Why do people commit sins if all the devils are chained in Ramadhaan? Answered by Dr Zakir Naik

Dr. Zakir Naik: And I do agree with you that this is a common question and I remember several years back when I was in school and when I heard this Hadith that the devils are chained in the month of Ramadhaan immediately the question that came to my mind and the question that comes to many Muslims’ mind and many non-Muslims’ is that if the devils are chained then how do people, how do human beings yet commit sins?

This question is based on Hadith Muhammad (saws) which I mentioned earlier,

A Sahih Hadith of Musnad Ahmed vol. 2 page no. 230 Hadith no. 7148 which is also repeated

In Sunan Nasai ch. 5 Hadith no. 2106 where the beloved Prophet said that

“O ye people the blessed month of Ramadhaan is approaching and Allah has ordained for you that your fast in this month and the gates of heaven will be opened in this month and the gates of the hell will be closed and the devils will be chained. In this month is the night which is better than a thousand months and a person who is deprived of the blessings in this month is truly a deprived person.”

Now when we get this Hadith it clearly mentions that in this month of Ramadhaan, the devils will be chained and it’s a logical question if the devils are chained then how do human beings yet commit sins? To make the people understand we have to realize that when the devils are chained it does not mean that the devils are slain, they are killed they are yet present but they are chained, they are not killed. Their power is yet there but it is diminished.

For a better understanding I’d like to give you an example that when there is a lion or a tiger who is free there are high chances that he may kill you, your life is in danger but the moment that tiger or that lion is chained you are safe, you are safe as long as you maintain a safe distance, after the tiger has been chained if you come too close to him there are chances yet you can be killed. So as long as you maintain the distance form the tiger who is chained you are safe.

Similarly in the month of Ramadhaan if you maintain a safe distance from the Satan, you’ll be saved and if you read the Qur’an, Allah says

in Surah Baqarah ch. 2 verse no. 168

“Be careful of the khutuwatush shaytaan, of the footsteps of the devil for he is to you an avowed enemy”

Many places Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an that be careful of the footsteps of the devil. Allah doesn’t say that be careful of the devil because a normal Muslim, an average Muslim who has average Eemaan when he sees the devil in front of him he will be careful.

For e.g. Suppose there is a young girl who comes to an average Muslim, a young boy who has average Eemaan, if a young girl comes and tells him that lets spend the night together. That Muslim will say “spending the night together with a girl it’s haraam, it is Zinaa.” He will immediately object. But that same girl, if that girl phones that young boy and speaks to him on the phone, the boy will say, “speaking to the girl on the phone, there’s no problem” So he speaks to the girl for a few times on the phone for a few minutes, later on the girl says “lets go and have some snacks in McDonalds or in Kentucky Fried Chicken”, “having snacks for a few minutes, for half an hour with a girl in McDonalds, no problem”, so he goes and has snacks with the girl in McDonalds, later on the girls says “why not have dinner in a restaurant?”, “Having dinner with a  girl in a restaurant for a couple of hours, no problem!”. Then the girl says “Why not spend the night together?” and then the boy says “Spending the night together with a girl no problem.” So this is ‘khutuwatush shaytaan’… footsteps of the devils, this is not mentioned in the Qur’an this is just my own example.

So what Allah wants us is that be careful of the khutuwatush shaytaan, the footsteps of the devil, if the devil comes directly in front of an average Muslim who has Eemaan he will abstain, he will run away from it. But the khutuwatush shaytaan are the things which are dangerous so what we have to realize when the devil is chained his footsteps are restricted. So many of the sins are prevented but if we go close to him then the chances that we’ll be overtaken by the devil and commit a sin are very high. What we have to be careful that in Ramadhaan, if we keep the distance then the chances of committing sins is less, but if we go close to the Satan even though he is chained, like how a tiger can walk even after he is chained, same the devil so this is my understanding.

When our beloved Prophet said the devils are chained, the devil can yet move but less distance so if we keep the distance we’ll be safe.

The second reason that I feel is that in the month of Ramadhaan though the devils are chained, we fail to realize that the balance eleven months, they are free. And the impact that the devil has on the human beings for these eleven months it leaves those impact, that impression in the month of Ramadhaan.

To give you a better understanding, I always give the example that there are drug peddlers which try and get customers, the youngsters from the colleges from the universities, so what they do initially they give thee drug free and they entice the youngsters for having drugs. Later on after some time they charge a nominal amount for that drug, later on they charge an exuberant amount but by the time the youngster is already hooked on to the drug so even if the drug dealer is not there, they will try and find where the drug dealer is, they’ll go out of the way to find him and get the drug. And many of them even if the drug peddler… the drug dealer is imprisoned by the law, they will go out of their way to find someone else they may go in a chemist shop and buy mandrix whatever it is they are so much hooked on to it. So these people who have become addicts to drugs or rather say addicted to the Satan even though the Satan is imprisoned the effect is yet there.

So this we can understand as a drug dealer as a drug peddler even after he goes the drug addict gets accustomed to that drug. So we human beings we are accustomed to the sin and even though the Satan is imprisoned we keep on committing these mistakes. But mainly those people who have become addicts fall in this category. So those who do major sin fall in this category for the normal Muslims and average Muslims who haven’t become addicted, it’s easy for them to stay away from sin.

And the third reason that I give is that, though there are some scholars who say that in this month of Ramadhaan the strong devils, the Maarids they are imprisoned, the smaller ones are free. So they keep on committing mistakes but according to my understanding the third reason is that though the devils are chained by Allah (swt), they can yet whisper and one of the ways the devils try and get the human beings close to them is by whispering and Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah Naas ch. no. 114 verse no. 1-6

Qul aAAoothu birabbi alnnas

Maliki alnnas

Ilahi alnnas

Min sharri alwaswasi alkhannas

Allathee yuwaswisu fee sudoori alnnas

Mina aljinnati waalnnas

They whisper in the hearts of the human beings and they withdraw amongst them they are Jinn and men.

It’s talking about the Satans, talking about the devils who is whispering to the hearts of the human beings and they withdraw and among these devils are the Jinn and the human beings. So may be Allah (swt) has imprisoned the devils who are the Jinn but the human beings we, are yet free. So one category of the devils i.e. the Jinns have been imprisoned but the Satans are even amongst the men, that’s what Allah says, who are yet free and yet we have to be careful of the whisper of the devil, the waswasa. This waswasa mainly is a thing that attracts towards the sin. The sins are yet committed but the chances are less and furthermore it’s clearly mentioned in the full Hadith that Allah has ordained for you in this month of Ramadhaan that you should fast. Only if you fast according to me will the devils be imprisoned, that’s talking about the devils that are going to attract you. So Allah says if you fast, Allah has ordained for you fasting and the devils will be put in chains so the devils that are after you, if you fast surely they will be restricted. The criteria for us to be away from the devil is to fast. If you fast with the proper Neeya seeking the reward of Allah (swt) surely the devil will not be able to entice you.

And the best logical way to prove this is if you check the crime rate of the Muslim countries during Ramadhaan it goes down. But if you check the crime rate of the non-muslim countries in Ramadhaan, it is the same. The reason is that because they are not fasting, the non-muslims, this devil yet has an effect on them because the Muslims are fasting, if not all properly at least majority or at least quite a large no. so because of that the crime rate in the Muslim country in the month of Ramadhaan is low as compared to the other months. But the crime rate in the non-muslim country is approximately the same indicating otherwise even the non-muslims they will not commit any sins. So the criteria is that you have to fast properly for the sake of Allah (swt).