Assalaamu alaykum, dear, respected Shaykh. My question is regarding the prayer. I read a hadith that says that when one is distracted from the prayer, it is because of a devil called Khuzan (may Allah, the Exalted, curse him). I read that the solution to this is to recite, "A‘oothu billaahi min ash-shaytaan-ir-rajeem," (I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed satan.) and then 'dry spit' to my left thrice. I read another fatwa that stated that we have to continue gazing downward when we move our head to the left to 'dry spit' three times, and that we cannot do this in a masjid, but only in our homes or when we are praying out in the open and no one is on our left, and that otherwise we should just recite, "A‘oothu billaahi min ash-shaytaan-ir-rajeem" and that that would be sufficient in places like the masjid. So my question is: can I do this right at the beginning of my prayer, or do I have to wait until I notice that I am getting distracted? Also, if I do this and still get distracted, may I do it again? For example, if I am bowing or sitting in between prostrations, can I interrupt my prayer to recite, "A‘oothu billaahi min ash-shaytaan-ir-rajeem" and dry spit to my left thrice and then continue, or if I am in the middle of reciting a surah in the prayer, may I pause after one verse and do this and then continue? Obviously, I cannot do this in prostration, but can I do it in any other part of the prayer? Sorry for the questions; it all revolves around this one topic, and I am trying to understand how it works in all situations. May Allah reward you.

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Perhaps, dear brother, by the hadeeth which you read, you are referring to the hadeeth by ‘Uthmaan ibn Abi Al-‘Aas Ath-Thaqafi, who narrated that he came to the Prophet and asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, the devil intervenes between me and my prayer and my recitation of the Quran, and he confounds me.” Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah said, “That is (the doing of) a devil who is known as Khinzab, and when you feel his effect, seek refuge with Allah from him and spit three times to your left.” “So I did that, and Allah dispelled him from me.” [Muslim]

As for your question, “Can I do this at the beginning of the prayer, or do I have to wait until I notice I am getting distracted?” then you should know that this Thikr (expression of remembrance of Allah) is legislated for whoever experiences the whispers of the devil, and not for the one who expects them. So, if the worshiper experiences these whispers, he should seek refuge in Allah from the devil and spit to his left three times. It is legislated to do so when one feels these whispers, for the Prophet said, “and when you feel his effect;” so whenever a praying person feels this, he should do so, and it is not permissible for the praying person to spit and seek refuge in Allah from the devil at the beginning of the prayer based on the fact that he may experience such whispers during the prayer.

The meaning of spitting is to blow air from one’s mouth with slight saliva. We have already clarified in previous fatwas how to do that: one inclines his head slightly to the left and spits lightly, as if he is spitting out something that is stuck to his tongue, and says in a low voice, “A‘oothu billahi min ash-shaytaan-ir-rajeem,” (I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan), and then he continues his prayer.

If you seek refuge in Allah in the required manner, by saying it and pondering over its meaning, then – Allah willing – the whispers of the devil will be repelled from you in the same manner as they were repelled from ‘Uthmaan ibn Abi Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, and the whispers will be repelled from you and you will not need to repeat it again. However, if you experience these whispers again, then the apparent meaning of the hadeeth is that it is permissible to seek refuge again every time you feel the whispers of the devil.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said, “It appears to me that the recitation in the prayer is one, so the Isti’aathah (seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed devil) is in the first unit of prayer, unless there is something that requires saying the Isti’aathah again, like if one experiences whispers; as the Prophet ordered the one who experiences whispers to spit to his left three times and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.”

However, a person may say the Isti’aathah nowadays and still not get rid of the whispers, and this is because of our deficiency. Ibn Al-Qayyim said:

“Supplications and prayers for seeking refuge in Allah are like weapons, and a weapon is only as effective as the one using it, not just based on how sharp it is. So if the weapon is perfect and flawless and the arm that is using it is strong and there is nothing to stop it, it will cause damage to the enemy. And whenever one of these three elements is absent, the effect will be held back. So if the supplication itself is not good, or the one supplicating does not have both his heart and tongue present when making it, or there is some element that prevents it from being answered, then it will have no effect.”

As for whether you say this in any place in the prayer, then the Prophet did not designate a specific place in the prayer to say this Thikr, and we have not come across any statement of the scholars who specified a place, so whenever you experience these whispers, you should seek refuge in Allah, and you should not investigate this matter any further.

Allah knows best.