وَلاَ تُطِعْ مِنْهُمَا خَصْمًا وَّلاَ حَكَمًــا        فَأَنْتَ تَعْرِفُ كَيْـدَ الْخَصْمِ وَالْحَكَـمِ

25/13. And don’t obey them both (Nafs and Shaytaan) as an opponent or as a judge (person). For you know (very) well the deception of (such an) opponent or a judge.

There are 3 entities which urge a person to do an action:

1. Heart  
2. Nafs   
3. Shaytaan

When the heart desires to do some good, then the nafs prevents him. When the nafs and heart take their case to Shaytaan, then Shaytaan commands the person to do evil. In this regard, the nafs is the adversary and Shaytaan is the judge. If Shaytaan encourages a person to do evil, then the heart stops a person and Shaytaan opposes it. In such a case, they turn to the nafs for judgement. The nafs decides in favour of Shaytaan. In this instance, Shaytaan is the adversary and nafs is the judge.

What does the following mean? The deception of a judge: At times, the judge also colludes with the plaintiff. He deals very softly with a person.

For example, he says to the defendant, “It is good to speak the truth.”
When he affirms it, he says, “Fulfil your dues.”
If he has to say, “I don’t have anything,” then the judge puts him into jail.

Shaytaan attacks a person in many ways. Therefore, one has to be extremely wary of his deceptions.

Many incidents are mentioned in books. Here only three will be mentioned:

Incident One

1.) Mujaahid Rahimahullaah states that when Yasa' Alayhis Salaam (who is referred to as a Nabi in the Quraan) became old and weak, he thought of appointing someone who could perform the duties of a Nabi on his behalf during his life time. He assembled all his companions for this purpose and told them of his desire to appoint someone who would act as his deputy but who must fulfil three conditions namely

1.) he fasts all the year round,
2.) he spends the entire night in salaah and
3.) he never loses his temper. A relatively unknown person who was held in contempt by the people, stood up and offered himself for the job.

Yasa' Alayhis Salaam asked him whether he fasted all the year round, spent his nights in salaah and never loses his temper. The man replied in the affirmative and confirmed that he fulfilled all the three conditions. Perhaps Yasa' Alayhis Salaam did not believe his claim and rejected him. After a few days Yasa' Alayhis Salaam reconvened the meeting and repeated his conditions and asked his companions if any of them met the requirements. Everyone remained seated but the same man stood up again and claimed that he fulfilled the three conditions.

Then Yasa' Alayhis Salaam appointed him as his deputy. When Shaytaan realized that Dhul-Kifl had been selected as a deputy to Yasa' Alayhis Salaam he asked all his aides to go to Dhul-Kifl and engage him into doing something which would result in his removal from the post of deputy. All his aides excused themselves and said that he was beyond their power to harm. Shaytaan (Iblees) then said "Alright, leave him to me. I will take care of him."

Dhul-Kifl, true to his claim, used to fast during the day and pray the whole night and had a little nap in the afternoon. Shaytaan went to him just when he was about to take his afternoon nap and knocked at the door. He got up and enquired who was there. The Shaytaan replied "I am an old tortured man".

So he opened the door and let him in. The Shaytaan came in and started a yarn about the cruelty and injustice which he suffered at the hands of his community and relatives. He stretched the story so long that no time was left for Dhul-Kifl to take his usual nap. So, he told the old man (Shaytaan) that he should come to him at the time when he came out, and he would cause justice to be done to him. Later on Dhul-Kifl sat in his court and waited for the old man but he did not turn up. Next morning he again waited for the old man in his court but again he did not come.

Then in the afternoon when he was about to have his nap, the old man came and started beating at the door. He enquired who he was, and the Shaytaan replied again, "an old tortured man"
So, he opened the door and asked him “Didn't I tell you to come to my court yesterday but you failed to appear, nor did you come this morning?”
To this, Shaytaan answered “Sir, my enemies are very wicked people; when they learnt that you were sitting in your court and would force them to give back to me what was my due, they agreed to settle the matter out of court. But as soon as you left your court, they went back on their promise.”

Dhul-Kifl asked him again to come to his court when he was there. All this conversation continued for such a long time that he could not have his usual nap on that day also. He then went to the court and waited for the old man, who again did not turn up. The next day again he waited for him until late in the noon but to no avail. When he returned home on that day, he was very sleepy because of lack of sleep for last two days.

Therefore, he asked the family members not to allow anyone to knock at the door. The old man came again and wanted to knock at the door but the family members stopped him, so he entered the house through a ventilator, and started knocking at the door of his room, Dhul-Kifl got up again and saw that the old man had come inside the house while the door was still closed. So he asked him as to how he had entered the house.

Then suddenly he became aware that the man standing before him was Shaytaan and asked him, “Are you Allaah’s enemy Iblees?”
He admitted that he was Shaytaan and remarked, “You have thwarted all my plans and frustrated all my efforts to entice you in my design. My intention was to make you angry somehow, so that one of your claims before Yasa' could be proved false.”
It was because of this episode that he was given the title Dhul-Kifl, which means a person who is true to his covenant and performs his duties faithfully, and this title was fully deserved by him.
(Tafseer Ibn Katheer vol. page 5 page 319)

To be Continued In Sha Allaah

مَوْلَاىَ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ دَائِمًا أَبَداً  عَلىٰ حَبِيْبِكَ خَيْرِ الْخَلْقِ كُلِّهِمِ