The story of the devil advising Abu Hurayrah to read Ayatul-Kursi

19-1-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Please clarify to me how a devil can read Ayatul-Kursi? Can the devil advice humans to read specific things from the Quran? Abu Hurayrah may Allaah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, appointed him as a guard over zakah Al-Fitr (of Ramadan). It is a long hadith that reads:
“…and he [the devil] said to me [Abu Hurayrah], 'Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayatul-Kursi from the beginning to the end, 'Allaahu laa ilaaha illa huwa-l-Hayy-ul Qayyum.'' He further said to me, '(If you do so), Allaah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you [and protect you], and no devil will come near you till morning.' The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, 'He has spoken the truth, although he is an absolute liar. Do you know whom you were talking to, those three nights, O Abu Hurayrah?' He, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, 'No.' He [the Prophet] said, 'It was the devil.'” [Al-Bukhaari]

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. 

Islamically, there is nothing that prevents the devil from reciting Ayatul-Kursi [Quran 2:255] or anything else from the Quran to a person. The context of the story shows that the devil did not advise Abu Hurayrah out of being concerned about the welfare of this companion; rather, he did this for his own advantage as he feared that Abu Hurayrah would hand him over to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, so he wanted to rid himself from him.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said in ash-Sharh al-Mumti’, “This hadeeth is evidence that the liar may say the truth and that the enemy may give advice, but the advice of the devil in this case is not (given with the intention of) real advice, but, rather, out of fear of being handed over to the Prophet .” [End of quote]

Allaah knows best.