Mu‘ath came on time to meet Shaykh Yoosuf as usual to learn something new about adherence to Islam. Shaykh Yoosuf met him with much affection and cheerfulness and they sat together. Shaykh Yoosuf began to speak, saying, “How are you, Mu‘ath?”
Mu‘ath replied with a smile, “Very well, Shaykh Yoosuf. And you?”
Shaykh Yoosuf replied, “Praise be to Allah! I am in the best of conditions. We will go directly to our topic today because it is serious and extremely important.”
Mu‘ath straightened up and said expectantly, “Shaykh Yoosuf, what is this topic?”
Shaykh Yoosuf replied in a grave voice, “It is the barriers or obstacles of adherence to Islam that the practicing Muslim faces on his way to Allah The Almighty. The first of these obstacles is the devil. Listen, Mu‘ath! It is an eternal enmity and everlasting hatred and incessant temptation until the coming of the Hour. These words briefly express the feelings that the devil harbors for us since his expulsion from Paradise. He was expelled from it, and rather expelled from the Mercy of Allah The Almighty when he refused to prostrate himself to our ancestor Adam may Allah exalt his mention and behaved arrogantly. Ever since that moment, Satan harbors enmity toward the children of Adam may Allah exalt his mention and tries his best to bar them from the path of their Lord and overturn them in Hell, as will be done to him on the Day of Resurrection – Allah willing.
The devil has no direct authority over man, but he takes advantage of man's ignorance and the ardent desire of his soul to gratify its needs. So, the devil beautifies the ideas and actions that agree with its inclination, persistently whispers and tempts it, which in turn exerts pressure on the heart till it submits to it and takes the decision that complies with its whim.
Therefore, Allah The Almighty warned us against following the devil and informed us that he beautifies the action for the soul gradually so as not to confront stiff resistance. Allah The Almighty says (what means): {O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan - indeed, he enjoins immorality and wrongdoing.} [Quran 24:21] Allah The Almighty reminds us of the role of the devil, and He Says (what means):
{And Satan had made pleasing to them their deeds and averted them from the path.} [Quran 29:38]
{Satan promises them and arouses desire in them. But Satan does not promise them except delusion.} [Quran 4:120]
{But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts.} [Quran 7:20]
The Quran alerts us that the devil, in crucial moments and after beautifying evil deeds for man until he commits them, deserts him. Allah The Almighty says (what means):
{And [remember] when Satan made their deeds pleasing to them and said, “No one can overcome you today from among the people, and indeed, I am your protector.” But when the two armies sighted each other, he turned on his heels and said, “Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I see what you do not see; indeed I fear Allah. And Allah is severe in penalty.”} [Quran 8:48]
{[The hypocrites are] like the example of Satan when he says to man, “Disbelieve.” But when he disbelieves, he says, “Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the Worlds.”} [Quran 59:16]
On the Day of Judgment, the devil will remind his followers that he had no authority over them, but he just invited their souls to evil and they answered him. Allah The Almighty says (what means): {And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, “Indeed, Allah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves. I cannot be called to your aid, nor can you be called to my aid. Indeed, I deny your association of me [with Allah] before. Indeed, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment.”} [Quran 14:22]
Satan deceives the Muslim in several ways that he follows in order, so that if he fails to deceive him through the first way, he moves to the second, and so on. Ibn Al-Qayyim may Allah have mercy upon him said,
Satan's evil is limited to six categories that he uses with the son of Adam till he traps him in one or more of them. The first evil is the evil of disbelief, polytheism, and enmity toward Allah The Almighty and His Messenger sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ). If he succeeds in dragging man into this, his pain is assuaged and he is spared hard work with him. This is the first aim he wants to achieve from the slave until he commits a share of it.
If Satan despairs of him in this respect and the person is destined to be a Muslim since he was in the womb of his mother, Satan would move to the second category of evil, i.e. religious innovation which is more loveable to him than immorality and sins. That is because the harm of religious innovation affects the religion itself, and this is a transitive harm. If Satan fails to take man to this level, he would move to the third category of evil, i.e. major sins with their various forms. Satan is very keen to make man fall into the major sins. If he fails, he would move to the fourth category, i.e. minor sins which, if accumulated, destroy those who do them, as the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) said: "Beware of committing minor sins, for they accumulate till they destroy the man. It is like a man who camped in the wilderness, and one man brought a stick, another man brought a stick, and so on, until they accumulated a lot, then they lit a fire and cooked their food." [Saheeh]
If Satan fails in this level, he would move to the fifth category, he would busy the man with lawful things that command no reward or punishment. The consequence of such things lies in missing the reward for the acts that these things distracted him from. If Satan fails in this level and the man made good use of his time and he is aware of the value of his breaths and their loss and the corresponding bliss and punishment, Satan would move to the sixth category, i.e. busying the man with less virtuous acts at the expense of more virtuous ones. By doing so, Satan takes virtue away from the man and makes him lose the reward of highly virtuous acts by enticing and urging him to do less virtuous acts and beautifying them for him should this involve leaving a more and higher virtuous act.
If Satan fails in the six categories and feels powerless, he lets his assistants from humans and jinn attack the man with all sorts of harm, accusations of disbelief, misguidance, and religious innovation and warning people about him. Satan resorts to this method in order to extinguish man's enthusiasm, confuse his heart, busy his thoughts, and prevent people from benefiting from him. Therefore, Satan uninterruptedly devotes his endeavors to instigating the falsifiers from human and jinn devils at him.’
Mu‘ath sighed and said, "What is the way out then, Shaykh Yoosuf?"
Shaykh Yoosuf replied quickly, "Scholars mentioned several fortifications that I will tell you about briefly.
1. Seeking refuge with Allah The Almighty from Satan. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And if there comes to you from Satan an evil suggestion, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.}[Quran 41:36]
2. Reading Surahs Al-Falaq and An-Nas.
3. Reading Ayat-ul-Kursi (Verse of the Chair).
4. Reading the last verses of Surah Al-Baqarah.
5. Reading Surah Al-Baqarah.
6. Saying "La ilaaha illa Allah, wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in Qadeer”(There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent)" one hundred times. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah may Allah be pleased with him that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) said:
"A Muslim who says "La ilaaha illa Allah, wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in Qadeer (There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent)" one hundred times a day, he will have a reward equivalent to that for emancipating ten slaves, a hundred good deeds will be recorded to his credit, a hundred of his sins will be erased from his scroll, and he will be safeguarded against the Devil on that day till the evening; and no one will exceed him in doing more excellent good deeds except someone who has recited these words more often than him." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
7. One of the most useful fortifications from Satan is frequent remembrance of Allah, the Almighty.
8. Avoiding unnecessary looking, talk, food, and mixing with people, since Satan dominates the son of Adam and achieves his aim from him through these four channels.
9. Ablution and prayer are among the strongest fortifications from Satan.
10. Purification of listening or keeping one's ear away from listening to falsehood.
11. Spending in the Cause of Allah The Almighty.
12. Following the authentic Sunnah (Prophetic tradition). This is the most important cure for possessed people. Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim may Allah have mercy upon him said, "Whoever wants to get rid of this scourge, should be certain that the right course is to follow the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) in words and actions, and be determined to follow his way with no doubt that he is following the right path. He should be certain that disobeying him is a result of Satan's insinuation and whisperings and that Satan is an enemy to him and does not call him to any form of goodness; rather, he calls his party to be denizens of the Blazing Fire."
“Now, do you think that you are able to confront Satan, or that you are not, Mu‘ath?”
Mu‘ath answered enthusiastically, "Of course, I will be able to confront him and defeat him as well — Allah willing."
