Satan seduced some people and confused their minds by distorting this blessed hope, hence they became hypocrites.
So where was this meaning from what Abu Hurayra said that the Satan attacked the Prophet to interrupt his prayer, which was unacceptable according to the mental and traditional regards?
The Prophet (s) hoped every one of his umma to imitate his own straight method, not to deviate from his holy Sunna. All what he hoped that the whole umma would agree to guidance and to be conducted according to his orders and forbids and no two of them would be in disagreement. But the Satan whispered evil to them and deceived them to be away from the Sunna. Thus the one umma divided into many sects. The accursed deceptive Satan tried his best to distort all what the prophet hoped for people and made those, who were tempted by him, turn away from the Prophet and his hopes.
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All that harmed the Prophet and made him uncomfortable and always be in fear of people from the deceptive Satan. He was afraid that the heresies and delusions might defeat the rightness. Because of that Allah comforted and eased him by revealing to him: (And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire) 22:52 (Quran). It meant that when every prophet hoped a desire for the private or general benefit, the Satan would distort his desire by tempting and deceiving people to drive them away from the prophets and their missions. All of the prophets hoped that all people anywhere on the earth to be faithful to Allah. They hoped that the believers were to have real sincerity to Allah. The best desire of theirs was to see their nations in agreement on their guidance and no any two of them to be in disagreement. But the Satan fought their desires by deceiving people and reversing the facts. Hence the nation of Moses divided into seventy-one sects, the nation of Jesus divided into seventy-two sects and so on for the nations of the rest of the prophets. O Muhammad, don't worry so much about the defeat of your holy hopes in many times by the Satan because the previous prophets' hopes had faced the same fate. So you and they are the same in this matter. ((This is Our) course with regard to those of Our apostles whom We sent before you, and you shall not find a change in Our course) 17:77 (Quran).
Since the prophet Muhammad was afraid that the heresies of the Satan might prevail over the rightness, Allah assured him when He said: (but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts) at your hopes and the hopes of the previous prophets. But Allah presaged him that the rightness, he and the previous prophets brought from their god, would dominate. Allah said: (then does Allah establish His communications) and (And Allah will show the truth to be the truth by His words, though the guilty may be averse (to it)) 10:82 (Quran)and (as for the scum, it passes away as a worthless thing; and as for that which profits the people, it tarries in the earth; thus does Allah set forth parables) 13:17 (Quran)
Those, who were deluded by the false of the Satan, were many. He prepared his snares and traps for them and stood ready to show them the rightness, by his temptation, as false and the false as rightness. He used every trick to distort the Prophet's hopes and to lead people away from him.
Allah wanted to make the Prophet be quite sure that the prophets would win and the Satan would be defeated. He said: (and Allah is Knowing, Wise). He knew the loyalty of the prophets in their desires, therefore He assisted them with Holy Spirit and put them in their honoured status and He knew the enmity of the Satan towards Allah and His apostles. Surely Allah would disgrace the Satan for his evil deeds according to wisdom that to honour those, who deserved honour and to disgrace those, who deserved disgrace for wisdom was to put things in their suitable places.
Allah wanted to distinguish the wicked and the good among His people so that He tried them by the Satan (He may make what the Shaitan casts a trial for those in whose hearts is disease) because of hypocrisy (and those whose hearts are hard) which didn't become tender by mentioning Allah an what He had revealed because their hearts were seized by unbelief that the Satan seduced them with and took them away from belief and guidance (and most surely the unjust) of hypocrites and unbelievers (are in a great opposition) to Allah and His prophet. Their eyes didn't see the truth, their ears became deaf and their hearts were overcome by the Satan. They cawed whenever there was an evil cawer. (And that those who have been given the knowledge may know) of the oneness of Allah, His wisdom and His sending apostles (that it is the truth from your Lord so they may believe in it) without paying any attention to the Satan or to his frightening and misleading.
When Allah tried people to distinguish between the wicked and the good, the hearts of the (hard hearted) wicked became harder and the believers became stronger in their faith and certainty. Allah said: (Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe, and not be tried? And certainly We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars) 29:1-2 (Quran) and (On no account will Allah leave the believers in the condition which you are in until He separates the evil from the good) 3:179 (Quran) and (And that He may purge those who believe and deprive the unbelievers of blessings) 3:141 (Quran).
Lets go back to the same verse (And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet,
No wonder that Allah would try people by different kinds of afflictions and distresses to have the excuse to reward or punish them. Allah said: (Then Allah's is the conclusive argument; so if He please, He would certainly guide you all) 6:149 (Quran) and (that he who would perish might perish by clear proof, and he who would live might live by clear proof) 8:42 (Quran).
but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire). It didn't mean that the Satan cast his evil into the Prophet's heart (Allah forbid!) but it did mean that the Satan cast his evil into the desire of the Prophet by distorting it to make his followers (the Satan's followers), who cawed with him, turn their backs to what the Prophet hoped in order that the hope not to be realised.
This was, definitely, the meaning of the verse, which stroke the mind, although no one of the interpreters or any other-as I know-mentioned it. I wonder how they missed it whereas it was the most suitable to the holy Qur'an, to the prophet Muhammad and to the all other prophets (peace be upon them). It couldn't be interpreted in any way other than that at all. 1
1. I mentioned this interpretation in al-Irfan magazine, vol. 31, p.p. 113
Let us return to the tradition of Abu Hurayra: (The Prophet (s) offered one of his prayers and said: The Satan came upon trying his best to interrupt my prayer. Allah helped me that I could throttle him. I wanted to tie him to a pole that you would see him in the morning, but I remembered Solomon's Saying: (My Lord! do Thou forgive me and grant me a kingdom which is not fit for (being inherited by) anyone after me) 38:35 (Quran)).
I would like to ask the two sheikhs, who respected and defended Abu Hurayra's traditions: did the Satan have a physical frame that could be tied to a pole as bound captive to be seen by people in the morning? I don't think any one would say that.
What encouraged Abu Hurayra to say that was the failure of his mind to perceive the meanings of the holy Qur'an. He thought that some of the Qur'anic verses sensed something like that when he heard the saying of Allah talking about Solomon: (Then We made the wind subservient to him; it made his command to run gently
wherever he desired and the shaitans, every builder and diver and others fettered in chains) 38-36-38 (Quran).
He thought that they were fettered in chains like the human beings. He didn't perceive that they were fettered according to their satanic world with chains corresponding with their satanic nature to prevent them from ravaging whereas no one of the human beings could see them.
Abu Hurayra said in his tradition that the prophet Muhammad (s) had set the Satan free, because he had hated to have a kingdom like that of Solomon.
But Abu Hurayra forgot that Allah had given Solomon a kingdom, in which He subjected for him the wind, which made a month's journey in the morning and a month's journey in the evening. Allah made a fountain of molten copper to flow out for Solomon and (of the jinn there were those who worked before him by the command of his Lord; and whoever turned aside from Our command from among them, We made him taste of the punishment of burning). The jinn made for Solomon fortresses, sculptures, bowls and cooking- pots. Allah had given Solomon (s) what He had not given to the prophet Muhammad (s).
Even if the prophet Muhammad fettered Abu Hurayra's Satan, he would not be equal to Solomon in his kingdom, for Solomon still had the peculiarity of the wind, the flowing of molten copper and the working of the jinn. The justification Abu Hurayra gave was invalid and his tradition was untrue. The Prophet would never confuse the senses or astound the feelings. The Prophet (s) depended on reason in his arguments and in everything. He made reason be the judge between the right and the wrong and made the validity of the evidences be in accordance with the holy Qur'an, which he ordered us to follow (Is he who goes prone upon his face better guided or he who walks upright upon a straight path?) 67:22 (Quran).
