The world of devils is the hidden and the most atrocious enemy of the Children of Aadam (People). They ceaselessly attempt to corrupt the manners and beliefs of mankind. They instill hostility and hatred among them. Therefore, there is no wonder that there are numerous verses in the Noble Quran and narrations of the Prophetic traditions that point out the danger of this enemy, the tactics he uses in misguiding people and his corruption so as to warn people against him and to keep them safe from his cunning and evil.
Allah The Almighty has revealed many verses concerning the devil, pointing out the ways he uses to mislead and misguide people in a clear presentation that acts as the argument over all creation and eliminates any excuse of ignorance.
Amongst such verses is the Saying of Allah The Almighty (which means): {Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.} [Quran 35: 6] It is an explicit declaration indicating his bitter enmity towards the Children of Aadam, so they should meet his hostility with the like of it {so take him as an enemy}.
Allah The Almighty went beyond that declaration and revealed many other verses that explain the ways that the devil uses in tempting and misleading people, so 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]
This verse indicates the ways with which the devil deals with his victims. He does not attack them directly and in a single endeavor to get them out from faith to disbelief and from obedience to disobedience; rather, he approaches his victim with stealthy steps and searches for his points of weakness and then tries to enter from them. But if the person proves to be strongly adherent to his faith, the devil moves to tempt him from the direction of the permissible matters and incites him to indulge in them to prevent him from doing some recommended acts of worship. Then he persists until he makes him neglect the acts of Sunnah and so on until he makes him neglect his religious obligations.
If he finds that the person exaggerates in fulfilling the rulings of the religion and is inclined to extremism, he adorns for him illegitimate innovations in religion until he makes him propagate and defend such innovations.
If he finds that the person neglects the duties of religion and indulges in prohibited matters, then it is an easy victory for him. He keeps enticing him to neglect such duties completely and urges him to do prohibited matters until he becomes totally lacking in religion and morals.
The devil does not stop at just misguiding people but he follows that with adorning their misguidance. He never leaves his victims to be an easy prey to their guilty conscience or a captive to the criticism of admonishments; rather, he tries to keep them in their inner peace by making their evil deeds fair-seeming to them so that they may not feel any regret for them or feel that they go against natural inclinations and sound reason. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
• {And Satan made attractive to them that which they were doing} [Quran 6: 43]
• {And [remember] when Satan made their deeds pleasing to them.} [Quran 8: 48]
The adornment of evil deeds come in a form of justifications invented by the devil for his victims to justify their heinous deeds. So he adorns fornication and obscene deeds so that one may think that he is practicing his personal freedom, and adorns stealing so that one may think that he is earning the cost of his living, adorns dictatorship and oppression so that one may think that it is a way of preserving the unity of people and protecting them from the trends of sectarianism and ethnicity and so on.
The amazing thing is that the tactics of the devil do not go beyond the psychological influences which Allah The Almighty has called ‘whisperings’ i.e. the private speech and hidden words that cannot be heard. The devil whispers in the breasts of the people. He enjoins them to do what is evil and forbids them from doing what is good. Allah The Almighty has given him the ability to whisper and insinuate to the soul. In this regard, Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, The Sovereign of mankind. The God of mankind, From the evil of the retreating whisperer Who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind. From among the jinn and mankind} [Quran 114: 1-6] Whispering is Satan’s most effective weapon; and it was nothing but his whispering that drove Aadam, may Allah exalt his mention, out of Paradise; Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
{Then the devil whispered to him; he said, "O Aadam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and possession that will not deteriorate?" [Quran 20:120]
Although Satan has no material weapons in approaching mankind, he has misled many people – may Allah guard us against him. His devilish insinuations had a great effect on misguiding people. He is aided in his efforts by the desires and lusts of souls who converge with what he calls for. Accordingly, both the soul and the devil unite together against the slave, so no one can resist them except the believer who has sincere and strong faith, otherwise, most people will fall into the traps of Satan even if it happens in different levels and degrees.
Although Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak} [Quran 4: 76] The weakness of the human soul before temptations gives strength to the weakness of the devil. The strength of the enemy in many times may not be inherent but rather draws from the weakness of the other party. Therefore, the verses of the Quran have focused on warning against the methods and the ways that the devil adopts in misleading people so as to strengthen the defenses of the human soul and fortify it against any attack.
Allah The Almighty has explained the reality and aims of the call and invitation of the devil and that they will result in nothing but hardship for every individual in the worldly life and the Hereafter. So Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality.} [Quran 2: 268]
The devil does not want happiness for humanity but rather its destruction; he does not want its richness but its poverty, and does not want its purity but its impurity.
Allah The Almighty also explains that from the aims of Satan is to provoke internal and external disputes among people and ignite wars and hostilities among believers. In this regard, Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?} [Quran 5: 91]
Allah The Almighty explains that the source of all vices, evil deeds and obscene acts is the accursed Satan. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone altars [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.} [Quran 5: 90]
In the context of the comprehensive conflict between the two parties of good and evil and the two parties of belief and disbelief, the devil uses many methods to defeat the believers such as instilling fear and panic among them. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {That is only Satan who frightens [you] of his supporters. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are [indeed] believers.} [Quran 3: 175]
Mujaahid may Allah have mercy upon him said: Allah The Almighty threatens believers with the disbelievers. When fear overcomes someone, it makes him lose his ability to take the initiative, paralyzes his mind, and puts him on the attack list of other people so that he has no power either for benefit or for harm to himself.
Amongst the different styles that Satan uses to defeat the believers is circulating malicious rumors and disappointing news. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.} [Quran 4: 83] This verse includes a clear indication that any malicious rumor is nothing but a devilish insinuation, seeking to disappoint and weaken the believers.
In his struggle to keep the group of evil submitting to him and following his orders, he starts his journey with them by arousing in them false desires and dreams. So he promises them to be victorious over the believers, and promises them riches, wealth and luxury. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Satan promises them and arouses desire in them. But Satan does not promise them except delusion.} [Quran 4: 120] Actually, the deceived followers of the devil will receive nothing but failure and disappointment. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And ever is Satan, to man, a deserter."} [Quran 25: 29]
Examples of the plots and cunning of the devil
1. Changing the creation of Allah. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah.} [Quran 4: 119] His mischief is not limited to be against Allah The Almighty in His religion; rather, it went beyond that to be against His creation.
Scholars of Tafseer mentioned some of the forms of distorting the creation of Allah The Almighty in the pre-Islamic era such as gouging out the eye of the camel and naming it Al-Haami which is the male camel whose back is protected of carrying anything on it for it has many offspring. So, it would be freed from work for the the sake of the idols. Other evil ways of changing the creation of Allah The Almighty are tattooing and branding the faces of animals with fire.
Also, thinking of some creatures in different ways from which Allah The Almighty assigned (designated), such as believing in planets as gods or believing in solar and lunar eclipses as indications of the conditions of people, are also included in changing the creation of Allah The Almighty and all of such things are from the plotting and whispering of the devil to misguide the creation from worshiping and believing in Allah The Almighty alone.
2. Averting people from the remembrance of Allah The Almighty. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer.} [Quran 5: 91], {And when you see those who engage in [offensive] discourse concerning Our verses, then turn away from them until they enter into another conversion. And if Satan should cause you to forget, then do not remain after the reminder with the wrongdoing people.} [Quran 6:68} This is one of the greatest aims of the devil i.e. to instill negligence in the hearts of people so that he may overcome them easily after that. Actually, the remembrance of Allah The Almighty is the best means to expel the devil, and Allah The Almighty describes the devil with two descriptions saying: {the retreating whisperer } [Quran 114: 4] i.e. he is the one who whispers in the breasts of the Children of Aadam and who always retreats and withdraws when the slave mentions his Lord. Mujaahid may Allah have mercy upon him said: When Allah The Almighty is mentioned he (the devil) withdraws and contracts, and when He The Almighty is not mentioned he expands over the heart.
3. Misleading scholars. This is one of the most important aims of the devil, for misguiding a scholar means misguiding his followers. Allah The Almighty mentioned the story of the scholar who preferred his own desires to obeying his Lord. Then Satan overcame and dominated him, so he became one of his soldiers and became a source of misguiding and misleading people after he had been a source of guidance to them. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators. } [Quran 7: 175] Accordingly, the scholar should be more wary of the traps and plots of Satan. He should also know that his knowledge will not make him safe from the plots and cunning of Satan and that Allah The Almighty is the only protector with His power and strength.
4. Evil suggestion of the devil. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And if an evil suggestion from Satan pricks you, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing.} [Quran 7: 200] Allah The Almighty likened Satanic insinuations in the human soul to the prick that a needle causes for it is hard to observe it or to observe its effect. This is an eloquent metaphor for one does not observe the whispers of Satan and he may be too negligent to observe their effects. So Allah The Almighty draws our attention to that so as to expel the temptations of Satan and avoid their effects by seeking refuge with Him from Satan and his plots. Allah The Almighty is the only One Who is able to expel such temptations and their harmful effects.
5. Impulse of the devil. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, those who fear Allah - when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight.} [Quran 7: 201] This verse has an eloquent description of how Satan misleads the Children of Aadam. Satan roams around them like the one who roams around a place before entering it so that when he observes a state of negligence from them, he touches them with his impulses and casts his whispers in their hearts to commit sins and misdeeds. However, the believer is intelligent enough to know his plots and cunning and to expel them with the remembrance of Allah The Almighty before the satanic insinuations and suggestions have full control of him. That is because if such insinuations were neglected, they would turn to be determinations and then actions and then a habit which would be difficult to get rid of.
6. Incitement of Satan and his partnership with the Children of Aadam in their wealth and children. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." But Satan does not promise them except delusion.} [Quran 17: 64] This verse represents the greatest and the oldest battle; a battle whose field is the heart and mind of the son of Aadam; and whose protagonists are the devil and the son of Aadam. Its aim is to occupy the mind and heart of the son of Aadam and to submit him to obeying Satan and his party. The arms of Satan in that war are his voice i.e. everything that calls for what Satan calls for of obscene and evil deeds, and his horses and foot soldiers i.e. his soldiers whom he sends to mislead people. Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) said: “Iblees (Satan) erects his throne on water and sends his emissaries among the people. The closest to him is the one who causes the most Fitnah (mischief).” [Muslim]
Also, amongst the arms of Satan are his promises that he gives to people if they obey and submit to him. It is with that weapon that he got Aadam, may Allah exalt his mention, and his wife out of Paradise when he said to them as Allah The Almighty Says (what means) on his behalf: {Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal.} [Quran 7: 20] His promise was just a lie and deception.
7. Enticement and prolonging hopes. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, those who reverted back [to disbelief] after guidance had become clear to them - Satan enticed them and prolonged hope for them.}
[Qruan 47: 25] This is also one of the strategies that the devil adopts in misguiding and misleading those who know the right and the way of guidance by adorning, beautifying, and facilitating evil matters. In this way, souls proceed to such evil matters willingly and discouraged not by hardship or difficulty. If the remembrance of death hinders them, Satan hastens to mend the situation by deceiving them with hopes of a long life.
Examples of the plots and cunning of the devil
8. Private conversation is from the devil. The private conversation that is from the devil is the one that involves conspiring against the truth or conspiring to harm a Muslim individual or to cast doubts in his heart. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Private conversation is only from Satan that he may grieve those who have believed, but he will not harm them at all except by permission of Allah. And upon Allah let the believers rely.} [Quran 58: 10] Qataadah may Allah have mercy upon him said: “Hypocrites used to hold private conversations which made believers feel anxious so Allah The Almighty revealed this verse.”
There are several honorable Hadeeths that prohibit private conversation in situations that may cause doubts, undermine trust and instill fears. ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) said: “If you were three, then two of you should not hold a private conversation in the presence of the third person, because that would cause him to be worried.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] It is indeed a noble manner and wise reservation to keep doubts away. However, if there is benefit in keeping a secret or concealing something whether in a private or public matter, then there is no harm in holding secret counsel or talks.
9. Inspiration of the devil to his allies from mankind. This inspiration is a kind of satanic whispering; in fact, it focuses on providing disbelievers with what they come to believe to be argument to make them stand firm on their misguidance. It is one of the most dangerous forms of the devilish insinuations and plots for it leads people to go against the commands and legislations of Allah The Almighty through allowing what Allah The Almighty has forbidden and forbidding what He The Almighty has allowed.
Amongst the examples of such Satanic inspirations what Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And do not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, for indeed, it is grave disobedience. And indeed do the devils inspire their allies [among men] to dispute with you. And if you were to obey them, indeed, you would be associators [of others with Him].} [Quran 6: 121] The devil inspired the polytheists to object to the prohibition of eating the flesh of dead animals, saying: O Muhammad, do you claim that what you and your companions killed, and what dogs and hawks killed is permissible to eat and what Allah The Almighty killed is impermissible! Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: Some people came to the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) and said: O Messenger of Allah! Do we eat from what we kill and do not eat from what Allah kills? So, Allah The Almighty revealed the following verse: {So eat of that [meat] upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned.} [At-Tirmithi]
There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the argument of the devil and his party is nothing but an attempt to confound the truth, for every killed or dead animal has died according to the Decree of Allah The Almighty when its life came to an end, so describing one as being killed by Allah The Almighty or by anyone other than Him is certainly invalid.
10. Devils descend upon soothsayers and fortune-tellers. There is agreement between the devils and the soothsayers. This agreement requires that devils provide soothsayers with the news they stole and then the soothsayers use this news in misleading and misguiding people by adding to the truthful story many lies and untruthful stories. Therefore, Allah The Almighty has warned against them, explained their reality, and pointed out that the stories they invent are from the devils not from the angels and that they are nothing but sinful liars who went too far in doing evil
Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon every sinful liar.} [Quran 26: 221-222] Furthermore, it was narrated in a Saheeh Hadeeth that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) was asked about soothsayers, and he said: “They are nothing.” They said: "O Messenger of Allah, they sometimes say things that come true.'' The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) said: That is a word of truth which the Jinn snatches, then he gabbles it like the clucking of a chicken into the ear of his ally (from mankind), but he mixes it with more than one hundred lies. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] The verse has extended the explanation of the conditions of the soothsayers for they may confuse those who have feeble minds with some predictions of the future. Therefore, the verse explained that the utmost thing that the soothsayers can tell is only a few matters that may rarely be true. Also, their predictions cannot in any way be compared with the Hadeeth of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) and the verses of the Noble Quran that tell about past and future matters, along with what they contain of noble manners, instructions, useful knowledge, eloquence, straightforwardness, and scientific and legislative miraculousness.
11. Casting doubts in the heart of the believer to undermine his belief. This is one of the top priorities of the devil in his mission of misguiding people for if he casts doubt on the religion and the belief of the believer. He will be able to destroy his faith and weaken his religion. Doubt destroys faith. Doubt is associated with disbelief while certitude is associated with faith. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then doubt not} [Quran 49: 15] Moreover, the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) has warned us against the devil for he comes to the believer to cast doubt in his heart about the origin of the existence. Aa‘ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) said: “The devil comes to one of you and says, ‘Who created you?’ And he says ‘Allah The Almighty .’ Then the devil says, ‘Who created Allah?’ If that happens to any one of you, let him say, ‘Aamantu Billaahi wa Rusoolih (I believe in Allah and His Messenger). Then that will go away from him.’”
Al-Munaawi may Allah have mercy upon him said in Faydh Al-Qadeer:
This means that I disobey the arrogant enemy of Allah The Almighty and believe in Allah The Almighty and in what His Messenger came with (Then that will go away from him.) He sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) guided to giving up such evil thoughts in such situations. For there are some doubts that can be expelled by giving up thinking about them while some others can be expelled by rooting them out and that requires proofs and pondering over evidences along with supporting the truth with knowledge. Satanic insinuations do not establish evil suggestions firmly so he refers them to giving up thinking about them.
Furthermore, Al-Ghazaali may Allah have mercy upon him said:
Amongst the plots of the devil is to drive the lay person and those who do not have deep knowledge to think about the Essence of Allah The Almighty and His Attributes, matters which are beyond his comprehension, until he casts doubts on his religion and makes him imagine something about Allah The Almighty that does not befit His majesty in any way. So such thing may make him a disbeliever or innovator while he is happy with what is being cast in his heart, believing that it is true knowledge and rightful insight and that he knows such things by the virtue of his acute intelligence. The most foolish person is the one who trusts most in the acuteness of his intelligence while the most intelligent person is the one who doubts himself most and who is the keenest on seeking knowledge from scholars. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) did not order him to search and think to get rid of such satanic insinuations for such insinuations come only to the lay person not scholars. Lay persons should believe, submit, busy themselves in worship and earning livelihood and leave knowledge to scholars.
12. Extravagance and wastefulness. The devil calls for both ways for they will be either spending in corruption or spending inappropriately in vain things and desires. Both of them will stand in the way of spending on good and appropriate things. In fact, all such things please the devil. There is no wonder then to know that the spendthrifts are soldiers and brothers of the devils. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful.} [Quran 17: 27]
‘Brothers of the devils’ means that they are the followers and supporters of the devils in much the same way as one supports his brother.
Such are some of the strategies that the devil uses in misleading and corrupting people and preventing them from worshiping their Lord. In spite of these clear explanations and warnings, most people follow him. That is because the path to Allah The Almighty is surrounded by adversities while the way of the devil is surrounded by desires and passions. Souls usually love and seek the desires of the present life – even if their consequences are pain and grief – more than enduring hardships with patience although they lead to Paradise. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {But you prefer the worldly life, While the Hereafter is better and more enduring.} [Quran 87: 16-17] The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) also said: “Paradise is surrounded by hardships and Hellfire is surrounded by temptations.” [Muslim]
Therefore, the Muslim individual should be keen on seeking refuge with Allah The Almighty from the evil of the devil and his enticement (of Shirk). He should also be aware of the different forms of the cunning and plots of the devil in order to keep himself safe from them, and to sanctify his soul from its love for desires, for desires are indeed the harbinger of sins and misdeeds.
