The Ta'awwudh

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Every study guide in this library opens with the same five Arabic words, set above the Bismillah. The Ta'awwudh, Arabic for seeking refuge, answers a direct command from Allah: when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled. The Prophet ﷺ named it as the cure for a man whose face had gone red with anger. Its last three words are the ones the mother of Maryam used when she placed her newborn daughter under Allah's protection. One sentence names a refuge, names an enemy, and reads out the verdict already passed on him.

The Words · Arabic, Transliteration, Translation

The Command · An-Nahl 16:98

﴾٩٨﴿ فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

Fa idha qara'ta al-Qur'ana fasta'idh billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim

So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled.

The Ta'awwudh

The Longer Form · Sunan Abi Dawud 775

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ السَّمِيعِ الْعَلِيمِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ مِنْ هَمْزِهِ وَنَفْخِهِ وَنَفْثِهِ

I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan, the accursed, from his goading, his puffing, and his spitting.

The Tafsir · The Breakdown

What The Ta'awwudh Means

Overview

The Ta'awwudh is a supplication, du'a, a request placed with Allah, built from the wording of the Quran: a'udhu, billahi, min, ash-shaytani, ar-rajim. Ibn Kathir gives it its own section in his tafsir, his commentary on the Quran, under a second name, the isti'adhah, the seeking of refuge.

Both names grow from one root, 'ayn, waw, dhal, to seek refuge. The Quranic Arabic Corpus counts that root seventeen times in the Quran. Four of the seventeen are the same command, fasta'idh, so seek refuge, in Al-A'raf 7:200, An-Nahl 16:98, Ghafir 40:56, and Fussilat 41:36. Allah gave the order four times in one word.

The Command · An-Nahl 16:98

So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled.

The refuge comes first and the recitation follows. Ibn Kathir reads the verse as: before you recite the Quran. He records that the majority of scholars held the Ta'awwudh to be recommended, and that 'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah, as Ar-Razi reports him, held it to be required on the strength of the verse's command.

The next two verses give the reason the refuge holds.

Indeed, there is for him no authority over those who have believed and rely upon their Lord. His authority is only over those who take him as an ally and those who through him associate others with Allah.

An-Nahl 16:99 to 100

Belief, and reliance on the Lord. Satan's authority ends there. The Ta'awwudh is that reliance spoken out loud, at the moment the Book opens.

At-Takwir 81:25 says of the Quran: it is not the word of a devil, expelled. The Ta'awwudh draws that same line in the reciter's own mouth before the first verse.

A'udhu · I Seek Refuge

First person. Present tense. Right now.

A'udhu is first person and present tense. I seek refuge, as I speak. Each believer says it in his own voice.

The Quran puts this root in the mouths of the righteous at their most exposed moments. Maryam withdrew from her family behind a screen, and Allah's angel appeared to her in the form of a man. Her first words were: indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you (Maryam 19:16 to 18). The woman of the house closed the doors on Yusuf and called him to her. His first words were: ma'adh Allah, the refuge of Allah (Yusuf 12:23).

Both were alone. Both reached for this root before anything else.

A boy chased down the block runs straight to his father and grabs hold of him. The running and the grabbing are one motion. That is a'udhu.

Billahi · In Allah

The refuge has a name.

Bi is a one-letter preposition, in or by. Billahi, in Allah.

Al-Falaq and An-Nas seek refuge in the Lord, Rabb, the Owner who sustains: bi Rabbi al-falaq, bi Rabbi an-nas. The Ta'awwudh goes straight to the name Allah, the One who alone is worshipped.

Iblis said it himself: You created me from fire (Al-A'raf 7:12). He asked for respite until the Day of Resurrection, and Allah granted it (Al-A'raf 7:14 to 15). The enemy you run from was made by the One you run to, and he works on time that One gave him.

Min ash-Shaytani · From Satan

The refuge has a direction.

Min means from. You move toward Allah and away from someone.

Ash-shaytan is that someone. Ibn Kathir gives two derivations of the word: shatana, to be far, the far one, or shata, to burn, because the jinn were created from fire. He holds the first more plausible and explains it: the Shaytan has a different nature from mankind, and his ways are far from every type of righteousness. The Quranic Arabic Corpus counts the word eighty-eight times in the Quran, seventy as shaytan and eighteen as the plural, shayatin.

The Quran tells you how to treat him. Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy (Fatir 35:6). He announced his plan in advance: I will come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right and from their left (Al-A'raf 7:17).

Four directions. Ibn Kathir reports from Ibn Abbas why the list leaves out above: the mercy descends from above. The man who says a'udhu billah turns his face to the one direction the enemy left off his own map.

Ar-Rajim · The Accursed

The verdict is already in.

Rajim comes from the root ra, jim, mim, to stone. Ibn Kathir explains ar-rajim as expelled from all types of righteousness. He records a second, less common reading, the one who throws and bombards, and calls the first meaning the more popular and accurate one.

The word is Allah's own verdict. When Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam, Allah said: then get out of it, for indeed you are expelled, fa innaka rajim (Al-Hijr 15:34, Sad 38:77). The believer who says ar-rajim repeats a sentence Allah already passed.

The Quranic Arabic Corpus counts rajim six times in the Quran, and all six are about Satan or his devils: Aal Imran 3:36, Al-Hijr 15:17 and 15:34, An-Nahl 16:98, Sad 38:77, and At-Takwir 81:25. The same root gives rujum, missiles. Allah adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and made them missiles against the devils (Al-Mulk 67:5).

You are seeking refuge from a convicted enemy. His sentence was read before you were born.

The Longer Form · Sunan Abi Dawud 775

From the night prayer of the Prophet ﷺ.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that when the Prophet ﷺ stood for prayer at night, he opened with the takbir, Allahu akbar, and words of praise. Before he recited, he said: I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan, the accursed, from his hamz, his nafkh, and his nafth. Al-Albani graded the report sahih, authentic. At-Tirmidhi records the same report (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 242) along with Imam Ahmad's criticism of its chain.

As-Sami' and al-'Alim, the All-Hearing and the All-Knowing, are the two names Fussilat 41:36 places on the same command: seek refuge in Allah, indeed He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. He hears the words of refuge. He knows the whisper you are running from.

Read literally, hamz, nafkh and nafth are goading, puffing and spitting. 'Amr ibn Murrah, a narrator in the chain, explains them in Sunan Ibn Majah 807: hamz is al-mutah, a seizure of madness, nafkh is pride, and nafth is poetry. Ibn Majah 808, the report of Ibn Mas'ud, carries the same explanation. Darussalam graded both hasan, good.

The Quran uses the root of hamz for the pressure of the devils: my Lord, I seek refuge in You from the incitements of the devils, and I seek refuge in You, my Lord, lest they be present with me (Al-Mu'minun 23:97 to 98). Hamazat, the prods.

My reading of the three: one goes after the mind, one inflates the self, one comes out of the mouth. Pride is the oldest. Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam, and Iblis refused and was arrogant (Al-Baqarah 2:34). His whole argument: I am better than him (Al-A'raf 7:12).

The Cure for Anger · Sahih al-Bukhari 6115

Five words, prescribed for a man on fire.

Sulayman ibn Surad reported that two men insulted each other in front of the Prophet ﷺ. One grew so angry his face turned red. The narration in Muslim adds that his eyes reddened and the veins of his neck swelled. The Prophet ﷺ said: I know a word that, if he said it, what he feels would leave him. A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. Sahih al-Bukhari 6115 and Sahih Muslim 2610.

They told the angry man. He answered: I am not mad.

Anger heard the cure as an accusation. Say the five words in the first second you feel the heat, while you are still the one listening.

Structural Summary

Five Words. One Enemy. One Refuge.

A'udhu. The flight. I run to my protector and hold on, in my own voice, right now.

Billahi. The refuge. Allah, by His own name, the One who made the enemy.

Min. The direction. Away from what pursues me.

Ash-Shaytani. The enemy. The far one, coming at me from four directions.

Ar-Rajim. The verdict. Expelled by Allah's own sentence.

The Practice · Daily Integration

Six Moments. Five Words.

The Quran and the Sunnah name the moments.

1. Before you recite the Quran. An-Nahl 16:98.

2. Before the recitation in prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said it before reciting in his night prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 775.

3. When anger rises. Sahih al-Bukhari 6115 and Sahih Muslim 2610.

4. When an evil suggestion comes, nazgh, a prod from Satan. Seek refuge in Allah, indeed He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. Al-A'raf 7:200 and Fussilat 41:36.

5. When the mind chases a question it should drop. Satan comes and asks who created this and who created that, until he asks who created your Lord. When he reaches that, seek refuge in Allah and give up such thoughts. Sahih al-Bukhari 3276.

6. After a bad dream. Spit to your left three times, seek refuge in Allah from Satan three times, and turn over from the side you were sleeping on. Sahih Muslim 2262.

This week, say it out loud before you open the Quran, slowly enough to hear each of the five words. The first time anger rises, say it before you say anything else. At night, write down which of the six moments came up most. That is where you stand guard tomorrow.

The enemy has a verdict on him and a plan for you. You have five words, and a Lord who hears them.

آمِين

Prepared with discipline · Ameen

Verse-By-Verse · Test Yourself

The Quiz

Two questions per verse. Translation and a key Arabic word. Walk through it slow. The goal is comprehension, not speed.

The Command · An-Nahl 16:981 / 10

The Verse

فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

Fa idha qara'ta al-Qur'ana fasta'idh billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim

When does An-Nahl 16:98 command the believer to seek refuge in Allah?