Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-68a

The reciter: "And from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

When any one of you sleeps, Satan ties three knots at the back of his neck. He recites this incantation at every knot: 'You have a long night, so sleep.' If he awakes and remembers Allah, one knot is loosened. If he performs Wudu', the (second) knot is loosened; and if he performs prayer, (all) knots are loosened. He begins his morning in a happy and refreshed mood; otherwise, he gets up in bad spirits and sluggish state.

يعقد الشيطان على قافية رأس أحدكم، إذا هو نام، ثلاث عقد، يضرب على كل عقدة : عليك ليل طويل فارقد، فإن استيقظ فذكر الله تعالى انحلت عقدة، فإن توضأ انحلت عقدة، فإن صلى انحلت عقده كلها، فأصبح نشيطاً طيب النفس، وإلا أصبح خبيث النفس كسلان

Riyad as-Salihin 1165

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
These two hadiths are related to standing in night prayer. The first hadith: It was mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that a man slept until morning. His statement: means until the dawn appeared, and he did not perform the late-night prayer. It is also possible that means he missed the Fajr prayer. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: or he said: . When he urinated, he did not hear the call to prayer. When he urinated in his ears, it prevented him from hearing the call to prayer, so he did not rise. This indicates several benefits:
First: That Satan urinates, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: .
Second: That he eats and drinks. This is also established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: .
It is also established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that Satan vomits. If a man ate food and did not mention the name of Allah, Satan shared in it with him, because if you start eating without mentioning Allah, Satan shares with you. When the man mentioned the name of Allah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . Vomiting: means he expelled it from his stomach. So these are three things: urination, eating, drinking, vomiting. Four things. It is obligatory for us to believe in them as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) informed us, and to believe that they are true in their reality, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is the most knowledgeable of creation regarding the unseen matters.
Second: He is the most sincere advisor to the Ummah. It is not possible for him to come with words that confuse people.
Third: He is the most eloquent of creation (peace and blessings be upon him). It is not possible for him to utter words while intending the opposite of their apparent meaning, ever.
So Satan eats, drinks, vomits, and urinates. But is his urine, vomit, food, and drink something tangible and observed? No, it is not observed. We believe in it and say: These are unseen matters, we do not know their manner, and we do not know them from the tangible reality.
And in this is evidence that it is recommended for a person in the hadith to strive to stand in night prayer so that Satan has no way over him.
As for the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: He ties them, he binds them. : Sleep, early, after the call to prayer, delay, and the like, he discourages him from good. But if a person rises and remembers Allah, one knot is undone. If he performs ablution, the second knot is undone. If he prays, the third knot is undone. So he rises in a good mood and energetic, and praise be to Allah. The remedy is easy: Rise and remember Allah, say "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), "Alhamdulillah alladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatna wa ilayhi al-nushur" (Praise be to Allah who gave us life after He caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection), and read ten verses at the end of Surat Ali 'Imran. Perform ablution and two knots are undone. Pray and the three knots are undone.
For this reason, it is recommended that a person begin standing in night prayer with two light rak'ahs, lightening them, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commanded that, and because he himself (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did that, beginning the night prayer with two light rak'ahs. And because that is faster in undoing Satan's knots. On a day when he prays two rak'ahs, the knots are undone. And this is among the unseen matters that we do not perceive with our senses. We do not perceive it except through revelation. And it is obligatory for us to say: We believe and we confirm what Allah and His Messenger informed us of, because this is the reality of faith. As for the one who does not believe unless he sees, he is not a believer. For this reason, when the disbelievers see the punishment or see death, they believe. Pharaoh, when he drowned and saw that he was perishing, said: : Look, after he used to tyrannize over the Children of Israel, he is now following them, believing in what they believe. He humbled himself while he was alive before he died: / So it was said to him: ? Do you believe now? It does not benefit . He had already . Because the Children of Israel had been terrified by Pharaoh. If it were said to them: He died, there would be doubt in their hearts. But when they saw his body floating on the water, they believed, .
So the result, my brothers, is that these matters which your minds may reject, you must believe in them. The Infallible said it. Say: We believe and we confirm. Do not say: "Well, I touch my hand and I do not find moisture, Glory be to Allah! Is Satan's urine like human urine?!" This is a matter whose knowledge is with Allah. I believe that he urinates in the ear of a person when he delays the Fajr prayer. I believe in that. As for whether you must perceive moisture in it or not, well, he vomited what he ate in the middle of the food, and yet we eat it and it does not harm us. If a human vomited in the middle of the food, we would not eat it.
So it is obligatory in such matters that a person confirms and believes. And how much is hidden from us! When they came to ask the Messenger about the soul, what is this soul that when it enters the body, it becomes alive and moves and goes and comes, and when it exits, it becomes a corpse? What is this soul? Allah the Exalted said: : meaning, what remains for you is only to know what the soul is, .
And when a bird came and pecked in the sea, the sea has much water. The bird pecked from the sea and drank. Does the sea decrease? Yes? No, the sea does not decrease. Al-Khidr said to Musa (peace and blessings be upon him): : meaning, it did not decrease it at all. And what are we, O children of Adam, but we do not know except what Allah taught us, and what we were given of knowledge is only a little. And success is from Allah.