The Six Doors Through Which Shaitaan Enters Upon The Son of Aadam Part I

 

The following is a letter written by Shaikh Hamad Al-‘Ateeq[1] (rahimahullaah) in which he elaborates upon the key factors which allow Shaitaan to enter upon the progeny of Aadam (‘alaihis salaam); and so proliferates amongst them an array of evils and harms; the text of the letter:

From Hamad ‘Ateeq to the noble brother Quwairish bin Mi’jab – may Allaah, The Most High safeguard him and guide him;

As-salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh;

Your correspondence has reached us, and it pleased us with that which was within it from research which benefits the person in his religion, may Allaah make us and you from those that practice that which they learn. Know that knowledge without action is a tree without fruit; and the established proof will be manifest over its companion on The Day of Resurrection.

The point of the question which came to us from you regarding the six affairs which you heard when you were with us and you requested that I write them for you; and that I explain to you their meanings. Then the answer is that Ibn Al-Qayyim mentioned that Shaitaan achieves his aim from the son of Aadam through six doors; and they are:

1.     The excesses of food.

2.     The excesses of speech.

3.     The excesses of socialising/mixing with the people.

4.     The excesses of sight.

5.     The excesses of hearing.

6.     The excesses of sleep.

 

As for the excesses of food; then it is that a person eats more than his body has a need for, and Allaah has prohibited that where He said: 

{وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ}

((And eat and drink; and but be not excessive. Indeed He [Allaah] loves not Al-Musrifeen [those who waste by extravagance])) (Al-A’raaf: 31)

Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “this is because the excesses of food call to a great number of evils, for it exerts the limbs to the performance of sins and busies them from the performance of obedience. For how many a sin was bought about due to loaded repletion and the excesses of food, and the Prophet (Sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:

((The son of Aadam has never filled a vessel worse than his own stomach))”[2]

 

As for the excesses of speech; then it is that a person sets his tongue at liberty in that which does not concern him – and greater than this is that he sets it at liberty in that which is impermissible for him. Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “this is because the excesses of speech open doors to evil upon the servant – all of them being entry points for Shaitaan. Therefore refraining from the excesses of speech keeps those doors to evils closed, for how many a war was prompted due to a single word. The Prophet (Sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:

((…And is there anything that throws people into the Hellfire upon their faces — or on their noses — except the harvests of their tongues?))[3]

In At-Tirmidhee there occurs that a man from the Ansaar died, so some of the companions said: “Toobah to him” so the Prophet (Sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:

((­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ How would you know; for perhaps he spoke regarding that which did not concern him or he was miserly with that which would not have decreased him))”[4]

 

As for the excesses of socialising/mixing with the people; then it is that a person does not care about whom he sits with and accompanies. Thus; he sits with the believers as well as with the hypocrites, with the obedient ones as well as with the sinners, with the good ones as well as the unscrupulous. Rather he may perhaps sit with the disbelievers and the apostates and socialise with them. Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “the excess of socialising/mixing is a chronic disease which attracts every evil, and how many a blessing has been deprived due to mixing and social relations? And how much enmity has it cultivated? And how much intensity has it placed in the heart? – And none are safeguarded from the evils of mixing with the people except for those that place them into four categories:

The first category: is the one who makes his mixing at the same level as his nutrition, thus he cannot make do without it during the day and the night. So he is such that every time he has a need for it he mixes with it – like this perpetually – and they are the ‘Ulamaa with Allaah and with regards to His commands and in knowing the plots of His enemy, as well as knowing the sicknesses of the hearts and so are the sincere advisors for the sake of Allaah and for His Book and for His Messenger and for His servants. So this class – in mixing with them there is profit – in its entirety.

The second category: is the one who makes his mixing the same as medicine; he utilises it at the time of sickness, so for as long as he is healthy he has no need to mix with it. These are the ones that he cannot make do without in the welfare of subsistence and in attaining that which he is in need of from the types of dealings and collaborations.

The third category: are those with whom mixing with is like a sickness – notwithstanding its types and its strength and weakness. These are the ones from whom no benefit is attained – not in the religion or in worldly affairs; and mixing with them is a chronic disease.

The fourth category: is the one who mixing with is destruction at the level of taking poison – and how plentiful is this brand – may Allaah not increase them. They are the people of innovation and misguidance, those that obstruct the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), the callers to its contrary” From them also are the people of wickedness and vice.