Sunday, February 10, 2013

Jinn,witchcraft, evil ,- What is meant by the devils being chained up in Ramadaan? .

What do you say about the devils being chained up in Ramadaan?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari (1899) and Muslim (1079) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When Ramadaan comes, the gates
of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hellare closed, and the devils
are chained up."
The scholars differed as to the meaning of the devils being chained up
in Ramadaan.
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said, quoting al-Haleemi: It may be interpreted at
meaning that the devils are not able to tempt theMuslims as they are
at other times because theyare busy with the fast which controls their
desires, and with reading Qur'aan and dhikr (remembrance of Allaah).
Another scholar – someone other than al-Haleemi – said that what is
meant by the devils is some of them, namely the maarids (strong
devils), who are chained up.
'Iyaad said: it may be interpreted in a literal sense, and that is as
a sign to the angels that the month has begun, and in veneration of
its sanctity, and so as to prevent the devils from harming the
Muslims. And it may be interpreted as referring to the great amount of
reward and forgiveness, and that the devils temptpeople less, so it is
as if they are chained up. Thissecond interpretation is supported by
the fact that according to a report narrated by Yoonus from Ibn
Shihaab which is recorded by Muslim it says "the gates of mercy are
opened". The chaining up of the devilsmay also be understood as a
metaphor for them being unable to tempt people and make their whims
and desires attractive to them. Al-Zayn ibn al-Muneer said: The first
view is most likely to be correct, and there is no need to try to
understand it in anything other than the literal sense.
Fath al-Baari, 4/114.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about
the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
"and the devils are chained up," – yet we still see people suffering
from epilepsy during the day in Ramadaan, so how can the devils be
chained up when some people are suffering epileptic fits?
He replied: In some versions of the hadeeth it says "and the strong
devils (maarids) are chained up" – this is narrated by al-Nasaa'i.
This hadeeth is speakingof matters of the unseen,so we have to accept
it and not discuss it any further. This is safer for aperson's
religious commitment. Hence when 'Abd-Allaah, the son of Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal said to his father,"Some people suffer epileptics fits
during the day in Ramadaan," the Imam said: "This is what the hadeeth
says and wedo not discuss this."
Moreover it seems that what is meant by their being chained up is that
they are prevented from tempting people, based on the fact that there
is a great deal of goodnessand many people turn toAllaah during
Ramadaan.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 20.
Based on this, the chaining up of the devilsis something that happens
in a real sense, about which Allaah knows best. This does not mean
that evil thingsdo not happen or that people do not commit sin. And
Allaah knows best.

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