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Who are the human devils amongst us? | Ramadan Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
If the devils are chained in Ramadan, why do some people still act in evil ways? Could it be that Shaytan’s whispers have already shaped our habits? Or are there human devils among us, carrying out his work? Even more importantly—can we be the Shaytan in someone else’s life without realizing it? In this khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman explores the reality of human shayatin and how to protect and purify ourselves this Ramadan.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.We begin by praising Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. We ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, when the Prophet (ﷺ) was reaching his final moments in Mecca, the leaders of Quraysh were meeting in a place known as Dar al-Nadwa, which was the place in Mecca where all of the tribal heads would come together to make their most important decisions. And at that point, they had decided that there were three options for the Prophet (ﷺ). Either we imprison him or we exile him or we execute him. And each one of those three plans was going to have a very particular strategy behind it to essentially deal with the blowback that would happen with Quraysh hurting its own and the reputation or the damage to the reputation of Quraysh that could be done as a result of them carrying out such an action. And SubhanAllah, we finished just a couple of nights ago, Yusuf (alayhi s-salam), when his brothers got together and they came up with a plan for Yusuf (alayhi s-salam). And one of the plans was la taqtulu Yusuf, don't kill him, instead throw him in the bottom of the well. And that was not the majority plan initially, but it became the consensus plan because it seemed a lot less harsh than killing him, but the impact would be the same for them. And so here they were discussing what to do with the Prophet (ﷺ).
Do we kill him? Do we imprison him? Do we exile him? And then this old wise man entered into the gathering from Najd and he had the appearance of wisdom and softness to him. And he put forth the idea amongst them that you should kill him and end this fitna once and for all. End this trial and tribulation that's been visited upon you, O sons of Mecca, once and for all. And he instigated within them that plan to kill the Prophet (ﷺ) and to remove him from the face of the earth and even help them come up with the strategy. Have multiple people from different tribes strike the Prophet (ﷺ) all at the same time. Therefore, the blood cannot be just upon one of us, but instead it's distributed across the board. And so they agreed with that plan. And little did they realize that the man who entered upon them was physically the Shaytan. That the Shaytan had taken a human form, that the devil had taken a human form and entered upon them in the form of a wise, sincere man. But he gave them the advice to kill the Prophet (ﷺ). Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala then mentions after the plot was foiled. After the hijrah of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Muslims went out and then the Battle of Badr takes place. And again, the passion of the people of Mecca is instigated and incited and they say, you know what? Let's go kill our fathers. Let's go kill our sons. Let's go kill our siblings. And they decide to go out with an army and surprise the small battalions of the Muslims that are attacking the caravans trying to get back the stuff that was looted from them. And they go out to meet with the Muslims. And the man that's amongst them is not a man that's unfamiliar to them.
They see a man in the person of Suraqah ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه). Who is Suraqah ibn Malik? Suraqah ibn Malik was the bounty hunter that was sent out to kill the Prophet (ﷺ) or capture the Prophet (ﷺ) on the route of the hijrah. And when he found the Prophet (ﷺ) and the miracles of Allah Azza wa Jal took place in that moment to where his horse would sink into the ground and he would be thrown off. He famously goes up to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asks the Prophet (ﷺ) instead for protection as he knew that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was divinely protected and was assured divine victory. And he fled the scene. Imagine as they're going forth on the day of Badr, they look and they see Suraqah ibn Malik amongst them. But it's actually not Suraqah ibn Malik. And this is when Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, وَإِذْ زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ Remember when the Shaytan beautified their actions to them. And he was marching amongst them on the day of Badr and saying, لَا غَالِبَ لَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَإِنِّي جَارٌ لَكُمْ You will not be defeated today by these people. I guarantee you. If it's Suraqah ibn Malik, he's a skilled horseman. That's the type of guy that you want to incite you on the day of battle. But it wasn't Suraqah ibn Malik, it was actually the Shaytan. The Shaytan had taken on the appearance of Suraqah ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه). And as the Shaytan then saw Jibreel (alayhi s-salam) and the angels descend on the side of the believers, he turned his back and he started to flee the scene and he said, إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِنكُمْ إِنِّي أَرَى مَا لَا تَرَوْنَ I am free from you people. I see that which you don't see. إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ وَاللَّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ I fear Allah and Allah is severe in His punishment. SubhanAllah, what happens here? Again, a human being, but not just an unknown human being.
Suraqah ibn Malik shows up and then flees the scene. And on the day of the fitna of Uthman (رضي الله عنه), you can read the accounts of the Sahaba when they said, we looked at the people that were surrounding the house of Sayyiduna Uthman (رضي الله عنه). And they looked possessed. And some of these people, we didn't know their faces. They weren't from Ahl al-Madinah, nor were they from Ashabi Rasulillahi (ﷺ). They weren't from the people of Madinah, and they weren't from the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ). So were they actual shayateen amongst the crowds that were inciting the people to kill Sayyiduna Uthman (رضي الله عنه)? Or were they people under the influence of the Shaytan who whispers and who is unseen? And as Ali (رضي الله عنه) said, that the one who lit the fire is not one of you. The one who lit the fire is made of fire himself, but he's not one of you. And SubhanAllah, it's a very powerful analogy to the moment. Shaytan lights the fire. But sometimes, as human beings, we become the representatives of that fire. And it doesn't matter at that point if shayateen al-jinn are tied up or chained up, because there's already enough amongst us as human beings to be shayateen to one another. And so who are the human shayateen? And what does it mean to be a human devil? And how do we identify them? Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala mentions, وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا For every prophet, we have set up enemies. And he mentioned shayateen al-ins wal-jinn, the human devils and the jinn devils. And the ulema mention in the tafsir of this ayah, SubhanAllah, even in the tarteeb, even in the way that the ayah is, Allah Azza wa Jal qaddama shayateen al-ins ala l-jinn. Allah Azza wa Jal put shayateen al-ins before shayateen al-jinn,
the human devils over the unseen devils, because the harm of a human devil is greater than an unseen devil. The harm of a human devil is greater than an unseen devil. And they use that based upon the hadith in Sunan Abi Dawud, it's an authentic hadith, where a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ), and he complained to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), that sometimes I have this waswasa inside of me, this whisper inside of me. And that whisper tells me to stop believing, that whisper calls me away from Allah SWT. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي رَدَّ كَيْدَهُ إِلَى الْوَسْوَسَةِ Alhamdulillah, all praises be to Allah, who minimized the impact of that Shaytan to al-waswasa, to whispers. That a jinni Shaytan, that an unseen devil, at the end of the day can only whisper to you. But a human Shaytan is far more impactful, because a human Shaytan looks like you. A human Shaytan can show you visible concern for you on their faces. You see, the unseen Shaytan comes to you with the same tactics, but he's limited. He comes to you and he says, I am to you نَاصِحٌ لَكَ أَمِينٌ I am to you a sincere advisor. But it doesn't have the same impact when it's just here. But when someone comes in front of you and says, I'm advising you sincerely. I'm doing this because I care about you. I love you. I want you to be able to do this. I want you to be able to do that. This is for your sake. It's far more impactful. When it's a friend that you've grown up with, and there is peer pressure, and they call you to the disobedience of Allah SWT, it's a lot harder to say no to the seen friend than the unseen devil. Far more impactful. And so how do we understand this dichotomy, especially in a month of Ramadan, where Allah SWT has given us the blessing of صُفِّدَتِ الشَّيَاطِينُ
that the shayateen are chained up, as in they are minimized in their impact, minimized in their effect. What about the human devils amongst us? Now here's the thing. Please don't look to the person next to you and say, who are, you know, this person looks different today. Is it really him or is it someone else? That's not how this works. We're looking at the battle of Badr. It's a very different situation. These are these moments from the seerah that give us a precedent, that give us a foundation. Could it be that sometimes a strange individual arises? And SubhanAllah, actually, you know, if you look at some of the fitnah in history, people come out and you never know who these people are. It's like, where do these people come from? No one ever saw this person before the fitnah. And after fitnah is gone, they disappear. Are there actual human shayateen that appear amongst us? Maybe, but that's not the most likely case. That's not the most likely scenario. Instead, the reality is, is that we become shayateen to one another. As human beings, we become shayateen to one another. The majority of this is that we drink the poison of Shaytan, and then we spew it. That we become his representatives, often unknowingly to each other. And that's extremely dangerous. And the ulema mention, you know, SubhanAllah, if you look at the ayah, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُمْ وَأَوْلَادِكُمْ عَدُوًّا لَكُمْ Allah Azza wa Jal mentions, from your spouses and your children, are enemies to you. That doesn't mean that they're actual a'da to you, that they're actual enemies to you. But something could happen, what they could represent to you could be in opposition to your actual interest with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And so in that capacity, they become an enemy to you. In that capacity, your spouse can become a fitna to you. So when the Prophet (ﷺ) mentions that the greatest trial, the greatest fitna for men is women, it's not that women are fitna
because there's something inherently evil about them, it's that they represent a test and a trial for men. And likewise, your spouses and your children, they're not evil, they're a blessing from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. You say, رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ Make them the coolness of our eyes. You could be written as الذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ Those who remember Allah Azza wa Jal frequently from the men and the women. But they can represent in an instant or in a situation, that which actually poses enmity to you in terms of your hereafter. And so the tafsir of this ayah actually comes down about Auf ibn Malik, according to many of the scholars, who as he was about to go out في سبيل الله in battle with the Prophet (ﷺ), that his children held on to him and said don't go. And he listened to them. His children were doing what natural children will do. But the problem was that he was pulled by that sentiment, pulled by that emotion. And so what they represented to him in that moment was enmity. Because they're standing in the way of what he was supposed to be pursuing for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, being by the side of the Prophet (ﷺ) in those difficult moments. But he got pulled at that moment. And so the question should not just be who are the human shayateen in my life? The question should be, am I a Shaytan to somebody else? Do I harm somebody else? Do I call someone to evil? Do I incite someone to evil? And so what are the various manifestations of human devils? The very first one that the ulema mention is Al-Jalisa Su, an evil companion. Who if you sit with that person, whether they tell you something or not, whether they push you to something or not, just being in their presence, means as the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned, their stink, their smell will rub off on you and you'll start to smell like them. So Al-Jalisa Su is the most resembling them. A bad friend is the most resembling of a Shaytan
because they don't even have to get you to do anything. Just you welcoming their presence and being in their presence, you will hear evil, you will smell evil, you will feel it. It will hurt your heart. And that's not a person that you want to be around. And that person indeed represents to you a human Shaytan. Whether they're actually a Shaytan or not, which most likely they're not actually a Shaytan. It's a person who is lost and perhaps taking people with him. But at the end of the day, Al-Jalisa Su. And then it's a person who calls you towards evil, who calls you towards the disobedience of Allah SWT. And how many times when you find yourself, SubhanAllah, about to do something noble, about to do something good, and a Shaytan in the form of a human being comes to you and says, what are you doing? That good is not worth it. Don't even bother doing that good. That good will take you nowhere. Or tries to actually incite you towards the opposite path with Allah SWT. Tries to incite you towards evil. And SubhanAllah, you'll see this amongst friends. Friends have a fallout. And there's a third friend or a fourth friend in the crew, right? And so those friends have a fallout. And usually, you can't be neutral when the click splits. And so two people, the heart starts to soften towards each other. And then the third friend says, what are you doing? Why would you do that? And then incites in you so that you don't reconcile. I mean, if Shaytan is going to throw sticks and stones, as the Prophet (ﷺ) mentions, between husband and wife and between people, of course, it's the same impact. And it's far more powerful than the invisible sticks and stones to say, hey, you know, what are you doing? Of course not. And in the process, prolongs your distance from Allah SWT. A Shaytan is someone
who tells you that your spirituality is not worth it. That your spiritual potential is not worth it. Someone that comes to you in Ramadan and says, come on, why are you acting all religious? We all know what's going to happen when you go back after Ramadan. A Shaytan is someone who tries to cast doubt in your heart about the faith. When they sit and they speak with you. That's your Shaytan in that moment. Says, you know, do you really believe in this and this and that? At the end of the day, dear brothers and sisters, we have to identify first and foremost the most harmful people in our lives by tracing the output of those people and comparing it to the intended output of the Shaytan. And recognizing that while that unseen Shaytan only has whispers in his arsenal, the human shayateen have far more in their arsenal against us. And we ask Allah SWT to protect us from shayateen al-ins wal-jinn, from the human devils and from the jinn amongst the shayateen. And on top of that, dear brothers and sisters, ask yourself, what's even worse than that? Is being a Shaytan to someone else. Are you holding someone back from their faith? Are you the one that's inciting in someone a grudge? Are you the one that's holding someone back from giving their sadaqah? Are you the one that's taking someone away from the masjid? Are you the one that's holding someone back from doing da'wah, from doing something good in their lives? Because then you could represent that to someone else. Are you the one holding back a friend who wants to change their ways and maybe do their cultural traditions a bit differently? Maybe they don't want their Eid party to look the same this year. Because we all know that Eid parties don't always look the way that they should. Are you the one that's saying, no, come on, it's not a big deal. Ramadan will be over anyway. Are you that person? At the end of the day, we have to identify the influence we have on others and the influence that others have upon us. And I end with this idea because SubhanAllah, it's a very powerful counter to this.
That just as when we come together as brothers and sisters, في سبيل الله the mala'ika surround us. And how beautiful a sight that we can't see every jum'ah, every night in these masjids, if only we could see the angels gathering all around us as we're gathering في سبيل الله. Prompting one another towards good. Those angels gather when we gather for the sake of Allah. They praise us to Allah when we incite one another or influence one another towards the praise of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And so in some ways, wallahi, a good friend can be like an angelic presence in your life because they push you towards khair. They push you towards good. They prompt you towards putting your nafs down, put your ego down, put your desires down. Instead, aim for the reward of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Sometimes that's even more powerful than an unseen angel is a seen righteous friend. And so surround yourself with righteous people that even being in their presence, you'll be embarrassed to disobey Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala or to say certain things or to do certain things. And be that presence to someone else. Be that presence to someone else who upholds a standard to where people will feel uncomfortable disobeying Allah Azza wa Jal in your presence. People will feel uncomfortable backbiting in your presence. People would not dare to say, hey, let's not go to the masjid, let's not do this. People would not dare in your presence because they know that you set a different standard. Be that type of a presence in someone's life and solicit that type of a presence in your own life. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala protect us from the shayateen. And may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala protect us from being like the shayateen to others. And may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala surround us with His mala'ika, with His angels. And may Allah Azza wa Jal allow us to be like those amongst each other who call towards what the angels praise us for. And may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in that process make us all praiseworthy
in His sight and pleasing to Him. Allahumma ameen. Aqoolu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullaha li wa lakum wa lisa'iri al-muslimina fastaghfiroohu innahu huwa al-ghafooru ar-raheem Alhamdulillah, wa salatu wa salamu ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Allahumma ighfir lil-mu'mineena wa al-mu'minat wa al-muslimiina wa al-muslimat al-ahya'i minhum wal-amwat. Innaka sami'un qareebun mujeebu da'wat. Allahumma ighfir lana warhamna wa'afu anna wa la tu'adhdhib na Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lanakoonanna minal khasireen Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun kareemun tuhibbu al-'afwa fa'fu 'anna Allahumma ighfir li walidina Rabbi irhamhuma kama rabbayana sighara Rabbana hab lana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurrata a'yun waj'alna lilmuttaqina imama Allahumma unsur ikhwanana al-mustad'afina fi filastin wa fi al-sudan wa fi kulli makan Allahumma 'alayka bil-dhalimeen Allahumma 'alayka bi-a'daika a'da al-deen Allahumma ahlikil-dhalimeen bi-dhalimeen wa akhrijna wa ikhwanana min baynil-dhalimeen Ibadallah inna Allaha ya'muru bil-'adli wal-ihsan wa ita'i dhil-qurba wa yanha 'an al-fahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghyi ya'idhukum la'allakum tadhakkaroon fadhkuru Allaha yadhkurkum washkuroohu 'ala ni'amihi yazidkum waladhikru Allahi akbar wallahu ya'lamu ma tasna'oon wa aqimi as-salat
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