Surah An-Naas (114) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ The meaning of seeking refuge from the evil of the whisperer is that a person seeks Allah’s protection from the possibility that he (the whisperer) may cast a whisper into his heart and turn him away from the path of truth, and also from the possibility that he may cast whispers into the hearts of people to incite them against him, as a result of which they become obstacles for him in practicing the religion and inviting others to it. In both cases, only Allah can save from his evil, that is why the teaching is given to seek refuge with Him alone.

➋ Whether a person does a good deed or a bad one, it begins with a thought arising in the heart. If the thought persists, it stirs up desire; from desire comes intention; when intention becomes firm, it turns into resolve; resolve leads to niyyah (determination), and niyyah moves the limbs to action, and the final stage is the performance of that good or evil deed. If the thought arising in the heart is of good, it is from the angel appointed by the Most Merciful and is called inspiration (ilham); if it is of evil, it is called a whisper (waswasah) and is from Satan. The difference between the two is known in this way: if the thought is, according to the Book and Sunnah, a good deed, then it is inspiration; otherwise, it is a whisper. The teaching to seek refuge from the evil of the whisperer is given so that where evil begins, you immediately enter Allah’s protection, so that Allah takes you into His refuge from the very start. Thus, the whisper will not take root in the heart, nor will the subsequent stages occur.

➌ The evil of the whisperers is not of only one kind, rather, they try to turn a person away from the path of truth in many ways. Hafiz Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, and other scholars have described several forms of this. First of all, they try to incite a person to open disbelief and shirk, and rebellion and enmity against Allah and His Messenger. If they fail in this and the person remains firm in faith, then they try to entrap him in another evil, that is, innovation (bid‘ah). To make someone fall into innovation is more beloved to them than making him fall into even the greatest sin, because this is a sin that a person commits thinking it to be a good deed. If he remains firm on the Sunnah, then they try to pollute him with some major sin, especially if he is a religious scholar, so that he becomes disgraced and unable to work for the religion. If they are not successful in this either, then they entice him towards minor sins, so that he considers them insignificant and becomes burdened by them. If they cannot do even this, then they try to divert him from good deeds and occupy him in actions in which there is neither reward nor punishment, thus wasting his life. If he is not willing in any way to spend his time in useless activities, then they try to divert him from greater good deeds to lesser ones, for example, diverting him from da‘wah and jihad to voluntary prayers and fasting. If even this is not possible, then they try to create ostentation (riya) or pride in his heart over his deeds. If in any way he does not come under their control, then Satan and his minions try in countless ways to disgrace and harm him. If nothing else works, they try to make him angry and deprive him of understanding and awareness, and even at that time, if he seeks Allah’s protection, all their efforts fail. Allah the Exalted said: « وَ اِمَّا يَنْزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطٰنِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللّٰهِ » [الأعراف : ۲۰۰ ] “And if an evil suggestion from Satan should come to you (i.e., if Satan makes you angry), then seek refuge in Allah.” In short, until death, this enemy does not desist from his enmity. May Allah keep us in His protection until the last moment. (Ameen)

The exegesis of this verse has been done along with the previous verse.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).