Prophet Muhammad's revelations, bells and Satan ?! Muslim 2114 (24, 5279) - Bukhari, (1, 1, Num. 2) & (4, 54, 438) Muslim 2333 b (30, 5765)

Question: 

How do Muslims understand these hadiths ?

1.    "The bell is one of the musical instruments of Satan."

2.    Al-Harith bin Hisham asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says." 'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over).

Answer :

Praise be to Allah,

The first Hadith:

‏"الجرس مزامير الشيطان‏"‏‏

"The bell is the 'Mazameer' of the Satan."

As for the hadith “The bell is the flutes/Psalms of the Satan”, it is reported by Imam Muslim in the Chapter of “the disapproval of setting out on a journey along with a dog and bells”. There is another narration of the same hadith that reads, “Angels (of mercy) don’t accompany people who set out on a journey along with a dog or bell”.

The hadith is clearly a metaphor. Bells are neither flutes nor Psalms.

In his book, an-Nihayyah, Ibn al-Athir says, 

"الجُلْجُل الَّذِي يُعلَّق عَلَى الدَّوابّ، قِيلَ إِنَّمَا كَرِهَه لِأَنَّهُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ بِصَوْته. وَكَانَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ يحبُّ أَنْ لَا يَعْلم الْعَدُوُّ بِهِ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَهُمْ فَجْأَةً"

“Bells were hanged on camels and other riding animals. Bells were then disliked (by the Prophet) as they make voices through which enemies would know about the coming of the Muslim army."

In his explanation of the above hadith, the great Imam an-Nawawi says, 

"أما فقه الحديث ففيه كراهة استصحاب الكلب والجرس في الأسفار ، وأن الملائكة لا تصحب رفقة فيها أحدهما ، والمراد بالملائكة ملائكة الرحمة والاستغفار ، لا الحفظة ... وأما الجرس فقيل : سبب منافرة الملائكة له أنه شبيه بالنواقيس ، أو لأنه من المعاليق المنهي عنها ، وقيل : سببه كراهة صوتها ، وتؤيده رواية ( مزامير الشيطان)"

“The hadith indicates the abhorrence of setting out on a journey along with a dog or bell. Angels don’t accompany people who have a dog or bell; “Angels” here refers to angels of mercy and seeking Allah’s forgiveness (for people). It is said that angels dislike bells for they are similar to the bells of Christians or they are hanged out of belief in their own protection against evils, which is forbidden, such as amulets or the dislike of their sound and this's supported by the other narration "the flutes/Psalms of the Satan”." 

From the above, we can conclude that the hadith is a reference to the early Arab practice of using the bell as a sign of good luck when tied on camel (Pagan superstition but later caused problem for early Muslims; so described here as Satan's handiwork) or to the physical musical instruments; by which Satan can lead people's hearts astray from the remembrance of God either by immersion in the melody or by promoting polytheism (Christians' bells). Moreover, the music, especially nowadays, takes us away from reality and paves the way to debauchery. We may repeat meaningless and shameless lyrics without thinking twice.

The second Hadith:

Revelation:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired."

Here, a bell is not meant literally. No one is actually ringing a physical bell. It's a figure of speech. 

The concept is that the revelation was very powerful and hard upon him and it has. 

Narrated 'Aisha: (the mother of the faithful believers) Al-Harith bin Hisham asked Allah's Messenger "O Allah's Messenger! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Messenger replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says." 

  قَالَتْ عائشة رضي الله عنها: فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُهُ يَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِ الْوَحْيُ فِي الْيَوْمِ الشَّدِيدِ الْبَرْدِ فَيَفْصِمُ عَنْهُ، وَإِنَّ جبينه صلى الله عليه وسلم ليتفصد عرقاً"

'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over). (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

Even the weight of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would increase during the revelation. His camel would sink down. Once the leg of Prophet,peace and blessings be upon him, was on the leg of another Sahabi" Zaid bin Thabit"; He says that when the revelation came, he felt that his leg would be broken under effect of the increased weight of the Prophet Muhammad SAW.

How can this hadith be understood in the light of the first hadith ?

Ibn Hajar said in his explanation of the Hadith, in Fath Al Bari:

فكيف يشبه ما فعله الملك بأمر تنفر منه الملائكة والجواب أنه لا يلزم في التشبيه تساوي المشبه بالمشبه به في الصفات كلها بل ولا في أخص وصف له بل يكفي اشتراكهما في صفة ما و المقصود هنا بيان الحس فذكر ما ألف السامعون سماعه تقريبا لأفهامهم والحاصل أن الصوت له جهتان جهة قوة وجهة طنين فمن حيث القوة وقع التشبيه به ومن حيث الطرب وقع التنفير عنه

"It is not required for a "simile" (Analogy/figure of speech) that the compared items should be exactly similar in all aspects, not even in the most specific characteristic. Rather, it's enough to share one common quality.  Here, he mentioned a sound known to the audience to help them to understand his feelings;

The ringing sound has two qualities: the strength, and the tinkling. The  comparison was drawn regarding the strength and the prohibition (in the other reports) was meant for the musical quality."

Here, he refers by "the strength" to the fact that the sound of the angel and the bell's ringing deafens the listener to everything else.

That's why it was described in the other hadith as "the buzz of the bees".

قال عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، رضى الله عنه : كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذَا نَزَلَ عَلَيْهِ الْوَحْىُ سُمِعَ عِنْدَ وَجْهِهِ كَدَوِيِّ النَّحْلِ.

"When revelation came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), one could hear what sounds like the buzz of bees before his face." (Tirmidhi Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3173)

So, the revelation would take over all the Prophet's, peace and blessings be upon him, senses. Interestingly, the "tinnitus" has been described as "ringing" or "buzzing", but no one understand that there are actual bells or bees inside the ears of the patients !

Allah knows best !