In the battle between reason / religion
and whims / desires, we have the
following weapons at our disposal:
1. We should remember the glory and greatness of Allah,
and feel that He
is too great to be sinned against as He is all-seeing and
all-hearing.
Whoever thinks of the greatness of Allah will never be
at ease in
committing wrong actions.
2. If we claim to love Allah, then we should not disobey Him,
because of
that love. A person should be obedient to the One he
claims to love.
Those who refrain from committing wrong action out of
their love for
Allah are of the highest status in His sight, as are those
who worship
Him out of love for Him. There is a great difference
between the one
who obeys Allah and abstains from wrong action Out of love,
and the one
who does so out of fear of punishment.
3. We should think of the blessings and favours of Allah, as a
decent and
noble person would never act against the one who has been
treating him
kindly- Only base and ignoble people do such a thing. If
we think of
the blessings and favours of Allah, we will realize that we
should not
respond by going against His commands and committing wrong
action.
4. We should think of the wrath and punishment of Allah, as
He will be
angry with the person who persists in committing wrong
action. Nothing
can stand in the way of the consequences of His anger,
least of all
this weak slave of His.
5. We should think of what the person who commits wrong
action has to
lose, in this world and the next. It should be sufficient
to think of
the loss of iman (faith), of which the smallest amount is
worth much
more than everything in this world. How can anyone be
willing to lose
his iman in return for some brief Moment of pleasure the
consequences
of which might last forever?
In a sahih hadith, the Prophet (SAWS) said: "No adulterer is
a believer
at the time when he is committing adultery." Commenting on
this hadith,
one of the Sahabah said: "His iman wil be dragged out of
him until it
goes over his head like a cloud. If he repents, then his
iman will
return to him."
6. We should relish the idea of defeating the Shaytan and being
victorious
over him, because overcoming him, and our whims and desires,
is a thing
of joy and carries a great reward. It is like taking
medicine and being
rewarded with restoration to good health.
7. We should bear in mind the reward and compensation
which Allah has
promised to those who control their whims and desires,
and abstain
from that which is haram.
8. We should think of the special companionship of Allah, as
He has told
us: "Allah is with those who patiently persevere." (al-Baqarah
2: 153)
"For Allah is with those who restrain themselves and those
who do good"
(an-Nahl 16: 128) "For verily Allah is with those who
do right."
(al-Ankabut 29: 69)
9. We should be ever mindful of death, which could come upon
us at any
time, suddenly and without warning
10. We should stop thinking of falsehood and bad ideas.
Even if bad
thoughts cross our minds, we should not let them stay,
otherwise they
may become hopes and wishes which we may act upon, and
harm ourselves
and others in the process.
11. We should gradually strengthen our religious motive in
fighting whims
and desires. Once we have tasted the joy of defeating those
whims and
desires, then our determination and willpower will grow
stronger.
12. We should direct our thoughts towards contemplation of
the signs of
Allah which He has encouraged us to think about, whether
they are in
the Quran or in the universe around us. If such
thoughts are
constantly in our hearts and minds, this will help us
to shun the
whispering of the Shaytan. There is no greater loser than
the one who,
instead of thinking of Allah, His Book, His Prophet and
his Sahabah,
dwells on Shaytan and the ideas of Shaytan.
13. We should remember how short is our stay on this earth.
No-one would
want to feel that all he has achieved in this life is the
worst kind
of deeds, except a person who has no spiritual ambition,
whose heart
is dead and who is careless. Such a person will ultimately
regret his
deeds when he realizes that, far from benefiting him,
they will lead
to punishment. Even the person who has many good deeds to
his credit
will feel that sense of regret when he realizes that he
could have
done even more.
14. We should know that Allah has created us to live an
eternal life with
no death, a life of pride and ease with no humiliation,
a life of
security with no fear, a life of richness with no
poverty, a life of
joy with no pain, a life of perfection with no flaws. Allah
is testing
us in this world with a life that will end in death, a
life of pride
that is accompanied by humiliation and degradation, a
life that is
tainted by fear, where joy and ease are mixed with
sorrow and pain.
So many people are mistakenly seeking an easy life
of power and
pleasure in this world, but most of them never manage to
achieve it,
and those who do, enjoy it only for a brief time before
it vanishes.
The Prophets called people to an eternal life of plenty,
and whoever
answers their call will have the best life in this world,
better than
the life of kings and their followers, for zuhd in this
life is true
richness. This is something which the Shaytan greatly
envies the
believers.
Merely knowing the facts that we have outlined above is not
enough. We
have to strive and do our utmost to achieve our aim and attain
perfection.
The best way to do so is to put a stop to the habits that are
controlling
our lives, as these are the main obstacles which
prevent us from
succeeding. We should avoid places of fitnah and
temptation, as the
Prophet (SAAS) told us,"Whoever hears of the Dajjal should
keep away from
him."
The best way to protect ourselves from wrong is to keep away
from anything
that could lead to it. One of the favourite tricks of the
Shaytan, which
deceives everyone except those who are clever enough to see it,
is to show
a person some goodness in a wrong thing, and call him to go
towards what
is good; when the person gets close to it, he falls into the
trap.
Abdullaah Ibn Abbas (radiallahu anhu) said: "You who commit a
sin, do not
feel secure about the results, for what goes along with the
sin is more
serious than the sin itself.Your lack of shame before the
angels, who
witness you when you commit the sin, is more serious than the
sin itself.
Your laughter when you sin, as you forget the punishment of
Allah is more
serious than the sin itself. Your delight if you get a chance
to sin, is
more serious than the sin itself. Even your disappointment, if
you miss a
chance to sin is more serious than the sin itself."