— Ryoichi Mita
— Ruwwad Center
Ibn Jarir has quoted Abu Dharr al-Ghifari as saying, ‘I attended a meeting of the Prophet Muhammad. It was a long meeting. He asked me, “O, Abu Dharr, have you said your prayers?” I replied, “No, O Prophet of God.” He said, “Get up and offer salah of two rakat.” Thereupon, I offered salah and joined the meeting again. Then he (the Prophet) asked, “O Abu Dharr, did you seek the protection of God against the Satans among human beings and jinns?” I replied, “No, O Prophet of God. Are there Satans among human beings also?” The Prophet said, “Yes, those Satans are worse than those among the jinns.’” (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir). Here, ‘Satans among human beings’ refers to those people who have attained respectability and popularity on the basis of self-made religion, and who will stop at nothing to disprove the call of Truth. When the call of the Truth is given in its purest form, they feel that they are being stripped of all protection. The straight path for them would have been to accept the Truth on its being clarified. But, compared to acceptance of the Truth, their position is dearer to them. To save their position, they set about proving the dubiousness of the preacher and his call. They make allegations that are themselves baseless, but because they express themselves so beautifully, many people are influenced and are filled with doubt.