What is a Qareen? A shaytaan, a devil, assigned to someone to mislead and misguide him. Someone to whisper to him in the light of day and the darkness of night. Allah says:
Translation: And whoever is blinded from remembrance of Ar-Rahman, we appoint for him a qareen, and he is to him a companion. [Surah Az-Zukhruf, verse 36]
Why is this important? You should know that you have an enemy; someone who’s always watching you, taking notes on you, recording what you do; his goal is to mislead you and misguide you and drag you into the Hellfire. That’s his full-time job, no vacation time and no breaks! Subhanallah! The Prophet says:
Translation: The Messenger of Allah once told his companions: Everyone of you has been assigned a companion from the Jinn. They asked: Even you, O Messenger of Allah! He replied: Yes, except that Allah has helped me against him, fa aslam. Now he only tells me to do good. [Saheeh Muslim]
What does fa aslam mean? Scholars give it two meanings. One meaning is that the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و سلم) qareen became Muslim. Imam Nawawi and other scholars say, it means the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was protected from his qareen.
Does this mean we, too, can make du’a and give da’wah to our qareen and try to make him or her Muslim? Unfortunately, scholars say it’s specific to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
So what’s the conclusion? Know you have an enemy. Recognize it. And struggle against it; because the one who has an enemy and struggles and overcomes him is better then one who has no enemy and is just “ok.” Think about it! For every waswasa you turn away, you get a hassanah. For every sin you change your mind on, Allah credits you a good deed. For every sin you commit, you can repent, and scholars say the one who sins and repents is better than the one who never sinned.
So brighten up! Allah appointed you a qareen, yes; but this is a great and wonderful opportunity for you to attain mountains of deeds! Allahu akbar!
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) allow us to overcome our qareens and become people of Jannah, ameen!
Waleed Basyouni. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rays of Faith.