When the devil came calling – Part 2

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful
Surely, Satan is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his followers that they may become the dwellers of the Blazing Fire. (Qur’an 35:6)

Oh! Muhammad! How could you be certain of your people’s salvation and felicity? I have a trap at every corner for them. I go to the poor and tell them, “What has Allah done for you? Why do you pray to Him? Prayer is for those to whom He has given in abundance.” Then, I go to the ones who are sick and tell them to stop praying, and remind them that even Allah said, “There is no blame on the sick” (Quran 24:61)

I hope that they will die having abandoned their prayers, so that Allah will meet them with anger in the Hereafter.”
‘O Muhammad, if I have told a single lie, may scorpions bite me, and ask from Allah that He turn me into ashes. O Muhammad, do not be sure of your people. I have already converted a sixth of them, who have left their religion.”

Shaytan further told the Prophet that he has at least ten ‘bosom’ friends among men. These are tyrants and oppressors; the arrogant; servile scholars who hide the truth for the benefit of tyrants; dishonest tradesmen; drinkers of alcohol; dealers in fraud; slanderers; those who stir up trouble among friends.

He said: “I asked Allah to give me a house, and He gave me the public baths. I asked Allah to give me a temple, and he gave me the marketplace as my temple.

I asked Allah to give me a book. He gave me the book of poetry as my book. I asked for a call to prayer, and He gave me the dancing music.

I asked for someone to share my bed, and He gave me the drunkard. I asked Allah for helpers. Allah gave me those who believe in free will. I asked Allah to give me brothers and sisters, and He gave me the squanders who spend their money on evil things. “Surely the squanders are brethren of the Devil” (Quran 17: 27). Then I asked Allah to be able to see the children of Adam while they are unable to see me, and He accorded that to me. I wished that the very veins of the children of Adam be my routes, and it was given to me. So, I flow in their veins as I wish and enter their flesh. All these were given to me, and I am proud of what I have received. And, let me add, O Muhammad, that there are more with me than there are with you.”

Then the Prophet said: “If you had not proven what you said with the verses of Allah’s Book, it would have been hard for me to confirm what you say.”

Then the Devil started to complain. He said, ‘O Muhammad, in spite of all this, I have no strength to take away the faith of the faithful. I only take away their faith when they throw it away. If I were able, there would be no one on the face of this earth who could say: LA ILAHA ILLALLAH, MUHAMMAD RASULULLAH (S.A.W.) – There is no Creator but Allah, Muhammad is His Messenger.’ I would not leave a single one to pray or fast. All I can do is to give the children of Adam imaginations, illusions and delusions, make the ugly appear beautiful, the wrong, right; and the bad, good. Neither do you have the power to give faith. You are only a proof of the Truth, because I know that, if you were given the power to give true faith, you would not leave a single non-believer on the face of this world. The fortunate one who is a believer is fortunate in his mother’s womb, and the rebellious sinner is a rebel in his mother’s womb. As you are the guide of the fortunate, I am only the cause of sin of the ones who are destined to sin. Allah is He who renders one fortunate and another rebellious.’

Then he recited from Surah Hud: “And if thy Lord had pleased He would have made people a single nation, and they cease not to differ, except those upon whom thy Lord has mercy, and for this did He create them. And the word of them altogether.”

Then, the Prophet told the devil: ‘O Father of All Bitterness, I wonder if it is at all possible for you to repent and return to your Lord. I promise I would intercede for you.’ The Accursed One responded: ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is Allah’s justice. The ink on the pen which wrote the judgment is dry. What will happen until Doomsday. The One who made the master of all prophets, the speaker for the inhabitants of Paradise, the One who chose you to be the beloved amongst His creation, chose me to be the master of sinners and the speaker of the inhabitants of Hell. He is Allah. O Muhammad, this which I have told you is my last word to you, and I have told nothing but the truth.”

Dear brethren, the above story left me in no doubt as to the existence of the inimitable powers of the Almighty as the Superintendent of our lives here on earth. I equally trembled when I reflected over the fact that indeed our market squares are temples of the devil; that sometimes we postpone acts of righteousness in the hope that we would do them later. We actually never know that each time we do that we are listening to the Shaytan.

At a recent conference in the United Kingdom, a participant told me that she was once a Christian and that now she does not believe in God anymore. I asked her for the reason. She said: “there are sufferings all around the world; if there is God there should be no suffering on earth.” I shook my head in disbelief. Then I asked her: “Are you in suffering here now, seated as you are in peace, enjoying the best of life in one of the most advanced countries in the world?” Sister, Shaytan is constantly on duty; you cannot afford to go off duty with reference to the worship of your Creator.
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