A CONCEALED WEAPON OF SATAN

A CONCEALED WEAPON OF SATAN



We have been told directly by Allah in His Book, that the messenger(SAAW) was sent to the world as a mercy to mankind, to the world at large. Not as a mercy only to the muslims. But as a mercy to mankind in general. With him(SAAW), and in his speech and practices, we can find the most excellent example by which to mold our lives ourselves.

But the question is, who will take heed and put into practice the preaching of our beloved Mohammed(SAAW)?

Allah's Messenger(SAAW) said, 'He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must either speak good or remain silent.' (Muslim)

This applies to all walks of life, and all conditions and situations that may arise in life. We need to condition ourselves and prepare ourselves and train ourselves towards this very behavior of either speaking good (or something of benefit to those listening), or to remain silent.

One of the easiest sins that all of us fall into from one time to another (and so many of us, sadly, very often) is that of backbiting or gossiping. And, this sin is classified among the great sins (al-kabaa'ir).

Remember that Satan is our number one enemy. He has sworn before Allah the Almighty that he will sway us from the right path, attacking us from in front and from behind, from the right and the left, from above and below, and from all other more concealed manners. And one of his more deceiving and sadly successful ways of leading us astray is that of making sins appear innocent or even as a good deed. He has found that he cannot necessarily succeed in swaying us away from praying or fasting or even doing many other good deeds or avoiding other sins. But, he does succeed, sadly, much of the time and with so many of us, in making the sin of backbiting appeal to us in such ease and innocence, that we tend to forget it's dire consequences.

We have been reminded by Allah that verily the good deeds wipe away the bad deeds. And so, we should take heed and format our lives to accommodate that hope in wiping away our sins and bad deeds with good deeds, and not the opposite.

Beware of turning your lifestyle into the opposite, of wiping out your good deeds with the bad deeds. I seek refuge with Allah from such a fate!!

Satan is truly our enemy, and he will attempt in every possible manner to sway us from the right path. And this sin of backbiting and gossiping is perhaps one of the easiest ways to lead us all astray at one time or another.

Be consistent and frequent in seeking Allah's forgiveness. The prophet(SAAW), who was promised forgiveness of his own sins and entrance into paradise, the most excellent exempler for mankind, in fact truly the best of all of Allah's creatures, has informed us that he himself would seek Allah's forgiveness at least 70 times throughout any one given day.

What about us in this day and age?

So many of us are consumed by the formalities and details of our daily lives. So many of us are wrapped up in the small and fleeting pleasures of this earthly world. So many of us tend to forget the day of Accounting, the day of Judgement, the torment of the hellfire.

Oh, yes, we say that we believe in it. But do we really? Do we keep it in mind enough to take heed of the directives that Allah has so mercifully given us in His Book? Do we keep this in mind in order to mold our earthly lives according to His directives and plans for us?

My dear brethren!! Allah has created you, given you life to enjoy and many blessings which are truly uncountable!! And one of the greatest blessings indeed is the guidance that He has blessed us with by His mercy and grace, to guide us on the straight path towards Him and His pleasure and His gardens of paradise!! Then why should we be so ungrateful as to disobey His guidance in any one point??
I plead with all reading, to seek Allah's protection from Satan and his whisperings and his temptations, and seek Allah's help and guidance to keeping away from this terribly easy and tempting sin of backbiting.

Before talking about others, think first, and ask yourself some questions…what result will this accomplish if I speak about this? Will this talk truly benefit any of us concerned? Or is it merely idle gossip which could in fact be harmful, in any way or manner to any of us?

It is more than likely, perhaps even a rating of 99&1/2 %, that this talk of gossip would in fact be harmful in any way or form to any of the persons concerned (either the person you would be talking about, or the listener, or yourself). So, refrain from it, if at all possible.

And, if you hear others talking in such manner in your presence, try to remind them as well. The easiest and simplest and perhaps most effective method of reminder is to simply utter the phrase 'astaghfurAllah' (I seek Allah's forgiveness) when hearing some gossip mentioned in your presence. This is like a wake-up-alarm to remind those talking and listening, that this kind of talk is indeed backbiting, which is a sin, which we should all try to refrain from.

I pray that we can all succeed, with Allah's help, in conquering the concealed attempts of Satan to swaying us from the right path, and from the right conduct, which Allah has so graciously and mercifully given us the guidance towards.

May we all be successful in attaining Allah's pleasure.