Day of Judgment – when we are all made to account for what we had done
in this life, we won’t be
“And Shaitan (Satan) 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. So blame me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I deny your former act in associating me (Satan) as a partner with Allah (by obeying me in the life of the world). Verily, there is a painful torment for the Zaalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers)’” (Quran, Ibraaheem: 22).
There’s much to ponder about in this verse. Here are the key points:
Satan knows the real truth of Allah’s message. We know this because he will say, “Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth…” He will continue to say later, “I deny your former act in associating me (Satan) as a partner with Allah (by obeying me in the life of the world).”
Satan will mock us by pushing the burden back on us. He would say, “…I called you, and you responded to me…”
Satan would not even accept the blame and instead will put the blame on us. He would say, “…So blame me not, but blame yourselves…”
The remedy – ways to protect ourselves
In spite of all the tactics that Satan uses to mislead mankind, he is not able to hurt those of Allah’s slaves who are aware of Satan’s tactics, and use their defenses provided them by Allah to ward off those tactics. Allah says in the Quran:
"(Iblis (Satan)) said: ‘By Your Might, then I will surely mislead them all. Except Your chosen slaves amongst them (i.e. faithful, obedient, true believers of Islamic Monotheism).’” (Quran, Saad: 82-83).
Allah said to Satan:
"Certainly, you shall have no authority over My slaves, except those who follow you of the Ghawun (Mushrikun and those who go astray, criminals, polytheists, and evil-doers)” (Quran, Al-Hijr: 42).
The following are some of the defenses that we can use to keep Satan from exerting his influence over us.
Ignore Satanic whispers (waswaas) – One of the effective ways to ignore Satanic whispers is to first 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 waswaas. It is worth quoting here what Ibn Hajar al-Haythami (may Allah have mercy on him) said about dealing with waswasah in his book al-Fataawa al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubra (1/149). This is what he said: “He was asked about the problem of waswasah (insinuating whispers from the Shaitan), and whether there is a remedy for it. He replied that there is an effective remedy for it, which is to ignore them completely, no matter how frequently they may come to mind. When these whispers are ignored, they do not become established; rather they go away after a short time, as many people have experienced. But for those who pay attention to them and act upon them, they increase until they make him like one who is insane or even worse, as we see among many of those who have suffered from them and paid attention to them and to the devil whose task it is to insinuate these whispers, whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) warned us against…, as was explained in Sharh Mishkaat al-Anwaar.
In al-Saheehayn there is a report which supports what has been mentioned above, which is that whoever suffers from waswaas should seek refuge with Allah and turn away from the waswaas. So think about this effective remedy which was taught by the one who does not speak of his own whims and desires to his ummah, and understand that whoever is deprived of this is deprived of all goodness, because waswasah comes from Satan, according to scholarly consensus, and Satan has no other desire than to make the believers go astray, make them confused, make their life a misery, and cause them distress to the extent that they leave Islam without realizing it.
Faith and Trust in Allah – Allah says in the Holy Quran: "Verily! He (Satan) has no power over those who believe and put their trust only in their Lord (Allah)" (Quran, An-Nahl: 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 do what our Creator wants for us. Allah says in the Holy Quran: "And whoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (of every difficulty). And he will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine" (Quran, At-Talaq: 2-3).
Fearing Allah and not His Creation – Another weapon used by Satan is that of inducing fear in the hearts of weak human beings. He tries to frighten the believers with apprehension of various consequences and difficulties in following the Straight Path. Allah tells us in the Quran: “Shaitan (Satan) threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahsha (evil deeds, sins, illegal sexual activities, etc.) whereas Allah promises you forgiveness from Himself and Bounty, and Allah is All-Sufficient for His creature’s needs, All-Knower” (Quran, al-Baqarah: 268).
Allah warns us that one of Satan’s tactics is to make us fear His creation. He says in the Quran: "It is only Shaitan (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliya’ (supporters and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger Muhammad); so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers" (Quran, Aal-e-Imran: 175).
Recite Dhikr – We should use Allah’s remembrance (Dhikr-Allah) to ward off waswaas. Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that “…when the Shaitan hears dhikr (remembrance of Allah) he slinks away, and Laa ilaaha ill-Allah is the best of dhikr, and the most effective remedy for warding off waswasah is to remember Allah a great deal.”
Obtaining Islamic knowledge (from the Right Sources) –Taking heed of Satan’s ways and becoming aware of his plans and goal can help us to be alert to his influence or persuasion and keep our defenses up. For this, it is essential to acquire Islamic knowledge from the right sources. It is very difficult for Satan to approach those dedicated to learning. Let us reflect upon what Imam Shafai said:
Taking refuge and shelter in Allah – Allah says in the Holy Quran: "And if an evil whisper comes to you from Shaitan (Satan), then seek refuge with Allah. Verily, He is All-Hearer, All-Knower" (Quran, Al-Aaraf: 200). One of the other ways to seek refuge from Satan is to recite the last two chapters of the Holy Quran, namely Surat Al-Falaq (The Daybreak) and Surat An-Nas (Mankind), by supplicating for Allah’s Protection, and seeking the Most Merciful’s forgiveness for one’s sins constantly.
Being thankful to Allah for the gift of Eeman and seeking His Protection for it – Let us remember that the confidence Satan expressed in his success to mislead people, stems from his assurance that most people are ungrateful to their Creator, Lord and Master Allah the All Mighty. Allah says in the Quran that Satan claimed: “. . . and You will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You).” (Quran, Al-Aaraf: 17). It is, therefore, man’s ingratitude to Allah that Satan banks upon in getting man off track. So one of the antidotes to Satanic whispers is to be in a state of constant consciousness of Allah (SWT), and thankfulness for all His Blessings upon us.
To conclude, 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. However, at the end – on the Day of Judgment – he will simply say, “…So blame me not, but blame yourselves…”
