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The Traps of Shaytaan…Part 1 Anger, Lust and Forgetfulness;
Adapted from a talk by Brother Ihsan Prophet Muhammad Salallaahu'alahi wa sallam said : "A strong man is not the one who uses his strength to overcome others, but rather the one who controls himself while in the feat of anger". (Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim according to Abu Huraira). “…Shaytaan can persuade a person to come and use one of these three doors to make a person slip. It is like he is ambushing them. So even the most complete of people can fall into moments of anger, doing something based on anger, based on lust or based on forgetfulness. So when it comes to us, Shaytaan has far more chance because there are many other doors for him to enter by. But the point here is that if the Shaytaan thinks that he has made you go through one of those doors, and makes you think you have done such a terrible thing, that you will never be the same Muslim again. You shouldn’t ever think that. You should know that Allah’s subhanahu wa ta'ala mercy is at hand. And it could be that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has wisdom behind the fact that you fell into that sin. Yes, sin leads to the hell-fire, but perhaps that sin breaks you, makes you realize your other sins and that you cannot guide yourself. And remember that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala leaves you to guide yourself foe a twinkling of an eye then you would fall into the hands of Shaytaan. And you remind yourself that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala freed you to follow yourself for the twinkling of an eye, or a fraction of a second, that you cannot guide yourself because the self is a source, a well of evil prompts. So every time you walk and reflect, you should think to yourself, and hope that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is giving you the tawfiq, the ability to do good, and to stay on the sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam in all aspects of religion. But at the same time, you have the fear that you are left to follow yourself and that the rope of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the rope from the heavens to the earth has been disconnected. The rope of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the Qur'an. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
"And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided amongst yourselves..." [Surah al-i-Imran 103] The rope of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is interpreted by the Ulama to be the Qur'an. So if you let go of the commandments of the Qur'an, and the commands of Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, whom the Qur'an has commanded us to follow, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: "And whatsoever the Messenger gives you take it, and what ever he forbids you then abstain from it." [Surah al-Hashr 7] And He subhanahu wa ta'ala says: "Say (O Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam to mankind); if you truly love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then follow me, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will love you, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive you your sins and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the Oft forgiving, Most merciful." [Surah Al Imran 31] Forgiveness, Mercy and the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are all dependent on how much you follow the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgiveness, Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala mercy and Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala love are dependent on how much you follow the prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. So it is important to bring up this issue now, which is that after the times of Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam many Hadeeth were fabricated and laid down in this Ummah to deviate people from the right path. As one of the heretics said as he was about to be executed, “...what are you going to do when I have fabricated in this Ummah a hundred thousand Hadeeth?”, to which the Amir replied, “What do you really think you have achieved when we have the likes of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahbi Maeen?” Ulama who had memorized hundreds of thousands of Hadeeth and would always be purifying the true Hadeeth form the false ones. It is a very important point that in our time we go back to those books where the Hadeeth have been purified. Another thing, which can be falsely ascribed to Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is a wrong understanding, an understanding of a practice of Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam which none of the companions had. That there maybe a Hadeeth which speaks about the virtues of sitting together and remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but we know that there is not one evidence from the companions which shows that they ever did this. This shows that the meaning of remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala there is that every one remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is his own individual voice, not in one voice, or in gatherings of knowledge.
Things can be attributed to Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, which are fabricated textually or they have a fabricated meaning attached to them. The point here is the importance of obeying the commandments of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the commandments of Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. If you fall from that and you think you have done something really terrible then, whether it is with your heart, your eyes and ears, your privates parts or limbs, don’t let Shaytaan make you think that you can never be the same Muslim again because Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala mercy could be behind all of that. It could be that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allowed you to fall into that sin because he knows that this will break you. Break you into to recognizing your sins and to thinking about the past. First of al think about your sins, secondly think about all the times you have been ungrateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then thirdly think about he good actions that you have done, but you do not know if they have been accepted or not. So it makes you think to yourself, ‘O Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if you leave me to myself then I cannot be guided and I cannot achieve salvation, indeed, ultimately the one I rely on is you.’ Do not let Shaytaan make you think that you are destroyed. When he takes you to a limit of thinking that you cannot be guided or that year by year you have been sinking and now you are at the lowest you have ever been at, since I have embraced Islam, how can I ever achieve that ascent again. Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala mercy is at hand. That could be Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala mercy in disguise. Ibn al Qayyim mentions, “If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants good for someone, he gives him a test which is going to break him.” To make him remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and bow down his neck and so he will become small once again to himself. The human being becomes proud and his ego starts to command him and he starts to say ‘I did this…’ and ‘I did that…’ and you will notice it in the conversations of people, that all they see is themselves and not Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala behind every good action. That person deserves to be broken. In fact he needs to be broken, otherwise, step by step, he is being set-up for punishment. Outwardly he is doing good, but his intention is evil and he or she ma not realize it. This shows the importance of correcting the intention and purifying whom you ascribe your actions to. If you ascribe them to yourself, that every good action you have done was because you were good or was it because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn’t lave you to yourself, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent guidance from above the skies into your heart. And didn’t allow anyone to remove that guidance from your heart and created the guidance in the your heart, and did nit allow that guidance to be removed. So no matter how much you try, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who gives the ultimate will, and therefore with every good action, your love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala increases because you have now witnessed that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has sent down guidance to you. The same way that when a person, when they witness rain, after periods of dryness, they feel relieved and happy. And the person can see the rain coming down from the sky, from Allah (azawajul) to us. Likewise when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you mercy, a person should feel happy. When you feel the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, guidance, you feel you have done something good insha-Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then you feel that if it was good, then it is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and if there is evil in it then it is because he has left me to my self. With every aspect of worship, think to yourself, as you are praising and glorifying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that this from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and o Shaytaan do not lie to me and say that this is from myself. If anyone follows the self, then he will be misguided, because the self is being continually programmed by Shaytaan, and whispered into by the Shaytaan. The nafs wants things that are easy, which are initially appealing. It does not want to go through hardship and then experience ease. The nafs wants ease, even if it has hardship afterwards, and pleasure, even if afterwards there is sorrow. The nafs does not tell you the truth. The nafs deceives, because the Shaytaan is talking into the nafs. So if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn’t wish good for someone, he will allow that person to be proud of themselves. So here, O Muslims we must understand a really important point. You can deviate in two ways; you can be corrupt and not “Islamic” and be destroyed. But you could also be, in the eyes of others, “practicing”, “on the right path”, outwardly upon Islam, better then that, outwardly upon the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, the next great favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is to be in obedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in everything, outwardly though. Inwardly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has left you to follow yourself, so all you increase in as you are doing deeds is vanity. A person has to be aware of this, otherwise for days, weeks or even years, a person could be doing actions, thinking that you are righteous, wishing praise from other people, whereas in fact you are not getting an once of reward. So if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants good for someone then he opens the doors for humility and brokenness, so that person continues to seek from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and feels poor in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, visualizing the weaknesses and faults (the ignorance and the enmity of the self) in the self. If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants good for you, he will make you realize that within your ego, there is evil, there is ignorance, and enmity for your true well being. You will witness this, and feel this with certainty, that if I am left to follow myself then I am following ignorance. If I am left to follow myself, and I don’t know whether if I am on guidance or not, then the anger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be upon me, and I will be following something based on faults, meaning my nafs grows on faults. The nafs, if you feed it with goodness, shrinks, and feels so small in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so fearful before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, loves Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so much and feels so timid. But if the nafs starts to get big, then it is breeding on filth, the najasah, impurity of sin and on pride. So if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants good for you, then he gives you those two things; continually witnessing that you cannot depend on yourself and to witness Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala grace upon you, that he is the one who is always sending down those graces, those guided acts of kindness. Every act of worship is from him. Single him out. Make Tawheed in this. Make Tawheed in this visualization, this witnessing. This Tawheed is so important, if you can understand this Tawheed; you will increase in strength in your eeman. It will give rise to strength in your Tawheed ul Uboodiyah. When you reflect on Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala lordship (Tawheed al Roobubiyah), that he is the giver of everything, whether they are worldly things or things which will benefit you in the here after, it increases your worship. Even though the people of Makkah (who were non-Muslims) believed in Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala lordship, it didn’t make them Muslims, but that it doesn’t mean that believing in Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala lordship doesn’t benefit. The more you strengthen your belief in Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala lordship, your worship will increase as well. Reflecting on the things which are happening in the heavens and the earth, and within yourselves, the sounds we hear and the colours we see. So make this tawheed, of whenever some goodness comes to you, a favour, don’t ascribe it to anyone besides Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Make that tawheed. Make that part of your Uboodiyah.
Final Part 2 , Next week InshAllah. From: "The Islamic |
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