Why do people sin in Ramadan, while the devils are chained?
Why do people sin in Ramadan, while the devils are chained?
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “When the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are bound.” (Narrated by Muslim).
This hadith lists three important ways in which the blessed month of Ramadan differs from other months of the year:
- When Ramadan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened.
The gates of Paradise open, thus inspiring Muslims to perform more acts of worship during this month, such as prayer, fasting, tarawih, i’tikaf, charity, dhikr, reading the Koran and more.
- The gates of Hell are closed.
The gates of Hell close because believers commit few sins during Ramadan.
- The devils are bound.
During this month, the devils are bound and chained. The devils, who are sworn enemies of humans, will have their hands and feet tied so that they cannot commit the same acts they did in other months. The Prophet ﷺ recounted all of this as a form of guidance, urging us to perform many acts of worship during this month and to abstain from religiously forbidden practices.
Our Prophet ﷺ and his companions rejoiced greatly at the arrival of the month of Ramadan and strove to perform as many good deeds as possible during this month.
It was also reported from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet ﷺ said when the month of Ramadan began, “The month of Ramadan has come to you, a blessed month in which Allah, the Most High, has made fasting obligatory to you. In this month, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed and the evil devils are chained. In this month, there is a night (Laylat al-Qadr) which is better than a thousand months – whoever misses its blessings will indeed be in loss.” (Narrated by Imam Ahmad, Bayhaqi).
However, we all know that bad deeds are committed in Ramadan and that people also fall into sin in this blessed month. Therefore, some people have a legitimate question: why do people sin in Ramadan, even if the devil is chained?
This question can be answered with the words of Imam Al-Qurtubi, quoted in the book Fath Al-Bari, “If they say, ‘How can so many evil deeds be committed in Ramadan? If the devils are bound, this should not be so.’ We would answer that the devils are kept away only from those fasting according to all its conditions, observing all the adab (etiquette) of fasting. Or that only some devils are bound, that is, the most evil (demons) - but not all devils, as is reported in some versions of the hadith. Or perhaps it refers to a limitation of their influence on people, which is felt in this month. Indeed, evil deeds are committed in Ramadan significantly less than at other times. Furthermore, even the binding of all the shaitans does not mean that all bad deeds and sins will not be committed in Ramadan, for there are many other causes for this besides the shaitans, such as the evil nafs (ego), bad customs, bad habits and the most dangerous human shaitans.” (Fath Al-Bari, Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalani).
As can be seen from the above, besides the shaitans, there are many other reasons that motivate us to commit sins and the most dangerous of these is our nafs, the inner enemy that cannot be eradicated.
As you can see, we must not be careless about these other reasons, for even the binding of all the shaitans, including human shaitans, does not guarantee the absence of other motivators to bad deeds and sinful actions. First and foremost, this will be our nafs. Therefore, we must constantly fight our ego and continue this struggle during the month of Ramadan.
