How to Protect Yourself from Evil - Mufti Menk
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-10T13:11:29.344771+00:00 | Topic: Iman
How to Protect Yourself from Evil - Mufti Menk
Opening
"Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings."
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his companions."
The Need for Divine Protection
My beloved brothers and sisters, we know that all of us need protection, the protection of Allah subhanahu wa-ta'ala who is the owner of protection. If Allah has not protected someone, they are doomed. And if Allah has protected someone, then nothing can ever harm them.
So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has clearly told us that we need to seek the protection of Allah. In fact, Allah Almighty Himself has revealed surahs, entire surahs of the Quran, wherein He is asking not only Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم), but by extension, every one of us, to seek the protection of Allah.
You and I know that Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (صلى الله عليه وسلم) the best of creation, the most loved by Allah, the most noble of all messengers of Allah subhanahu wa-ta'ala, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon them all.
We know that he was protected by Allah completely. He didn't need to seek the protection of Allah. But Allah still tells him that we will let certain things happen in your life, only so that your followers, your ummah, can actually take cue from what has happened, and protect themselves, and continue to seek the protection of Allah on a daily basis, not just in the morning, but in the morning and the evening.
May Allah protect all of us. Say, Ameen.
The Story of Magic Against the Prophet
My brothers and sisters, there was a time when someone had blown into the knots that they had made of the blessed hair of Rasulu Llah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) on a comb, trying to engage in what is known as magic against the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Remember, nothing harms you except by the will, permission, and knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa-ta'ala.
So nothing can ever happen to you except if Allah has willed it, if Allah has written it, and if Allah knows about it, and He will know about it. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) one might ask, why did Allah allow this to happen to him when he was the most loved unto Allah? Well:
"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern."
We always hear that the beautiful example in the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). If you were to follow him, and him wholly, and him alone, you would need nothing else. So, if we were to follow the Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم)'s sunnah and his way, every morning and evening, we would be seeking the protection of Allah from the evil that is around us.
Types of Evil We Need Protection From
What type of evil? Evil people, evil thoughts, the whispers of shaitan, whether it is magic that people try, jealousy that people might have, the evil eye that is mentioned in the hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Sometimes you can actually affect your own self with evil eye. When is it? When you are so self-conceited and impressed by yourself that you forget Allah. You forget to connect it to Allah.
You have wealth, connect it to Allah. You have good looks, connect that to Allah. You have a happy situation, connect it to Allah.
By saying what? By believing this is only from Allah. He can take it away now. This is only from Allah.
"Whatever Allah has willed has happened. Glory be to Allah. Subhanallah."
May Allah grant us from His goodness.
The Revelation of Surah Al-Falaq
My beloved brothers and sisters, today, I wish to go through 11 verses of the Quran. Very short but very powerful.
Connected to the protection and the seeking of protection from Allah. Who is Allah? And what exactly are we seeking protection from? So, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was shown in his dream. It was actually revealed to him in a certain way.
What happened to him? And where it was done? He sent one of his companions to go and look for that comb. And lo and behold, there were 11 knots. As he released each one of the knots, he recited each verse that was being revealed.
"Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak"
Subhanallah. You know how powerful that is? Allah is telling Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and by extension all of us, Say, I seek the protection in the Lord of the daybreak. Whoever created daybreak, I ask him to protect me.
Subhanallah. Look how powerful that is قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ Say that I seek the protection in the Lord of daybreak.
The one who made the daybreak and who allows it to continue to come on a daily basis. So much so that did you realize daybreak is a creation of Allah that never ever disobeys Allah. Such that other creatures of Allah can give you the precise nanosecond that this sun is going to come up.
You and I know, we have a perpetual calendar here in this masjid that will tell you sunrise, this time. Does daybreak ever say, today I'm not coming? Subhanallah. May Allah grant us ease.
We learn what obedience is when we look at the other creatures of Allah. But man with his sophisticated brain still thinks, it's okay, today I'll have a break. May Allah (جل جلاله) forgive us.
Seeking Protection from Evil
So we are seeking the protection in Allah. Who is Allah? The Lord of the daybreak.
"From the evil of that which He created."
So He created good things, but within those good things, there can be evil that will come from those good things. For example, you have a human being. Allah created mankind for various reasons.
That's a topic on its own. But within mankind, sometimes evil can come out of them. Allah created the darkness.
In the darkness sometimes, and the darkness is not a bad thing. Within darkness we actually have a very blessed moment where, we would fulfill a prayer that is so valuable known as tahajjud. Had it not been for that time of the night, or that time of the morning, whatever you want to call it, based on how you look at it, you would not be able to achieve that closeness to Allah.
And remember something that I find very very amazing, and a sign of the mercy of Allah is He did not make the prayer of tahajjud compulsory. If He made it compulsory, it might have been difficult on us. Imagine you go to sleep, you get up at a certain time, just when you're getting a good sleep.
Allah says, we will keep it voluntary, but we will recommend it, and we will show you the value of it. And you know what? You get to a level when you decide, I'm going to fulfill this for the sake of Allah. It's darkness, right? Outside.
But the most enlightening ibadah is happening at the darkest hour. So it doesn't mean all of what Allah has created within the darkness is evil. Allah created the day and the night, those are good things, but within the night a lot of evil happens.
So what do we say? We say:
"Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak, From the evil of that which He created, And from the evil of the night when it darkens"
And I seek His protection. I seek the protection of the one who created the daybreak from the darkness when it sets in.
غاسق - The darkness when it sets in. As the darkness settles, people feel insecure. Sometimes, subhanAllah, the lighting is not good enough.
At times you know that you hear sounds and you feel a little bit uneasy. You are supposed to be a mu'min, a believer. The minute you seek the protection of Allah, there should be a comfort within your heart, I have read my du'a.
It's called mu'awwidat. Mu'awwidat, those verses where in which you are seeking the protection of Allah. Ayatul Kursi is one of the most powerful.
But today we are speaking of the last two surahs of the Quran known as Al-Mu'awwidatan. The two surahs within which you seek the protection of Allah from all evil. So we are saying, O Allah, I seek Your protection from the darkness as it settles.
Protection from Magic and Jealousy
"And from the evil of the blowers in knots"
And we are seeking the protection of the Lord of daybreak from the blowing. The blowing that happens upon the knots wherein people intending to engage in magic. What does this mean? Number one, the evil of magic.
Number two, the tying of knots and the blowing in those knots is a type of magic. And the Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم) says:
(Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 5765)
"Whoever engages in that has disassociated from Allah or associated partners with Allah."
الْحَسْ وَالنُّولَةُ والرقى شرك To engage in magic is haram.
Totally haram. How to protect myself from the evil of magic is by reading this surah every morning, every evening. Not just once, repeat it thrice.
With ayatul kursi. And you'll be protected. Allah is telling you, you are saying, Oh Allah, protect me from the evil of the blowing into the knots of the one who is going to blow into it.
"And from the evil of an envier when he envies."
The evil that will come out of it, protect me from it. Oh Allah, I seek your protection from the jealousy of the one who is jealous. May Allah protect us.
If we are seeking protection of the Lord of Daybreak from jealousy, it means we should not be jealous of others because it's an evil thing. I want protection from jealousy, but I'm jealous of everybody else. What's the point? Subhanallah.
You want protection, don't be. Be happy when you see someone achieving something that's a sign of your connection with Allah. Someone has scaled great heights in wealth, in position, in power, in authority, in knowledge, in anything.
The day you are happy for them is the day you are happy with Allah. Do you know why? Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
"We are the ones who distributed all this to the people, not you. So if you're happy with what they got, you're happy with what we actually gave them."
Subhanallah. You see, when you are not happy with what Allah gave someone else, you're not happy with Allah. When you are happy with what Allah gave someone, in actual fact, you've only now understood who is Allah, He is the giver.
May Allah protect us from jealousy. And may Allah protect us from it both ways, from being affected by jealousy and from affecting others with jealousy. Let's move to the next surah.
Surah An-Nas - Protection from Human and Jinn Devils
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."
"Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind"
Another powerful opening.
You are declaring that, I am seeking the protection in the Lord of the people. Who is the Lord of the people? Allah. So you are confirming that the Lord of the people is actually Allah.
And whoever that is, we know that it's Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala creator of entire creation. But the one who created mankind at large, we seek His protection from what? Every evil that comes from man and jinn. That's what it is.
Before we continue to say what we want protection from, we want to declare and acknowledge who is Allah.
He is the owner of all the people, the sovereign. The owner, He owns all the people.
You, your father, your children, your siblings and everybody you know, your enemies and your friends, they are ownership of Allah who made them.
That's why when a person passes away, what's the dua we normally say? As soon as you hear, so and so passed away. What do we say?
What does that mean? We belong to Allah, He owns us.
And we're all going to go back to Him, subhanAllah. Confirmation.
He is the owner of all the people.
I seek the protection in the Rabb of the people who is the owner of all the people, who is the worshipped by all the people, the owner of worship. He is the only one who deserves to be worshipped. There are so many other things that people worship nowadays.
None of them deserve worship. That's why when we translate (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ) we say there is no God worthy of worship besides Allah. There are others who are being worshipped, they are not worthy of worship.
Allah is the only one worthy of worship. That's it. So this is why we say that the one who is worthy of worship:
Quran 114:3
Now I go ahead and I say what I want protection from.
The Whispering Devil
Quran 114:4
First, we talk about shaitan. Shaitan is evil, man is good. All the people you get along with, those you don't get along with.
The good and the bad people literally, within them there is goodness, but shaitan exploits, and shaitan abuses, and shaitan traps, and they fall into the trap, and they then extend the work of shaitan with or without realizing. Now we need protection from that, because without realizing we could be people who are falling in the trap of shaitan, and shaitan tries with everyone everyday. So the day you think, today shaitan didn't come to me, you need to go to someone with knowledge and ask them and find out, you know what, how did shaitan come to me today? He came to you.
If you don't know how, then you need a little bit of help. He came to you somehow. Everyday shaitan comes to everyone.
That's why we say, seek the protection in Allah from shaitan. So who is this (ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ ٱلْخَنَّاسِ)? He is the whisperer who retreats, whispers in your system. He comes and quickly tell you, your sister-in-law is against you.
And then he runs away. Now you start with your mind, your mind becomes strong. Sorry to give this example, I know it's quite a common thing.
But in all honesty it's from shaitan. So what happens? You start thinking, your mind, then you start working, and you start doing more than shaitan expected. Some of us, we make shaitan ashamed because he didn't know how properly we would actually follow what he planned, and even execute it in a better way sometimes.
It happens. So relax, take it easy. Understand, process the whispers in a proper way that will please Allah.
What does shaitan do? Allah says, shaitan comes to you, lights the fire and runs away. It's in the Quran. Allah tells you that in surah al-Hashr.
Subhanallah. Shaitan comes and says, I want you to disbelieve. Obviously not directly like this, but in certain ways.
Once you disbelieve, and then when he is being blamed, he says, No, no, no, no, I got nothing to do with this. I was never involved here. Don't put me into this thing here.
But you started the whole thing. That is what is called waswas al-khannas. The whisperer who retreats, he runs away.
In fact, there is jinkan from among shayateen who are named al-khannas because they create doubt in the mind, whether it's OCD, whether it is the problems that people face with thoughts, and with evil thoughts, bad thoughts. That is al-khannas affecting you. Ask Allah to protect you from the whispering of al-khannas.
Because he comes to you, then he goes away. Then he comes to you again, then he goes away. Then he comes to you again, then he goes away a third time, and so on.
What is exactly those whisperings? How do they work? So we describe it, or Allah describes it:
That which actually whispers within the chests of the people, not only in your ears. Shaytan comes to your system, in your heart. You start hating others, you start causing problems, you start doing things that displease Allah, and you don't realize, man, who are you? You are a droplet of semen, and you are going to be literally returning to the soil and dust.
That's what you are, that's what I am. Droplet of semen, today we want to argue, and fight, and pretend like we are the ones and there's no one besides us. There is everyone besides you, subhanAllah.
You are just one. There are people who are closer to Allah than you, whom you think are far from Allah, but you don't know because taqwa is only known by Allah. That's why he's got a day of judgment.
If it was known by all of us, we wouldn't need the day of judgment. We would already know (مُتَّقِي مُتَّقِي مُتَّقِي مُتَّقِي) Let's go. These guys are sinners, sinners, sinners, sinners.
Let's go. That's not how it works. May Allah grant us steadfastness.
And steadfastness is a journey that lasts right up to the last breath. Some people quit right at the end, and some people jump on right at the end. May Allah grant us death with iman.
Protection from Human and Jinn Devils
So this is why we are taught right at the end:
From jinkain, from mankind. You know the devils are two types, not only jinkain. Sometimes your friend is a shaitan.
Sometimes you and I can become little shaitan. When? When we encourage others to disobey Allah, and we are disobeying Allah. When we create fitna, and we are the source of it.
Who are we? We are not... Like I said, they say in Ramadan shaitan are tied. But the shaitan of mankind are not tied. So I always tell people, that means now it's you and I. Forget about the shaitan, he's tied.
Now we are the devils. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us forgiveness. May Allah open our doors.
Conclusion - Daily Protection
I want to close by saying, my brothers and sisters, don't ever lower your guard. You know, if you go to a war zone, and you got that protective... what's it called? The bulletproof vest and so on. You know, we are here in Newtown, Johannesburg.
If I were to ask you to lift up your hands, anyone who has that vest, we're gonna get a few guys here. But let's not do that. All I'm going to tell you is, we would be fools if we know that there's shaitans and jinkain all around us trying to attack us, and we don't read simple du'as every morning and evening, and after every salah.
So that is my lesson to myself to begin with, and yours, don't be lazy. Every morning and evening, remember, it is the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Fulfill these verses, read them, believe them, seek the protection of Allah.
(Abu Dawud Hadith 5088)
In the name of Allah, with whose name, nothing in the heavens or the earth can cause harm, and He is indeed the All-Hearing, All-Wise.
Nothing will touch you unless and until Allah has willed it.
I say these words of mine and may Allah send blessings and peace and barakah upon our Prophet Muhammad.