As Salaam o Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barkatuh!
A`uzu billahis Samee`il`Aleem,
minash shaytanir rajeem!
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem!
Wa Salaatu wa Salaam
`alaa Rasulullah-
Salallahu `Alayhi wa Sallam
Shaytaan attempts to make people negligent or exaggerate in the religion;
and causes them to be lazy and delay performing good deeds
Ibnul-Qayyim said, 'There is nothing that Allah has enjoined, but Shaytan has
ways of dealing with it, either by inclining (people) towards falling short and
being negligence or excessive and exaggeration. He does not care which of
these two mistakes a person makes. So he may come to a person's heart and
check it out, and if he finds that he is lazy, negligent and looking for
concessions, then he goes along with that. He holds him back and stops him
from doing things; he makes him lazy, indifferent and negligent, and
encourages him to seek alternative interpretations and hope for forgiveness
etc., until a person may give up doing all things that have been enjoined.
However, if he finds that a person is cautious and serious, and that he is
enthusiastic and capable, he despairs of succeeding with him on that front. So
he urges him to strive to excess, and makes him think that this is not
sufficient and that he has higher ambitions than that, and that he has to do
more than others do. So he tells them, do not go to sleep, when they go to
sleep; do not break your fast when they break their fast; do not flag when they
flag; if one of them washes his hands and face three times, then you should
wash them seven times; if he does Wudhu for every prayer then you should do
ghusl for it, and other kinds of exaggeration and excess.
He makes him go to extremes and go beyond the straight path, just like he
makes the first person fall short and not come anywhere near it. His aim in
both cases is to steer both of them away from the straight path, one by not
letting him approach it or come anywhere near it, and the other by making him
go too far and overstep the mark. In this way, most people have been tempted
and nothing can save a person from that except deeply rooted knowledge, faith
and power to resist him (Shaytan) and adherence to the middle course. And
Allah is the One Whose Help we seek.' [al-Wabil as-Sayyib, p.19]
One of the ways in which Shaytan does this is mentioned in the hadeeth
recorded in Saheeh al-Bukharee from Abu Hurayrah (radhi allahu anhu), who said
that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said,
Shaytan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is
asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, The night is
long, so stay asleep. When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is
undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when
one prays the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart
in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart.
[Saheeh al-Bukharee (21/243)]
Shaytan causes people to forget the truth and the
Commands of Allah. 'Shaytan has overtaken them. So he has made them forget
the remembrance of Allah. They are the party of Shaytan
' [Soorah
al-Mujadilah (58): 19] But as soon as we remember, we should strive to
leave that which distracted us from the remembrance of Allah and His
Commands as the Qur'aan commands us, 'If Shaytan causes you to forget,
then do not sit after the remembrance in the company of the
wrong-doers.' [Soorah al-An'am (6): 68]
Ibn Jawzi (rahimahullah) mentions how Shaytan makes one procrastinate and
lazy, '
he makes sinner put off repenting, and he keeps him indulging in his
desires, telling him that one day he could repent
Perhaps, a faqeeh intends
to revise some topic, but he says, 'Rest for a while,' or he sees a worshipper
waking up at night to pray, and he tells him, 'You have plenty of time.' He
keeps on making people like being lazy, or put off doing good deeds, and he
deceives them by telling them that they have plenty of time and a lot of hope.
So the one who wants to do some good deed should carry out his action with
determination and resolve. Resolve means not wasting time and not delaying
things. He should forget about the idea of having plenty of time because the
one who has been warned (of the punishment of Allah) should not be assured.
What you miss, you cannot make up for it. The reason for every shortcoming or
inclination of evil is the belief that there is plenty of time and a lot of
hope, because man keeps thinking of giving up evil and turning towards good,
but delays. No doubt, whoever thinks that he has the whole day ahead of him
will take his time, and whoever has the hope that he will still be there in
the morning will do very little during the night, but the one who thinks of
death as imminent will strive harder.' [Talbees Iblees, p.458]
Taken from As-Sunnah Newsletter - http://www.qsep.com
As-Sunnah Vol. 2 Issue No. 11
Quranic Dua
English Transliteration
"Rabbi a'uzubika min hamazatish Shaytaane
Wa a'uzubika Rabbi anyehzuroon"
(Quran surah 23:Ayah 97-98)
English Translation
And pray: 'My Lord! I seek your refuge from the suggestions of the evil
ones; I even seek Your refuge, my Lord, lest they should approach me.'
(23:97-98)
(Aameen)
Wassalamu Alaykum Wr Wb,
Your sister and well wisher in Islam,
Umme Safoora
Click to join Precious_Teachings_Of_Islam
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