“Dude! Why are you not praying?”
“Oh bro! Shaytan is holding me back; can’t seem to get away.”
A regular scenario of our daily life. How many times do we blame shaytan for our failures everyday? Countless times I guess. We even wish there was no devil. Thinking to ourselves we might have then turned into a saint of some kind one day.
Ramadan’s come back. So has a training session. A month long training session. A training course for us to purify ourselves, to update ourselves, to step towards a better life and a better hereafter. Among the countless things that come with the month of Ramadan, is a special gift from Allah – the devil is chained up for the entire month! Yep, he definitely is chained up. As the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “When Ramadan comes, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained up.” [Bukhaari (1899) and Muslim (1079)]
Voila! Good news for dudes who keep blaming the devils all the time for their mistakes. Now there is no one to hold you back from turning into a saint. But is this really the case? We still see people doing absolutely devilish stuff during Ramadan as well. Though the magnitude of mischief may be less comparing to other months, it is still prevalent. Why does this happen? How can a person commit sins while the devils are chained up?
The scholars have different opinions on this. The chaining up of devils can have several interpretations. Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, the great scholar explained in his explanation of Sahih Al Bukhari, that it may be interpreted as a meaning that the devils are not able to tempt the Muslims as they are during other times because they are busy with the fast which controls their desires, and with reading Qur’an and dhikr (remembrance of Allah).
The other opinion is based on another hadith from An Nasaai and Musnad Imam Ahmad, which is a weak hadith that says, “In it (Ramadan) Mardatus Shayateen are chained up.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i 4/129 hadith 2108 with weak chain, Musnad Ahmad vol 2 page 230 hadith 358 and 425]
But this hadith may be made stronger with another Shaahid hadith that has a Hasan chain. “And in it (Ramadan) every Maarid devil are fettered.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i hadith no. 2110, Musnad Ahmad 4/311-312 the Chain is Hasan]
The Mardatus Shayateen are the Maarid Jinns that are extremely rebellious. They are more powerful than other normal jinns. These jinns have more capabilities to deviate human beings than the others. So it can be said that during Ramadan, only the strongest jinns are chained up. Not the general ones.
So what do we have here? Whatever the case is, the devils are weaker during Ramadan. So, blaming the devil for our sins may not be justified during Ramadan. The devils are weaker, while the strong ones are chained. If still we fall into sins, it may be alluding to our nature having been corrupted or accustomed to the sins we may have indulged in throughout the year. When asked about this problem, Shaykh Salih ibn Al Uthaymeen (rahimahullah) said,
“The fact that sin happens in Ramadan does not contradict the report that the devils are chained up in Ramadan, because the fact that they are chained up does not prevent them from moving.”
So, they can move, they can lead people astray, but not in their regular strong sense, but to some reduced extent. What we basically can see in Ramadan, comparing it to other months of the year, the devils are weaker than never before. So who actually is to blame for sins we may commit during Ramadan?
Ourselves!
It is we who make room for the devils and make them feel comfortable despite being weak! It was said that a tiger may be tied and chained, but if you move towards it more than crossing the radius of the chain, it will eventually smash your skull.
Is it not the case with us during Ramadan? The devils are chained up, yet we voluntarily move towards them to misguide us. Remember the first opinion of the scholars, the devils may not tempt the Muslims because they are busy with the fast which controls their desires. Are we really that honest with ourselves?
We see many people intentionally abandoning fasting during Ramadan. Even if some people fast, they abandon Salah. Some people sleep all day. Some people don’t find time to open up the cover of the mushaf of the Qur’an. Some people fail to take out some time for the remembrance of Allah. Some people find it hard to stop listening to Music, watching movies, gossiping, back biting, so on and so forth! Can we really blame all these on Mr. Devil?
These are some of the most common ways we adopt to come closer to the chained up devils. These are little steps that bring us within the radius of the chain. Once it is done, we don’t actually feel any difference between Ramadan and other months. We don’t feel any piety or holiness inside us pertaining to Ramadan. When we feel very confident of ourselves and think that Ramadan is a holy month and the devil is chained up, so it won’t be of any problem to spend time in so called attractive things which are haram or disliked, we are only deceiving ourselves.
The Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) agreed with angel Jibreel (alaihis salam) that the person who has been granted Ramadan and still couldn’t get his sins forgiven, is doomed. This is a month that may be compared to a month long crash course to put direction in our life, to change our future, to step on the racing track that ends at the gate of Jannah.
Allah has chained up the devils. Let’s ask ourselves one thing- have we chained up our desires?
