Part 25

The levels of temptation

Satan follows man constantly and will not be satisfied until he tempts him and includes him among with his party of losers. Ibn al-Qayyim named the different levels of temptation for man as follows:

The first is polytheism and hostility towards Allah and His Messenger; if he manages to achieve this goal with any of the children of Adam, then he would be satisfied, and all his followers would take a rest from him. It is the first target for Satan; he keeps on trying man until he gets him to follow it (polytheism); then that particular man would be among his soldiers, calling for the very same doctrine that Satan preaches.

The second is bid’ah (innovation in Islam); it is more beloved to him than sins, because its harm is in the Religion (Islam) itself. It is a vicious harm; an unrepentant sin because it opposes the Message of the Prophets, and calls against their Revelation. It is the opening for polytheism; so if Satan manages to make a man innovate in Islam, then he makes him follow those people promoting it.

' Surat al-A ‘raf, verse 201.

The third is about major sins in their different forms. Satan is always keen to encourage a person to commit a major sin especially in the case of a prominent scholar who has a lot of followers, to keep them away from him, and spread his sins among people to ruin his reputation. Someone would spread the news about the alleged “sinful” scholar, claiming to act in the hope of getting rewards from Allah, while he is working on behalf of Iblis: Allah 4% said: (People who love to see filth being spread about concerning those who believe will have a painful punishment, both in this world and the Hereafter)’.

This will drive people away from this scholar and from benefiting of his knowledge. Nevertheless, they forget that he can repent of his sins, and Allah 8 will accept his repentance, and even change his sins into good deeds; while those who spread filth among Muslims and divulge the sins of others are indeed acting unjustly towards the faithful by spying on them with the intention to dishonour them.

But Allah 3€ is observing everything, even the insight of hearts and minds; so if Satan is unable to achieve anything at this level, he proceeds to the next one:

The fourth is about minor sins, which once gathered together in a person, might destroy him/her. Imam Ahmad narrated, on the authority of Sahl bin Sa’d 2, who reported that the Prophet 2 said: ‘Avoid sins which are considered insignificant; for their example is like that of a people who stopped by a river and every member collected a piece of wood until they had enough to make a fire to cook their bread. These (light) sins can be very destructive, once combined, in an individual”,

‘Aishah # reported that the Prophet 2 said: “Avoid sins which are considered insignificant, ‘Aishah, for they have one sent by Allah to ask about them”.

' Surat al-Nur, verse 19, 2 Fath al-bari (11/329). 3 Recorded by al-Darimi (2/303), ibn Majah (2/1417), and it was authenticated by Shaikh al-Albani (513).

Ton Al-Qayyim said: “But if Satan could not overwhelm him in this level, he moves on to the next one...:

The fifth is occupying him with lawful deeds which neither incur reward nor punishment. Rather, its consequence is the wasted rewards he has missed by having been preoccupied by these things, instead of something rewarding. These lawful things could be as excess of sleep, food, drink, clothing or being made sleepless over unbeneficial matters. But if Satan is unable to overwhelm the person at this level, because he was observing his/her time well, with regards to rewards and punishment, he moves on to the next one.

The sixth is to occupy him/her in doing a good deed, if it means keeping him away from a better one in in terms of its rewards. One should know that Satan can order people (mainly the pious ones) to do up to seventy acts of goodness, either to attain one act of evil or to let a more rewarding act slip away from them.

Only people who are guided by the light of Allah 38, by following the Sunnah of the Prophet #%, and being keen of performing the deeds which are most loved to Allah 4%, are fully aware of the devil’s intentions.

If Satan felt unable to manipulate a person during these last stages, he dispatches his army of men and Jinn to harm his reputation, defaming him with all sorts of accusations, such as takfeer (i.e. as someone who easily considers sinful people as kaffars (polytheists), or as a kafir himself) and by misguidance; warning people against him, in order to destroy his rise and his reputation as one of the prominent callers to Allah, and prevent people from benefiting from his knowledge.

This is clear in our society; in fact, whenever a person clings to his/her religion, and adheres to the guidance of the Prophet 34, by following his Sunnah, he/she finds himself at the centre of mockery and opposition from his/her relatives, friends, enemies, etc. So his/her only refuge is with Allah 3%.

This is the situation of people who are attached to Islam inwardly and outwardly; they are strangers who received glad tidings from the

Prophet 3 when he said: “Islam came as something strange, and it would revert to its old position of being strange; so good tidings to the strangers.”'

Methods employed by Satan to misguide man

If a man has been practising a particular job for fifty years, he would certainly be very experienced with every aspect of it.

Iblis, the accursed, from the day Allah 8 expulsed him from Paradise till this time, has been practising one job i.e. misguiding mankind and tempting them to go astray. It has been a long time, so his vast experience has allowed him to invent the art of temptation and misguidance:

1, To conjure up falsehood: Falsehood has an awful, horrible image, therefore Satan proceeds to adorn. it with a beautiful cover, then he starts tempting a person towards it. It was he himself who informed us of this method, when he said to his Lord: (My Lord, because You misled me, I will make things on the earth seem good to them, and I will mislead them ail}?

Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Among his ruses, he always bewitches the mind of a person until he deceives him; none is ever safe from his sorcery, except those protected by Allah 3. He could make a harmful act seem good, even until he sees it as a beneficial one, and on the other hand he could drive him away from good acts, making them look harmful to him. Satan has prevented many hearts from being filled by the light of Islam, iman and ihsan; he has clothed falsehood in an attractive image, and exposed truth in a repulsive one! He took them through every misleading path possible, and threw them in one perilous event after another; he made them worship idols, break relations, kill their daughters, and promised them entry into Paradise despite their sins and moral depravity.

' Recorded by Muslim ? Surat al-Hijr, verse 39.

2. Giving sins some fanciful names: when it comes to sins, he makes people use names (euphemisms) which are accepted and beloved to them, in order to conceal their viciousness; he was the one who named. the “tree” as “the tree of eternity” (Adam, shall I show you the Tree of Everlasting Life and to a kingdom which will never fade away)’.

They call usury as ‘interest’, uncovering of women as the ‘liberation of women’, and the mixing of men and women in gatherings as a sign of ‘progress and civilisation’. They call the vice woman singer as ‘an artist’, the profligate actress as a ‘heroine’, and they combine all this vice and depravity under one title: ‘Art’. This is all intended to attract people to their vice world

' Surat Ta-Ha, verse 120.

? Surat al-A ‘raf, verse 66. 3 Surat al-A ‘raf, verse 90. ‘ Surat Ta-Ha, verse 63.

the word of a poet — what little Iman you have! Nor the word of a fortune-teller — how little heed you pay!)'.

Satan still uses the same method and means in our times; for he whispers to his supporters to name people attached to Islam, and adhering to he Sunnah of the Prophet 3, as extremists and fanatics, They name someone who avoids places of sin and vice as being ‘incompatible with moder society’; they call the Islamic veil a ‘tent’, and regard a woman who obeys the Command of her Lord and stays in her house as old-fashioned and backward! It is all the whispering of Satan to them.

4. Satan’s entry into the mind from its most desired matters: The enemy of Allah (Satan) enters into the mind of a person only through the things it mostly desires, because he thereby satisfies its need. Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “This entry has a damaging outcome on a person, because the devil circulates inside him like his bloodstream; he meets the person’s self and asks it about its most beloved things, and once he gets the correct information he uses it against the person...”.