عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ رضي اللَّه عنهمَا، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ : «إِنَّ إِبْلِيسَ يَضَعُ عَرْشَهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ، ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُ سَرَايَاهُ، فَأَدْنَاهُمْ مِنْهُ مَنْزِلَةً أَعْظَمُهُمْ فِتْنَةً، يَجِيءُ أَحَدُهُمْ فَيَقُولُ: فَعَلْتُ كَذَا وَكَذَا، فَيَقُولُ: مَا صَنَعْتَ شَيْئًا، قَالَ: ثُمَّ يَجِيءُ أَحَدُهُمْ فَيَقُولُ: مَا تَرَكْتُهُ حَتَّى فَرَّقْتُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ امْرَأَتِهِ، قَالَ: فَيُدْنِيهِ مِنْهُ وَيَقُولُ: نِعْمَ أَنْتَ»
Jābir ibn ꜤAbdullāh narrated, saying: God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said:
1. Iblīs takes his throne on the sea. He sends his troops to lead people astray. The best of them in his eyes is the one who leads farthest astray. Some one of them comes and says I have done this and that. He [i.e. Satan] says: ‘You have done very little’. 2. Then another one comes and says: ‘I did not leave this man until I caused a schism between him and his wife’. He brings him close to himself and says: ‘Splendid you are’.
Related by Muslim, 2813.
1. The Prophet (peace be upon him) mentions that Iblīs erects his throne on water, then despatches his troops and assistants to tempt people and lead them astray. He tells them that the one who gains the highest status with him will be the one who works the most evil among humans. When they have accomplished their tasks, they return and tell him what they did. They will mention how they managed to persuade humans to indulge in different sinful actions, such as drinking alcohol, adultery, withholding zakat, negligence of prayer, stealing, etc. None of these is of particular interest to him. He belittles their work and says that it is not particularly significant.
2. Then comes one who will say that he continued to work on a certain person until he caused a serious schism between him and his wife. Iblīs will be particularly pleased with this one, and draw the perpetrator to himself and say: ‘You are splendid’, meaning ‘a great devil’. He will praise this one’s work and consider it deserving of high position.
Such praise signifies the great evil that the spoiling of marital relations indicates. It leads to friction and enmity between man and wife and between their two families. It may also lead to problems for their children and negligence of their upbringing. It may further cause an increase in unlawful sexual practices, with its very serious social repercussions.
1. The accursed Satan, Iblīs, is the most hostile enemy of mankind. He declared his enmity to Adam from the moment God commanded him to prostrate himself before Adam, but he refused.
He said to God:
‘I am nobler than he: You created me out of fire, while you created him out of clay’.
(7: 12)
He declared his intention to mislead all human beings:
‘I shall indeed lurk in ambush for them all along Your straight path, and I shall most certainly fall upon them from the front and from the rear, and from their right and from their left; and You will find most of them ungrateful’.
(7: 16-17)
Everyone should be on their guard, lest they fall prey to his temptation. For, if they do, they soon will discover that they have gone far astray.
2. Satan uses various tactics to lead people astray, including whisperings, stirring up trouble and hostility between people, giving sin an attractive hue, and promoting anger, prejudice, hastiness, laziness, etc. Therefore every Muslim should always be on the alert, watching his tricks, and seeking God’s refuge from him. God tells us in the Qur’an that seeking refuge with Himself will protect against Satan’s whisperings and temptation.
He says:
‘If a prompting from Satan stirs you up, seek refuge with God; He hears all and knows all. If those who are God-fearing experience a tempting thought from Satan, they bethink themselves [of God]; and they begin to see things clearly’.
(7: 200-201)
3. The proper refuge from Satan’s promptings is obeying God’s commandments and seeking His secure refuge. Qatādah said: ‘Son of Adam, Satan is attacking you from all sides, but he cannot attack you from above. He cannot prevent you from receiving God’s mercy’.
4. Beware, for Iblīs and his troops are out to destroy Muslim homes.
5. Causing a split between man and wife leads to great evils, including rancour and enmity between the families of both spouses, an increase in adultery which is the worst and most shameful of major sins. It also causes material and mental harm to children, and may lead to their bad upbringing. Hence, Iblīs is overjoyed when such instances are reported to him.
