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The E~lmip Bcween ,\.icm und rke Shuy!uun

- How the ShaJjann makes his whispers reach the heart of man

*I

(1) Waswasah (insinuating whispers) and mind in a way which we The Shaytaan is abl o nor mow or unde,rstand. The nature with which he is created enables =to do that. This is what is called waswasah.Allah has told us of that when He said:

(From the evil of the whisperer [devil who whispers evil i n the hearts

of men] who withdraws [from his whispering in one's heart after one temetnhers Allah]. \%'ha whispers in the breasts of mankind.) (Qur'an 114:4-51
Ibn Katheer said in his commentary:d'the whisperer who withdraws') is

the ,Shq(na~i who sits on the heart of the son of Adam, and when he 'forgets-rand is negligenr, he whispers to him, but when he remembers Allah, he withdraws. It is narrated i n Suheehqn (Bukhaari and Muslim) fiom Anas that the Messenger & said: "The Shqfaan flows through the son of Adam like blood. "h3 By this waswasah he led Adam astray and tempted him to eat from that tree:

4~hen Slzaytaan [Satan] whispered t o hhn. saying: '0' Adam! Shall I lead you to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that will never waste a w a y 0 [Qur 'un 20:120]

The devils may appear in hum& form, and they may speak to a person or make h m 'hear voices telling him to do something or not to do something, as we shall see below.

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Mishkaat al-Mqaaheeh, 1/26, no. 68.