4a] Beware of the evil plans of Satan

4a]
All these devilish tricks of Satan that Allah informed us about are
but weak tricks that get weakened and eliminated by Eemaanand seeking
the protectionof Allah. He says,
"Ever feeble indeed is the plan of Satan." (An-Nisaa 4:76)
Allah also says of him,
"Verily! He has no power over those who believe and put their trust in
their Lord (Allah). His power is only over those who obey and follow
him (Satan) andthose who join partner with Him (Allah)"(An-Nahl
16:99-100)
He, indeed has no power over the believers who puttheir trust in Allah.
This enemy, whom we believe in his existence, whose impacts we feel
and the result of whose evil deeds we know has laid in wait for men in
ways that lead to good deeds in order to prevent them from doing it.
Allah says,
"(Satan) said: Because youhave sent me astray, surely. I will sit in
wait against them (human beings) on Your Straight Path. Then I will
come to them from their front and rear, their right and left, and You
will not find mostof them as thankful ones."(Al-A'raaf 7:16-17)
Brothers in faith! We can not prevent the evils of Satan, or render
his plans ineffective or escape from his traps except by
seekingAllah's protection. Allah says,
"And whoever holds firm to Allah (i.e. follows Allah's religion and
obeys all that Allah has ordered practically), then He is indeed
guided to the right path."(Aal-'Imraan 3:101)
Brothers in Islam! Allah has explained to us that this avowed enemy
leads man to sin and destructiveacts and then abandon him. He has made
shirk (associating partners to Allah in acts of worship) fair seeming
to the peoples of Noah, 'Aad, Thamood; made sodomy fair seeming to the
people of Prophet Loot and made different kinds of sins fair-seeming
to many others, but when the repercussions of their evil deeds came
upon them, hedisowned and abandoned them. Allah says,
"(Their allies deceived them) like Satan, when he says to man:
'Disbelieve in Allah!' But when (man) disbelieves in Allah, Satan
says: 'I am free of you, I fear Allah, the Lord of all the worlds'. So
the end of both will be that, they will be in the Fire abiding
therein. Such is the recompense of the wrong-doers"(Al-Hashr 59:16-17)
As for the Day of the Resurrection, Satan will stand on a mountain of
fire and deliver a speech tohis followers as Allah informs:
"Verily, Allah promised you a truth. And I promised you, but I
betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you and
you responded to me. So blame me not but blame yourselves. I can not
help you nor can you help me. Ideny your former act in associating me
as a partner with Allah( by obeying me in the life of the world).'
Verily, there is a painful torment to the wrong-doers."(Ibraheem
14:22)
After this speech, nothing more will be heard except sighing in a high
and low tone, regret, crying and wailing. Then Allah will say:
"Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not to Me."(Al-Mu'minoon 23:108)
Dear brothers! Evil of Satancan also be averted by seeking refuge with
Allah from him. Allah says,
"And if an evil whisper from Satan tries to turn you away (from doing
good), then seek refuge in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the
All-Knower."(Fussilat 41:36)
In the hadeeth, it is reported that two men abused each other in the
presence of the Messenger of Allah and the face of one of them turned
red (out of severe rage). The Messenger of Allah said:
'I know a word that if thisman says it, his anger will go away. It is,
'A'oodhu billaahi minash-shaytaanir-rajeem." (I seekrefuge with Allah
from Satan, the accursed".
One can also prevent the evil plan of Satan by observing the prayers
in congregation. Allah says,
"Verily, As-Salaah (prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha (i.e. great sins
and every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse) and Al-Munkar(i.e.
disbelief, polytheism and every kind of evil wicked deed)".
(Al-Ankaboot 29:45).
The Prophet also said:
"whoever observes fajr prayer in congregation shall remain under
Allah's protection until evening, so, do not let Allah found you
wanting in fulfilling His rights upon you".
Evils of Satan can also be prevented by reading Aayatul-Kursiy (Qur'an
2:255), Sooratul-Ikhlaas (Chapter 112) Al-Mu'awwidhatayn (Chapters 113
and 114) and Sooratul-Ghaafir (Chapter 40) at the end of each prayer.
One should also be reciting the Qur'aan frequently, for, themore he
recites, the more he protects himself from Satan.
Likewise is paying Zakaat, making voluntary charity and spending in
the good cause. The Prophet saws said:
"Charity erases sins as water blows out fire." When a Muslim is
cleansedof all his sins, he is then saves from a great evil.:->

Human Kindness in Islam

Nasiruddin was the slave of a king, and very fond of hunting. One day
he came across a very pretty baby deer and picked it up and rode away.
The mother deer saw Nasiruddin take her baby and followed him
anxiously. Nasiruddin, pleased with the baby dear, was thinking about
presenting it to his children to play with. Aftera time, he chanced to
look back and saw the mother deer following him, her expression full
of grief. He noticed too that she did not seem to care about her own
safety. Moved to pity, Nasiruddin set the baby deer free. The mother
deer nuzzled and licked her baby fondly andthe two deer leapt
happilyaway into the forest. But many times the mother deer looked
back at Nasiruddin, as if to expressher thanks.
That night Nasiruddin dreamt that the revered Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وسلم) was addressing him: 'Nasiruddin, your name has been entered in
the list of Allah , and you will one day have a kingdom. But remember
that when you are king you will also have many responsibilities. Just
as youhave shown mercy to the deer today, you should be merciful to
all Allah's creatures. You should not forget your people by falling
into a life of luxury.'
This dream came true and Nasiruddin did become king, Amir Nasiruddin
Subaktagin, father of Sultan Muhammad .
The moral of the story is that if we wish Allah to be merciful to us,
we must beeager to show mercy to allthe living creatures of the earth.
When a flower blooms, its colour and scent first touch the garden near
it, and then spread. In the same way, a Muslim 's acts of human
kindness should first touch those nearest to him, his family and his
neighbours.

Moderation in Human Relations

"Love your friend moderately lest he becomes your enemy one day, and
hate your enemy moderately lest he becomes your friend one day!"
Tirmidhi
When we get extremely close to people and lower our guard by letting
them know every detail of our life, trusting them with everything, a
day can come when we regret because they can hold us ransom with what
they know about us if the friendship is broken f…or some reason.
At times we cannot correctpeople because we have allowed them to get
so close to us that they would use against us some of what they know
of us.
Similarly when we dislike someone, we should neveroppress them or do
something unbecoming of a true believer as a day may come when a
strong friendship is developed between us and we are embarrassed by
past actions.
Amazing piece of advice which is worth pondering over and making good
useof in our lives. An enemy can become a very great friend or
relative and a friend can become a fierce enemy.
"The Almighty is all able tocreate between you and your enemies a
strong bond of friendship for indeed Allah is All Able, Allah is Most
Forgiving Most Merciful"

Flavour of Faith

It is related by Abbas bin Adbul Muttalib that he heard the Apostle of
God say: "He tasted the flavour of Faith and experienced its sweetness
who agreed with a truthful heart to accept God as His Cherisher, Islam
as his religion, and Muhammad as his Prophet." [Bukhari]
Commentary:
Just as all delicious foods posses a flavour but can beperceived only
when one'sfaculty of taste has not been lost or become perverted due
to illness or any other cause, there is also a special sweetness in
faith which can be enjoyedby those alone who have, willingly and
earnestly, made Allah their Lord and Master, Muhammad (PBUH)their
prophet and guide, and Islam their religion and way of life, and
whosehearts have bowed in submission to God and yielded in obedience
to the prophet and assented to be the adherents of the path of Islam.
In other words, their bond with God, the prophet and Islam is not
merely formal,hereditary or intellectual but real, sincere and
genuine.
Anas related to us that "Only he will taste the sweetness of faith who
has these three qualities: the love of God and the prophet that comes
to himbefore everything else, he loves whom he loves solely for the
sake of God, and the idea of going backto apostasy after he has
embraced Islam is as repugnant to him as beingthrown into fire."
[Bukhari and Muslim]
Commentary:
The subject matter of this tradition is almost identical to that of
proceeding one. It says that the sweetness of faithcan only be
perceived by him whose love for God and the Apostle is strongerthat
for anyone or anything else in the world,so much so that when he loves
somebody, it is wholly for the sake of God,and who is so deeply
devoted to the Islamic faith that the very idea of leaving it and
reverting back to the apostasy is as painful to him as being cast into
fire.