Khatira [Until Satan Is Driven Away]

Occasion: Transcription of a khatira delivered on 18 October 2021 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

O Allah, we ask You for pardon and well-being in our religion, our worldly life and our Hereafter; prepare for us right guidance in our affair, bless us in what You have provided us, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

To proceed: it is related that one of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: I am a man who commits sins, that is, one who commits many sins. The Prophet ﷺ said to him: Repent to Allah. He said: O Messenger of Allah, I go back to it? He ﷺ said: Repent to Allah. He said: O Messenger of Allah, I go back to it? He ﷺ said: Repent to Allah. He said: Until when, O Messenger of Allah? Whenever I sin I repent, then I sin and then I repent, then I sin and then I repent. The Prophet ﷺ said: Until Satan is driven away in defeat.^[1]

And in another exchange between a group of young Companions and the Prophet ﷺ, they came saying: O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so prays behind you the five prayers, and when he leaves the mosque he does such-and-such of acts of disobedience. The Prophet ﷺ said to them: Does he not pray with us? They said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said to them, in the sense of it, that his prayer forbids him from indecency and wrongdoing.^[2]

Opening the Door of Hope

Opening the door of hope for people is among the most important supports that carry a servant toward more good. As for those who close the doors and stand in the way of people if they do something, or commit a sin, or perpetrate an act of disobedience, they make people despair of the mercy of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High.

In the first narration there is a frank confrontation from a man who confesses his sin. And realizing the error is half the way to reaching what is right. So when he comes saying: O Messenger of Allah, I am a man who commits sins, he has known himself and known his sin, and he is on his way to getting rid of the habit he had become used to of disobeying Allah, exalted.

And what is noticeable is that the Prophet ﷺ did not ask him about the details, what exactly do you do? And he did not ask him about the disobedience he practices, which may be one of the major sins and may be a minor one. Rather, he specified for him the kind of remedy common to all kinds of acts of disobedience, which is: repent to Allah.

The Ladder of Seeking Forgiveness

For when a servant repents to the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, and seeks forgiveness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, he places a foot on the ladder of ascent. Then Satan pushes him again so that he comes down this step through disobedience, and he seeks forgiveness and goes up, then Satan pushes him and he goes down, and he goes up by seeking forgiveness and then comes down by disobedience, then goes up by seeking forgiveness. Until when, O Messenger of Allah? And the answer comes: Until Satan is driven away in defeat.

And the longer the feud lasts, the more crushing the victory of one of the two sides is for the loser's back after it. But victory after a short battle, which is more like a knockout blow, in which the opponent is dazed for a little and then gets up against you again. But after a long war in which one of them is defeated, the soul has become accustomed to knowing the opponent's points of weakness. And the opponent before us is Satan.

And among the rites of the Ḥajj is that people go and throw these pebbles to drive off Satan. So what is the meaning of driving off Satan? That Satan returns humiliated, regretful over his state and over his inability to prevail over him.

Why Does the Sin Recur?

Because of the same need. The one who steals, why does he steal? Because he is always in need, he does not have what suffices him, and he cannot find another way, so he takes from people's wealth. And whenever he takes once his soul reproaches him and he seeks forgiveness, then he is in need and goes back, then seeks forgiveness, then is in need and goes back. And the need may be in money, and it may be in the matter of women: a young man who sees what he has no patience for, and he cannot come to what is lawful for him because he has no spouse and no woman, so from time to time a glance or a word or something else happens to him. Then he returns and regrets and seeks forgiveness of Allah, then his soul overcomes him and Satan pushes him, and he falls into disobedience again. Until when, O Messenger of Allah? The Prophet ﷺ says: Until Satan is driven away in defeat.

So when is Satan driven away? By his insistence on not erring. And the heart that is pained by the disobedience and is driven toward obedience has a reward; and it may be driven toward obedience and not be able to do it, but Allah rewards him.

Every Son of Adam Is Prone to Error

The general rule is that «كلَّ ابن آدم خطّاء» ("every son of Adam is prone to err"), but the exception? «وخيرُ الخطّائين التوابون» ("and the best of those who err are those who repent often").^[3] So the Prophet ﷺ places the generality of creation within the frame of error and disobedience, and this is something very wondrous. For it would be natural to say: the default in people is uprightness. As we speak with our children and say: the default is that you get one hundred percent in the exams. And the truth is not so; the default is that the learner advances step by step as much as he takes in, stumbles and becomes aware, practices and strives. So when the Prophet ﷺ generalizes this rule, that the possibility of error exists in all creation, this is a very wondrous matter, but it accords with the nature of the human soul. So who is the victor who drives Satan away? The best of those who err are those who repent often.

Then, if you say of someone that he is "tawwāb," that is different from saying "tāʾib," and if you say "khaṭṭāʾ," that is different from saying "mukhṭiʾ." So it is as if the Prophet ﷺ assumed the abundance of error, not its happening once. For he did not say that every son of Adam errs, but said khaṭṭāʾ, and this intensive form doubles the description for the possibility of errors recurring and varying. But who is the wise one? The one who realizes that this thing harms him, so he does not do it, and if he falls into it he returns to Allah and seeks forgiveness of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High.

When Desire Carries One to Arrogance

And some people are carried by their desire to a stage of arrogance against Allah, blessed and exalted. For in the verse we recited: ﴿أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الْإِنسَانُ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌ مُّبِينٌ ۝ وَضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلًا وَنَسِيَ خَلْقَهُ ۖ قَالَ مَن يُحْيِي الْعِظَامَ وَهِيَ رَمِيمٌ﴾ ("Does man not see that We created him from a sperm-drop, and then he is a clear adversary? And he presents for Us an example and forgets his own creation. He says: Who will give life to the bones while they are decayed?"), and the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High, answers him.^[4] So does someone like this not deserve that we answer him and punish him immediately? No, that is not our method. It is not an attack; rather, our method is the mending of hearts.

Where Do You Drive Satan Away?

And the question: until Satan is driven away, how many times have you tried to drive Satan away in your dispute with your wife, or in a problem you have with your friend? How many times have you tried to drive away the Satan who wanted to separate you from your brother in a business partnership, or between two full brothers, in relationships that Allah wanted to be built and strong? Satan enters and makes you understand something other than what your brother meant, and enters upon him and conveys to his ears a word you did not say in this wording. And Satan does not cease to separate people, and when he does that he reaches his aim, because it is impossible for works to stand on scattered hearts or on differing minds. When minds and hearts are united, works rise with a rising that Satan cannot get ahead of. Therefore Satan breaks for you the relationships between you and people, until you say: We cannot continue, let us part at the first step.

And likewise in homes: he shows you her deed other than as she meant it, and makes your tongue speak the opposite of what is in your heart, so you remain in constant quarreling and continual disputes, and he wears out your soul, your heart and your mind, and at some moment you imagine that divorce is the only and ideal solution. Rather, the opposite: drive Satan away, and make him the loser, with more patience, with seeking reward from Allah, with a kind word, with a gentle sentence, and with a gift that perfumes the atmosphere.

And whoever gives himself to Allah has made himself for creation, and whoever gives himself to Allah does not ask of people the like of what he does for them, but does for people more than is asked of him.

Until Satan is driven away. Keep it in your head in every situation in which you feel that Satan is interfering: drive Satan away with patience, steadfastness and seeking reward from Allah. And I ask Allah, blessed and exalted, not to give Satan a way into our hearts, not to empower him over our feelings and minds, and to make us firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. O Allah, amen. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not attribute this narration, and the editor has not verified its authenticity or its source; it has been transmitted according to the context of his speech. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not attribute the narration; and his saying "his prayer forbids him from indecency and wrongdoing" is an allusion to the saying of Allah, exalted, in [al-ʿAnkabūt: 45], and the speaker did not recite the verse in full. Among the narrations close to this meaning is what Aḥmad narrated from the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man was mentioned to the Prophet ﷺ as praying at night and stealing when morning came, so he ﷺ said: «سينهاه ما تقول» ("What you say will forbid him"). ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth with this meaning was narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Māja from the ḥadīth of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), and the speaker related it by meaning; its wording is: «كلُّ ابن آدم خطّاء، وخيرُ الخطّائين التوابون» ("Every son of Adam is prone to error, and the best of those prone to error are those who repent often"). ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The two verses are [Yā Sīn: 77–78]; the speaker confined himself to reciting what has been set down of them and then alluded to Allah's answer, exalted, without reciting it, so it was not completed in the text.