Chaining of the Shayaateen in Ramadhaan: Why do we still sin?

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The Prophet peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said,

 

“When Ramadan enters the doors of the Heavens are opened, the doors of Hell are closed, and the shayateen are chained.”

(Bukhari, Muslim, and others)

 

 

Explanation

Sheikh-ul-Hadeeth, Moulana Zakariyya (rahmatullaahi ‘alayh) writes in his famous book, Fadhaail-e-A’maal, under the commentary of the Hadeeth in question, that there can be two explanations for this.

 

The first is that it could be that only the rebellious and chief Shayaateen are chained and thrown into the oceans. In this case, the evil factors that instigate human sin during Ramadhaan will be the smaller shayaateen that are with man all the time.

 

The second is that although all the Shayaateen are chained, some people become so accustomed to sinning during the other months of the year, that when Ramadhaan arrives, they sin out of habit.

 

 

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi rehmatullah alayh says, the motivator (i.e the Shayateen) being chained does not necessitate that the disobedience will completely fade away, since the other motivator (i.e the Nafs) is still free. In this month Nafs will motivate one towards disobedience, although with lesser force since it is alone.

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Question

It is said that the Shayateen are locked away during Ramadan. If this is the case, then how can they still influence us during our prayers, by making our minds wander, etc.? And why is there still mischief all around us, even during this blessed month?

 

Answer

According to some Muhadditheen, during Ramadaan only the big Shayeteen are chained. The mischief is then perpetrated by the small Shayateen. According to other Muhadditheen, all the Shayateen are chained, the big and the small. The mischief during Ramadaan is then due to the habits of a person which he built up over a period of time.

 

and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.

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The Chaining of Shayateen (Devils) During Ramadan

 

Answered by Ustadha Shaista Maqbool

 

Question:  Assalamu alaikum. I was recently fortunate enough to spend some time in Makkah during Ramadan. I had a bad dream (I will not go into any detail) but was surprised as I previously understood bad dreams to be from shayateen and good dreams from Allah SWT.

How is it possible to have a bad dream if the shayateen are locked away in Ramadan?

JazakhAllah khair.

Answer: Wa’alaikum assalaam warahamtu Allahi wabarakatuh,

May Allah ta’ala accept your Ramadan.

 

The Prophet peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said, “When Ramadan enters the doors of the Heavens are opened, the doors of Hell are closed, and the shayateen are chained.” (Bukhari, Muslim, and others)

 

However, because sins and other evil occurrences related to the devil still go on during Ramadan, scholars interpreted the last part of the hadith “the shayateen are chained” in different ways.

 

1.  It refers to those shayateen that try to stealthily listen to the reports of the Heavens.

 

2. It means that the shayateen are not able to incite the Muslims in Ramadan to the same extent they can at other times so they become “as though” they are chained.

 

3.  “Shayateen” here refers to some of them, namely the intensely evil ones amongst them.

 

4.  It means the lessening of evil during Ramadan. This is because even if all of them are chained, there will still be evil since evil has other sources e.g. immoral persons, vile traits, and evil people.

 

5.  It means they are chained for certain things, not everything and for certain people, not all.

(Ibn Hajr, Fath al-Bari and Imam Nawawi, Sharh Muslim)

 

InshaAllah that clarifies your question. BarakAllahu feekum.

Wasalaam,

Shaista Maqbool

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

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[Arif Nawaz]

Jazak Allah