Time to Wake Up
PRIDE. ARROGANCE. IGNORANCE. JEALOUSY. HATRED. EGO.
These are all a part of human nature, but they dont DEFINE US. They dont make us good or bad individuals, OUR own choices, OUR own intentions, OUR own actions make us good or bad, loved or hated, sweet or bitter.
These characters however take us TOWARDS Allah or AWAY from Him since these characters INFLUENCE our intentions and actions.
Remember that its satan who creates misunderstandings and hatred. Its his attribute, his character.
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Iblis (satan) places his throne upon water; he then sends detachments (for creating differences between people); the nearer to him in rank are those who are most notorious in creating misunderstandings and differences. One of them comes and says: "I did so and so." And he says: "You have done nothing." Then one amongst them comes and says: "I did not spare so and so until I sowed the seed of discord between a husband and a wife." Satan goes near him and says: "You have done well." He then embraces him" (Sahih Muslim and narrated by Jabir Ibn 'Abdullah).
Keep ur heart and ur soul clean from such disgusting characters, the characters of satan. Because pride, ego, jealousy, hatred and ignorance are mans undoing.
So when ever you feel these characters engulfing you, remind yourself that THESE same characters were satans undoing.
"And (remember) when We said to the angels: 'Prostrate yourselves unto Adam.' So they prostrated themselves except 'Iblis' (Satan). He was one of the jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord" (Quran, Al-Kahf: 50).
"....And they prostrated except Iblis (Satan), he refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers (disobedient to Allah)" (Quran, Al-Baqarah: 34).
Satan said, "I am better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created from clay" (Quran, Al-Aaraf: 12).
So be or atleast try to be the best person that you can be. I know its not that easy, and i also know that we lose ourselves in our messed up lives and somehow change from being that innocent little kid to a frustrated adult.
But remember the biggest example of a person who went totally and utterly astray because of satan is Firaun (Pharoah during the time of Prophet Musa (Moses)).
Satan is THE whisperer in surah Nas verse 6, " The evil of the whisperer. "
Satan is a whisperer who whispers evil into the hearts of man.
A Heart which remembers Allah often is free from satan and his whispering, but when the Heart forgets to remember Allah, then, satan takes a step inside our Heart.
Firaun called himself, God, called himself Lord. He was arrogant NOT humble, and that became HIS downfall.
We might not call ourselves God or Lord, or Kind in today's era, but we do call ourselves 'King of the house, King of my territory' and what not.
Lets not be arrogant. Lets us RISE and not FALL into satans trap.
Allah knows that this world is not an easy place to live in. And Allah also knows that at times life gets messed up and leaves us frustrated and broken and hurt and feeling hopeless.
But isnt that because WE have made so many more goals in our life like buying this, getting that, owning a luxurious car or a villa and what not, and in these we have forgotten our main goal ' PRAYER, REMEMBRANCE OF ALLAH'.
It is we who have made this life difficult for ourselves because even though we have what we NEED we still aren't satisfied with it and we WANT MORE and then, when we cant get it we get frustrated and heart broken.
Allah knows that life on earth is difficult for humans because life over here is filled with desires and distractions and we are surrounded by our enemy, satan over here.
"When Iblees ( satan ) was certain that he was doomed, he resolved to mislead whomever he could from the slaves of Allah, so that they would be with him in Hell."
Allah says:
"(Iblees) said: 'Because You have sent me astray, surely, I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on Your straight path. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You)'" (Quran, Al-Aaraf: 16,17).
The Prophet Mohammad pbuh reported that satan told Allah that " i shall continue to lead thy servants astray as long as their spirits are in their bodies."
Allah replied, " then i shall continue to pardon them as long as they ask for my forgiveness."
( Al Tirmidhi, hadith 742)
Satan uses piety to attack the pious; scholarly disciplines to attack scholars; false reasoning and logic for those who take pride in being knowledgeable, and ignorance to attack the ignorant.
When we start seeing things from a different way, when we start to FULLY trust Allah, when we start to think that what happened, happened by Allahs permission because from that bad, messed up situation something good, something better was coming along only and only for us by the will of Allah, who has better plans for us which are better than our own plans, believe me things dont seem so bad anymore, and we wont feel the pain or hopelessness or helplessness either.
Allah does not burden anyone with more than he/she can bear. This is a promise from Allah. Dont worry and carry on.
Patience comes from faith, and the real patience is at the first stroke of calamity.
And dont forget the fact that no ups and downs in our heart beat/life it means we are dead.
Allah says in the Quran: "And if an evil whisper from Shaitan (Satan) tries to turn you away (O Muhammad) (from doing good), then seek refuge in Allah. Verily, He is the All Hearer, the All Knower" (Quran, Fussilat: 36).
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).
Allah said to Satan:
"Certainly, you shall have no authority over My slaves, except those who follow you of the Ghawun ( hypocrites and those who go astray, criminals, polytheists, and evil-doers)" (Quran, Al-Hijr: 42).
Satan saw that humans wish for things, that we have desires and so he pledged to lead us astray, lead us away from Allah and to blind us from the TRUTH.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) says: "The most fearful thing I fear for you is Minor Shirk" ( minor sins). He (Peace be upon him) was asked about it, and he said: "It is (Ar-Riya') showing off". Then, he (Peace be upon him) explained it saying, "A man stands in prayer, performs it more beautifully and properly than ever, because he notices someone looking at him" ( Imam Ahmed)
Satan went astray, humans go astray because they loose faith. They stop believing and they start being arrogant.
Remember that even satan was Allahs slave, he was the best slave who was very devoted to Allah, but his PRIDE, his ARROGANCE lead him astray.
Alla guide's those who want to LEARN and ACT.
Their are people who just read or listen or see things just for the sake of it, but their are other people who read or listen or see because they want to LEARN, because they WISH to understand. And Allah guides THESE people to the straight path.
So instead of feeling proud, be grateful to Allah. Because
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "...one of you may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is nothing between him and it but an arms distance, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of Hell and enters it. And one of you may do the deeds of the people of Hell until there is nothing between him and it but an arms distance, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of Paradise, and enters it" (al-Bukhaari (3208) and Muslim (2643) from Ibn Mas'ood).
"Show off" is also one of the most hated characters.
It is disgusted by Allah and it leads us away from Him, from His mercy.
"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 satans whispers is to remember Allah a great deal."
And my dears dont think that we could blame OUR faults, OUR sins on satan on the DAY OF JUDGEMENT, because Satan will say on the Day of Judgment (as Allah tells us in the Quran):
"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).
As for those who say that we didnt choose this life, we didnt choose to be born as disbelivers remember that its UP TO US TO BELIEVE, there are people out there who are born to believing parents yet they do not have faith and they have created by their own hands distance between them and their Lord as well as between them and Paradise
We didnt choose our family but we CAN choose our religion. Its not easy but Allah promised to be with us the entire way. We may endure hardships and sufferings at the hands of our family and friends and society but at the end of the day remember that ' LIFE IS A DREAM AND DEATH IS WHAT WAKES US UP FROM IT.'
And do not forget the fact 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..."