Chapter: The characteristics of Iblis (Satan) and his soldiers

Magic was worked on the Prophet (ﷺ) so that he began to fancy that he was doing a thing which he was not actually doing. One day he invoked (Allah) for a long period and then said, "I feel that Allah has inspired me as how to cure myself. Two persons came to me (in my dream) and sat, one by my head and the other by my feet. One of them asked the other, "What is the ailment of this man?" The other replied, 'He has been bewitched" The first asked, 'Who has bewitched him?' The other replied, 'Lubaid bin Al-A'sam.' The first one asked, 'What material has he used?' The other replied, 'A comb, the hair gathered on it, and the outer skin of the pollen of the male date-palm.' The first asked, 'Where is that?' The other replied, 'It is in the well of Dharwan.' " So, the Prophet (ﷺ) went out towards the well and then returned and said to me on his return, "Its date-palms (the date-palms near the well) are like the heads of the devils." I asked, "Did you take out those things with which the magic was worked?" He said, "No, for I have been cured by Allah and I am afraid that this action may spread evil amongst the people." Later on the well was filled up with earth.

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "During your sleep, Satan knots 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, and he gets up in the morning lively and in good spirits, otherwise he gets up in low spirits and lethargic."

It was mentioned before the Prophet (ﷺ) that there was a man who slept the night till morning (after sunrise). The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He is a man in whose ears (or ear) Satan had urinated."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If anyone of you, when having sexual relation with his wife, say: 'In the name of Allah. O Allah! Protect us from Satan and prevent Satan from approaching our offspring you are going to give us,' and if he begets a child (as a result of that relation) Satan will not harm it."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "When the (upper) edge of the sun appears (in the morning), don't perform a prayer till the sun appears in full, and when the lower edge of the sun sets, don't perform a prayer till it sets completely. And you should not seek to pray at sunrise or sunset for the sun rises between two sides of the head of the devil (or Satan).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If while you are praying, somebody intends to pass in front of you, prevent him; and should he insist, prevent him again; and if he insists again, fight with him (i.e. prevent him violently e.g. pushing him violently), because such a person is (like) a devil."

Abu Huraira said, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) put me in charge of the Zakat of Ramadan (i.e. Zakat-ul-Fitr). Someone came to me and started scooping some of the foodstuff of (Zakat) with both hands. I caught him and told him that I would take him to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)." Then Abu Huraira told the whole narration and added "He (i.e. the thief) said, 'Whenever you go to your bed, recite the Verse of "Al-Kursi" (2.255) for then a guardian from Allah will be guarding you, and Satan will not approach you till dawn.' " On that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He told you the truth, though he is a liar, and he (the thief) himself was the Satan."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Satan comes to one of you and says, 'Who created so-and-so? 'till he says, 'Who has created your Lord?' So, when he inspires such a question, one should seek refuge with Allah and give up such thoughts."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "When the month of Ramadan comes, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of the (Hell) Fire are closed, and the devils are chained."

That he heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "(The prophet) Moses said to his attendant, "Bring us our early meal' (18.62). The latter said, 'Did you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock? I indeed forgot the fish and none but Satan made me forget to remember it." (18.63) Moses did not feel tired till he had crossed the place which Allah ordered him to go to."

I saw Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) pointing towards the east saying, "Lo! Afflictions will verily emerge hence; afflictions will verily emerge hence where the (side of the head of) Satan appears."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When nightfalls, then keep your children close to you, for the devil spread out then. An hour later you can let them free; and close the gates of your house (at night), and mention Allah's Name thereupon, and cover your utensils, and mention Allah's Name thereupon, (and if you don't have something to cover your utensil) you may put across it something (e.g. a piece of wood etc.).

While Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was in I`tikaf, I called on him at night and having had a talk with him, I got up to depart. He got up also to accompany me to my dwelling place, which was then in the house of Usama bin Zaid. Two Ansari men passed by, and when they saw the Prophet (ﷺ) they hastened away. The Prophet said (to them). "Don't hurry! It is Safiya, the daughter of Huyay (i.e. my wife)." They said, "Glorified be Allah! O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! (How dare we suspect you?)" He said, "Satan circulates in the human mind as blood circulates in it, and I was afraid that Satan might throw an evil thought (or something) into your hearts."

While I was sitting in the company of the Prophet, two men abused each other and the face of one of them became red with anger, and his jugular veins swelled (i.e. he became furious). On that the Prophet said, "I know a word, the saying of which will cause him to relax, if he does say it. If he says: 'I seek Refuge with Allah from Satan.' then all is anger will go away." Some body said to him, "The Prophet has said, 'Seek refuge with Allah from Satan."' The angry man said, "Am I mad?"

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If anyone of you, on having sexual relation with his wife, says: 'O Allah! Protect me from Satan, and prevent Satan from approaching the offspring you are going to give me,' and if it happens that the lady conceives a child, Satan will neither harm it nor be given power over it."

The Prophet (ﷺ) offered a prayer, and (after finishing) he said, "Satan came in front of me trying persistently to divert my attention from the prayer, but Allah gave me the strength to over-power him."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When the call for the prayer is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels, passing wind with noise, When the call for the prayer is finished, he comes back. And when the Iqama is pronounced, he again takes to his heels, and after its completion, he returns again to interfere between the (praying) person and his heart, saying to him. 'Remember this or that thing.' till the person forgets whether he has offered three or four rak`at: so if one forgets whether he has prayed three or four rak`at, he should perform two prostrations of Sahu (i.e. forgetfulness).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When any human being is born. Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead."

I went to Sham (and asked. "Who is here?"), The people said, "Abu Ad-Darda." Abu Darda said, "Is the person whom Allah has protected against Satan, (as Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said) amongst you". The subnarrator, Mughira said that the person who was given Allah's Refuge through the tongue of the Prophet was `Ammar (bin Yasir).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "While the angels talk amidst the clouds about things that are going to happen on earth, the devils hear a word of what they say and pour it in the ears of a soothsayer as one pours something in a bottle, and they add one hundred lies to that (one word).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Yawning is from Satan and if anyone of you yawns, he should check his yawning as much as possible, for if anyone of you (during the act of yawning) should say: 'Ha', Satan will laugh at him."

On the day (of the battle) of Uhud when the pagans were defeated, Satan shouted, "O slaves of Allah! Beware of the forces at your back," and on that the Muslims of the front files fought with the Muslims of the back files (thinking they were pagans). Hudhaifa looked back to see his father "Al-Yaman," (being attacked by the Muslims). He shouted, "O Allah's Slaves! My father! My father!" By Allah, they did not stop till they killed him. Hudhaifa said, "May Allah forgive you." `Urwa said that Hudhaifa continued to do good (invoking Allah to forgive the killer of his father till he met Allah (i.e. died).

I asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about one's looking here and there during the prayer. He replied, "It is what Satan steals from the prayer of any one of you."

as below. Narrated Abu Qatada: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A good dream is from Allah, and a bad or evil dream is from Satan; so if anyone of you has a bad dream of which he gets afraid, he should spit on his left side and should seek Refuge with Allah from its evil, for then it will not harm him."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "If one says one-hundred times in one day: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the Alone Who has no partners, to Him belongs Dominion and to Him belong all the Praises, and He has power over all things (i.e. Omnipotent)", one will get the reward of manumitting ten slaves, and one-hundred good deeds will be written in his account, and one-hundred bad deeds will be wiped off or erased from his account, and on that day he will be protected from the morning till evening from Satan, and nobody will be superior to him except one who has done more than that which he has done."

Once `Umar asked the leave to see Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in whose company there were some Quraishi women who were talking to him and asking him for more financial support raising their voices. When `Umar asked permission to enter the women got up (quickly) hurrying to screen themselves. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) admitted `Umar, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was smiling, `Umar asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! May Allah keep you in happiness always." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "I am astonished at these women who were with me. As soon as they heard your voice, they hastened to screen themselves." `Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! You have more right to be feared by them." Then he addressed (those women) saying, "O enemies of your own souls! Do you fear me and not Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ?" They replied. "Yes, for you are a fearful and fierce man as compared with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)." On that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said (to `Umar), "By Him in Whose Hands my life is, whenever Satan sees you taking a path, he follows a path other than yours."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If anyone of you rouses from sleep and performs the ablution, he should wash his nose by putting water in it and then blowing it out thrice, because Satan has stayed in the upper part of his nose all the night."