In a struggle that has spawned the ages, Satan, along with his followers, have endeavored to pervert the course of humanity towards purification and salvation to lead us away from God’s straight path and towards a path of selfishness and destruction.
Satan’s primary tool is his ability to “whisper” to humankind and thus suggest actions, using twisted logic, that are not in the interest of our species.
20:120 But the devil whispered to him, he said: “O Adam, shall I lead you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which will not waste away?”
Against such an ardent enemy, God has given us a list of tools to counter and neutralize his effects. Some of these tools being:
1. Know your enemy.
35:6 The devil is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his faction to be the dwellers of Hell.
7:27 O Children of Adam, do not let the devil afflict you as he evicted your parents from the paradise; he removes from them their garments to show them their bodies. He and his tribe see you from where you do not see them. We have made the devils as allies for those who do not believe.
Satan's key strength is that he and his tribe are "unseen" and rely on the power of whispering to our minds in a frequency that our subconscious can hear. It is this lack of being seen that has allowed Satan to move about between humankind without most taking the necessary precautions - if we can't see him, then perhaps he does not really exist!
Our dependence on the words of God in the Qur'an for guidance clearly addresses this point time and time again where "belief in the unseen" is one of the tenants that a believer will follow.
2. Seek refuge with God.
23:97-98 And say: “My Lord, I seek refuge with You from the whispers of the devils. And I seek refuge with you O Lord that they should come near.”
The simplest tool at our disposal is seeking God’s refuge from Satan and his minions by saying the specific words shown above. These words appear to protect from both “whispers” and “presence”.
16:98 When you read the Qur’an, you shall seek refuge with God from the outcast devil.
Seeking refuge with God is also recommended when seeking to study/read the Quran – so as to nullify the influences of Satan.
3. Do not follow the Devil’s footsteps.
26:221-223 Shall I inform you on whom the devils come down? They come down on every sinful liar. They claim to listen, but most of them are liars.
17:27 Those who waste excessively are brothers to the devils, and the devil was to his Lord a rejecter.
24:21 O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of the devil. And whoever follows the footsteps of the devil should know that he advocates immorality and vice. And had it not been for the grace of God upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have ever been purified, but God purifies whom He wishes, and God is Hearer, Knower.
This point is obvious. The way of the devil is a path of deceit, vice, corruption, and excess. Believers in God alone would not succumb to following in this behavior and thus would be partially protected from the outset as being “off limits” for the devils (see 15:42).
4. Be Cleansed.
38:41-42 And recall Our servant Job, when he called upon his Lord: “The devil has afflicted me with an illness and pain.” “Rapidly move with your foot, here is a cold spring to wash with and to drink.”
As strange as this point may sound, water seems to actually be a “repellant” to the influence of Satan or his tribe. In the example above, we see that Job was instructed by God to a) run very quickly – possibly to raise body temperature, and b) wash in cold water and drink from it. The only logical conclusion that can be drawn is that, since Satan and the Jinn are made from plasma/energy (see article Who Are the Jinn?), then it would seem that the composition of water contains elements that act as a deterrent to these beings.
This line of thinking adds weight to elements involving water such as “ablution” which do not seem to make perfect sense when communicating with God as He can hear our prayers regardless (see 57:4)…But they do make perfect sense when we understand that we are using water (clean soil can be used as a last resort) to shield certain body parts from the influence of Satan (the face, head, arms, feet), and the whole body after the act of sexual intercourse.
5:6 O you who believe, if you rise to hold the contact prayer, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you have had intercourse, then you shall bathe. And if you are ill, or traveling, or you have excreted feces, or you have had sexual contact with the women, and you cannot not find water, then you shall select from the clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and your hands with it. God does not want to place any hardship on you, but He wants to cleanse you and to complete His blessings upon you that you may be thankful.
Again, in looking to the Quran we find more weight being added to this small overlooked fact – that water acts as a repellant to the influence of the devils as seen during the preparations for battle, in which God sent down water from the sky to cleans the believers and “expel the affliction of the devil”:
8:11 Sleep overcame you to give you tranquility from Him; and He sent down to you water from the sky to cleanse you with it and cause the affliction of the devil to leave you; and so that He may strengthen your hearts and set firm your feet.
That water is the source of life, there can be no doubt – yet, there seems to be something more associated with this wondrous life giving substance that makes our Lord declare that His throne has been placed upon the water…
11:7 He is the One who has created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon the water; so as to test who from among you works the best. And when you say: “You will be resurrected after the death,” those who have rejected say: “This is but clear magic!”
5. Remember God frequently.
3:135 And those who, if they commit lewdness, or wrong themselves, they remember God and seek forgiveness for their sins. And who can forgive the sins except God? And they do not persist in what they have done while they know.
33:41-42 O you who believe, you shall remember God frequently. And glorify Him morning and evening.
The constant remembrance of God is the best occupation for the human mind and the best deterrent from ever engaging in evil works.
May the constant remembrance of God’s message always be in our hearts and our minds.
Written for www.free-minds.org
