What hold us back. (part 1)

Assalamalikum

Insha'Allah this post finds you in good health and a good state of eeman. I wanted to take the time out to write to you an invaluable lesson I learnt today, Alhamdulillah. Maybe, someone reading this benefits from it the way I did, even though I myself am not aware of the extent to which Allah will allow me to benefit from this lesson but I sincerely pray that you and me both benefit alot. So, much so, that it wakes us up from our slumber and make some serious changes without looking back and being unsure. Ameen ya Rabb!

 As humans we each have our own set of thought processes. These thought processes allow us to make decisions , tell right from wrong and make changes in our lives as the situation required. As Muslims, ideally our thought process should be directed by the teaching of the Quran and Sunnah but mostly it isn't . Have you ever wondered what or rather who is that dictates our thought process and ultimately our actions. I didn't give it much thought either until today: its Shaitan (many times) , yes you read correctly. I am guessing it made your stomach churn a little. Did you sit up a little in your seat?

You might try and reason with yourself that it isn't true. That you think for yourself that you are your own boss, it may be true but we need to understand that often the decisions that we make for ourselves are under the influence of Shaitan or Shaitan does try his level best to influence us. So, today, I will discuss some of the plots or tactics Shaitan has used since the day he refused to follow Allah's command and make sujood to Adam (as) and was removed from Allah's Mercy. He uses them to lead many astray many times a day. 

I will be discussing these tactics in a series form so , Insha'Allah the intention is to take two or three tactics at a time discuss them:

1.Understand what he really wants:

Allah (swt) tells us in the following ayaah what Shaitan really truly wants:

"Surely, Shaitân (Satan) is an enemy to you, so take (treat) him as an enemy. He only invites his Hizb (followers) that they may become the dwellers of the blazing Fire." 

(Surah Fatir 35 : 6)

So, if it wasn't clear before it is clear now, Insha'Allah. All he really wants is for you be one of the dwellers of the Hell fire. He isn't trying to convince to think about what will truly benefit you, he isn't . He is to all of us an open enemy, he doesn't hide this fact and even Allah (swt) has warned us about him. Its high time we took heed. Shaitan will never change and suddenly decide to do good things and help people and there is never any good in the consul he seeks to give us in so many hidden ways, period.

2. Forgetfulness in worship

Below Allah (swt) shows us how clearly one of the tactics that Shaitan uses time and time again to lead us astray:

"Shaitân (Satan) has overpowered them. So he has made them forget the remembrance of Allâh. They are the party of Shaitân (Satan). Verily, it is the party of Shaitân (Satan) that will be the losers!"

(Surah Al - Mujadilla 58 : 19)

Yes Shaitan overpowers us ! How? By making us forget to remember Allah or making us forget that we are accountable to Allah for all that we do. And once we let him overpower us , we are included in his party and termed as losers. I don't think that this term 'losers' hits us home. We have become so desensitized that to invision the the punishment of Hell is difficult and rarely does it make you tremble with fear.

 We don't understand how terrible it will be to be amongst the losers on the Day of Judgement. Someone who has lost all hope of ever reaching Jannah , a person used up all the spare time he had in disobeying Allah. While we are alive, on this earth there is still hope for us but once death knocks on our door there is no do - over. May Allah protect us from the Hell fire. Ameen.

Let's try and cultivate the habit of keeping our tongues moist with the Dhikr of Allah, it does not require for you to learn many duas, a few simple ones and praises will do like Allahu Akbar which is mostly translated as 'Allah is Great ' but in reality it means  'Allah is Greater then' . Its easy to keep doing dhikr and recite something a 100 times in one go but that is not the aim. Allah appreciates quality over quantity. Make an effort to understand what you are reciting it makes all the difference:

 instead of mindlessly repeating something you bring to mind the meaning of the dua ,it makes you appreciate Allah's blessings and remind us of the sins we so desperately need to seek forgiveness for.  when you recite something like 'Allahu Akbar' try and bring to mind Allah's Greatness: He is Greater then the entire universe put together, He is Greater and more powerful then the strongest army and above all He is Greater then Shaitan's petty attempts to lead us astray. 

All hope is not lost, the fact that we are learning the tactics will help us strengthen our defenses against the accursed Shaitan. Of course , this is by no means an exhaustive lists, I am sure there are so many hidden ways that he tries to influence but still we need to prepare ourselves and don't let Shaitan tell you otherwise. :)