THE SNARES OF DECEPTION
A man should have not only emotional attachment to Islam: he
should also hate all un-Islamic philosophies, thoughts and
ideals. As a matter of fact, the Qur’aan expresses at numerous
places its hatred for the devil and the standard bearers of
falsehood and ignorance before giving a call to pin one’s
faith in God. It says:
'and he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah
had grasped a firm handhold which will never break.'
Even the Muslim’s affirmation of faith, the Kalimah, begins
with the denial of gods and goddesses. It first says that
‘there is no god’ and then affirms the overlordship of the
Lord with the words ‘except God’. The Traditions of the
Prophet tells us that the faith of a believer is not perfected
nor its true sense and meaning dawns on him until he learns to
abhore apostasy and all its manifestations. A tradition of the
holy Prophet related in Bukhari runs as follows:
'Whoever has these three qualities shall be informed with
the beatitude of true faith. First, God and His Apostle are
dearer to him than everything else; secondly, he loves a man
only for the sake of God; and thirdly, he sudders at the very
idea of going back to apostasy after having been saved by God,
as one fears being consigned to fire.'
Awareness of ignorance
A Muslim should so much abhor acting against the interest
of Islam or joining hands with its enemies that he should seek
the forgiveness of God at the very mention of such a
suggestion. He should never even dream of such a possibility.
He should not only be sentimentally averse to ignorance but
should also be fully conscious of its deceitful manifestations
so that he may never be taken-in by its artifices. A Muslim
should never allow himself to be duped by the pious fraud of
ignorance even if it appears dressed in the covering of
Ka’abah and with the Qur’aan in its hands. He should always
seek refuge from God against it and should be able to make it
out in whatever shape or form it is presented before it.
The Ruses of Satan
The tactics or, better still, the strategy of Satan in
fighting the Muslims is that he always attacks wherever he
finds a weaker and vulnerable flank of the latter. He does not
take recourse to the same device against every individual or
every section of the Muslims. His sneaking whisper to the
pious and elect in faith is never an allurement to indulge in
pleasures of the flesh for he has no hope of success in such
an endervour. He tries to mislead them by the spectacle of
fame and glory, self-conceit and jealousy, self-rule and love
for power and self. He tells them to strive for
self-government, advancement of their culture and language and
supremacy of their nation at all risks. These are some of the
high-sounding objectives which have often led astray even the
learned and erudite as well as those strong in faith and
spirit.
By Shaykh Abul-Hasan Ali
Nadwiy (Late)
Last modified:
July 19, 2007
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