This is why Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was a mercy to all creation: because of the general good brought about through him and the happiness in this world and the Hereafter attained by those who believed in him; because he was himself a mercy, which people could accept, while whoever refused it wronged only himself; and because he restrained the disbelievers and hypocrites, reducing their evil and preventing them from doing what they would have done without him. He killed some of them, and their early deaths were better, both for them and for others, than their living longer in disbelief. Thus, Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was a mercy to all creation in every respect. One therefore does not seek refuge from him, or from others like him among the prophets and their believing followers, although they too are human and inflict harm, punishment, and pain upon their enemies.

Thus, seeking refuge from people concerns only what the whisperer instigates in them. On this understanding, one seeks refuge in the Lord of humankind, the Sovereign of humankind, the God of humankind, from the evil of the whisperer who whispers to the person seeking refuge, and from the evil of the whisperer who whispers to everyone else, so that no evil reaches that person through them. If people's evil comes only from the whisperer, then seeking refuge from the evil of the one who whispers to them achieves the intended purpose, cuts off evil at its source, and is closer to justice. It also excludes Allah's prophets and His allies from being among those whose evil one seeks refuge from, and from being coupled with the retreating whisperer. Such a coupling would imply the superiority of jinn over humans, something no rational person would assert.

If it is objected:

“If all evil originates with the retreating whisperer, then there is no need