O You Who Believe

57)

"O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan – indeed, he enjoins immorality and wrongdoing. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have been pure, ever, but Allah purifies whom He wills, and Allah is Hearing and Knowing."

[Al-Nur 24:21]

Satan is bent upon involving us in all kinds of pollutions and indecencies. Had it not been for the mercy and kindness of Allah Who enables us to differentiate between good and evil and helps us to educate and reform ourselves, we would not have been able to lead a pure and virtuous life on the strength of our own faculties and initiative alone.

It is Allah’s will alone which decides whom to make pious and virtuous. His decisions are not arbitrary but based on knowledge. He alone knows who is anxious to live a life of virtue and who is attracted towards a life of sin. Allah hears a person’s most secret talk, and is aware of everything that passes in his mind. It is on the basis of this direct knowledge that Allah decides whom to bless with piety and virtue and whom to ignore.

To not follow Shaytaan in his footsteps or else it'll definitely lead to immorality and indecency; this is a warning given in the most concise and eloquent manner.

(Khutuwat of Shaytan) means his deeds. Ikrimah said that it means his evil whispers. Qatadah said: "Every sin is one of the footsteps of Shaytan.'' Abu Mijlaz said: "Vowing to commit sin is one of the footsteps of Shaytan.''

Allah tells that if He did not help whomever He wills to repent and come back to Him and be purified from Shirk, evil and sin, and whatever bad characteristics each person has according to his nature, no one would ever attain purity and goodness. Among His creation, Allah guides whom He wills (i.e whom He sees light in) and He sends astray whomever He wills (i.e whom He sees darkness in), leaving him to be doomed in his misguidance and sin.

He hears what His servants say and Allah is the Knower of who deserves to be guided and who deserves to be misguided.

Things we learnt:

> Allah commands us to not follow Shaytaan's footsteps nor in small mater nor in large ones. If one does so, he finds himself encircled and enshrouded by immorality and wrongdoing.

> Only by Allah's favour and His mercy are the believing ones still believing. Since Allah is the Forgiving, He removes all sins from the backs of the sinners when they ask for forgiveness and He makes them pure. Hence, only by Allah's favour does one become pure. And Allah purifies whom He wills.

> Allah is the Hearing and the Knowing. He hears the whispers in the depths of the hearts and He knows the deepest secrets of every human. Even if, in the darkest depth of a person's heart, Allah sees light, He guides that person out of darkness and purifies Him.

May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.