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Fatwa CenterWhether Satan literally passes wind when hearing athaan
Question
I have a question on the following hadiths; are they authentic?
"Satan may come to one of you in the prayer and blow air in his bottom, making him imagine that he has lost his ablution. So when one experiences that, he should not turn away [from the prayer] unless he hears a sound or smells an odour."[Narrated by Bazzar as in Bulugh Al-Maram]
Abu Hurayra narrated that the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
"When the azan is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight in order not to hear the azan. When the azan has been completed, he comes back and again takes to his heels when the Iqaamah (second, small call to prayer) is pronounced, and he again returns after its completion till he whispers into the heart of the person (to divert his attention from his prayer) and makes him remember things that he did not recall before the prayer, and that causes him to forget how much he has prayed."
What is meant by passing wind here? Is it meant in a literal sense?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The first hadeeth was narrated by Al-Bazzaar, as has been stated by Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar in his book Buloogh Al-Maraam, and he did not mention any `Illah (hidden defect) in the hadeeth; rather, he stated that the origin of this hadeeth is found in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim.
The phrase 'smells an odor' means that he believes with certainty that he has passed wind. If he is not certain of it, he should consider that his original state has not changed, which is purity (that he has not lost his ablution). As-San‘aani said, "The meaning of the hadeeth was previously explained. It is a divine declaration that Satan is the enemy of man. He strives in enticing people even in the most honorable acts of worship to spoil it, and (the hadeeth underlines that) he cannot harm them and that their state of purity is not invalidated except if they are certain of that."
As for the second hadeeth, it was cited in Saheeh Al-Bukhari. Scholars held different views regarding the interpretation of the phrase "passing wind with noise" in the hadeeth. The apparent indication is that Satan literally passes wind with noise. In fact, there is no impediment to the literal interpretation of the statement. Ibn Hajar 
said:
"‘Iyaadh said that this may be interpreted based on its apparent indication (that Satan literally passes wind with noise) because Satan has a physical body that consumes food, and he could possibly pass wind. It is also possible that the statement is a metaphor to mean how repulsed he becomes. This interpretation is reinforced by the version cited by Muslim reading, 'having husaas'. As for the Arabic phrase in this version of the hadeeth 'having husaas', Al-Asma‘i and others interpreted it as to mean running very fast. At-Teebi said, 'This hadeeth likens Satan, as he distracts himself from listening to the athaan, to the loud noise that distracts the listener from hearing anything else, and then he described it as 'passing wind with noise' to reflect its repulsive nature...'"
Allah knows best.
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