Satan in the Hadith

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) talked about Satan when it was necessary, stressing the precautions that needed to be taken against him, the harms he may inflict, and the need to seek refuge with God..

Satan Circulates in the Veins of People

Safiyya, may God be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet (pbuh) says: “The Prophet was praying in retreat. One night I visited him. We spoke and then I rose to go back home. He escorted me to the door. Meanwhile, two men were passing by. When they saw the Prophet (pbuh), they started to walk faster. The Prophet (pbuh) called to them: ‘Stay where you are. This is my wife Safiyya ibn Huyay.’ ‘O Prophet, glory be to God,’ they said. The Prophet said, ‘Satan circulates in the veins of people indeed. I was afraid Satan could whisper evil ideas to you.’”[8]

According to this, created from smokeless fire that can penetrate body, Satan can enter people’s bodies, affect their nerves, and travel in their veins.

Satan’s Use of Rage to Put People into Disarray

The Prophet (pbuh) says, “Rage is from Satan and he is created from fire. Water puts out fire. When one of you is enraged, they should make ablution.””[9]

One day, two people addressed each other harshly in the presence of the Prophet (pbuh). One of them flushed with rage. The Prophet said that he knew some words that will end the anger of a person when recited and went on to recite, “I seek protection in God from Satan the outcast.”[10]

The Prophet (pbuh) related that one who overcomes his or her anger is victorious against the one he or she is angry with, against that person’s devil and his or her own devil.[11]

Satan Enters Dreams

The Prophet (pbuh) said of dreams, “A good dream is from God, and a bad dream is from Satan. So whoever sees (in a dream) something he dislikes, then he should spit (without saliva), three times on his left and seek refuge with God from Satan, then it will not harm him.”[12] In another hadith the Prophet (pbuh) warns us, “If any of you has a bad dream, he should not tell anyone that Satan has played with him.”[13]

Devils Roam at Night

The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Do not let your children or your animals out from the time the sun sets until the darkness of the night disappears because devils are abroad from sunset to sunrise.”[14]

In another hadith the Prophet (pbuh) said, “When night falls (or when it is evening), stop your children from going out and do not let your animals out for water, for the devils are abroad at that time. But when a certain part of the night has passed, you can let them out and close the doors, saying God’s Name, for Satan does not open a closed door. Fasten the mouth of your water container and say God’s Name; cover your containers and utensils and say God’s Name. Cover them by placing something across them, and extinguish your lights.”[15]

These hadiths teach us how to live in this world with one eye on the Hereafter. God is to be remembered when worldly duties, such as closing doors, covering the mouths of water-containers and pots are performed; the Prophet (pbuh) shows us that the only means of being safe from Satan’s mischief is to take refuge in God. In a hadith that supports this idea, the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, “If a person mentions God’s name when he enters his house and when he eats, Satan says to his partisans, ‘There is no shelter or food for you here.’ If he does not mention God’s name when entering his house then Satan says to his brethren, ‘You’ve now found shelter.’ If that person does not mention God’s name when he is eating, Satan says, ‘You’ve found both shelter and food.’”[16]

Some Other Points

Satan interrupts eating and drinking. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Satan is with you at every moment, even when you are eating. If a morsel of food falls on the ground, clean the part that has been soiled and eat it; you cannot know where the blessing is in a meal.”[17]

The Prophet (pbuh) also mentioned Satan when discussing the issue of singing songs of lamentation. Umm Salama relates: “I had sworn that if my husband was to die alone in a faraway land that I would cry so as to be legendary. I would also have a woman to help me out. The Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘Do you want to invite Satan, whom God has sent away, to your place?’ Therefore, I cried no more.”[18]

The Prophet (pbuh) emphasized that haste is a satanic characteristic, and encouraged people to be more careful, saying, “Thinking before committing an action is from God; haste is from Satan.”[19]

Some hadiths order men not to be alone with a strange woman. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “A man should not stay alone with a woman because their third companion is Satan.”[20]

Associating the braying of donkeys with Satan and the crowing of cocks with God, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “When you hear the crowing of cocks, ask for Gods Blessings for their crowing indicates that they have seen an angel. And when you hear the braying of donkeys, seek refuge with God from Satan for their braying indicates that they have seen a Satan.”[21]

The Prophet (pbuh) also talked of the connection between camels and Satan: “Do not pray in the stables of camels because camels are from Satan,”[22] and points to the fact that camels may harm people as an outcome of their nature.

In short, the Prophet (pbuh) points to Satan and deviltry in many of his hadiths. Sometimes he mentions the real Satan and sometimes he metaphorically associates the unpleasant dispositions of some creatures with Satan; this is because Satan’s primary task is to do harm.

[8] Bukhari, Bed’u’l-Khalq, 11.

[9] Hanbal, 4:226.

[10] Bukhari, Adab, 76.

[11] Ibn Hajar, 10-535.

[12] Muslim, Ru’ya, 1-2.

[13] Muslim, Ru’ya, 14-16.

[14] Muslim, Ashriba, 98.

[15] Bukhari, Bed’u’l-Khalq, 11.

[16] Muslim, Ashriba, 103.

[17] Abu Dawud, At‘imah, 50.

[18] Muslim, Janaiz, 10.

[19] Tirmidhi, Birr, 66.

[20] Tirmidhi, Rada, 16.

[21] Bukhari, Bed’u’l-Khalq, 11.

[22] Abu Dawud, Tahara, 72.