The word Satan is use for a disobedient and mutinous existence. It originates from the Arabic word Shayṭān. Rebellious and evil is Satanic no matter if it’s a human, jinn, or an animal. Quran and Hadith also use it to address evil humans and jinns.

Allah says in the Holy Quran:

“And the same way We made for every Prophet enemies—the Satans from amongst men and jinn” In this part of the Surah Allah addresses Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). He talks about how human and jinn Satans’ hostility towards him is not exclusive to him. Allah made Satans amongst men and jinns enemies for all prophets before as well. Hence the Holy Prophet (pbuh) does not need to worry instead endure and be patient upon their harmfulness and not let sorrow and disappointment overcome his self. Similar to how previous prophets faced their wicked enemies with patience and perseverance. The part “who always pour into one another’s hearts gilded talk in order to deceive” means that revelation means to convey a message secretly and the people or jinns that are Satans deceive common people with their smooth talk.

The Holy Prophet said to Abu Dharr al-Ghifari:

Aforementioned verses and Hadiths show there are two types of Satan:

1. Human Satan
2. Satan in Jinns

Human Satan

These are the Satans that associate with humans. These humans call others towards disbelief and misguidance. They misled themselves due to disobedience from Allah’s commands. And then they keep trying to mislead others.

Islamic scholars say that Satan in humans are more dangerous than Satan in Jinns.

This can be proved through the following Quranic verse in which the word ‘human’ comes before ‘Jinns’ while explaining the types of Satan.

Allah also used the word Satan for hypocrites and disobedient people in the time of Holy Prophet (pbuh). Allah Almighty says:

And when they (the hypocrites) meet the believers, they say: ‘We (too) have believed,’ and when they meet their devils in private, they assure them: ‘We are certainly with you. We only mock (the believers).’ (2:8)

The most disobedient, hypocritical and rebellious existence out of all is the biggest Satan known as Iblīs. That is why the word Satan is most commonly used for him. Iblīs is the enemy of mankind and he has sworn that he will do anything to mislead humans till Doomsday. He does not do this alone. He has many devils that help him while being unseen. But there are some devils that can be seen or are with us or around us. Those devils are human-like Satans. They make other humans do extreme disobedient things. These devils are found in every era. When Satan sees evil in someone, he pushes them towards more evil. And then he uses them as tools.

Human Satan’s doings

Similar to Pharaoh in Hazrat Musa’s (ra) era, Nimrod in Hazrat Ibrahim’s (ra) era. Satan, in human form, threw Hazrat Ibrahim (ra) into fire but with Allah’s grace the fire turned into a beautiful garden. Allah Almighty helped him and saved him from the evil of those disbelievers. Satan separated Hazrat Yusuf (as) from Hazrat Yaqub (as) by using the former’s brothers. He induced the non-believers into hanging Hazrat Isa (as) but Allah protected him too from their evil. Satan split up the two brothers Qabýl and Habýl and caused the first murder.

It was Satan’s doing that he got Hazrat Yahya (as) and Hazrat Zachariah (as) martyred on the hands of non-believers. He promised Pharaoh Godhood, persuaded him to lay down great chaos on the world and atrocities on the poor. He swayed non-believers into (God forbid) fight and kill our beloved Holy Prophet (pbuh). All of these human Satans are deniers of Prophets and scholars. They are also a danger for other Muslims’ faith. When Jinn Satans fail to overcome, mislead, and persuade humans towards innerself, they go to human Satans for help. These human Satans can be close friends too. On the day of Badr, strength of non-believers is also linked to them. Satan had strengthened their intentions. Satan reinforced their intentions and helped them in war so that Muslims could face defeat. As Allah says:

• And recall when Satan made their works seem fair to them and said: ‘None shall overcome you today. and I am your supporter.’ But when the two armies faced each other, he turned on his heels, and said: ‘Surely I am quit of you for I behold that which you do not. Indeed I fear Allah, and Allah is stern in punishment.’ (8:48)

Destruction Caused by Satan

To stir up turmoil within Muslims, to create suspicion in Allah’s religion, Satan uses human Satans for help. Allah Almighty says:

• And behold, the evil ones do inspire doubts and objections into the hearts of their friends so that they dispute with you; but if you obey them, you will surely yourselves turn into those who associate others with Allah in His divinity. (6:121)

Abu al Irfan haji Muhammad Naseem writes in his book “Iblīs ki tabah kariyan” that Hazrat Malik Bin Deenar said:

• Human Satans are harder to face that Jinn Satans for me. Because when I seek refuge to Allah, Jinn Satans run away but Human Satans come closer and calls me toward sins.

There are many humans whom Jinn Satans who do not know how to deceive. So they asked Human Satans for help. They used Innovations, superstitions, and showed sins as good. And sometimes harassed them with jokes. All just so the humans stray from the path of truth. Because Satan is hurt when people walk on the true path. Satan beautifully presents good as evil and evil as good in order to deceive humans. So the humans go away from the good and towards the evil. The battle between good and evil always has been and always will be.

Jinn Satan makes human Satans do such attacks that the human fears walking on the right path. That is why some people are afraid of walking on the true path. Allah Almighty says:

• Satan makes you afraid of poverty and enjoins you to commit indecency. (2:268)

The Path of Faqr and Islam’s Purity

The path of Faqr is a path of reaching Allah and it is impossible to travel this path without the Perfect Spiritual Guide. He is the mediator between man and Allah. But in this era of misguidance many lying and fake spiritual guides have made it hard for people to reach the truth.

Islam is pure of all distortion (of meaning) and no infidelity or heresy can stay close to it. But practically, it is totally possible that people make non-related things important instead of follow the true religion. Unfortunately, this is true in our society. Here the true teachings of religion have become unrelated to a great extent. Other things have become important given the name of religion and they are thought of as true good and piety.

When someone gets ready to give a good message and stop others from doing wrong then he definitely faces people that oppose and hurt him. The Holy Quran has ordered to not sit beside people who think of our religion as weak and tease it. It also warns that whosoever sits and listens to them is one of them. And this can be understood by thinking that sometimes intelligent people slowly get affected when they listen to them and eventually become one of them and fall into the pit of infidelity. Although they assume with their ignorance that ‘we are true Muslims, how can these people affect us?’

Dajjal

The Holy Prophet said:

• Let him who hears of the Dajjal (Antichrist) go far from him for I swear by Allah that a man will come to him thinking he is a believer and follow him because of confused ideas aroused in him by him. (Abu Dawood:4319)

The danger in being misled from going to the Dajjal as explained in above hadith is not true just for the Dajjal. Rather the case is same for every devil. And every one who calls towards misguidance is included. Nowadays the situation is sensitive. Because of electronic and social media, everyone has permission to speak their own.

People’s Thinking

Someone makes fun of Islam in hidden words while some call it old and ancient openly. Somebody sees usury as legal while someone else is promoting being unveiled. Some do not see abomination in music while someone else thinks of religion as dry without it. Someone does not care about religious people while some see bearded people as suspicious. Some see bearded people as (God forbid) sinners. Someone openly denies hadiths by calling them religious folk stories. Some call hadiths as historical records by trickery in order to deny them. Somebody sees the exertions of Islamic scholars as ineffective in this era. Someone thinks the Quran and hadiths have become useless now. Some think that all great achievements of Muslims are old stories. People facing depravity of religious knowledge are offering to learn religion only from them.

The people on screen think it is their duty to teach religion despite not knowing even the basics of it. And think it is compulsory for others to learn from them. The people whose teachings are actually reliable, meaning Saints and Faqeers, most consider their teachings useless. Rather they call them bad. So there is no shortage of people who take others away from religion, play with Muslims’ religion, and try to break their beliefs. Our Holy Prophet had given us occult news about such a situation years ago. He said:

• ‘There will come to the people years of treachery, when the liar will be regarded as honest, and the honest man will be regarded as a liar; the traitor will be regarded as faithful, and the faithful man will be regarded as a traitor; and the Ruwaibidah will decide matters.’ It was said: ‘Who are the Ruwaibidah?’ He said: ‘Vile and base men who control the affairs of the people.’ (Ibn-e-Majah:4036)

Satan in Jinns

These are the Satans that are related to Jinns, such as Iblīs and his children.

Allah Almighty said:

• From the evil of the slinking whisperer (Satan) who hides himself withdrawing (from the influence of Allah’s remembrance), who whispers into the hearts of mankind, whether he comes from the Jinn or the mankind. (114:4-6)

Satan rests on mankind’s heart. When mankind is negligent he whispers to him. When mankind recites about Allah, he retreats. Jinn Satan whispers once and we cannot see it. But we can see human Satan yet we cannot understand it even though we can see it. Satan withdraws when Allah is being remembered. That is why he is referred to as the one who hides himself. ‘Slinking whisperer who hides himself’ can be understood as when ‘the one who hides himself’ pushes someone to do the wrong, the reaction is severe. But he shakes the idea with great contempt.

Not every whisperer succeeds, most run away. At first they move backwards, then they whisper the same thing as soon as the opportunity comes. And even then the person feels irritated and wants to get rid of him, he hides. This continues. Slowly his reactions become weak. So much so that the day comes when he willingly does the actions that he once was infuriated at. Satan never gets tired of trying to mislead humans, rather he keeps on trying and trying. Sometimes attacks and sometimes retreats. Eventually he defeats even the strongest human if he does not seek refuge to Allah. Both of these trick have been referred to as ‘slinking whisperer’ and ‘the one who hides himself’.

Whispers of Satan

Whispers of Satan are the roots of all evil and disobedience from Allah’s commands. These whispers are such an evil that is present within mankind itself. It is associated with mankind’s own abilities. That is why he is responsible of staying safe from it. Because Satan’s whispers do not do any evil until human himself accepts it and do it. Allah has explained this behavior of mankind as follows:

• And I had no authority over you except that I called you, so you accepted my call. Now do not blame me but blame your selves. (14:22)

Satan is a thief. He steals people’s faith as well as their belongings. Satan steals some of food or drinks that have not been recited Allah’s name on. He stops people from charity and zakat by making them fear loss of money.

When someone wants to do a good deed, Satan obstructs his path and tries to stop him from the deed. Satan thwarts every good path and he tries his best to stop anyone who comes to this path. And if anyone succeeds on starting the journey of good, then he makes him doubtful like a brigand. If a lucky brave human succeeds in doing the right thing, then he remains endeavoring to ruin it.

Satan’s Promise

Satan has promised to push human off the true path and the Quran explains it as following:

• Satan said: ‘Since You have led me astray, I shall surely sit in ambush for them on Your Straight Path. Then I will come upon them from the front and from the rear, and from their right and from their left. And You will not find most of them thankful.’ (7:16-17)

The Holy Prophet says:

• Satan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, ‘The night is long, so stay asleep.’ When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart. (Bukhari:243)

Satan makes man lazy, stops him from working and makes him do today’s work tomorrow. Sometimes he stops him by means of whispers. Ibn al-Jawzi says:

• So many non-believers have gotten the thought of love for Islam but Satan always stopped them and whispered “do not be hasty, think about it more”. He kept whispering to them to such an extent that they died as a non-believer.

Satan makes man negligent regarding what is good for him just like with Hazrat Adam (as). Satan takes over the innerself through what is most dear to it.

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya writes in his book “Aghasat-ul-lehfan”:

• Satan runs through humans like their blood. So much so that he meets his innerself. Satan asks the innerself what it likes. When he finds out its weakness, he uses it to misguide the human. And he takes over him in regard to that side of his self. Satan also teaches his fellow human Satans if they want something from their loved ones, they should do the same. As the one who uses this method cannot fail. Anyone who uses another method will fail as that method will not work.

Everything Satan did against Allah is because of ego. This is the negative emotion that makes man disobedient even at the highest levels. Therefore Satans use ego against any human who is not being misled any other way. Human thinks highly of himself, thinks of his actions as greater. He is proud of his money, strength, rank, beauty, knowledge, intellect, abilities, and power. This pride makes him a criminal in Allah’s court. Such a human denies the truth, oppresses the weak, and suppresses rights of the innocent. Each of these things provoke the Divine Wrath.

Many people are not prideful of themselves rather humble. But such people often are a target of prejudices about their nation, party, or group. In their opinion the people close to them can never be wrong. They will accept that a mistake is possible but will never accept that people close to them have done it. Therefore a type of ethnic pride is born within such people.

Satan and the Inciting Innerself

The inciting innerself is a soldier of Satan. Satanic whispers and desires of the inciting innerself lead mankind to a decline through human Satans and Jinn Satans respectively. The aim of all efforts of Satan is to misguide humans that they do not reach the truth. This I why he swore about Allah’s respect. The inciting innerself traps the human who surrenders himself to sensual and animalistic desires which stem from satanic whispers. Satan and inciting innerself are both enemies of mankind. That is why the Holy Quran called them an open enemy of mankind. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said about inciting innerself “Your biggest enemy is your innerself”.

The reason it is the biggest enemy is that it hides. A visible enemy and thief cannot hurt anyone without the help of a hidden enemy of thief. This hidden enemy is the visible enemy’s confidant. And realizing it, the hidden enemy uses it to inform Satan about the human’s desires. On the other hand inciting innerself sends the messages from Satan, which are based on sins. Inciting innerself feels rested based on the satanic whispers about animalistic tendencies present inside man. And then it moves forward step by step so much so that man becomes a part of Satan’s party.

Difference between Human Satans and Jinn Satans

The difference between Jinn Satans and human Satans is that human Satans do not run away on hearing azan. Neither do they get caged during Ramadan. Rather they keep fighting Muslims as Allah Almighty says:

There are many ways to deal with both types. One simple way to do that has been described by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as when Satan whispers to you, just say ‘you are a liar’ and separate.

Meaning when Jinn Satans whisper to you that Islam is not absolute, or that Islam is not required for salvation in the hereafter, or that life will be harder if we follow the Shariah, instantly say ‘you are a liar’. Similarly if a human Satan whispers something like society can only progress through usury, or that for prosperity and progress it is important to change the old and true meaning of Quran and Hadith, or that in order to be respected in the nations of the world we need to leave Islamic culture are adopt western culture, say to this Satan too ‘you are a liar. In my opinion Islam is true and teachings of Quran and Hadith are the only true teachings. Success in life and salvation in hereafter is through following them. The only true meanings of Quran and Hadith are the one that scholars have set’.

There are many ways to deal with both types. One simple way to do that has been described by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as when Satan whispers to you, just say ‘you are a liar’ and separate.

Meaning when Jinn Satans whisper to you that Islam is not absolute, or that Islam is not required for salvation in the hereafter, or that life will be harder if we follow the Shariah, instantly say ‘you are a liar’. Similarly if a human Satan whispers something like society can only progress through usury, or that for prosperity and progress it is important to change the old and true meaning of Quran and Hadith, or that in order to be respected in the nations of the world we need to leave Islamic culture are adopt western culture, say to this Satan too ‘you are a liar. In my opinion Islam is true and teachings of Quran and Hadith are the only true teachings. Success in life and salvation in hereafter is through following them. The only true meanings of Quran and Hadith are the one that scholars have set’.

This blog is English translation of an Urdu article of the magazine “Mahnama Sultan-ul-Faqr Lahore” for the month of September, 2021. The title of the Urdu article is:

Insani Shetan aur Jinn Shetan (انسانی شیطان اور جن شیطان ).

Originally penned by Noreen Sarwari Qadri from Lahore is presently in English by Mohammad Bin Moghees Sarwari Qadri, exclusively for websites.