EPIC Masjid, Imam Nadeem Bashir, Whispers of Shaitaan(Shaitaan Series)

Whispers of Shaytan (Waswasa) — Shaytan Series

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. All praise is due to Allah Who created the heavens and the earth, and made the darkness and the light. Then those who disbelieve in their Lord will be just. All praise is due to Allah Who guided us to this, and we would not have been guided if Allah had not guided us.

Allah has said in the Holy Qur'an — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful:

Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the people, the King of the people, the God of the people — from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws, who whispers in the hearts of the people, from among the jinn and mankind.

And Allah said in another place:

And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart — all of these will be questioned.

Indeed, the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. The worst of things are its innovations, and every innovation is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is a misguidance, and every misguidance leads to the Fire.

The subject I want to talk about today — the classical scholars have discussed it in much detail, and it is not possible for me to cover this entire subject in a 15–20–25 minute lecture. It is impossible. But I will try to cover it as much as I can, just to give you an idea about this subject.

And then inshallah, following next week — or the next time I give the khutbah — I will be talking about the final part of this series: what can we do to protect ourselves from Shaytan. We have been going through many khutbahs discussing how Shaytan attacks a person, how we become the prey for Shaytan. But it is only fair that there should also be a khutbah about how we protect ourselves from Shaytan, because Allah in the Qur'an not only tells us that Shaytan is our enemy — He also gives us the prescription. He tells us, He gives us the guidelines: if you want to protect yourself from this enemy of yours, there is a particular way of doing that. So therefore it is fair, and it is a must, that we go through a lecture on what we can do to protect ourselves from Shaytan.

But today I want to talk about — as I said earlier — the topic of waswasa, or the whispers of Shaytan.

Do Not Follow the Footsteps of Shaytan

In the Qur'an, Allah first of all addresses not just anyone, but specifically the people who say لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ — and He says: you people, who declare that Allah is your Lord and that Muhammad ﷺ is your messenger — you people, protect yourselves from the footsteps of Shaytan. Do not follow and do not walk the path of Shaytan. Why? Because the path of Shaytan leads a person to destruction, to ultimate loss. It leads a person to kufr, and eventually it will lead a person to the Fire of Jahannam.

And Allah in the Qur'an, after telling us not to follow the footsteps of Shaytan, He also tells us in Surah Ya-Sin:

Did you not make a promise to Me? Did you not make an oath that you would not worship Shaytan? And the question is: today we believe in Allah, we worship Allah — how would we worship Shaytan?

The answer to this question is that if Shaytan takes over the mind and the heart of a person, then eventually that person becomes the slave of Shaytan. You know, if you have ever been to a show where there are puppets involved — you will see that when the person controlling the puppet pulls the string this way, the puppet does one thing; he pulls the string the other way, the puppet does something else. In the same exact way, when Shaytan attacks us and takes over our mind and begins to control our heart, then we become the slaves of Shaytan. We become the puppets of Shaytan. Then Shaytan would tell us what to do, and without even thinking twice — without thinking about the consequences, without thinking about: am I putting myself in harm, am I putting my family in harm, am I putting my society at large in harm's way — we don't think like that anymore. Why? Because Shaytan has taken over the mind of the person.

What Is Waswasa?

Going back to the ayah of the Qur'an that I recited earlier — Allah says: when you seek the protection of Allah, what should you seek protection from?

From the evils and from the deception of Shaytan. And what does that Shaytan do? الْوَسْوَاس — he continues to bring these whispers, these evil thoughts, the sins, the corrupt beliefs into our hearts. And he wants us to think about these things. And as I have said before, not only does he attack our heart and our mind once — he continues to attack it over and over again. He never quits. He never gets tired. He continues to do it over and over again.

But subhanAllah, Allah has mercy upon us. Because Allah says الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ — not فِي قُلُوبِ النَّاسِ, but فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ. Shaytan only has access to our chest. He only has access to the gate of our heart. He does not actually have access to our heart itself — unless a person opens up their heart to Shaytan and says: you know what, I belong to you, you can do whatever you want. And when we give ourselves — when we hand ourselves and our heart to Shaytan — then Shaytan will treat us the way he wants. He will put into our mind anything that he likes, and we will act accordingly.

Ways Shaytan Brings Waswasa

1. Waswasa in Our Belief and Aqeedah

That is why, subhanAllah, when we look at the subject of waswasa, there are so many different ways that Shaytan brings it. First of all, Shaytan brings waswasa in terms of our belief — in terms of our theology, in terms of our aqeedah. Shaytan comes and attacks the iman of a person. The Prophet ﷺ in a sahih hadith talks about this — that this is a deception of Shaytan. And he begins to plant the thought: Allah has created everything around me — فَمَنْ خَلَقَ اللَّهَ — who created Allah?

Especially living in a contemporary time when there are so many contemporary studies, people are questioning and trying to treat religion — taking every aspect of religion and putting it next to logic: does this aspect of religion make sense or not? To believe in Allah — does it make sense? Logically, does it have any kind of proof? And what happens is that our iman — and wallahi, the iman of our children, the iman of our youngsters, and even the iman of our adults — is coming under attack every single day.

How many times have people come to my office and said to me: I have a friend, I have a relative, that now they don't believe in Allah. Why? Because they began to think about religion, they tried to apply logic to religion — how does Allah exist? Who created Allah? If Allah created everything, if nothing has come from Allah:

Allah has not come from anything, and nothing has come from Allah. The question is: who created Allah? Today an atheist will always ask this question. And what is the reply? We don't have a reply. Why? Because this is our belief. Allah in the very beginning of the Qur'an — one of the key criteria, the most important aspect of iman — is that whatever Allah has given you, you believe in it; something that you cannot see. We have not seen Allah, yet Allah tells us that you have to believe in it. And this is the criteria of success.

If a person says that I will only believe in something that I see, that iman is rejected by Allah. And we see that from the story of Fir'aun. When Fir'aun continued to reject Allah, and then at the time when the seas began to come together — and he saw the reality — at that time what did he say? "Now I believe in the Rabb of Musa and Aaron." But Allah did not accept that iman. Why? Because that was not iman bil ghayb — that was iman bil mushahada. Because he saw something and then he believed in it. That iman is not accepted by Allah.

So the Prophet ﷺ says that if a person ever has this feeling and this thought come to his or her mind — that Allah has created everything, but who has created Allah? — a person should say, based on the advice of the Prophet ﷺ: Alhamdulillah, I believe in Allah — and do something else. Get involved in something else. Take your mind away from that. Why? Because that is the waswasa of Shaytan. Shaytan is coming to that person and trying to corrupt their iman — their faith in Allah.

2. Waswasa in Our Ibadah

Even when it comes to our ibadah, Shaytan puts waswasa. How many times do you see that even when a person is making wudu — it happens many times, I have seen this myself — people are making wudu and they wash their feet not once, not twice, but 5 times, 10 times, 15 times. Why? Because: I think this area is left, and this area on my foot is left. And what is that? That is the waswasa of Shaytan. Shaytan makes it difficult for a person to make wudu. Why? Because he puts the waswasa, and then the person comes to a point where he says: you know what, making wudu is too difficult, I don't want to make wudu anymore. This is how Shaytan leads a person to kufr.

How does Shaytan bring waswasa into our hearts and minds at the time of Salat? The Prophet ﷺ says that at the time of the adhan, when the words are being called out — Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar — Shaytan runs away, he flees the scene. And then once the adhan is over, he comes back. And then when the iqamah is being called, he runs away again. And then just before a person says Allahu Akbar to begin the prayer — before he even completes his takbir al-tahrimah — Shaytan returns again. And then he brings ideas into the heart and begins to distract the person in his Salat. The Prophet ﷺ explicitly says that a person does not even remember how many rak'ahs they have prayed.

And how many times does this happen? The things that we don't even remember — in our Salat we are going through our to-do list for the entire day: I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this. Tomorrow I have to attend this wedding, this dawah, that dawah. This is what we think about in our Salat. So Shaytan brings waswasa into our hearts.

3. Waswasa in Our Dealings with Others

Then what about how we are dealing with other people in our community? When it comes to dealing with our relatives, the people in our society, the other brothers and sisters in our community — Shaytan brings waswasa to a person, and there comes a time when Shaytan has continued to attack the iman of a person so much that this person's heart becomes dark.

And now, anything this person does — anyone this person comes in contact with — there is always negativity. This person is always pessimistic: this person is wrong, that person is wrong, that person is wrong. Why? Because Shaytan has brought the waswasas into our hearts regarding other people. Remember: waswasa is always an evil. Shaytan brings that evil within our heart — that this person is wrong. And that is why, within our community, there are people who begin to object to every single person, every single thing. Whatever every person is doing, they object to that. Whatever any family is doing, they object to that. Whatever any scholar says, they object to that. Whenever they hear anything, they object to that. Why? Because that is the waswasa of Shaytan.

That person is now speaking in a negative manner, and he begins to question others — without any proof, without any evidence. And that is why Allah in the Qur'an says:

Do not talk about things that you do not have knowledge about. Why? Because your ears and your eyes and your heart — each of them will be questioned on the Day of Judgment. When you make a judgment regarding someone else without any kind of basis, without any kind of proof — then you are making gheebah against a person.

4. Waswasa Leading to Suspicion

And after that, when a person begins to question everyone, then a person falls into another category — which is called suspicion. Now a person is suspicious about every single person: this person is wrong, this person does this, this person does that. Not only that — now a person becomes suspicious about his own people, his own family members. He becomes suspicious about his own spouse. They become suspicious about people in their own community. They become suspicious about their own children. And this then divides and breaks up a family.

There is a hadith narrated by Jabir in Sahih Muslim that I want to share with you. The Prophet ﷺ says that Shaytan's throne is placed on water. And he sends out his army — and in the Qur'an, Allah talks about this, that the shayateen can be in the form of the insan or in the form of the jinn. He sends out all his minions and all his soldiers to go and cause corruption on the face of this earth.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 39, Hadith 6755)

At the end of the day, all these jinn come back, and then Shaytan says: tell me what you did today. And one shaytan will say: I did this and I did that. And he says: you know what, you did nothing. Then the next shaytan will say: I engaged a person in zina. And he says: you have not done anything. He continues to ask and says: nothing, nothing. Then he comes to another jinn and says: what did you do today? And he says: I created waswasa in the hearts of a couple, and I created a fight between them — and the time has come that they have now been separated, they have been divided, they are no longer together. And he gets up from his chair and says: come, come — you have done the best job today! You divided the hearts of the people. You have done the most remarkable job today.

Respected brothers and sisters, if we are in our community and we are the means of dividing the hearts — remember, the Prophet ﷺ says in a hadith that anyone who severs relationships — it is as if all his rewards have been wiped out. And in that same hadith, the Prophet ﷺ says that anyone who brings the hearts together — anyone who brings people together — then that is better than even the Salat in Islam.

So we see that when Shaytan brings the waswasa into the heart of a person, he creates chaos in the community. The division within the community first starts from negative thoughts, and then it escalates — until now a person is always suspicious about others, always talking about others, and now he has come to a point where he begins to fight with everyone, and the hearts are being divided.

Let us keep in mind and let us beware: if this is happening, it is because of the waswasa of Shaytan. May Allah protect us from the waswasa of Shaytan. May Allah protect us from the evil thoughts that Shaytan puts into our minds.

Second Khutbah

Before I proceed any further, I would like to request everyone to please come forward without the gaps in front of you.

Suspicion Towards Our Own Children

Respected brothers and sisters, we were talking about being suspicious about people in our family — and one thing I want to say is that when it comes to parents, it is very easy to become suspicious about your own children also. How many times are we suspicious about our own children? And I understand — as a parent, it is not easy. A parent has to walk a very fine line when it comes to their own children. If they are very suspicious about their children, and they express that before their children, and their children are actually not doing what they are under the impression of — it can change the dynamics of the relationship between the parent and the children. It can have a big effect on the dynamics in a family.

But at the same time, let's look at the story of Musa عليه السلام. When he fled Egypt and he went to Madyan — we know the story of what happened. He came, he saw many people feeding their animals from the well. There were two women who were not able to, and they would stay all the way till the very end. They would let everyone leave, and then they would feed their animals. At that time Musa عليه السلام came and offered his help. These two women came back home early that day.

And I am not going to get into the whole debate about who this person was — as the Qur'an refers to him as the Shaykh, was it Shu'aib عليه السلام or not? I'm not going to get into that difference of opinion right now. But the point I am trying to make is this: when these women came back home early, and their father asked — "today you came back home so early, what happened?" — they said: "today there was a gentleman who came and helped us out."

Now I want you to think about this. This person who was their father — he never became suspicious. He was never judgmental. He did not say: who was this boy, and why did he help you? Imagine — parents, put yourself in this situation. If your daughter came home today and she said: "I was sitting in the library and there was a boy that came and helped me out with my homework" — a father would lose his mind! And then they have to go to the medicine cabinet, take some Tylenol and Advil, sit down, and watch some TV after that.

So this is what happens. But this father — what we learn from this father is that he was never judgmental towards his own children. He was never suspicious about his own two daughters. In fact, later on, when he sent one of his daughters to go and call Musa عليه السلام — he sent her alone. Which shows that this father never had any kind of suspicious feeling regarding his own kids.

What we learn from this is that when it comes to our own kids — if we do not have a substantial amount of proof, if we do not have any kind of evidence that our kids are involved in something that is absolutely wrong, then we should never feel suspicious towards our own children. Because once again, this is what Shaytan does. He brings waswasas into the heart of the husband that the wife is doing something. He will bring the waswasas into the heart of the wife. And once again, our families are breaking up, our families are being divided. And this is why there is such a crisis within our Muslim communities about family.

Why do you think we talk about family so much from the khutbah? Because it is a crisis — it is clearly a crisis within our own community. Families are not getting along. Husbands and wives are not getting along. Parents and children are not getting along.

So that is why my humble request is: Shaytan will continue to bring this waswasa. He will make us feel suspicious about others — whether in our community, whether in our family. But until we do not have proof, until we do not have any kind of evidence, we should not be suspicious about others. We should try to look at our own selves. What do I do?

And I understand that as a parent we have the responsibility — but if I approach my own child and I accuse them because of my suspicious feelings, and they are not involved in that, then they will never trust you as a parent anymore. Because they will know that this is what you feel about them. So that is why it is very important that if these waswasas and these suspicious feelings come to our heart, we have to push them away. We have to make a sincere effort to not let Shaytan take over our heart and take over our mind.

And once again going back to the ayah of Allah — that when He says "you worship Shaytan," it does not actually literally mean that you are worshipping Shaytan, but it means that you come under the control of Shaytan. So we pray to Allah that He protects us from Shaytan, from the waswasas of Shaytan. He protects all of us from the waswasas of Shaytan.

And inshallah, in my next khutbah we are going to talk about how to protect ourselves from the waswasas of Shaytan and all the other tricks of Shaytan — what can we do to protect ourselves.

Community Announcements and Du'as

Now before I conclude, just a few things in regards to the community. I want all of you to remember everyone in the community who are going through any kind of difficulty in your du'as.

Brother Zafar Khan — his uncle passed away. May Allah give him a place in Jannah. May Allah make everything easy for his family. Please pray for him.

Within our own community, we have many sick people. Dr. Raziuddin was in a severe car accident — alhamdulillah he is here today, but he sustained some fractured ribs. His wife sustained a concussion. May Allah give them both shifa.

Even within our own community, Sister Zahra Khan — 19 or 20 years old — has been diagnosed with cancer. May Allah make everything easy for her. And also brother Zuhair Babu has also been diagnosed with cancer. May Allah give all these people shifa.

Anyone who is sick in any way, in any capacity — may Allah give everyone shifa. I don't know everyone who is sick in the community, and that is why I make du'a that anyone who is sick, Allah gives everyone shifa.

Everyone who has passed away, who had any kind of relations with anyone in our community — may Allah give them a place in Jannah. And not only that, but anyone who has passed away — all the Muslims — may Allah make everything easy for them.

Always continue to make du'a for the people in Syria, the people in Palestine, the people in Chechnya, the people in Burma — everywhere and anywhere where Muslims are under attack around the entire world. Remember them in your du'as. May Allah make everything easy for them.

Make du'a that Allah forgives us for our sins and our shortcomings, and that Allah sends down His help and His nasr. We should always remember them in our du'as. O Allah, help Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, help Islam and the Muslims everywhere. O Allah, help us against those who are against us.