Aḥmad relates (1): Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm told us, from al-Jarīrī, from Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Shikhkhīr, that ʿUthmān said: “O Messenger of Allah, Satan has come between me and my prayer and my recitation.” He replied:

“That is a devil called Khanzab. Whenever you sense him, seek refuge with Allah from him and spit lightly to your left three times.”

ʿUthmān added: “I did so, and Allah removed him from me.” Muslim likewise recorded it (2) through Saʿīd al-Jurayrī with the same wording.

Mālik, Aḥmad, Muslim, and the compilers of the Sunan (3) also transmitted—through several chains—from Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, from ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ, that he complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of a pain he felt in his body. The Prophet said to him:

“Place your hand on the spot that hurts, say ‘In the name of Allah’ three times, and then say seven times, ‘I seek refuge in the might and power of Allah from the evil of what I feel and fear.’”

Some narrations add: “I did that, and Allah removed what I had been suffering; ever since, I have advised my family and others to do the same.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Mājah says (4): Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī narrated to us; ʿUyainah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—son of Jawshan—told me, from his father, from ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ, who said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed me over al-Ṭāʾif, something would confront me in my prayer until I no longer knew what I was praying. Seeing this, I journeyed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

He asked, ‘Son of Abī al-ʿĀṣ?’ I replied, ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘What has brought you?’ I answered, ‘O Messenger of Allah, something interrupts me in my prayer so that I do not know what I am praying.’ He said, ‘That is Satan. Come near.’ I drew close and sat back on the tops of my feet. He struck my chest with his hand, spat lightly into my mouth, and said, ‘Come out, enemy of Allah.’ He did this three times, then said, ‘Return to your duties.’ ʿUthmān concluded, ‘By my life, I do not think it ever troubled me again.’ Ibn Mājah alone records this version.

Ibn Isḥāq said (5): ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to me, from ʿAṭiyyah ibn Sufyān ibn Rabīʿah al-Thaqafī, from a member of their delegation, who said: “After we embraced Islam and fasted the remaining days of Ramadan with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Bilāl would come to us with our meals for breaking the fast and for pre-dawn. He would bring the suḥūr, and we would say, ‘We think dawn has already broken.’ He would reply, ‘I left the Messenger of Allah ﷺ still eating suḥūr—he is delaying it.’ He would then bring our ifṭār, and we would say, ‘We do not think the sun has fully set yet.’ He would answer, ‘I did not come to you until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had already broken his fast,’ and he would place his hand in the dish and take a mouthful from it.”