There is no doubt that the enmity between man and the devil is ancient. It started when Allah ordered the angels to prostrate to Aadam, may Allah exalt his mention, and Satan refused this in arrogance and declared war against the sons of Aadam. Allah The Almighty Says about this (what means): {[Iblees] said, “By Your might, I will surely mislead them all. Except, among them, Your chosen servants.”} [Quran 38:82-83] The devil is keen on seducing and misleading the sons of Aadam and is also keen on pouring his poison into the Muslims’ hearts in order to rock the foundations of their belief in Allah The Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy. Moreover, the devil tries to throw doubt in our hearts regarding what Allah has told us about the Unseen. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Sabrah ibn Abu Faakih, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet said:
The devil sat on all man’s paths. He waited for him on the path of Islam and said to him, “Will you revert and abandon the religion of your fathers and forefathers?” But the son of Aadam disobeyed him and embraced Islam. Then, the devil sat for him on the path of Hijrah and said to him, “Will you emigrate and leave your homeland when a person in the lands to where he immigrates becomes like a tied horse?” But the son of Aadam disobeyed him and emigrated. After that the devil waited for him on the path of Jihaad and said to him, “Will you fight in the cause of Allah and sacrifice yourself and your money? You would be killed and your wife would marry another man and your wealth would be distributed.” But the son of Aadam disobeyed him and went for Jihaad. (The Prophet continued:) Allah will certainly let the one who does this enter Paradise, and He will certainly let the one who is killed, the one who is drowned and the one whose camel kills him by breaking his neck, enter Paradise.” [An-Nasaa’I, Al-Haafith - Hasan]
Out of His mercy for His slaves, Allah The Almighty did not enable the devil to have authority over these slaves of His, as He Says (what means): {Indeed, My servants - no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of the deviators.} [Quran 15:42] Moreover, Allah The Almighty describes the devil’s plot as being weak when He Says (what means): {Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak.} [Quran 4:76] Hence, the devil resorts to whispering when he cannot find any other way to seduce the believers.
The Meaning of Whispering
Whispering is what the devil throws into the hearts. Ar-Raaghib said that whispering refers to bad thoughts. Al-Baghawi said that whispering is the concealed speech that is meant to mislead. This type of whispering is evil and includes all the bad thoughts that occur to one’s mind.
Whispering is different from inspiration, which is everything good that occurs to one’s mind. Ibn Al-Qayyim said that whispering is a secret communication, either in a low sound that is audible only to the receiving person, or without sound at all as the devil does with humans. Whispering sometimes comes from the Jinni devil as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, “Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal.”} [Quran 7:20] Allah The Exalted called both the jinni and human devil “the whisperer” as He Says (what means): {From the evil of the retreating whisperer. Who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind} [Quran 114:4, 5] At other times, whispering is attributed to the soul as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein} [Quran 50:16]
Types of Whispering
The devil is ever present with the son of Aadam. He comes to him even at the times of eating and drinking to tempt and afflict him. However, his major aim is to corrupt the believer’s faith. For this reason, he does his best to extinguish the light of knowledge and guidance in his heart, and entrap him in the darkness of doubts and confusion. Hence, the devil’s whispering is mainly targeted at two religious matters:
The first is at matters pertaining to knowledge, which are issues related to belief and faith. This is the most dangerous type of whispering because Tawheed (monotheism) is the foundation of Islam and the capital of the believer. Through this type of whispering, the devil can corrupt one’s religion. Hence, Satan concentrates his efforts on corrupting this creed and making people doubt pure Tawheed to divert them from the true religion. The Prophet said: “The throne of Satan is over the sea and he sends his brigades to tempt people. The best one for him is the one who causes the greatest Fitnah [tribulation].” [Muslim]
The second has to do with practical matters, which are the acts of worship and dealing with others. The devil is present with the Muslim when he purifies himself, prays, remembers Allah, supplicates to Him, performs pilgrimage, circumambulates and fasts in order to confuse him while performing these acts of worship and obedience and ruin them for him. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet said: “When the devil hears the Athaan [the first call to prayer], he flees and passes wind noisily so as not to hear it. Then, when the Athaan is completed, he returns and whispers to people. When he hears the Iqaamah [immediate call to prayer], he goes away and his voice cannot be heard, then he returns again after it is completed and whispers to people again.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Returning to the first type of whispering, which pertains to matters related to creed and faith, one of the devil’s tricks is to encourage people to be curious and ask about things that they, as creatures, cannot comprehend regarding the Creator. Thus, he whispers to people to ask about the reality of Allah The Almighty and His existence. This may happen to many of the sincere believers who would then drive these thoughts away by glorifying Allah. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “Some of the Companions came to the Prophet and said to him, ‘Some of us sometimes find ourselves wondering about things that we cannot talk about.’ The Prophet said: ‘And do you [in particular] find this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ So, he said: ‘This indicates pure faith.’” [Muslim]
In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “The Prophet was asked about whispering, and he said: ‘It is absolute faith.’” [Muslim] Al-Khattaabi said, “This means that pure faith prevented them from repeating the devil’s whispering and from believing in it. It does not mean that the whispering itself is pure faith as this whispering comes from the devil, so it could not be pure faith. Faith means certainty and the Prophet was referring to the fear that they felt from being punished by Allah for such thoughts, and this is sheer faith because fearing Allah clashes with having doubts about Him.”
Ibn Taymiyyah said, “Being subjected to whispering [and the acts of] hating it greatly and driving it away only emerge from pure faith. This is similar to the Mujaahid [holy warrior] who fights his enemy until he defeats him. This is the greatest type of Jihaad. It is pure faith because he hates such whisperings and strives to drive it away; thus, these people [i.e., the Companions] purified their faith and it became pure.” He added,
When the devil cast these whisperings into their hearts and they drove them away, the faith in their hearts made them hate these whisperings and think of them as a great sin, and this is pure faith. This in no way implies that one is commanded to have such whisperings. Moreover, anything could cause man to disbelieve or disobey Allah, but he could defy that cause and prevent himself from doing so, as this would lead him to faith and piety. Nonetheless, one is not commanded to be affected by such causes. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Those to whom hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] The best Disposer of Affairs.” So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty.} [Quran 3: 173-174] This increased faith and reliance upon Allah was the result of people attempting to frighten them by mentioning their enemy; however, this act of frightening people is not permissible. One might commit a sin that causes him to repent and win the love of Allah; however, people are not commanded to commit sins. This is a very broad issue.
The Prophet informed his Companions that people would talk about these whisperings. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet said: “O Abu Hurayrah, people will keep asking you until they will say, ‘If there is Allah, then who created Allah?’” Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Once I was in the mosque and some Bedouins came and said, ‘O Abu Hurayrah, If there is Allah, then who created Allah?” He continued, “I took hold of some pebbles in my hand and threw it at them and said, ‘Go away! Go away! My friend [the Prophet ] was right.” [Muslim]