By assuming a stiff, silent character, some people's intention is to appear lethargic, burdened and distracted. In this way they use their silent language to make others feel their lack of excitement and determination and their dissatisfaction with certain things. Compared to others, these individuals are noticeable by their heavily burdened appearance; this influences the way they walk, sit and stand, the way they eat and clean their houses. In short, it controls everything they do.
Also, they are noticeably distracted. When everyone is talking, these people stand in the distance looking on. They remove themselves from conversations and then from time to time, try again to make connections with others. The interesting thing is that, although they give quite a realistic impression, they are just imitating it. As with all their other forms of their perverse behavior, they want to keep alive their wicked moral qualities. But as with all their other deliberate actions, this is very difficult. Assuming the determination of joyful, active and extroverted individuals, they make themselves heavy, stiff, silent, inactive and lethargic for twenty-four hours a day. And they do this for not only one or two days, but for almost all their lives.
To deprive these people of a good life, satan makes this method appear attractive. But at the same time, he is employing such a great stratagem that when they finally realize that they have fallen into his trap, satan has already achieved his goal. It's as if satan has hypnotized them and taken them under his control. He always urges them to display this kind of behavior so that finally it may become their natural personality. Then, if they so desire, they can behave in a way that keeps them from finding a way out of their heavy lethargy. They may not be able to experience joy, liveliness and activity in their inner lives.
As a result of their struggle against faith, those under satan's influence may become as tired and distracted mentally as they are worn out physically. Because of this tiring struggle, their minds and bodies give out. They become inattentive awarepeople while they were once attentive; likewise they become lifeless while they were once lively. They become weak and susceptible to illnesses; their digestive and nervous systems become weak. The results quickly show themselves in their physical constitutions, as signs of this struggle begin to appear on their skin, in their eyes and on their bodies. They become old very quickly. Their muscles weaken. Deep lines form on their faces. Their eyes become dark and hollow. Their hair and nails lose their resilience. They can become ill with the slightest change in the weather. The stress on their nerves is evident in forgetfulness, mental weariness, lost of consistency in speech, and tendency to bouts of weeping.
They begin to suffer serious problems of perception. Although their senses are healthy, they may not hear what is said to them, and may not perceive the smell of a burning meal. Their sensitivity to sound and smell and their awareness of danger may be weakened. Later, this deliberate stiffness begins to harm them. When doing basic repairs with cutting tools, for example, they expose themselves and others to danger. Some who live this kind of moral life become physically exhausted because of their intense struggle with their consciences. Gradually their motor abilities lessen and they begin to slow down. They cannot perform any rapid movement. The slowness and lethargy they exhibit make others uncomfortable. They take every opportunity to be alone, withdraw from the company of others and find a place apart to lie down or sleep—more than a normal body needs to. Yet this has no invigorating effect on them; they just want to rest and sleep more. Because of their bodies' intense stress, they themselves notice the overall weak state of their constitutions and their proneness to illness. No matter how industrious and active they were before, their insidious traps make them stiff, slow and exhausted. The same slowness of motion can be seen when such a person brushes his hair. He will not lift his arms and move his head from side to side as a normal person does. He uses extremely slow and interrupted movements. Eating a meal or completing any assignment takes a very long time. He takes a book and lies down to read, but falls asleep after the first page or two. He does not hear a knock at the door; if someone near him gets into danger, he does not notice and do anything to help.
Besides, he'll maintain that the physical and mental problems he experiences are the same normal discomforts that other people endure and pretends not to be aware of the condition he's in. The fact is however, because he makes cosmetic changes but makes no effort to give up the moral wickedness he has chosen or conceals the evil inside himself, he receives such a repayment.
We can see that those who try to obtain what they want by insidiousness and insincerity fall into their own trap. While assuming they can gain something by cooperating with satan, they lose out by becoming his toys. They think they can wield their stiffness, slowness and coldness as a ploy, but all these things encompass them like an illness. However, we must keep in mind that anyone who sincerely wants to escape from this condition can, by the will of Allah, break satan's influence if he stops cooperating with him and submits to Allah and the Qur'an. He will then gain a moral character that will prove a blessing both to him and those around him.
They display a character that seems to have given
up everything and is waiting for death
A human being cannot long endure the pangs of conscience and the pressures from an unseemly moral character. A person who fears Allah and has a clear conscience cannot endure pangs of conscience for long and will soon take refuge in Allah and submit to Him. Everyone with a normal level of intelligence senses that this pressure is doing serious physical harm and that even a healthy body will give out if it has to endure such pressure for any length of time.
Pangs of conscience thrust a person into great physical and mental anxiety. The Qur'an tells us the pangs of conscience a person suffers when he refuses to support our Prophet (saas) although he realizes that it is the right thing to do:
And [He turned] also towards the three who were left behind, so that when the Earth became narrow for them, for all its great breadth, and their own selves became constricted for them and they realized that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him, He turned to them so that they might turn to Him. Allah is the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful. (Surat at-Tawba: 118)
As in this example, everyone who does not act according to the moral teachings of the Qur'an will experience similar pangs of conscience. This is a mercy from Allah to humanity; a situation that He has specially created for us to see the right path. But those who have taken satan as their guide pretend not to be aware of their situation and persist in ignoring the voice of their conscience. Instead, they prefer to experience anxiety and waste their lives without tasting Allah's wonderful blessings. As the Qur'an says, they are caught up in despair because they grow farther and farther away from faith and the contentment and happiness it gives:
No one despairs of solace from Allah except for people who are unbelievers. (Surah Yusuf: 87)
These people have no other friend but satan, and the life they lead is unhappy and miserable. Nevertheless, they persistently refuse to take advice. Allah describes their condition in the Qur'an:
He who has fear will be reminded; but the most miserable will shun it. (Surat al-A'la: 10-11)
However, Allah has shown people a way to be happy and save themselves from such anxieties. The Qur'an tells us that this can come about only if they follow this true path that Allah has shown them:
... All those who follow My guidance will not go astray and will not be miserable. (Surah Ta Ha: 123)
This stubborn attitude arises from their refusal to accept that the morality of the Qur'an is their only solution. They do not listen to the advice given to them so that they can be happy in this world and the next; and make no effort to improve their moral character. They do not use their intelligence, awareness and determination in support of their consciences.
However, Muslims do use their determination to change themselves. They are very attentive to advice they are given because out of their faith in the Lord, they know that if they change themselves only to win His favor, He will increase the blessings He gives them. The Qur'an reveals this truth in these words:
That is because Allah would never change a blessing He has conferred on a people until they had changed what was in themselves... (Surat al-Anfal: 53)
And when your Lord announced: "If you are grateful, I will certainly give you increase, but if you are ungrateful, My punishment is severe." (Surah Ibrahim: 7)
A person of faith never experiences an irresolvable situation. Even in the most complex, difficult and seemingly impossible situations, believers know that Allah in His mercy sends them help and lifts them out of darkness into light. Because of their unwavering trust in Allah, by His will, they can surmount all their difficulties. Those who have suffered great harm as a result of satan's influence need to show this kind of moral behavior when they realize the situation they are in. Such people should never forget Allah's great mercy and assistance and that, as the Qur'an says, the Lord is their most trustworthy friend and helper.
... Allah suffices as a Protector; Allah suffices as a Helper. (Surat an-Nisa': 45)
THE HIDDEN INSINCERITY OF THOSE
CAUGHT UP IN DESPAIR AND DISTRUST
One method that satan uses most often to draw people away from the true path is to thrust them into despair and pessimism. Satan makes people with ignorant beliefs think that perverse behavior based on despair and distrust is legitimate; and in this way he leads them to disbelief. He wants to apply the same method to people of faith and draw them away from the Qur'an by making them adopt this ignorant morality. The Qur'an tells us that despair is one of the major signs of disbelief:
... Do not despair of solace from Allah. No one despairs of solace from Allah except for people who are unbelievers.' (Surah Yusuf: 87)
Aware of this, satan uses despair as a weapon against those whose hearts are sick. But as with all his other tricks, he resorts to all sorts of stratagems to keep them from sensing the danger he's drawn them into. If he openly urges them to abandon their hope in Allah's mercy and pardon, he knows that his stratagems may be discovered and fail in their purpose. Any person with faith knows that being caught up in such thoughts may mean that he has lost his faith. In this situation, satan makes him experience despair by concealing it behind other thoughts and covering it up with excuses that appear rational and legitimate. In such a situation, a person may feel that he has lost faith and hope; and these ideas may be reflected in his whole moral behavior and direct his life. Finally, he may end up by getting what satan already wants, by any means necessary—to be drawn toward the pangs of punishment.
To achieve his aim, satan plans his tactics systematically and subtly. Stage by stage he employs various methods to lead a person to where he wants them to be. People shroud their consciences and, looking for excuses to follow the desires of their lower selves, are easily persuaded to submit to the way that satan shows them. Satan especially gives them the excuse that there are plainly many difficulties and serious drawbacks in any situation. Those who take refuge in this excuse try to comfort their consciences by saying that their problems are almost insurmountable and would take much effort to overcome. They candidly claim that they have done everything in their power and tried every means, but could find no way over their difficulties. They claim that they have totally exhausted all their efforts in the attempt to find a solution to the "vicious circle" situation. According to this insincere excuse, the situation is out of their hands; the state they are in and the events they have experienced have forced them into this irresolvable situation. Now that they are sad and without hope, satan has finished the game he played with them.
But these people know that all the excuses they offered were false and insincere. They are aware that despair, distrust and an attitude of such helplessness have nothing to do with the Qur'an. From moment to moment, their consciences remind them of their insincerity and call them to think in terms of the moral teachings of the Qur'an. But they go along this road satan has shown them, deliberately using excuses to favor of their egos' undisciplined desires.
They knowingly cover up their consciences and choose insincerity, causing them to suffer pangs of conscience. Because of this anxiety of conscience they experience both a physical and a mental breakdown. Following satan's intimations absolutely, they cannot find the strength to stand up and struggle against their situation, or rescue themselves from the insincerity they live in. As we said in the first chapter, an individual under satan's influence leaves everything to take its natural course and tries to persuade himself that there is no other way out apart from leading a life of anxiety full of distress. As if waiting for death, he turns to activities that will distract him and thus tries to forget the irreparable dangers caused by insincerity in this life and the next. Allah tells us in the Qur'an that those people who try to deceive themselves and believers in their insincerity are totally aware of the agony that awaits them in the Hereafter.
Among the people there are some who say, “We believe in Allah and the Last Day,” when they are not believers. They think they deceive Allah and those who believe. They deceive no one but themselves but they are not aware of it. There is a sickness in their hearts and Allah has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment on account of their denial. (Surat al-Baqara: 8-10)
However, due to having no fear of Allah as they ought to, they try to forget this agony, of which they are reminded, instead of thinking about it. For this reason, they sometimes pass their time by diverting themselves with tiring work, sometimes by getting involved in intense mental activities and sometimes just by sleeping off their exhaustion.
By this stage, satan's task is largely finished. There is no further use in wasting his time with a person who has entirely sided with satan. Now, to inspire sorrow in him, it will be enough to renew these thoughts from time to time, remind him of the dire nature of his situation, the intractability of his problems and his helplessness. After this stage, an individual will have undertaken satan's work in its every detail. He will now repeat to himself and remind others of the ideas that satan had him memorize. These things are no longer an empty apprehension for him; they will find their place as definite and real judgments that he believes in.
Those who persist in living without faith under satan's influence are like living corpses. They take no pleasure from life, their blessings, from other people or anything else. Their spirit is blinded, their mind clouded and from carrying this weight, they are physically and mentally drained. Satan has covered their minds, bodies and consciences with a shell and exercises total control over them. They have now become his agents, communicating his message in the cheerless satanic spiritual state that pervades their minds and their appearance. With their mental state, behavior, conversations, facial expressions, tone of voice and their helpless and resigned way of speaking, they seem to invite others to share the same fear and despair.
At this stage, any person of true faith and a clear conscience would provide a great blessing to such a person by calling him and guiding him. For one whose mind and judgment have collapsed, the pure mind of a believer who can see reality and knows the difference between good and bad is a manifestation of Allah's mercy. Believers invite these people who can no longer distinguish what will benefit them and what will harm them according to the morality of the Qur'an, a good life in this world and salvation in the world to come. This may be the last opportunity these people have before they die—their last warning to keep them from suffering punishment in the world to come. At this point they should submit unconditionally to Allah, the Qur'an and the urgings of sincere believers, and live their lives according to the teachings of the Qur'an. By Allah's mercy, they may be rescued from satan's influence and develop a mind and conscience that will sustain a true faith. But in order for this to happen, they must first free themselves from their despairing and untrusting thoughts and ideas.
In the following pages, we will give some examples of how satan makes people resign themselves to despair, how he speaks to their minds, how he assumes different forms to continue these conversations for twenty-four hours a day, without ceasing. But first we will touch on how such behavior contradicts the morality of the Qur'an, and how a faithful, sincere person should counteract satan's incitements. We will show that satan's wiles have no effect on persons of faith, if they live according to the Qur'an's moral teachings.
In the morality of the Qur'an, there is no room for
despair or distrust
In the Qur'an, Allah reveals the best solutions to every situation. For this reason, there is no such thing as an unsolvable problem in the life of a believer. If he follows the road revealed in the Qur'an, a believer will easily be able to surmount every problem he meets. Allah revealed this to Ibrahim (as) in the Qur'an:
They said, “We bring you good news of the truth, so do not be among those who despair." (Surat al-Hijr: 55)
Allah also reveals in the Qur'an that He has made Islam an easy religion for human beings:
We have made the Qur'an easy to remember. But is there any rememberer there? (Surat al-Qamar: 17)
No matter what difficulties a person encounters in his life, or how serious a mistake he has made, Allah has provided a way out and He reveals this in the Qur'an to His servants. In order to grasp the simplicity of religious morality, a person must be able to appreciate the sublime names of Allah and be aware of His infinite power and limitless knowledge. A person with such awareness will have no room in his life for despair, resignation or helplessness. Allah is the protector, friend, helper and guide of pure-hearted believers. His power is sufficient to save them from every anxiety and difficulty.
It is Allah Who creates both difficulty and ease. He has created these according to His sure wisdom to test human beings and to show who is determined in his relationship with the Lord. For those who do not become overwhelmed by despair even in their most difficult moments, and who are patient and determined in their trust in Allah, He has created ease together with difficulty. In the Qur'an, Allah gives the good tidings of this assistance:
We will ease you to the Easy Way. (Surat al-A'la: 8)
For truly with hardship comes ease; truly with hardship comes ease. So when you have finished, work on. And make your Lord your goal! (Surat al-Inshirah: 5-8)
As it says in these verses, a person "only has to make the Lord his goal" in order to experience this ease. But because some allow themselves to be directed by satan and their lower selves, they remain deprived of this ease announced in the Qur'an. On the one hand, they are aware that they are on the wrong road, and on the other, instead of submitting to Allah, they try to solve their problems with satan's help. For this reason, they always come up against a dead end. As long as they do not turn to the morality of the Qur'an, their situation will continue to repeat itself. Meanwhile, satan makes them think this continuous repetition is due to the fact that they are in the grip of an insolvable situation. He is able to persuade them to gradually turn this idea into an obsession. However, their inability to come to a solution is entirely due to their not following the road revealed in the Qur'an.
The important fact is, these people could actually save themselves from this spiritual state if they wanted to. Their consciences tell them what they should do. Allah inspires in their consciences the idea that He will rescue them from their pain if they take refuge in Him, that He will answer all their prayers and will certainly help them. But because they are under satan's influence and want to obtain certain things by using their rebellious morality against believers, they cooperate with satan and refuse to relinquish their old behavior.
The secret insincerity of those caught up in
despair
Those who say they are despairing and refuse to make any positive effort put forth many claims to justify the logic of their situation. They want to prove, using satan's insidious methods, that there are reasons for their distrustful, pessimistic behavior, and they are aware that the excuses they offer are not sincere. Besides, they know that Allah will remove every anxiety and need from those who follow the solutions revealed in the Qur'an. Even though they do themselves great harm, they live their lives apart from the morality of the Qur'an. Why are they so determined in this? Allah explains in the Qur'an:
... However, their hearts were hard and satan made what they were doing seem attractive to them. (Surat al-An'am: 43)
Strangely, satan makes these people take pleasure in what they are doing. Indeed, in order to be able to follow the path that satan shows them, they oppress themselves, live in a pessimistic spiritual state and agree to living their whole lives in misery. In a sense, they are committing spiritual suicide. Because of their unseemly moral characters, instead of being good-natured and living a good life, they find it more attractive to destroy the love, respect and trust that their acquaintances have for them and to live alone in the world, with no close friends other than satan.
Clearly, they have fashioned this situation with their own hands, and it is the repayment that Allah has given them in this world for making friends with satan. Even if these people wanted to attain the Garden, it would not be possible; they prefer to live an unhappy life claiming that they have abandoned all hope of Allah's mercy and help. Allah has warned these people about the pain and anguish they will suffer:
It will not be eased for them. They will be crushed there by despair. (Surat az-Zukhruf: 75)
Those who reject Allah's Signs and the meeting with Him, such people can despair of My mercy, such people will have a painful punishment. (Surat al-'Ankabut: 23)
But these people who exceed the measure of what is good for them were to listen to their consciences while there is still time and abandon the way that satan has shown them, Allah is unstinting in His pardon and forgives all the sins of His servants.
Here are some of the insidious and insincere ideas, which are incompatible with the Qur'an, that these people put forward to legitimize their despair, helplessness and lack of attention:
They claim that their errors are too great to be
compensated for and that they do not have
the willpower to do it
Those who believe in Allah from their heart make every effort to achieve a moral character pleasing to Him in the span of life He has granted them in this world. Fear of Allah in their hearts prevents them from acting in any way that would not please Him and from deliberately persisting in such behavior. The love and attachment they feel toward Allah is so strong that it enables them to overcome any difficulties, no matter how great. With their fear of Allah and the strength of their love for Him, it is very easy for them to abandon their errors.
But those who have no proper fear of Allah and do not consider the Afterlife as they should cannot find this strength within themselves, because they have no strong fear of losing the favor of Allah and their attachment to Him. They don't think of the probability that they will suffer pain and sorrow in the eternal life to come, and so the fear of Hell does not motivate them sufficiently. If they were aware of those aspects of their lives that were displeasing to Allah, they would think it reasonable to pass over them with excuses and misrepresentations instead of being eagerly determined to make up for them. One of their excuses for not correcting their errors is that they're too great for them to make up for. They have behaved so badly and made such bad mistakes that anyone who has done such things could never undo the damage. But clearly, all this is a satanic deception and a great lie. The verses that Allah has revealed in the Qur'an show clearly that this idea is inconsistent with the Qur'anic morality. First of all, Allah says that He will not give people any burden that they don't have the strength to bear:
We do not impose on any self any more than it can stand. With Us there is a Book which speaks the truth. They will not be wronged. (Surat al-Muminun: 62)
Allah is infinitely generous and forgiving; He accepts the repentance of His servants who turn to Him in sincerity. The Lord has announced that He will forgive every wrong action, except the one of associating others with Him. But while there is still time, if a person gives up associating Allah with His creatures, he may find forgiveness. The Qur'an tells us that the Lord is infinite in His mercy and ever ready to pardon:
Say [from Me]: "My servants, you who have transgressed against yourselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Truly Allah forgives all wrong actions. He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful." (Surat az-Zumar: 53)
Another verse says that Allah will cover the shortcomings of His servants who show sincere effort and exalt them:
If you avoid the serious wrong actions you have been forbidden, We will erase your bad actions from you and admit you by a Gate of Honor. (Surat an-Nisa': 31)
For a person who leads a moral life in order to win Allah's favor, it is very easy to compensate for his errors. Since the truth is so evident and Allah has revealed that He will forgive, pardon and even turn evil into good, it is not consistent with the Qur'an for a person to say that he cannot atone up for his sins. Anyone who offers this excuse hides behind insincerity; he has shunned the truth and knows that he has acted insincerely because he has avoided living a good moral life. Allah makes him feel every aspect of this truth in his conscience. He thinks it's difficult to make up for his moral shortcomings and errors and because he lacks a strong faith, he cannot find the willpower within himself.
In the Qur'an, Allah tells us that hypocrites with sickness in their hearts have just such an attitude. Hypocrites who want to avoid struggling together with our Prophet (saas) make the excuse that they "are not strong enough":
If it had been a case of easy gains and a short journey, they would have followed you, but the distance was too great for them. They will swear by Allah: "Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you." They are destroying their own selves. Allah knows that they are lying. (Surat at-Tawba: 42)
The claim that they must think a long time before
correcting their errors
As we said earlier, satan does not want a person to live a good moral life or use his conscience to conform his life to the Qur'an. To this end, as we said, he wants to make it seem difficult to live morally and purify the lower self and for an individual to make up for his errors. He suggests that the errors he has committed are very great. A person who has this idea loses hope that he can correct his mistakes and that Allah will ever forgive him, and he may become pessimistic about himself and events that will occur.
His lower self deceives him by making him think that he cannot undo his mistakes without deep consideration; its purpose is to dissuade him from any attempt. He analyzes for hours, days and weeks, down to the finest details, why he made such an error, why things turned out as they did, what people think of him and why they said to him the things they did. But examining these things in this way will be of no use. If he only gives sincere consideration to how he can make up for these errors, the situation may turn out in his favor, by Allah's will.
We can give the following example: When a stiff and somber person is urged to be lively and joyful, this is very easy for a person to do. All he needs to do is to be kind and content in the knowledge that Allah has created events for a good purpose. He does not have to think systematically about this for hours. Satan wants people to think that they must think long and hard about things that could immediately be corrected. He suggests that, in order for anyone to be joyful, he must first correct his other mistakes and must set time aside in order to plan how to do this. Satan aims to gain time; he wants to postpone this process and divert the person from his true goal. However, the solution is very easy: If he behaves in the way described, the matter can be resolved in a moment.
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