This is post #22 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).
The protection of Allah is easily earned and very, very powerful.
Muslims love talking about Jinns and black magic. Yet, when it comes to inoculating themselves from supernatural forces, Muslims are often either ignorantly doing most of what they need to do, or proverbially standing on the interstate highway, woefully oblivious of thousands of cars speeding by at near-miss distances. And many of us, or people we know, personally do get hit.
Yet even the newest Muslim is often quickly equipped with powerful shields of protection against these forces. What are they?
Let’s begin by defining supernatural. Supernatural means, not natural; unnatural; stemming from the world of the unseen. Islamically, supernatural means those forces of the unseen that Allah granted some power to affect our world. This includes Jinns, those wonderfully strong creatures of the unseen, and black magic (aka shirk magic), a result of human interaction with Jinns.
As it happens, the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) was himself, afflicted by magic from a Jewish magician; a magician who tied 11 knots on some hair he had from the Messenger of Allah, and buried them in the desert.
So Jibreel (alayhi salaam) came down, with these two shields–Surah Falaq, and Surah Naas. Together, 11 ayaat, they broke the 11 knots of the magician. The Messenger of Allah then sent one companion to go retrieve the artifact the magician used, and destroy it.
There was once a tabi’ee who was teaching some of his students some adhkaar for protection; and this particular tab’iee had a hand missing. So the students, while listening to him explain, were staring at his hand.
And he said, “I didn’t lie against myself and my father (who I narrate this hadith from); but the day that this happened, something happened that made me very, very angry, so I left my adhkaar for that day.” Subhanallah.
And this is what most of us do–we know these surahs and ayaat and the adhkaar, but we don’t use them! Why? Laziness? Lack of conviction? Surely, we have no good reason.
So make an intention to end this, today, right now, for good; and may Allah bless and protect all of you who achieve this.
And those people, may Allah heal and guide them, who are afflicted? If you ask imam after imam, the same pattern appears again and again and again. They weren’t those who pray. Or do dhikr of Allah. And so, they had no protection from Him.
Don’t be another statistic; get your protection from Allah NOW. And it’s from Allah–the Creator, the one who owns every single being and thing on this planet. Who else can give you that kind of protection? And so cheap!–just a little bit of effort, WHAM!, you’re knee-deep in the protection of Allah.
And the final bit of protection–Allah describes Shaytaan, in Surah Naas, as “min sharril waswaasil khannaas,” the one who whispers, and withdraws. Everyone experiences waswasa–that little voice telling you to sleep just a few more minutes, there’s still time for Fajr. Or to linger your gaze on the opposite gender–after all, it’s legit until you blink, right?! (Wrong!)
If Shaytaan is harassing you, and you say “a’oothubillah,” he will withdraw. If he doesn’t, say it again, with conviction that Allah will protect you. Repeat as necessary. (Works great if you’re sleeping “just five more minutes” before Fajr.)
Also, this ayah says–“min al-jinn wa an-naas.” Meaning, there are shayateen among the humans. Those who draw you away from Allah–like “forget going to the masjid for Maghrib, we’ll be late for the movie!” Or “It’s ok, just take one puff, you won’t be addicted to cigarette, you’re a strong person!” Those are the kinds of friends you don’t want–they call to Hellfire. Do your best to replace them with better friends, good company.
Action Items (three shields of protection):
- Memorize. Memorize Surah Falaq and Surah Naas–you probably know them already; only 11 ayaat–and Ayatul-Kursi. These are, by far, among the strongest forms of protection available. Throw in Surah Ikhlaas, too.
- Recite Them. Follow the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah–recite all three, blow dry spit into your hands, and wipe over your entire body, before you sleep; do it a total of three times. This is the sunnah! Then, recite Ayatul-Kursi, and, if you know it, as much as you can from Surah Baqarah–because Shaytaan runs away from houses where Surah Baqarah is recited.
- Pray. Increase in prayers and dhikr and good actions; this will naturally put you in Allah’s protection and distance you from the unseen world of Jinns.
- Ditch Those Losers. Are there people in your life who are pulling you away from the worship of Allah? Don’t be friends with them anymore–or you’ll be the real loser, in the Hereafter! Start slowly distancing yourself from them; and if they’re Muslim, try and guide them (closer) to the deen.
May Allah protect us all, and help us implement these great actions which the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) taught us, ameen!
References:
- Touched by an Angel: Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma. By Muhammad Alshareef. 2009.