I hope that you can tell me whether this report – which I heard from a preacher – is sound. He got up at 4.20 a.m. to get ready to pray Fajr. He went and did wudoo’ and got dressed, and got ready to go out and go to the mosque. He was accustomed to doing that since he was a child. He was used to offering all his prayers in congregation in the mosque, even Fajr prayer. He left his house and made his way to the mosque. Whilst he was on his way, he stumbled and fell, and tore part of his garment. He went back home to change his garment and put on another one. He did not get angry or swear or curse, he just went back home and simply changed his clothes. Then he set out again for the mosque, and again he stumbled and fell, and part of this garment got ripped as well. He went back home and changed his garment. Both garments had got torn but that did not deter him from his keenness to offer the prayer in congregation in the mosque. He set out again for the mosque, and he stumbled for the third time, but suddenly he felt that he was not falling, and there was someone holding him and preventing him from falling to the ground. The man was surprised and looked around, but he did not see anyone. He stood confused for a moment, then he carried on towards the mosque. Then he heard a voice saying: “Do you know who I am?” The man said: “No.” The voice replied: “I am the one who prevented you from falling.” The man said: “Who are you?” He replied: “I am the shaytaan.” The man asked him: “If you are the Shaytaan, why did you prevent me from falling?” The Shaytaan answered: “The first time when you stumbled and went home to change your clothes, Allaah forgave you all your sins. The second time when you stumbled and went home to change your clothes. Allaah forgave your family. The third time when you stumbled, I was afraid that if you went back home and changed your clothes, Allaah would forgive all the people of your neighbourhood, so I supported you and prevented you from falling.”
What is confusing me about this story is: is it possible for the shaytaan to speak to a person and hold his hand and prevent him from falling as is described in this story?.Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
There is no
basis for this story in the books of Sunnah, hadeeth and history. It is
contrary to Islam for several reasons:1 – The
conversation between the man and the shaytaan. It is possible for the
shaytaan to whisper to a person (waswasah) when he is in his real form, but
speaking to him is not possible, unless the shaytaan appears to him in human
form.2 – The
shaytaan says that he supported the man when he stumbled. This is something
that is unbelievable, and the shaytaan is unable to do such a thing. Allaah
has made the angels protectors and guardians of man, to protect them from
the harm of the jinn, because they can see us but we cannot see them. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):“For him
(each person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They
guard him by the Command of Allaah”[al-Ra’d
13:11]In this
made-up story it clearly states that the shaytaan is able to protect a
person against that which may harm him, or that the shaytaan is able to
prevent something that has been decreed by Allaah.3 – The most
serious thing in this story is where the shaytaan says that the first time
Allaah forgave the man all his sins, then the second time he says that
Allaah has forgiven his family, and he says that if he had fallen a third
time, Allaah would have forgiven the people of his neighbourhood! All of
this is lies against Allaah and claiming to have knowledge of the unseen.
Even if a mujaahid is wounded in battle against the kuffaar it does not
bring such virtues, so how can it be ascribed to the one who is going to the
mosque? It is not ascribed to one who stumbled when calling people to Allaah
or going to uphold ties of kinship or other acts of worship, so how can
these virtues be ascribed to one who falls when he is going to the mosque?There is
nothing about falling or stumbling that brings such virtues. Many of the
Sahaabah fell, stumbled or were injured at the time of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but there is nothing in the
Sunnah which ascribes such virtues to them or even some of those virtues.
Allaah does not forgive a family or the people of a neighbourhood or city
because of the deeds or acts of worship of one of the righteous, let alone
the fact that stumbling does not bring a person closer to Allaah and it is
not an act of worship in itself. If anyone were to benefit from the actions
of another, then the father of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) would have
benefited from the prophethood of his son, and the son of Nooh would have
benefited from the prophethood of his father, and Abu Taalib would have
benefited from the Prophethood of his nephew Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him).Moreover,
how did the shaytaan know of all that so that he could tell this man about
it? Does the shaytaan have the power to prevent mercy reaching one of the
slaves of Allaah upon whom He wishes to bestow it?No. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):“Whatever
of mercy (i.e. of good), Allaah may grant to mankind, none can withhold it;
and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter. And He is the
All‑Mighty, the All‑Wise”[Faatir
35:2]Secondly:
Undoubtedly
these false stories are things that become widespread among those who do not
understand their religion properly and who do not know the Oneness of their
Lord (Tawheed). They are propagated by liars and storytellers who fabricate
lies against the laws of Allaah.Allaah has
issued a stern warning against these liars. Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning):“Say (O
Muhammad): (But) the things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are
Al‑Fawaahish (great evil sins and every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse)
whether committed openly or secretly, sins (of all kinds), unrighteous
oppression, joining partners (in worship) with Allaah for which He has given
no authority, and saying things about Allaah of which you have no knowledge”[al-A’raaf 7:33]
What
khateebs and preachers must do is be above being mere storytellers who tell
the common folk stories that go against sharee’ah. The salaf of this ummah
issued a stern warning against these storytellers, because of the bad
effects that their stories have on the common folk and because they contain
things that go against the laws of Allaah.In a hadeeth
that was classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah
(1681) it was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “When the Children of Israel were doomed they started to
tell stories.”Shaykh
al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:It says in
al-Nihaayah: “when they were doomed they started to tell stories”
which means they relied on words and forsook deeds, and that was the reason
for their doom, or vice versa: when they were doomed it was because they
stopped doing good deeds and turned to stories.Al-Albaani
said, commenting on this:It may be
said that the reason they were doomed was that they paid too much attention
to stories at the expense of fiqh and beneficial knowledge which teach the
people about their religion, and motivate them to do righteous deeds.
Because they did that, they were doomed. Al-Silsilah al-Saheehah
(4/246).This is the
case with the storytellers; they pay too much attention to stories and
myths, which they narrate to the common folk, without any understanding or
knowledge, and the common man hears a lot but does not understand any ruling
or gain any knowledge.Ibn al-Jawzi
said in Talbees Iblees (p. 150):The
storytellers are not condemned just for being storytellers, because Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):“We
relate unto you (Muhammad) the best of stories”[Yoosuf
12:3]“So
relate the stories”[al-A’raaf 7:176]
Rather the
storytellers are condemned because they tell many stories without mentioning
any beneficial knowledge, and usually they mix sound and unsound material in
what they narrate and rely on things that are mostly impossible.End quote.
It was
narrated that Abu Qilaabah ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Zayd said: Nothing kills
knowledge but stories. A man may sit with another man for a year and not
learn anything from him, and he may sit with a knowledgeable man and not get
up until he has learned something.Hilyat
al-Awliya’ (2/287).How often do
these storytellers narrate from bad reports to the masses, and tell them
these fables, which reach such a status among the masses that they believe
everything that they hear and even give them precedence over the scholars
and seekers of knowledge.Al-Haafiz
al-Iraaqi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:One of the
problems with them is that they speak to so many people and tell them things
that they are unable to comprehend, and that leads them to confusion and
makes them develop misconceptions. This applies if what they tell them is
sound, so how about if it is false?Tahdheer
al-Khawaas by al-Suyooti (p. 180), quoting from
al-Baa’ith ‘ala al-Khalaas by al-‘Iraaqi.Ibn al-Jawzi
said:The
storyteller narrates weird reports to the masses, and tells them that even
if he had even the slightest whiff of knowledge he would not have told them.
So the masses leave with a lot of false notions in their minds, which they
discuss amongst themselves. If a scholar denounces them, they say: we heard
this, he narrated it to us. How many storytellers have misled others by
means of the fabricated reports they narrate to them; how many people have
turned yellow with hunger (because of what they heard encouraging
asceticism); how many people left their families, homes and cities to
wander like monks; how many have refrained from doing that which is
permitted; how many have refrained from learning and teaching knowledge,
believing that he is going against his own whims and desires; how many have
made their children orphans because of their asceticism whilst still alive;
how many have turned away from their wives and not given them their rights,
so that she is neither single nor truly married. End quote.Al-Mawdoo’aat (1/32)
This is why
the storytellers are criticized by many of the salaf.Maymoon ibn
Mahraan (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The
storyteller may expect punishment from Allaah, and the one who listens to
him may expect mercy.Al-Albaani
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said, following hadeeth no. 4070 in
al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah:This was
narrated by Ibn al-Mubaarak in his book al-Zuhd with a saheeh
isnaad.Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The greatest
liars among the people are the storytellers. The people need truthful
storytellers who will remind them of death and the punishment of the grave.
It was said to him: Didn’t you attend their gatherings? He said: No.Al-Adaab
al-Shar’iyyah by Ibn Muflih al-Hanbali (2/82).We ask
Allaah to set straight the affairs of the imams and khateebs, and to guide
them to that which is best for them and others.And Allaah
knows best.
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