Manners Towards the Devil

(1)  To know that the Devil is thousands of years old, that he has seen many human beings, and he knows how they think. It is proper manners not be surprised at anything that comes to one’s mind of his whisperings. Abu Hurayra relates in a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith:

People came, of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and asked him: “We find in ourselves that which any of us would consider an enormity to even utter.” He said, “You have actually found it?” and they said yes. He said, “That is plainly true faith” (Muslim, 1.119: 132. S);

meaning, Imam Nawawi notes, “Considering it an enormity to even utter is plainly true faith” (Sahih Muslim bi Sharh al-Nawawi, 2.154), indicating that as long as one has fear and disgust for passing thoughts of unbelief (kufr) and the like and does not make them convictions, they do no harm.

(2)  To know that the Devil’s line of work is sowing doubts in minds about Allah, about oneself, about the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), about the tariqa, about one’s sheikh, and about anything else that is valuable in the next world. Whoever sets out for Allah is going to hear some of these doubts, because he has chosen to fight the Devil, whose whole aim is to make him as bad as he was before taking the path, or worse.

   In order to see who is paying for an advertisement, one has to look at the bottom line. To see who is behind one’s doubts, one follows the thought out to its logical conclusion and sees what it leads to. If the conclusion is “Things are so bad, there is nothing to be grateful to Allah for,” or “You’ve gone this far, you might as well go all the way,” or “You can’t do everything, so you might as well do noth­ing”—one can guess who’s paying for it.

(3)  When one has doubts that one cannot get rid of, to ask the sheikh.

(4)  When there is laziness and procrastination, to ask oneself what one wants from the path, and prioritize one’s works. One should discard half one’s works, if necessary to do a good job on the other half. A favorite trick of the Devil is to pile up works higher and higher until everything collapses.

(5)  When plagued by the Devil with waswasa or ‘obsessive doubts’ about one’s ablution, one’s prayer (salat), one’s reciting of the Fatiha, and the like, to relax and do approximately what one should, take things as they come, and leave the rest to Allah. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said,

Verily the religion is ease, and none shall make the religion hard except that it will defeat him. So be moderate, do as best you can, be of good cheer, and seek help in the mornings, the afternoons, and something of the night” (Bukhari, 1.16: 39. S).

(6)  To remember that true enmity for the Enemy is to be in love with the Beloved. Our way is to eat well, to sleep well, to dress well, to work well and study well—but with the heart directed to Allah rather than other people. This is the way of Abul Hasan al-Shadhili (Allah be well pleased with him), and the sum of the adab of the path.

mmiii © Nuh HaMim Keller

Back to Articles