My dear brothers and sisters! The topic of today’s khutba is: “How to Save Ourselves from Satan.” We are repeatedly told in the Qur’an that Satan deceives us, that he is our enemy, and that we should treat him as such. We are warned not to be deceived by him. First of all, Satan deceives us about Allah.
وَلَا يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ
“Do not let the Deceiver deceive you about Allah.” (Fatir, 35:5). How does Satan deceive us about Allah? One of the ways he does that is to make some people believe that Allah does not exist at all. He involves other people in the misunderstanding that Allah, after having once created the world, has retired and has now practically nothing to do with the running of the universe. He misleads others into thinking that Allah even though He runs the universe, has taken no responsibility of providing guidance to man. Therefore, revelation and prophethood are a mere deception. Satan gives false hope to some others that since Allah is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful, He will forgive a person whatever sins he or she might have committed. Satan makes some others believe that Allah has beloved ones, and if one remains attached and devoted to them, success and salvation are assured. We are warned in the Qur’an that Satan is our enemy.
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا
“Satan is your enemy so treat him as an enemy.” (Fatir, 35:6). The way to save ourselves from the accursed Satan is not to follow his footsteps, and to submit wholeheartedly to the will of Allah (SWT).
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
“O you who believe, enter wholeheartedly into Islam and do not follow in Satan’s footsteps, for he is your sworn enemy.” (al-Baqarah, 2:208).
We need to keep reminding ourselves about our Islamic way of life (deen) that embraces our individual as well as our collective lives.
وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
“And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.” (al-Dhariyat, 51:55). Every day, we experience many whisperings from Satan. Some lead us to sin and some lead us to abandon what we should be doing as Muslims. It is our duty to safeguard ourselves from these whisperings so that Satan does not mislead us. One of the effective ways to ignore whisperings of the Satan is to be aware of them and then once recognized, to ignore them. So, we should be quick to recognize that when we feel being driven by our temptations to do bad or succumb to a feeling of laziness or procrastination to do good, we should ignore that whispering. It comes from Satan, and Satan has no other desire than to make the believers go astray, make them confused, make their life miserable, and cause them distress to the extent that they distance themselves from the Islamic faith or leave Islam without realizing it. What is the Prophetic methodology to keep oneself protected from Satan? This is important to know as the Prophet (SAW) is our model. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur’an:
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الآَخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
“The Messenger of Allah is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in Allah and the Last Day and remember Allah often.” (Al-Ahzab, 33:21). The Prophet (SAW) did not let a moment or an occasion pass by without invoking Allah (SWT). Thus he began his day by supplicating Allah at the time he woke up and invoked Allah before going to bed. In between morning and night, he supplicated Allah on all possible occasions and situations – entering home and exiting it, before and after eating and drinking, visiting the marketplace, entering and exiting the mosque, putting on a garment and taking it off, visiting the toilet and coming out of it, making ablution (wudu), visiting the sick, looking into the mirror, travelling to a place and on returning from it, and many more. He would make other supplications glorifying Allah, praising Allah, thanking Allah, and seeking His mercy, forgiveness and refuge. These supplications for different occasions are found in various books of ahadith and other books of prophetic supplications. It is highly recommended that we should memorize these supplications – as many as we can, and make them a constant source of remembering and invoking Allah (SWT). The Qur’an says,
وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“And if an evil whisper comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge with Allah. Verily, He is All-Hearer, All-Knower.” (al-A’raf, 7:200)
Saying, أعوذُ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ ٱلرَّجِيمِ which means “I seek the protection of Allah from Satan the accursed” is one of the best ways to repel the whispers of Satan. Whenever you find yourself thinking about doing something that you know is sinful or even getting angry, say this phrase and try to change your thoughts so that Satan will not have a hold over you. We have in Surat al-Mu’minun:
وَقُل رَّبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ أَن يَحْضُرُونِ
“And say, “My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the temptations of the devils, and I seek refuge in You, my Lord, so they may not come near me.” (al-Mu’minun, 23:97-98)
Another way to seek refuge from Satan is to recite the last two chapters of the Holy Quran, namely Surat Al-Falaq and Surat An-Nas by supplicating for Allah’s protection from all evil. One of the tricks the Satan uses with those who are obedient to Allah (SWT) is to sow discord among the Muslims, especially between friends who are righteous. According to a hadith narrated by Muslim, “The Satan has lost hope of being worshipped in the Arabian Peninsula, but he will sow seeds of discord among them.” Al-Nawawi explains that what it means is that he has despaired of being worshipped by the people of the Arabian Peninsula, but he will strive to sow discord among them, with arguments, disputes, wars, and tribulations.
Another of Satan’s ploys is to make righteous company hateful to people, and causes them to prefer harmful isolation. A hadith tells us, “There are no three men in a town or in the desert among whom prayer is not established, but the Satan has taken control of them, so you must adhere to the collectivity (jama’ah) for the wolf only eats the sheep that wanders away on its own.” Having good company, frequenting the masajid for congregational prayers, and avoiding factionalism helps a person to keep himself protected from Satan’s attacks.
One should try one’s level best to be in the company of the righteous believers. They will motivate you to want to read the Qur’an, to go to the masjid, and to do righteous deeds. They will inspire you to do things that will keep the whispers of Satan away from you. Satan finds it easy to penetrate our minds through the company that we keep. For example, if you hang out with your friends in a place where they take alcohol, and you don’t, there is bound to be someone who will try to persuade you into having some alcohol yourself. They may say things like: “It will help you relax.” Know that Satan is whispering to you through whoever says this. The Prophet (SAW) said, “A man follows the religion of his friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his friend.” One of the best defenses against Satan and his whisperings is to have faith and trust in Allah (SWT) for we are informed in Surat an-Nahl,
إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ سُلْطَانٌ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
“Truly he (Satan) has no power over those who believe and trust in their Lord.” (an-Nahl, 16:99). The message, therefore, is clear and that is to direct our attention not to what works in helping Satan in his goals but to have the taqwa or reverential fear of Allah (SWT) by doing what He wants us to do.
وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ
“Whoever has the taqwa of Allah, He will find a way for him to get out (of every difficulty). And will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine.” (at-Talaq, 65:2-3)
Another weapon used by Satan is to induce fear in the hearts of human beings. He tries to frighten the believers with apprehension of various consequences and difficulties in following the Straight Path.
الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِالْفَحْشَاءِ وَاللَّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلًا وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“Satan promises you poverty and orders you to commit immoral acts. Allah promises you His forgiveness and abundance. Allah is bountiful and all knowing.”(al-Baqarah, 2:268)
Allah (SWT) warns us that one of Satan’s tactics is to make us fear his friends, supporters and followers.
إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فَلَا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
“It is Satan who urges you to fear his followers; do not fear them, but fear Me, if you are true believers.” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:175)
We should engage in dhikr or remembrance of Allah to ward off Satan’s whisperings. Imam Al-Nawawi said: “When the Satan hears dhikr, he slinks away, and La ilaha ill-Allah is the best of dhikr, and the most effective remedy for warding off whispering of Satan is to remember Allah a great deal.” There are many adhkar that are found in the popular book – ‘Fortress of the Muslim’ (Hisn ul Muslim). May Allah (SWT) make us among those who are in constant remembrance of Him; ameen.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! The confidence Satan expressed in his success to mislead people stems from his assurance that most people are ungrateful to Allah (SWT). What did the Satan claim? As mentioned in the Qur’an, he said:
ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَائِلِهِمْ وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ
“I will approach them from their front, their back, their right, their left, and then You will find most of them ungrateful.” (al-A’raf, 7:17)
So one of the antidotes to attacks from Satan is to be in a state of constant consciousness of Allah (SWT) and know that He is with us and He is watching us. And of course, we have to be grateful to Allah (SWT) for whatever blessings we have, are from Him.
وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ
“Whatever blessing you have is from Allah” (al-Nahl, 16:53).
Satan also induces false confidence in a person making him feel that he has reached perfection or that he is far better than others. This leads to arrogance, self-admiration and distancing oneself from reality. As a result, the person starts viewing others with contempt. And we know that it was Satan’s arrogance that drew the wrath and curse of Allah (SWT) upon him.
As and when we fall to our temptations to commit the wrong, let’s remind ourselves that even Satan knows the truth, yet he is determined to make us earn Allah’s anger. Let us remember that when the judgment has been passed on the Day of Judgment Satan will simply say,
وَمَا كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن سُلْطَانٍ إِلَّا أَن دَعَوْتُكُمْ فَاسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِي فَلَا تَلُومُونِي وَلُومُوا أَنفُسَكُم
“I did not have any authority over you. I only called you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; blame yourselves.” (Ibrahim, 14:22)
The Qur’an and hadith tell us all we need to know about our arch enemy Satan, how to seek Allah’s protection from him, and the deceptive ways in which he approaches man. Let us be utmost cautious and try our best not to fall prey to his ploys and tricks. Man is weak. However, with strong determination, sincere repentance, and constant remembrance of Allah (SWT), we can with His help, ward off Satan and his evil designs. May Allah (SWT) bless each one of us with the tawfiq to do so.
