1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

31 Questions

Why did Adam (a) listen to Shaitan if he was a Prophet?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Adam (AS) is a prophet and every prophet is infallible. Adam (AS) did not commit any sin at all. He was not given an obligatory order to avoid that tree but was just been advised as a good advise to follow. It was the best for Adam (AS) to avoid that tree but it was never an order to him to do so. We need to distinguish between the order and the advice.

Translations of Quranic meanings are not accurate and some translations are misguiding by translating the advice as an order.

'Shaitan swore by Allah to Adam and Eve that: I am a well wishes, sincerely advising you (Sura 7, verse 21)

Adam (AS) never thought that any one can swear wrongly by the name of Allah.

He thought that it was a sincere advice, and he did not go against any obligatory order from Allah (SWT).

Wassalam.
I have a friend who claims that whenever someone does something wrong according to Islam, he can see the Shaytan in that person. Is it possible for someone to see the Shaytan prompting another person?
Amina Inloes

There is no theological reason why it is impossible to see Shaytan, although most people do not see Shaytan on a regular basis. 

However, how does your friend know it is Shaytan, specifically? Is he arriving with an ID card? What about just garden-variety shayateen?

Basically there is no way to prove things which are not objectively measurable. That is, there is no way to prove he is seeing Shaytan and there is no way to prove that he is not. All you can say is that he sees something, and this is what he understands it to be. 

It is said that doing wrong acts leaves an ugly imprint on the soul which becomes manifest in the hereafter. For this reason, some mystics are said to be able to see people's true natures. So perhaps this might also be what he is seeing. 

I might be suspicious of the clause "whenever someone does something wrong according to Islam", because sometimes people do things that are ethically wrong but are not obviously forbidden. For instance, it is allowed to buy a knife. However, if I buy a knife to murder someone, this is very wrong. Still, it would not be obvious from my purchase that I am committing a sin.

Similarly, we do not always know when someone is doing something wrong. For instance, someone might be lying or trying to flatter someone in order to take advantage of them, but we do not always know it. Along the same lines, we don't usually know if someone is secretly breaking their fast or committing other hidden sins.

(Of course if he is seeing Shaytan in these cases, it is a different story.)

Anyway, most people do not require Shaytan to do wrong things as we are quite capable of doing them ourselves without him. 
Does 666 mean the devil, because those digits seem to have followed me everywhere for the past three years and I have had no luck in anything and lost a lot of money?
Amina Inloes

There is nothing in Islam that connects 666 with the devil. The symbolism between 666 and the devil developed in history among Christians over time. There is a reasonably comprehensive discussion of this on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/666_(number) 

Still, it is unusual if you are seeing that everywhere. You should be sure it is not just observer bias. For instance, a person might see many numbers in one day but pay more attention to that number because it is meaningful and a little scary. If it is really showing up everywhere (for instance, several times a day in random places) and an objective observer would agree with it, that is definitely weird, although it's hard to say what that might mean. 

Anyway, it seems like the underlying root of your question is whether you are just having bad luck of an ordinary kind, or whether there is something metaphysically unhealthy going on (for instance, the Qur'an discusses the evil eye).

Bad luck can indeed just sometimes be ordinary and due to decisions that don't work out (such as an investment or job that doesn't work out), the everyday travails of life (needing expensive dental work), or circumstances out of our control (such as how the coronavirus has affected the global economy).

(This is apart from genuinely bad choices which lead to bad results, but I'll assume that's not your case here.)

Sometimes what appears as bad luck is also a way that God guides us to do something else through fate. For instance, I try as hard as I can, but I can't get a job in a certain city or field, so I get a job in a different city or field, and this is par of my fate and a way of moving me on to something else. So, is it possible you are being guided towards something else? 

And sometimes there are spiritual/metaphysical components, such as the evil eye, although that is less common. Anyway, if that is something you are concerned about, you could discuss it with a religious scholar who has knowledge of these things and who is trustworthy and see if they have any thoughts on your situation. 

Also, don't forget, if you aren't doing so already, there are du'as and surahs you can recite to seek an increase in sustenance from Allah, for instance, Surah al-Waq'iah on Thursday nights. You can read more on duas.org.

Hope things get better for you!
Can the Ahlulbayt and the angels read our minds and intentions? And why has Allah (SWT) allowed Satan to read our minds and intentions and misguide us?
Amina Inloes

This question touches on the nature of reality - for instance, are thoughts part of reality?

In the material world, one's thoughts and intentions are not visible or "real" in the same way that a brick or truck is real.

However, in the hereafter, one's thoughts and intention will be made manifest so everyone can see them. (Thus, everyone will be able to read what was on other people's minds the same way they would see a brick or a truck here.) Therefore, they have an objective reality which we do not see directly.

Beings such as angels or Shaytan which are occupying a different aspect of reality (for instance, coming and going from the heavens) or which are of a different construction may be able to see the realities of our thoughts and intentions. (If the angels could not see your intentions, how could they write down that you should have extra reward when you are tempted to do a wrong deed but abstain?)

To my understanding, this is not about special permission from Allah but rather being on a different "wavelength" of reality or having different senses, in the same way that some animals can hear certain frequencies that humans cannot. 

In any case, the way that the universe is created is part of the divine plan, so we should assume there is divine wisdom behind it.