Lesson 3 of 6 · The sunnah already said this
What the instruction actually was
Notice how short the prescribed response is. The Qur'an says that when a suggestion comes from Shaytan, seek refuge in Allah, and that is the whole instruction. And when the Prophet, peace be upon him, was told about the thought that ends in but who created Allah, what he gave was one line to say. Not an argument, and not an investigation.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Notice how short the prescribed response is. When a suggestion comes from Shaytan, seek refuge in Allah, and that is the whole instruction.
وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ نَزۡغࣱ فَٱسۡتَعِذۡ بِٱللَّهِۖ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ
If a prompting from Satan should stir you, seek refuge with God: He is the All Hearing and the All Knowing
Qur’an 41:36
The same instruction in a second place, and it stops in the same word. Both are shown because the point here is how short the prescribed response is.
وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ نَزۡغࣱ فَٱسۡتَعِذۡ بِٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّهُۥ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
If Satan should prompt you to do something, seek refuge with God- He is all hearing, all knowing
Qur’an 7:200
And when he was told about the thought that ends in but who created Allah, what he gave was one line to say. Not an argument, and not an investigation.
Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Satan comes to one of you and says, 'Who created so-and-so? 'till he says, 'Who has created your Lord?' So, when he inspires such a question, one should seek refuge with Allah and give up such thoughts
Sahih al-Bukhari 3276graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
When it reaches who created Allah, he should say, I affirm my faith in Allah. The same answer in a second collection, and it is one line there too, which is the point being made about the length of the response.
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:Men will continue to question one another till this is propounded: Allah created all things but who created Allah? He who found himself confronted with such a situation should say: I affirm my faith in Allah
Sahih Muslim 134graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.