Benefits of the Hadith: (… that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a woman, so he went to his wife Zaynab while she was scraping a hide for him, and he relieved himself, then he went out to his companions and said: “Indeed, a woman comes facing you in the form of a devil…”)

The Shaykh : This hadith is evidence for what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated, namely that a person is a human being who may see a woman who pleases him, and desire stirs within him. The remedy for that is to go to his wife, whom Allah has made lawful for him. This is a remedy whose benefit is certain, because if a person were to remain [without doing so], his heart might become attached to what he saw, and he would be destroyed. Therefore, we say that a thing is treated by its opposite: he goes to his wife, for she is like the one he saw who pleased him. In this is a benefit, which is treating a thing with what? With what opposes it and overcomes it. And what opposes this is for a person to go to his wife. Also, in this hadith is the benefit that a person goes to his wife even if she is busy; he calls her to his bed even if she is busy, but only as long as it does not prevent her from performing an obligatory duty. If, for example, he came to her at the end of the time and she had not prayed, and she said to him, “Let me pray,” then it is not permissible for him in this situation to call her to his bed, because that would necessitate delaying the prayer from its time, and that is not permissible. Also, in this hadith is evidence of the ease of life in the era of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions. This was a woman among the wives of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger is the leader of the Ummah (peace and blessings be upon him), and she is his wife, meaning like what we would say, the wife of the most important person in the town… she is scraping a skin in order to tan it. This easy, simple, and straightforward state is life in reality. We have lived a life of luxury, and we lived before that, and we have not lived much of it either. We found that the first way of life is much better than this. This [modern life] has things that are comfortable for the body, such as cooling things, cold water, cool shade, luxurious cars, and so on. In the past, it was not like this. But the comfort of the heart, tranquility, and the heart’s attachment to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) are much greater than what it is now. We ask Allah to guide us and you. Yes. And in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) is evidence that a woman is a trial, whether she is coming toward you or going away. His saying “in the form of a devil” means in a form that Satan beautifies, so that a person sees an ugly woman as one of the most beautiful women! The first time you meet her, she dazzles you, and you think she is among the most beautiful women in the world, but in reality, she may be among the ugliest women. However, Satan beautifies her for the person so that he sees her as if she is among the most beautiful women. And likewise when she turns away. Yes.