In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The story of our mother Hawwa (Eve).
O Hawwa, do not be deceived by one known for evil.
O Hawwa, Allah has commanded you to be on your guard against your enemy.
He said: ﴾O you who have believed, take your precaution.﴿
Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Allah the Almighty commands His believing servants to take precaution against their enemy.
So take your precaution, O Hawwa.
For the enemy is lying in wait for you.
He awaits a moment of negligence from you to strike you down.
And contemplate, O Hawwa, the saying of Allah the Almighty:
﴾And let another group come who have not yet prayed, and let them pray with you,﴿
﴾and let them take their precaution and their weapons.﴿
“And when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them, let only a party of them stand with thee (to worship) and let them take their arms. Then when they have performed their prostrations let them fall to the rear and let another party come that hath not worshipped and let them worship with thee, and let them take their precaution and their arms. Those who disbelieve long for you to neglect your arms and your baggage that they may attack you once for all. It is no sin for you to lay aside your arms, if rain impedeth you or ye are sick. But take your precaution. Lo! Allah prepareth for the disbelievers shameful punishment.” (4:102)
“And when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them, let only a party of them stand with thee (to worship) and let them take their arms. Then when they have performed their prostrations let them fall to the rear and let another party come that hath not worshipped and let them worship with thee, and let them take their precaution and their arms. Those who disbelieve long for you to neglect your arms and your baggage that they may attack you once for all. It is no sin for you to lay aside your arms, if rain impedeth you or ye are sick. But take your precaution. Lo! Allah prepareth for the disbelievers shameful punishment.” (4:102)
This precaution is not limited to the battlefields.
Rather, it applies to every arena in which they invade us.
You are guided to this by their ultimate goal,
which Allah has clarified for us in His saying:
“They question thee (O Muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. Say: Warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the Inviolable Place of Worship, and to expel His people thence, is a greater with Allah; for persecution is worse than killing. And they will not cease from fighting against you till they have made you renegades from your religion, if they can. And whoso becometh a renegade and dieth in his disbelief: such are they whose works have fallen both in the world and the Hereafter. Such are rightful owners of the Fire: they will abide therein.” (2:217)
This is the objective, O Hawwa, so be mindful of it.
O Hawwa, your enemy will accept some deviation from you,
because he knows the final outcome.
Therefore, Allah has warned you against responding to him, even in the slightest.
He said:
﴾And judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations.﴿
“So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires, but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that which Allah hath revealed unto thee. And if they turn away, then know that Allah's Will is to smite them for some sin of theirs. Lo! many of mankind are evil-livers.” (5:49)
These are the footsteps of Satan,
against which our Lord, glory be to Him, has warned us.
O Hawwa,
everyone known to oppose the command of Allah and the command of His Messenger, peace be upon him,
is your enemy.
So do not feel secure from him leading you astray if you obey him.
Allah has threatened him with His saying:
“Make not the calling of the messenger among you as your calling one of another. Allah knoweth those of you who steal away, hiding themselves. And let those who conspire to evade orders beware lest grief or painful punishment befall them.” (24:63)
“Make not the calling of the messenger among you as your calling one of another. Allah knoweth those of you who steal away, hiding themselves. And let those who conspire to evade orders beware lest grief or painful punishment befall them.” (24:63)
And the most dangerous enemy to you, O Hawwa,
is the hypocrite,
who appears in the guise of one advising you and defending your rights.
This is the one against whom one must be more cautious than any other.
The Almighty said:
“And when thou seest them their figures please thee; and if they speak thou givest ear unto their speech. (They are) as though they were blocks of wood in striped cloaks. They deem every shout to be against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. Allah confound them! How they are perverted!” (63:4)
“And when thou seest them their figures please thee; and if they speak thou givest ear unto their speech. (They are) as though they were blocks of wood in striped cloaks. They deem every shout to be against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. Allah confound them! How they are perverted!” (63:4)
﴾As if they were pieces of timber propped up.﴿
“And when thou seest them their figures please thee; and if they speak thou givest ear unto their speech. (They are) as though they were blocks of wood in striped cloaks. They deem every shout to be against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. Allah confound them! How they are perverted!” (63:4)
﴾They are the enemy, so beware of them.﴿
﴾May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?﴿
﴾How are they deluded?﴿
It may be difficult for you, O Hawwa, to discover this type of enemy.
The solution is to return to the trusted people of knowledge,
who reveal this enemy to us.
The Almighty said:
“And the believers should not all go out to fight. Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware.” (9:122)
“And the believers should not all go out to fight. Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware.” (9:122)
“And the believers should not all go out to fight. Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware.” (9:122)
Al-Sa'di, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
In this verse, there is also
evidence, guidance, and a subtle alert to an important benefit.
It is that Muslims ought to prepare for every interest of their public affairs
someone to undertake it,
who devotes his time to it,
and strives in it,
without turning to anything else,
so that their interests may be established and their benefits fulfilled.
And so that the direction of them all and the end of what they intend is a single purpose,
which is the establishment of the interest of their religion and their worldly life.
Even if the paths diverge and the sources vary,
the deeds are diverse, but the intention is one.
This is among the general wisdom that is beneficial in all matters.
And Satan, O Hawwa,
is an enemy to you.
He strives by every means to divert you from the path of Allah.
The Almighty said:
﴾O you who have believed,﴿
﴾Indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan,﴿
“O ye who believe! Strong drink and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an infamy of Satan's handiwork. Leave it aside in order that ye may succeed.” (5:90)
﴾defilement from the work of Satan,﴿
﴾so avoid it that you may be successful.﴿
“Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from (His) worship. Will ye then have done?” (5:91)
“Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from (His) worship. Will ye then have done?” (5:91)
“Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from (His) worship. Will ye then have done?” (5:91)
﴾So will you not then desist?﴿
“Obey Allah and obey the messenger, and beware! But if ye turn away, then know that the duty of Our messenger is only plain conveyance (of the message).” (5:92)
﴾But if you turn away, then know﴿
﴾that upon Our Messenger is only the clear notification.﴿
Al-Sa'di, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The Almighty condemns these ugly things,
and informs us that they are from the work of Satan,
and that they are defilement.
"So avoid it," meaning leave it,
"that you may be successful."
For success is not attained except by abandoning what Allah has forbidden,
especially these mentioned immoralities.
They are intoxicants,
which is everything that clouds the intellect,
meaning it covers it with its intoxication.
And gambling,
which is all forms of competition that involve a stake from both sides,
such as betting and the like.
And the stone altars,
which are the idols, rivals, and the like,
that are set up and worshipped besides Allah.
And the divining arrows by which they seek to know their fate.
These four, Allah has forbidden and warned against.
He informed us of their corruptions that call for leaving and avoiding them.
Among them is
that they are defilement,
meaning filth,
impure in meaning,
even if they are not physically impure.
And filthy matters are things that should be avoided and not polluted by their filth.
And among them is
that they are from the work of Satan,
who is the greatest of enemies to man.
And it is known
that the enemy is to be guarded against,
and his traps and deeds are to be avoided,
especially the deeds he performs to cause his enemy to fall into them,
for in them is his destruction.
So, true resolve is to stay far away from the work of the manifest enemy,
and to be cautious of them,
and to fear falling into them.
And among them is
that success is impossible for the servant except by avoiding them.
For success
is attaining the desired and beloved,
and salvation from the feared.
These matters prevent success and hinder it.
So whoever permits intoxicants or drinks them,
or facilitates their entry into societies,
is one of the soldiers of Iblis,
and he is your enemy.
And whoever spreads gambling halls and dance halls,
and calls to immorality and nudity,
is one of the soldiers of Iblis,
and he is your enemy.
And whoever sets up systems to rule over people other than the law of Allah,
giving them a sanctity that the law of Allah does not have,
is your enemy.
And whoever has a history of fighting Islam,
killing scholars and callers or imprisoning them,
and restricting acts of righteousness and da'wah,
is your enemy,
even if he claims to be among the reformers on earth.
So do not expect from the plans of these people,
or their societal programs or their laws,
that they will bring you closer to Allah.
Allah the Almighty said about Iblis
in the story of our mother Hawwa:
“And he swore unto them (saying): Lo! I am a sincere adviser unto you.” (7:21)
Abu Zahra, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Allah the Almighty forbids us from being deceived by Satan,
for he has a history of harming us and deceiving our parents, Adam and his wife Hawwa,
from whom came the continuous human lineage,
until Allah the Almighty inherits the earth and whoever is upon it.
Allah the Almighty has reinforced the prohibition against being deceived by Iblis
with his past,
when he deceived Adam and Hawwa.
He approached their souls from the side of what is in human nature:
the love of superiority and immortality.
So he said to them, swearing to them:
“Then Satan whispered to them that he might manifest unto them that which was hidden from them of their shame, and he said: Your Lord forbade you from this tree only lest ye should become angels or become of the immortals.” (7:20)
﴾Except that you become angels or become of the immortals.﴿
And through this door, he entered into their souls.
And his followers after him follow this same path.
They approach souls through what they love and desire.
For whims and desires
are the door through which Satan enters into souls.
And authority and tyranny are two open doors of the doors of Satan.
We will continue in a coming meeting, if Allah wills.
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.