God says: “When you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge in God from the cursed Satan.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 98
What is the meaning of ‘seeking refuge’?
What do we mean by saying ‘in God’?
Who is ‘Satan’?
What is the meaning of ‘the cursed’?
‘Seeking refuge’ means to resort to and to seek protection and might from the possessor of might and strength. When we do that, the devil flees, frightened, defeated and humbled, afraid of being burned by the Godly light that comes into the heart of the believer who seeks refuge and protection in God.
Refuge and protection should only be sought from someone with strength and might, as can be seen from the following example. Suppose that there is a child walking in the street when an unfriendly man or an animal follows him to cause evil and harm to him. While he is in the highest degree of fear and terror, he sees his father coming towards him. I wonder, will he resort to or seek protection from anyone other than his father in such a case? Of course not! He will seek refuge in his father because he knows of his love for him, his honesty and his ability to overcome his enemies and defend his child from them. So is it for the believing person; they should only seek refuge in their Provider and enter into His Presence with their spirit by means of the messenger (cpth), who has the inseparable illumination; and thereby, they will be kept safe and protected and will escape from evil and hurt. Moreover, they will derive a light from God through the messenger (cpth); and since light and fire cannot be gathered together, therefore, the devil will leave him on the run, seeking to save himself before being burned by a light that is greater than that of the piercing star, the light of God and His messenger (cpth). He will feel scared and will draw back to be as far away as the east is from the west.
But if the devil was suicidal, in a rush, and desperate to cause evil and damage to those whom he wanted to hurt, soon the light of our master Mohammad (cpth), by which the believer is enlightened, would burn him until it led him to a death from whence there would be no return. God says: “Communicate yourself with your Provider and repulse:” (Oh Mohammad).
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 108, Al-Kawthar (Abundance), verse 2
Over and above this, by seeking refuge in God, such a believer would rise high and become elevated. It is possible to see a good example of this in God’s apostle and his noble companions, on the occasion when the devil shook all over and ran away from them in Honain Battle. The Holy Qur’an said that the devil took to his heels, saying: “…I am done with you, for I can see what you cannot. I fear Al’lah. Al’lah is of stern chastisement.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 8, Al-Anfal (Spoils of War), verse 48
Regarding the word Satan or devil, it designates one that is far from the truth, who will be burned and vulnerable to destruction when trying to institute aggression against the believers. God says: “No power has he over those who believe and put their trust in their Provider.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99
So, due to his shunning the right path, he is afflicted with burning and damnation. As for the word ‘cursed’, it refers to those who always suffer torment because of being deprived from being near to God. It also indicates a person who is continually hit with affliction and misery. Yet affliction and misery descend upon them only because of their wrongdoing, their aggression and their shunning, for distance and shunning God are the reason behind every affliction and the source of any sort of unhappiness.
So, the statement ‘I seek refuge in God from the cursed Satan’ as a whole means: I seek protection and might in the One who is Obeyed, whose commands control everything, and I seek refuge in God from the devil, whose distance from the truth causes him to always be tortured and deprived of every goodness.
If you spiritually resort to Al’lah when reading the Qur’an and enter – with the company of the messenger (cpth) – into the Presence of the One who is Obeyed after you have believed in God in self-belief, and have attained a degree of love for the messenger that is proportional to the perfection that you have, with that you will enter a fortified fort, and an inaccessible place, where no devil dares to enter; and even if they try, they will burn and die. In this fort, the insinuations of Satan will not reach you, the deafness of ears will disappear and the veil over the eyes will be uncovered, and therein you will hear the speech of the Speaker (glory to Him), while you are in the hearty company of the messenger (cpth) as well as seeing and witnessing the benefits and the good things that are folded under God’s commands.
At that time, the Almighty will overwhelm you with good health, money, honor and power. God says: “…Honor belongs to Al’lah and His apostle and to the believers…”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 63, Al-Munafiqun (The Hypocrites), verse 8
Only then will you be in a position where the Almighty will never empower a devil over you. God says: “No power has he over those who believe and put their trust in their Provider.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99
Thus, taking care to be unaffected by any form of magic made by the magician, such as creating the deceptions which they call ‘white magic’, separation, sowing dissent or establishing relationships, causing damage through the eye or through envy, etc., and even if one feels that they have fallen victim to the claws of a magician, a person just has to remember God truthfully and to settle a strict account with themselves. They have to see if they did anything negligent or anything that was in breach of God’s legislation. They have to remember whether they have denied someone their rights, have aggressed upon someone with injustice, or have done wrong to others, or whether their hands or their eyes have touched upon any forbidden thing, and look for other such breaches of God’s legislation or overstepping of His bounds. Then, they have to correct this negligence and change what intentions their spirit keeps to persist with such negligence. God says: “…verily, never will Al’lah change the condition of a people until they themselves change...”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 13, Ar-Ra’d (The Thunder), verse 11
They have to turn to their Provider in repentance, seeking protection in His High Honor, and to mention Al’lah; thereby, He will transform that which they suffer and the devil will run away from them. Thus the plot and the tricks of magic will fail.
By their resorting to God, their spirit will turn towards Him, the Almighty, and hence the Godly light will flow into it and protect it from the evils and the black plots which are being hatched against it.
This will be manifested more clearly to us if we refer to the noble Fortress, Al-Falaq (All that is coming to Appearance), where we find that the messenger (cpth) was protected and preserved from the evil of the ‘spitting on the knots’ due to his resorting to the Provider of everything. This spitting on knots is a type of magic used by the magicians, whereby they tie knots in a piece of string or rope, and spit on them in order to bewitch people. It was said that this was used against God’s messenger (cpth), but he was protected against its effects. Therefore, neither could a magician find a way to reach him, nor could a devil dare to approach him to show him false things.
How could a magician cause harm to the messenger (cpth), since he was always abiding in God‘s Presence with his noble spirit?!
That is why he (cpth) was impeccable and free of sins, be they minor or great. It is absolutely true that no devil – or any other creature – had any influence over him at all.
Was there any devil that would have dared to approach him (cpth)? Had there been any, he would have soon been burnt.
That is the purpose of this ‘seeking refuge’. It acquaints us with the facts, showing us that the believer who seeks protection in God following the example of the apostle (cpth) will not be harmed by a magician or be touched by a devil.
As for those who draw far from God and commit sin and aggression, they are subject to every evil and every injury as there are no weapons in their hands and no shelter to which they can resort.