Surah An-Nas

Verse/Ayah-4

Ayah 4:

مِن شَرّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنّاسِ

Min sharri al Waswaas al Khan-naas

from the evil whisperer as he steps back

Sa'eed bin Jubayr from Ibn Abbas who said;

Shaytan plants himself right above the heart of the human being, so when he becomes forgetful

and careless - shaytan enters into his heart.

But when he remembers Allah - he leaves / retreats back / steps back (khan-nasa).

Why doesn't he have a break from this?

He is working harder than any of us to throw us into the hellfire, so we need to work hard to

remember Allah.

An Example of the Whispering Shaytan winning:

Shaytan incites people to get angry, because anger is a manifestation of the ego/arrogance.

When this occurs, we should say; a'oodhu billahi min ash-shaytan ar-Rajeem (I seek refuge in

Allah from shaytan the rejected).

If a believer gets angry - he might not even seek refuge in Allah out of arrogance - so shaytan

has succeeded twice.

It's only if we humble ourselves by remembering Allah that shaytan steps back. And this

requires effort against this whispering shaytan who wants you to remain angry and arrogant.

Allah is only suited for anger because His anger is based on Justice.

Hadith;

Allah's Messenger said;

there is not one of you except there is a constant partner [qareen] assigned with him

 they said; and even you O Messenger of Allah?

he said yes, except Allah has aided me against him and he never tells me anything except to do good.

[Sahih Muslim 2814]

Hadith 2:

The Messenger of Allah was walking at night and returning his wife Safiyya to her home.

Two companions from the Ansar (Muslims from Medinah) saw Allah's Messenger.

So Allah's Messenger tells Safiyya and the two men to stop. Then he tells them;

Innaha Safiyya bint Hayyiy - surely this is Safiyya the daughter of Hayyiy.

The companions said; Subhan Allah ya Rasool Allah! (Glory is to Allah O Messenger of Allah!)

[i.e. why would we even think you are doing any evil?]

So he replied:

surely shaytan runs/flows through the son of Adam like blood. i feared that he (shaytan) will

throw/launch something in your hearts.

This shows that Allah's Messenger feared that the people will have doubts about him and his

message, and it ties in with what was mentioned of people questioning the Sunnah/practises of

Allah's Messenger.