سورة البقرة Surah Al-Baqarah

9 رجب 143628.4.15

يطان إنه لكم عدو مبني لم كافة وال تتبعوا خطوات الش يا أيها الذين آمنوا ادخلوا في السO you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps

of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy2:208

يا أيها الذين آمنواAllah is talking to the believers. They are already muslimeen, but that is submission, and the level of mo'mineen is higher.

لم ادخلوا في السWhen you are obeying Allah, do it out of submission. All your actions, utterances, and silences, even facing the trials, must be out of submission to Allah.

كافة Submit in everything; do not pick and choose the rules you want to follow. Don't submit only when you want to. Submit and enter into each and every detail of Deen. Allah brings the things of Deen forward for you, when you are ready for submission; you learn something new, then you should submit to it, and enter into it. Faith is not a glass of water that you can drink; submission comes like drops of rain, slowly and gently, with knowledge.

The original form of the word is كاف ▶ all. The [ة] تاء مربوطة gives it مبالغة, or intensity.

When you attend a lecture, and learn some new points, you must take them all. This is a higher level of faith. Don't leave out any pillar or symbol of Islam; take as much as you can, but you must enter them. Do not take the commands of Allah so easily.

What makes people not submit to the commands of Allah, and enter the religion fully? ▶ إتباع الهوى following the desires. This prevents you from submitting to the commands of Allah, and entering the Deen fully. Your nafs is more powerful than the shaitan. The shaitan throws ideas into

your mind, like a ball. It is up to your nafs whether you catch this thought or not. Be strict with yourself.

Do not use the Qura'an and sunnah to justify yourself, or to fulfill your desires. In any situation, you must give references form the Quraan and sunnah for أمر باملعروف و نهي عن املنكر, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. You must be very careful of your intention. The evil of yourself will take you away from submission.

يطان وال تتبعوا خطوات الشThis is a command from Allah.

The shaitan has steps. His enmity for us existed even before our creation. When you don't defeat your nafs, you will follow the footsteps of the shaitan. If your nafs makes a treaty with the shaitan, then you will belong to the والية الشيطان, the companionship of the shaitan. If you don't take Allah as your Wali, then shaitan will become your wali. The shaitan wants you to be miserable and sad. Once you start to follow in his footsteps, then he will dictate to you want he wants you to do.

Every morning when you wake up, your companion angel tell you to start the day with good. Your companion shaitan says the opposite. Before you sleep, the angel urges you to complete your day with good; the shaitan makes you remember all that went wrong in the day, so that you are disturbed.

You have to choose. Do you want والية اهلل or والية الشيطان?

When you try to wake up for qiyam, the shaitan will give you excuses not to pray, saying you are too tired, and you can put the snooze for another five minutes, because there is a lot of time. The angel will tell you to wake up, that there is no time, that Allah is calling you. Which voice is louder depends on you. If Allah is your Wali, then the voice of the angel will be louder, until you get up and pray. If not, then the voice of the shaitan will compel you to sleep.

Don't leave anything for tomorrow. The shaitan will always come in the guise of an adviser, or a good friend; he is the smartest creation. He will come in a diplomatic way. But he has no power over you, if you take Allah as your Wali. If your nafs is strong, then you will follow the shaitan.

Even if you follow the footsteps of the shaitan, he will never like you, he will always remain your enemy. He will free himself of you on the Day of Judgement. The shaitan hates the magician too, although he is following him fully.

Do not be heedless or negligent, or the shaitan will attack you.

ما السبل التي يسألها اإلنسان في الحياة ؟What are the directions that the human being takes in life ?

The shaitan will come to you from all four directions ⬇right, left, front and back.

These are the four main directions of doing good or evil, and you will find shaitan on all these ways, looking at you, waiting.

The shaitan therefore knows the sins you like to commit. He encourages you to them, gives suggestions, offers to serve you ▶ free consultation and service. He will also beautify the way of the sins. For instance, he will encourage you to take revenge, saying you have dignity, and an image to uphold. When you try to embark on any road to obedience, of reciting the Qura'an, having patience, any good deeds, the shaitan will discourage you, make them appear ugly and difficult. He will coerce you into delaying any good, until, in the end, you don't do it.

Allah tells us سابقوا, سارعوا, استبقوا الخيرات, hasten to do good deeds, don't think twice about doing them. Sometimes you are sitting, and a thought comes to do good, the shaitan will immediately put another thought which will distract you; he creates obstacles.

Iblees disobeyed Allah, when he didn't follow the command to prostrate to Aadam عليه السالم; so Allah cast him out, far from His mercy. The shaitan asked for respite until the Day of Judgment, which Allah granted him. He accused Allah of misguiding him, which is so horribly wrong, because Allah doesn't misguide anyone. On the contrary, Allah sends signs of guidance to everyone.

Allah knew that the shaitan did not deserve to be in Jannah with the angels; Allah didn't want his worship. So the test came to reveal the reality of his heart. The shaitan told Allah he would lie in wait for the human being, whisper and confront him from all four directions. This will show that the majority of the people will not be grateful.

If you are grateful, Allah increase you, and you are happy, balanced, and at peace. The mission of the shaitan is to make the person ungrateful, unbalanced and disturbed.

The Messenger of Allah صلى اهلل عليه و سلم said : يطان يجري من ابن آدم مجرى الدم. إن الش

سنن أبي داود ، حديث # 4719 The devil flows in a man like his blood.

قال أنظرني إلى يوم يبعثون[Shaitan] said : Reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected

قال إنك من املنظرين[ Allah ] said : Indeed, you are of those reprieved.

قال فبما أغويتني ألقعدن لهم صراطك املستقيم[Shaitan] said : Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight

pathثم آلتينهم من بني أيديهم ومن خلفهم وعن أيمانهم وعن شمائلهم وال تجد أكثرهم شاكرين

Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You].

17-7:14 األعراف

Women have a tendency not to appreciate people in their lives. If you don't overlook the faults of people, you will end up complaining and being ungrateful. The shaitan will make you see the negative points of people, to disturb you, and to spoil your worship. So he throws ideas from all directions, making you forget the years of good for one second of a mistake. No one is perfect, but you need to overlook the faults, or you make the shaitan happy. The shaitan will otherwise point to the one fault and mistake, and magnify it in your eyes.

The two directions forbidden to the shaitan, upwards and down, are made as if fortresses by Allah. The upwards direction is your connection with Allah, when you make the dua, which the shaitan cannot disconnect. The shaitan can never disturb you when you are making dua, which ascends up to the heavens. The downward direction is where you place place your forehead in sujood, the closest position with Allah. This is another connection which cannot be disturbed by the shaitan.

The more pious you become, the more the shaitan will come to you. He leaves the sinners alone, because they are already misguided. He comes when you are alone, because at that time you are weak. This is why Islam puts so much importance to congregational worship.

If you cut this connection with Allah, then the attachment will be gone.

Say the best words, because the shaitan waits to cause misunderstanding and enmity. Overlook the faults, and make dua for the people in your life.

The entrances through which the shaitan enters upon the human being

The shaitan uses different doors for everyone. First he scans the human being, to determine his weakness. Then he uses that weakness to spread his poison.

The shaitan cannot look into your heart; only Allah knows your heart.

The Messenger of Allah صلى اهلل عليه و سلم said : أريت النار فإذا أكثر أهلها النساء يكفرن . قيل : أيكفرن باهلل قال : يكفرن العشير، ويكفرن اإلحسان، لو أحسنت

. إلى إحداهن الدهر ثم رأت منك شيئا قالت ما رأيت منك خيرا قطصحيح البخاري ، حديث 29#

I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful. It was asked : Do they disbelieve in Allah? He replied : They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds) done to them. If you have always been good (benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking), she will say : I have never received any good

from you.

واعتصموا بحبل اهلل جميعا وال تفرقواAnd hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided

3:103 آل عمران

There are three entrances for the shaitan.

The first door through which the shaitan enters is that of desires. He uses this for the majority of the people. This is the door of the least intensity of sins.

The shaitan works on the natural desires of food, drink and relations. He makes the person think of his desires all the time, so the person is always thinking of what he will eat, for instance.

There is a hidden poison in the food, which can affect the whole body negatively in the long run ▶ the preservatives and colourings, etc. If you eat impure and unlawful food, it will cover your mind, making you sin.

The entrance of desires is mainly about food. Food is even presented in a beautiful to tempt your palate. Do not eat until you are full; this will effect your worship. Food has an influence on your battles in life.

The scholars call this entrance البهيمة, cattle-like. The shaitan can make this desire very attractive. Before you eat, ask yourself if you are really hungry. You must discipline yourself, because you are really harming yourself.

◀ الحرص و البخل نتائجها It leads to two sicknesses of the heart ▶ greed and miserliness.

Don't force feed a sick person or a child. Do not equate food with love. Overeating also effects your manners.

The trial of Aadam and Hawwa عليهما السالم started with food. They were told not to go close to the particular tree, and the shaitan tempted Aadam by saying if he ate from that tree, he would become

يطان إنه لكم عدو مبني ا في األرض حالال طيبا وال تتبعوا خطوات الش يا أيها الناس كلوا ممO mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps

of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy2:168 البقرة

يا أيها الرسل كلوا من الطيبات واعملوا صالحا إني بما تعملون عليم[ Allah said], "O messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteousness. Indeed, I, of what

you do, am Knowing23:51 املؤمنون

an angel, or become immortal. The consequence was that they had to leave Jannah.

Greed effects your life negatively too, by making you not want to share anything with others, not knowledge, nor sadaqah. Do not feed your desires.

The second entrance is anger. This is higher in intensity. It is called سبعية, like wild animals, by the scholars.

The own who is angry is like a wild animal, seeing only red, wanting to attack.

So many times you say things in anger, which you regret later, and have to apologize for.

Anger for the sake of Allah is praised, but for yourself it is dispraised. It results in the sicknesses of pride and arrogance.

Whenever there is a command from Allah, it means that it is something you can do. So suppress your anger; don't say you cannot.

Anger is a boring feeling in your heart, which effects upon yourself negatively.

Abu Hurairah رضي اهلل عنه narrated : A man said : يا رسول اهلل! أوصني

O Messenger of Allah, advise me.The Messenger of Allah صلى اهلل عليه و سلم said:

ال تغضب Do not get angry.

The man repeated that several times and he replied : ال تغضب

Do not get angry.صحيح

رواه البخاري، كتاب # 16، حديث # 1492