Shaykh Maseehullah Khan رحمه اللّٰه mentioned, “The plot of Shaytaan is to disturb the mind”. This causes us to become unfocused in worship. A few days ago, someone mentioned to me that for no reason, he questions if he is still a Muslim. We should have fikr (ponder) enough to protect us from pride, but to worry to this level is a trap from Shaytaan. If these doubts plague your mind, ignore them and move on. Some people repent from their past sins and they change for the better. Time elapses and life goes on, yet they carry the baggage of the past and continue mourning and crying over it.
Sins are not meant to depress us for a lifetime. By making him grieve, Shaytaan has taken him away from his objective in life, which is to remember Allah not our past. If those sins are still present in your life, repent in your present moment. Otherwise, keep the past in the past. Repeatedly expressing sorrow will waste our present moment. Shaykh Abdul Haq Makada always emphasises that we must stop worrying about unnecessary matters. Hand your matters to Allah and know that He will take care of them far better than you ever could. Some people worry about the future instead. We do not know if we live to see the future, which makes this worry pointless. This is one of the reasons why we don’t celebrate Mother’s day, Father’s Day or Valentine’s day. We believe every day is a good day to appreciate others. Why wait, do what you can now.
Allah made humans from clay and Shaytaan from fire. When Allah commanded Shaytaan to prostrate to Adam عليه السلام, he refused. He assumed he was better because fire rises high to the sky, but clay stays down on the ground. He declared that I am better than him. It was this statement that eventually led to his banishment from paradise. Shaytaan was arrogantly ignorant. He did not consider that fire cannot burn clay, but clay can extinguish fire. No matter how great a roaring flame may be, throw sand over it and it will come to an end. From this we learn, Allah has blessed us with the ability to overcome Shaytaan. No matter how strong his whispers may be, ignore them. Do not weaken and succumb. The same applies to overthinking, worrying and similar thoughts. Ignore them and seek Allah’s protection. Eventually, the fire will die down. May Allah protect us, aameen.
— Shaykh Dawood Seedat حفظه اللّٰه
Above is an extract from Shaykh’s talk on 10/9/19 in Masjid-ut-Taqwa, Pietermaritzburg. To listen to the full talk, please click here.
