I'd like to share with you the "Friday Sermon" I have delivered in our Islamic Studies class at Badia Islamic Center, Riyadh, last November 2006. This is all about a topic on how can we get rid of the Devil "Shaytan". May Almighty God help us understand the real aim of this topic.
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INTRODUCTION
Praise Allah, Lord of all that exists, The Firmest of the firm, to him is the creation and the matter, Aware of that which each soul commits, his will proceeds, his ruling is tender, Allah has revealed a thing that if he willed would be a guide for all of humanity, Praise Allah, thank him, repent to him and seek his forgiveness, I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, He alone with no partner, I bear witness that He is without doubt , And I bear witness that our prophet and master is His servant and messenger, As-Sadiq , Al-Waad, Al-Ameen (the trustworthy-the promiser-the truthful) O’Allah send Your praise, peace and blessings on Your slave and messenger Mohammad, and bestow upon his family and companions a praise and peace permanent until the Day of Judgment.
So be it:
So fear Allah, without doubt, openly and remember the here after, and don’t follow the way of the looser. And know that for everything there is a beginning and ending, and to every test or competition there is a goal, and that in this test (this life) the goal is Paradise or the Hell fire. And Allah put on path to paradise and that path is Islam, Allah mention in the Qur’an: “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will be one of the losers” [Al-Imran: 85] And Allah put for this Islam good deeds, as a salvation and a dilutant for sins and bad deeds, and Allah put paradise as a place of comfort for those who teach and call towards Islam. And the callers are the prophets upon them be peace, and their followers are those whom the comfort and grace of Allah is upon them and their families. Allah mentioned: And whoso obey Allah and the messenger then they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His grace, of the prophets, the Siddiqun, the martyrs and the righteous. And how excellent these companies are! Such is the bounty from Allah, and Allah is sufficient as All-Knower. [An-Nisa: 69-70]
Their Histories were good, and their inner selves purified, and their deeds multiplied, which helped their matter and won for themselves dwelling in paradise, also Allah made for the fire it’s own companions. And the path of the fire was made clear, Allah made it known to all about the bad deeds that will gain His anger and that will lead to the punishment of the fire, Allah stated: And whosoever disobeys Allah and His messenger, then verily for him is the fire of hell, he shall dwell therein forever.[Al-Jinn:23] And in this place Allah created lasting punishments for those who invite to the fire in this lifetime, also Allah says about the people of the fire: And on the Day of Resurrection, they will not be helped. And we made a curse to follow them in this world, and on the Day of Judgment they will be among those who are prevented from receiving Allah’s mercy or any good; despised or destroyed.[Al-Qasas:41-42]
The callers of evil decorate the evil deeds, the caller of evil calls to the evil that destroys it’s companion, A severer manner is an invitation to hell, and a greater manner is to have a feud with Allah-The Above- the evil Shaytan (the cursed of Allah) attracts the obedient through the disobedient, and Allah says: And indeed Shaytan did prove true his thought about them and they followed him all except a group of true believers. And he (Shaytan) had no authority over them-except that We might test him who believes in the Hereafter from him who is in doubt about it. And your Lord is watchful over everything. [Saba: 20-21] And He also said: Did I not command you, O children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaytan. Verily, he is a plain enemy to you, and that you should worship Me. That is the straight path. [Ya-Seen: 60-61]
The Shaytan is wicked, and he calls to every bad act, Allah gave to him the ability to do so, but he does not exceed this limit. And he comes to a pious believer with the temptation of greed to try and over come the believer, Allah allowed Shaytan the ability to illuminate and whisper, Shaytan uses the obsessions of the heart, then he beautifies that invalid thoughts of the soul, and Shaytan does this with constant repetition, and Allah says: And Shaytan made fair-seeming to them that which they used to do. [Al-An’am:43]. But Allah did not give Shaytan the ability to make someone love something, so that manner of commanding love of something is in the power of Allah alone. Allah says: And know that among you there is the messenger of Allah (pbuh) if he were obeys you in much of the matter, you would surely be in trouble. But Allah has endeared the faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience hateful to you. Such are they who are the rightly guided. [Al-Hujurat: 17]
Also Allah gave this wicked enemy the ability to inspire disbelief and invoking others to do evil deeds, Allah says: See you not that we have sent the devils against the disbelievers to push them to do evil. So make no haste against them; we only count out to them a limited number of days of the life in this world and delay their term so that they may increase in evil and sins. [Maryam: 83-84] Also Allah allowed Shaytan to incite anger by the way of whisper and mumble. The whispering and mumbling is a seduction of the heart, his whispering is like a strike of poison then they Shaytan escapes. Gather what Allah has informed us of the deceptions of Shaytan, and know that those deceptions are weak, easily abolished and futile, and the actions of Shaytan are refuted by having faith and by seeking protection in Allah the Most High. And Allah says: Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaytan [Nisa: 76]
And Allah mentioned about this enemy: Verily! He has no power over those who believe and put their trust only in Allah. His power is only over those who obey and follow him, and those who join partners with Allah. [An-Nahl: 99-100] Shaytan has nothing and he has no power over the believers who rely on Allah. We believe in the existence of Shaytan, and we know his effect on people, and we feel the results of his evil, Allah calls the Muslims from Shaytan.
Shaytan stand or sits in the paths of good and calls waits to call people away from doing good, like Allah mentioned about this enemy: (Shaytan) said: Because You(Allah) have sent me astray , surely I will sit in wait against them(human beings) on Your straight path. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left and you will not find most of them as thankful ones. [Al-A’raf:16-17]
We will not dispel shaytan’s evil and we will not refute his evil nor escape his seduction except by seeking refuge in Allah. Allah his majesty said: And whoever holds firmly to Allah then he is indeed guided to the right path. [Al-Imran: 101] So win over Shaytan with deeds through Qur’an and Sunnah, and call to the way of Qur’an and Sunnah.
Allah has clarified that this enemy leads man to a point of damnation then he abandons him and Allah mentioned: By Allah, We indeed sent messengers to the nations before you, but Shaytan made their deeds fair-seeming to them. So Shaytan is their helper today and theirs will be a painful torment. [An-Nahl: 63]
Shaytan embellished to Noah’s people, Abraham’s people and the Maidian companions polytheism, disbelief and evil acts. He also embellished to the prophet Lot’s (a.s) people Al-Fahisha, he also advocated for many empty centuries different kinds of sins and evil acts. So when Allah sent down His punishment on the wrong doers, Shaytan could not benefit them or save them from Allah’s will. And Allah mentioned: like Shaytan, when he says: to man “Disbelieve in Allah” but when man disbelieves in Allah, Shaytan says: “I am free of you, I fear Allah, the Lord of all that exist.” So the end of both will be that they will be in the fire, abiding therein. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers. [Al-Hashr: 16-17]
As for in the Afterlife Shaytan will stand on a hill in the fire, and he will speak as Allah mentioned: And Shaytan will say when the matter has been decided: “Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you and you responded to me. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I deny your former act in associating me as a partner with Allah.[Ibrahim:22] And nothing will remain after that speech except exhaling , inhalation, regret , weeping and shouting, and Allah mentioned: Allah will say “Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not to Me!” [Al-Mu’minun:108]
One way for a Muslim to repel the whisperings of Shaytan is by seeking assistance with Allah, and seeking the refuge of Allah the Most High. As was stated: But none is granted it except those who are patient and none is granted it except the owner of the great portion in this world. [Fussilat: 36] He also mentioned: And say my Lord! I seek refuge with you from the whisperings of Shaytan. And I seek refuge with you, my Lord! Lest they should come near me.”[Al-Mu’minun:97-98]
The congregation prayer is from amongst the things that overcomes the evil delusions of Shaytan. Allah, the Most High mentioned: And perform prayer. Verily the prayer prevents great sins of every kind and it prevents disbelief and wicked deeds, and remembering of Allah is greater indeed. [Al-Ankabut: 45] Allah stated about Shaytan: And whosoever follows the footsteps of Shaytan then verily he commands indecency and disbelief. [An-Nur: 21]
Whom ever wishes to avoid Shaytan should recite the Verse of the Throne, the chapter of Purity and the last two chapters of the Qur’an, and seek forgiveness in the beginning and end of the prayers, and if a Muslim enters a mosque he should say: In the name of Allah and praise and peace upon the messenger, I seek refuge in the Greatest his, Noble Face and in the Sultan of Al-Qadeem from the rejected Shaytan. The Shaytan called this a protection from him for the day. Another way given to overcome shaytan’s evil is by reciting the Qur’an and recites it in a beautiful way; whenever the slave increased the recitation of Qur’an he fortified himself from the rejected Shaytan.
Also paying Charity of giving sadaqa for Allah’s pleasure helps to over come the Shaytan, the prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: “the charity extinguishes the sins as water extinguishes the fire.” By remembering Allah with tasbeeh, tahmeel, and takbeer, also tawbah and supplication are others ways to protect one’s self from Shaytan. a hadith related by Abu Hurairah (r.a) states that the prophet once said (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam): if a believer says, there is no deity except Allah, he alone, without partners to him the dominion and praise and he is over everything with power, one hundred times in the beginning of the day, this will shield him from Shaytan for that day, it will also wipe away ten bad deeds and write for him one hundred good ones. (Agreed upon)
By having trust and faith in Allah and his oneness, the deceptions of Shaytan are over thrown, by practicing with pure intention and having sincerity in worship solely for Allah, Allah states: Certainly you shall have no authority over My slaves except those who follow you or those who go astray. [Al-hijr: 42] So fear Allah brothers in Islam, and avoid the Shaytan, As Allah mentions: O you who believe! Enter completely into Islam and follow not the footsteps of Shaytan. Verily! He is to you a plain enemy. Then if you slide back after the clear signs have come to you so know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.[Al-Baqarah:208-209]
End of the first Qutba, the second Qutba was just a reminder to try our best to avoid Shaytan and remember Allah as much as I can, and a du’ah.
