him) said: "When Ramadaan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened,
and the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained up."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3277; Muslim, 1079. According to
al-Nasaa'i:"The most evil jinn are chained up."
This does not mean that the devils have no influence at all, rather it
indicates that they become weaker in Ramadaan and are not able to do
what they are able to do at times other than Ramadaan.
It may be interpreted as meaning that the ones who are chained up are
the most evil devils, not all of them.
Al-Qurtubi said: If it is said, how come we see many evil actions and
sinsbeing committed in Ramadaan, for if the devils were chained up,
that would not happen?
The answer is that (evil actions) are reduced on the part of those who
fastmeeting all the conditionsof fasting and paying attention to the
etiquette of fasting.
Or some of the devils - namely the most evil ones- are chained up, not
all ofthem, as previously mentioned in some reports.
Or it may mean that evil actions are reduced in Ramadaan, which is
something that we can see. Even though evil actions happen in
Ramadaan, they are less than at other times. Even if all of the devils
were to be chained up, that does not mean that no evil action would
happen, because there are other causes of evil action besides the
devils, such asevil souls, bad habits and the human devils.
From Fath al-Baari.
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