In this session we want the audience to get some practical tips on how to fight against the tricks of Shaytan. With these tips, we want stories from the lives of the companions and prophets to have a strong backing and show practical usage of said tips. Adding ayat and ahadith if also possible. Practical solutions that can be used in our everyday lives, as well as excellent examples from history, will Inshallah allow the audience to go back into their daily lives and battle Shaytaan with those tips.
Yasmin Mogahed – Defeating Tactics of Shaytaan
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the benefits of shaitan, including finding a healthy balance between trust and control, protecting oneself from shaitan, and finding one's values. They emphasize the importance of forgiveness and finding the root of one's actions. The speakers also emphasize the need for regular practice to keep oneself protected and avoid mistakes. The "by default" means the person is not experiencing any connection to Allah and is just taking actions that will cause harm. The "by default" means the person is not experiencing any connection to Allah and is just taking actions that will cause their body to be blocked from achieving their goals.
AI: Summary ©
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hello Pamela rahima salatu salam ala rasulillah
Rebecca Hey Sandra, silly Andrea. Hello, Dr. melissani of Cabo Holly.
This is a really, really important topic, which, which we don't discuss enough. And actually, when we want to, if we want to talk about the tactics of shaitan, we want to talk about the tools of shaitan. One of the the most effective tactics of shaitan, one of the most powerful tools of shaitan is in fact, the very reality that we don't know. And we're not conscious of shaitan. It's like if you know, if a robber wants to come into your house, that robber his greatest strength is the fact that you're completely unaware that you're completely unaware of his presence and of his tactics. In fact, you don't even know that He exists. In reality, you don't you don't acknowledge his existence.
And that makes the robber super effective. Because he can come in and out you don't even realize it. That's one of our weaknesses is that we don't have enough as as the ship was saying, enough consciousness of the, the the influence of shaitan. And then we don't protect ourselves. So that's why I want to send him the letter we are having these sessions. And we are focusing on this. Now this isn't to say that we become obsessed, you know, I know. It doesn't mean we were
when people used to tell stories, I would leave the room.
All
our lives, right?
But it doesn't, I'm also not talking about the other extreme, where we sometimes become obsessed with these kinds of things. And we missed the point. Let's find a healthy balance and that healthy balance is yes Should I find exists? Yes. It exists? Yes. The Sheltie no real Yes, there influences real however, Allah subhanaw taala, Akbar, okay, Allahu Akbar, Allah is greater than everything else. And that includes the shaitan, and his army, all of them, a lot is greater than all of them. So what I want us to do is while we are aware of our enemy, and while we are aware that we are in a battlefield, we should also be aware of who's in charge at the end of the day. And it is a lot and
part of our test in dealing with shaitan is actually where do we put our trust? And do we believe that Allah is greater, who is who has more control, who has more power, okay, even if the entire world as Allah tells us, even if the entire world were to gather together to harm you with something, they could not harm you except by what Allah has written for you. And if the entire world had come together to benefit you with something they could not benefit you except in what Allah has written for you. This is part of our IP that to understand that while Yes, we have enemies, yes, we have enemies internally and externally seen and unseen. And by the way, the role of shipe on the the
role and and purpose of shaitan, the focus of shaitan the goal of shaitan can actually be carried out by both gin and Ince. So that's why when I say gin and ins I'm talking about gin and I'm talking about human beings, you know, in sort of the NES, when we asked for protection by Allah from Allah Subhana Allah by Allah from the shell team, and Allah says, Man, shall we say Michel de la sua Sinha ness? We asked for protection from Allah Wes was the one who whispers and then retreats. Right That's all you can do is put the idea in your head and then you know hides in the corner and pretend makes you think it was your idea. Makes it makes him makes you think that it's actually you who
thinks that but he is the whispering that's why he he whispers and then he retreats. He was president he hides so that you think it's you and you start to think there's something wrong with you.
But these aren't we have to understand that there's an external source of whispering it's not it's not even you but he whispers and he retreats, me Nalgene neci oneness so this is from jinn and people we have to be aware that there are people who actually are carry out and help in the mission of shaitan
that's to make us conscious of our company as well. Our company, even among the people, among the the those we can see also is important because the shell team and the whispering of the shell team can come from both you know that that that whispering? That mission can be carried out by both humans engine makes sense. So there are human beings who almost embody that child teeny qualities, and we have to be conscious also of our company, with with with with regards to human beings as well, because they can also affect us and that whispering that we asked protection from a law by a lawyer
From his from both Jin and it's from both Jin and human beings, okay, so that whispering itself is something we have to be conscious of. Now, the shaitan
has, has nothing really else to do.
You know, as
I was giving a lecture in Malaysia, like, like two seconds ago, and
and like I was saying that the shaitan if you want to like learn about his loss study that
he's so devoted to his mission, the mission that the schicke talked about the mission of attacking us on the straight path, the mission of coming at us from the front, and from the back, and from the right and from the left, he he's got nothing else to do. So what we have to realize is we have a very skilled opponent, but but that opponent also is not undefeatable is skilled, but also weak. And this is something Allah tells us, Allah tells us that his plot is weak, but he is focused, you know, it's like, he doesn't take a break. And that's our problem is that when we are, we think, you know, like he said, you know, once you become religious, once you become practicing, and if you think that
you're now safe from the Shaitan, then you're actually already he's gonna win that battle.
Notice in the A, A, something important, the shaitan says that I will attack them on where he doesn't say, well, I'll attack them outside the nightclub. Right, he doesn't tell I'll attack them. You know, in the in Vegas, while they're gambling. He says I'll attack them on your straight path, you see where he's attacking, he's going to put in more effort to attack those who are trying to be on the straight path. Because if that's where you require more energy, if someone's already off the path, it doesn't take as much energy to misguide them, right, it doesn't take as much energy as much focus as much army to get them off the path. So he he in fact, will put it put in more attacks. And,
and more skilled and more mind games, and just more effort on those who are are actually trying to be on the straight path, we have to actually protect ourselves more. And the more that you the more good you try to do. Like Think of it like this, the more good you try to do the you have to also equally protect yourself from shaitan. So the more the more you're trying to get closer to Allah subhanaw taala, the more you have to protect yourself from shaitan, and from the deception of shaitan shaitan will try to go to those people who have knowledge will try to go to those people who, who are in the public eye. And he will come at people in different ways. So what I'm going to
do right now is just talk about just a few of his tools, a few of his tactics, and then how we can defeat them inshallah,
one of the tactics and realize that when you say that someone's coming at you from your front, and from your back, and from the right from the left, this is to indicate that he's going to use all different types of pathways, if you close the front door, he'll come from the from the back door, if you if you close the back door, he'll come in from the window. Alright, what that means is that
he he's good at, he's good at what he does. He's, he's, he's relatively good at what he does. So he doesn't just come at you and say, You know what, I think you should just become a Christian.
I mean, he's not going to be like, you know, you should just leave Islam straight away, right? Or you should just stop praying. If somebody is praying, me, he's not going to come at the scholar and be like, tomorrow, you know, you should just leave Islam, because it's probably not. That's, that's, that's probably not gonna happen. He's gonna come out in a more sophisticated way, obviously. So number one, the first tactic I want to discuss is this idea of perfection. This is actually interesting, because the idea of
religious perfection or the idea of human perfection, I will actually categorize that as a tool of shaitan.
The reason is, that when we end you're going to be like, but that's weird, right? Because this is something, unfortunately, we teach, like, even even if we don't explicitly teach it, we implicitly teach it in our religious teachings is that you're supposed to be perfect. That a religious person means that they're a perfect person, almost as if a sinless person you're never supposed to slip. You're never supposed to make mistakes. And so for you to be good, you have to be perfect. Somewhere along the line, we've equated good like good equals perfect.
That in and of itself, I'm actually going to categorize as a tool of shaitan You know why? I'll tell you why I'm gonna categorize that as a tool to shape on because, number one, as human beings we aren't perfect and we were not created to be perfect. We we do commit sins. And Allah didn't make a mistake. Allah created us with a specific nature for a specific purpose. And if he had wanted us to be sinless, we would have been angels
There's there is something called sinless creation. But that's not what he created. This this creation of gin and ins are not are not like angels nor were they intended to be like angels make sense. So a lot made us the way we are for a reason. That's the first thing we have to understand. There's a hadith that says all of the children of Adam will make mistakes will sin will, will slip, but the best of them are those who repent. The first part is important here that we understand that this is part of the nature of the human being. Now why is that? so important to understand? I'll tell you why. And I'll tell you, why not understanding that becomes a tool of shaitan. The reason is
that if I think I'm supposed to be perfect, one of two things will happen. Okay, one of two things will happen.
When I see myself as perfect, I got a big problem. What's that called?
arrogance. It's called Actually, it's more than just arrogance. In English, we have arrogance. But in Arabic, there's different. There's different shades of arrogance, one is called horror. And horror means self deception. It means that I'm measuring myself different than I actually am. Okay, so I think something about myself, but I'm actually deceived. It's a it's like a measuring of myself higher than I am. That's horrible. So if I think I'm perfect, I'm actually I have a disease of my of the heart called horror or arrogance or self deception.
So either one of two things will happen, either. I feel like I'm on top of my game, you know what I mean? Like I just started.
I just started getting into the dean, you know, and you know, when people first start getting into the dean, they're like, hardcore, you know, like, spiritual steroids.
And it's awesome right there on a spiritual high. That's when you know, you're like, on point, you know, you're on point with everything or you think so you feel like you are, you know, your clothing changes and your behavior changes in your, you know, maybe you're praying, maybe you're doing PM, you got your hijab, you've got your short pants, and big beard and stuff like that. You got it all now. And now.
You think that you're perfect, or you think that you know, you don't got issues, but everyone else does. Right? So I'm perfect. And everyone else needs my help. So now you become injured, or you join the harem police.
This now I see her on police. What I mean by this? I don't I know I do not see her sister. I know that.
I'm not talking about naseeha. At this point, I'm talking about self righteousness. Okay, I'm talking about what happens when we become deceived and think that I have no issues. I'm perfect. So now my job is to, to help the little people. And when I say to help the little people, what I mean is I'm actually looking down on others. It's not about helping someone because I love Yes, and hamdulillah I love them. But it doesn't just become out of concern. It becomes out of arrogance, out of self righteousness, because I feel like I'm better. And I need to, you know, help others because I'm higher. That in and of itself is because of the deception that I thought I was perfect or that
it was even possible for me to be perfect. All right, so that was the one one number one is believing that I'm perfect when I'm on top of my game, or I see myself as on top of my game, but let me just just say one thing about being on top of your game. Number one thing about the thing about being on top of your game is
if you're on top of your game, meaning say you're praying hamdulillah you're reading quotes, and you're you know you're you're staying away from the fascia and the hot ROM and you're dressed properly and everything like that. Is that because of you? Or is that because of Allah?
It's because of Allah. It isn't because you're awesome and your neighbors not. That's actually not the reason the reason that you're praying is because Allah has guided you and Allah has gifted you with Salah. The reason you're saying that ilaha illa Allah and someone else is saying something else is because Allah has guided you and gifted you meaning you should be grateful not arrogant.
Okay, you should be grateful not err you should be you should be thanking Allah subhanaw taala and realizing that any gift can be taken away, right? Yes or no? Any gift can be given and it can be taken and we know that the heart is something that naturally turns isn't it? Yeah, mocha libeco This is the other prophets I send them would make one of the most commonly that he would make it most often. Yeah, mocha libeco lube Sabbath Colby Allah de Nick. Oh Turner of hearts. Keep my heart firm on your deen. Okay, so the heart itself, the
Prophet we are told in Hadith, that a person can wake up in the morning as a believer, and by the evening, they're a disbeliever. And the other way around, they can be in the morning a disbeliever. By the evening, they're a believer, the heart is a scary thing, in that it turns by its very nature. Never ever should you feel that what I have is because of me, and it can never be taken away. And I'm better than so. And so, because they're not as good as me. Believe me, you could trade places in in in 24 hours. It's like that. Never ever feel arrogant or, you know, proud of yourself. And always be grateful. So that's number one, even if you are acting, you know, as much as you can, according
to what you're supposed to do. The second thing about that thinking that you're perfect, is that
I want to give you guys an analogy.
Imagine we're all standing outside the door of a king, all of us, and every single person has something to offer the king. So we've all brought gifts for the king. All right, now some people are holding gold, some people are holding silver, some people holding brass, some people are holding some other kind of metal, some people holding diamonds. And then there's some people were holding, like a broken piece of pottery. Okay, some others are holding like a pebble.
Now, all of these people are are all outside the same door of the same King, and they all have different kinds of things to offer.
This analogy is like us, right? And we're all outside of the door of Allah subhanaw taala. Do you know who we're standing with? Like, who we're competing with? prophets, angels, things like that. So let's not be proud of ourselves.
You feel me?
Like, oh, I pray PM, you know?
hamdulillah like, there's angels. That's all they do.
Like that, from the beginning of time till the end of time. They're just in such the key compete with that. You know, saying, Why am I telling you this? So we won't be arrogant. My saying it so we will be hopeless. No, the reason I'm saying it is so we won't be arrogant. But let me tell you guys a really awesome, like ending to this analogy or the story while we are standing out there and we have a broken piece of pottery while someone else has a whole pot of gold. Okay? Yet the king still opens for us.
And that's the good news.
The good news is he's so generous. And the good news is that he is an Wahab which means he loves to give gifts. He loves to open, he loves to forgive. And that's that's the good news. It isn't because of our actions that we get saved. It isn't because of our actions that we go to Jenna and are safe from jahannam. It's because of his generosity. Make sense? So our focus needs to be on his generosity and his mercy not on our awesomeness. Because we're really not that awesome.
We're just humans, and we're just trying, alright, but Allah appreciates that allows a shortcode. And Allah one of the attributes of a less amount of data is that he does appreciate and he does, he does give thanks. In the end, he gives reward, even for tiny, tiny actions. I can stand out there with a pet pebble, and he'll still reward me. That's because of his generosity, not because of my awesomeness. You see the difference in focus? When I focus on my own awesomeness, then that's a that's actually a big problem. Because it's like, really you want to buy Jenna with a pebble. Good luck with that. Right? You think you can do that? You can. It's like the man who on the day of
judgment and Allah asks him Do you want to be judged by your deeds? Or by Allah's mercy? Which one do you want? And he says, But no, this dude thought he was awesome.
He had worshipped a lot like hardcore, like all his life. So he says, By my deeds, you know, I'm good. Okay, so a lot puts all of his deeds on one side. And then he takes just one blessing that he gave him which was his eyesight and put it on the other end it was heavier than all of his deeds, and he was awesome. Actually awesome.
And he's like, Oh, just kidding button by your mercy.
Um, so
yeah, so this is important that no matter how great we think we are, how much matter how great we think we are. We have these other you know, people, these other creation competing with us. And guess what, these angels the ones that are in such that from the beginning of time till the end of time when time is over
You know what they say, we haven't worshipped you enough.
And it's actually true. Because we can't worship a lot enough, will not cover a lot. Today, we can actually give a lot as he deserves. Because look at this guys, here's the thing, we are finite and he's infinite, how could we possibly give him what he deserves? But we're just trying and Allah Allah rewards for that, you know, Allah is Al Karim. Allah is the most generous, you know, you ever had a teacher who like A for effort? You know, I'm saying like, rewards you for you know your efforts. Okay? Multiply that times infinity. Allah is so generous that we can, you know, smile at your brother and it's like a charity. I mean, this is this is someone who's just trying to give good
deeds, you know what I'm saying? Like looking for reasons to give us good deeds and to forgive us. And Allah loves to forgive us. An Allah loves to give gifts. This is what it means to be an Wahab. This is what it means to be at keti and haleem. He is so forbearing he puts up with a lot. A lot people talk about him having a son, and he puts up with it. You understand a lot. And one of the things is very important for us to understand His attributes. Now the second problem is, here's the second problem. When I believe that we're supposed to be perfect. I either think I'm perfect when I'm on top of my game. Now let's talk about what happens when I'm not on top of my game. Is it going
to happen? Yes, it's gonna happen. What happens when I slip? If I thought that I was supposed to be perfect? If I thought that good people must be perfect, then what happens when I do slip?
And that leads me to the second tool of shaitan. I fall into despair and hopelessness,
despair and hopelessness. Now despair and hopelessness is a direct consequence of thinking that I was supposed to be perfect. That's why I'm categorizing that as a tool of shaitan. Does that make sense?
Only if I thought I was supposed to be perfect. Am I going to become hopeless when I'm not?
But if I knew that, that wasn't how I was designed that I am going to mess up.
Then what happens is when I mess up, what do I say? I say, Okay, I, I'm human. I messed up. And I immediately turn back to a lot and I repent.
shaitan doesn't want you to do that. shaitan does not want you to do what Adam did.
He wants you to do what he did. Can I tell you the difference? And I know you've probably discussed this, but let me tell you just just a couple things about the difference between Adam and chiffon.
We know this story, and they were together and they were both told something. Adam alayhis salam. Well, let's start with shaitan shaitan was told to bow to Adam, and he refused as you know, and he was what?
arrogant right? And he refused. What is the problem with shaitan? Why should I been cursed for all time? Anyone? Can anyone tell me? What's the reason?
Yes.
Good girl. She got the answer. Right? A lot of times when we ask why. Why is it that shaitan? What is shaitan do wrong or why is shaitan curse for all time? People say because he didn't bow right. But when when you when if someone says that my answer to that is have you ever in your life missed fetch? Like maybe when you were like 15 Did you ever ever miss a Salah in your life? Now think about this when you go and meet Allah subhanaw taala all of us if we missed only one ledger in 100 years or 60 years or however long we live on this earth that isn't just one such that that's for
because understanding my my line of what I'm saying? I'm saying if you and I missed one Salaam the shortest Salah we've already missed for such does not one. Therefore, if we were all if every human being was going to go to * for all time for missing one such that which of us would go to Jenna, you understand my points? So it isn't it couldn't pot it's not only that he didn't bow one such that one such that think of all the such those we in our lifetime might refuse to do even if we missed one Salah that's not one such as for, for at least if not the hood and it's more. So there's something else that he didn't do, there's something else and it's as the sister said, it was his
response after he disobeyed Allah that made him cursed forever. It isn't just the act of disobeying Allah because let's move over to Adam money his setup Adam Island
Sallam was told Why don't eat from that tree. And what did he do? Eventually? He ate from the tree. Right? Right. But look at the difference between Adam and shaitan. Adam alayhis salam, the difference between the two is what they how they responded after they slipped after they made the mistake. Adam alayhis salam, his response was robina alumna and fusina were in Lem takfiri Lana with her Hannah, then akuna Minal ha serene, our Lord, we have wronged our own selves. And if you don't forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be among the losers. There's a very distinct difference between the response of Adam, Allison and the response of shift on the response of Adam. Number one,
he takes responsibility for his actions.
You know how easy it would have been for Adam, you know, something I find really interesting is that Adam doesn't even try and SLM to blame chiffon. He's not trying to blame how what and he's not even trying to blame shaitan. Even though shaitan is the one who deceived him, yeah. But he doesn't blame him. He doesn't say all is his fault.
He says, Rob, bene is alumna and fusina, meaning we have wronged who our own cells, he is saying, I did this, I'm taking responsibility I did wrong and I'm taking responsibility for it. That's one of the biggest, like, that's one of the things that we have missing. In our personally. Family, collective society, community world, we don't take responsibility. Right at every level. It's always someone else's fault. You know, when we're little and like kids are getting in trouble. It's like it's it's your brother's toys. Your brother's fault, right? It's always your sister's fault. It's not you never Is it you? He made me do it isn't right. She made me do it. It's Israel's fault.
My point is, my point is that we like to find the problem outside of ourselves. It's not that we as most it's not that, that we as an omen need to change. It's the West, it's Israel. It's it's this. It's always this external reasons, right? We don't have enough money. We don't have enough political power. We don't have enough this. We don't have that. They're doing this to us. They're doing that to us. What about what we're doing to us? Like, what about me? What about what I have to change? What about what we as an owner have to change? You know, we talked about, listen, we talk about tyrants overseas, right? There's a lot of them. There's a lot of them. But what about the tyrants
that are inside the house? Yeah, what about the tyrants that are inside the message and the message board?
Like, you know what I'm saying? We got we got some MOBOTIX there too. Like, it's, it's like, they don't leave, right. 16 years?
And then their kids take over? And I'm just kidding.
Um, do you guys understand my point here, we got, we got these patterns that we complain about and protests about overseas, we got them in our homes, and we got them in our massages, and we got them in our organizations, we got them in our schools. We we need to change I need to change inside. And guess what, then will then our condition will change in the law. How are you? Hi, Robbie Coleman. hatakeyama be enforcing him. Indeed, a law doesn't change the condition of a people until they change what's inside themselves. So we have to start taking this responsibility. This is an example of Adam, Allison and Robin as alumna and fusina, we've wronged our own selves. And if you don't
forgive us and have mercy on us, we'll be among the losers. He realizes, number one, it's his own fault. And number two, that he needs the forgiveness of Allah, He humbled Himself and He asks for forgiveness. shaitan, on the other hand, does not. And you know what shaitan said, because the shift just said, he blames a law.
You might have way too many you, you're the one who put me in the wrong and you did this to me. So because of that, I'm going to rebel against you. And I'm going to try to take as many people with me as possible, I'll come to them from their front and their back. And they're right in their left. I really hate Python, by the way.
I really do. You know, this, you know, this meme. That's like, be one of those women that when you get up in the morning, and you put your feet on the ground shaitan says all man she's up. I'm just like, that is my motto. I hate shaitan I really hate him. And and and part of the battle against him is letting people know how to defeat him because he is trying to separate us from Allah subhanaw taala. That's why I hate him. And I've seen him destroy people, destroy people, destroy relationships, destroy marriages, destroy families. This is shaitan that's all he wants to do. We can't really allow that to happen. And here's the thing I'm telling you. There's a way to defeat
this his plot is weak. But one of the things we have to stop doing is telling you
Other we're supposed to be perfect teaching each other this because this actually helps him. And when we mess up, we lose hope. And we say, You know what? Because I messed up, I'm gonna give up. I'm gonna give up. I'm not good enough. By the way, this is how shaitan comes to a person when they're down. He will come to you and He will whisper to you all types of whispers of worthlessness you're worthless. You're not for this path, right? This path is for the perfect people, you might as well take off your hijab. Love that one. You might as well take off your hijab. And I've heard people saying this about other girls. Really? What do you mean, she might as well take off her
hijab? What does that even mean? It means you're not good enough for that hijab. You couldn't be perfect. So just take it off. This is a this is absolutely signed off by shaitan shaitan wants you to believe that you couldn't be perfect, so you might as well not try. All right. That is not what Allah subhanaw taala tells us. He says Kalia Eva de la nostra for Allah and forcing him. Let him in Rahmatullah. You see the difference between shaitan and what Allah tells us is shaitan is teaching you and this brings me to the third point is this his tool is all or nothing.
All or nothing, folks, that's what shaitan tells you. A lie doesn't say that. That's not Islam. Islam doesn't say all or nothing. shaitan does. Anytime you feel all or nothing, you know, that's shaitan. You know what I'm saying? It's like, it's like, no, not until I can become an angel, then I'll put on my hijab, right? Don't we have this thought? It's like, No, no, no, I'm not there yet. What do you mean, you're not very, what are you gonna get there, you're never gonna become an angel. Right? Like, it's like, it's like, first you got to go through an angel becoming ceremony.
And then the hijab is the crown of being an angel. And then what happens is, everyone in hijab then is considered an angel. And therefore, if they make one little mistake, it's like, oh,
she did that. And she's wearing hijab. You know, I'm saying, it's like, I didn't know she wasn't human anymore.
This hijab is part of our struggle. It's not some sort of crown that I become an angel now. So now I'm putting this on. So everyone knows it. It's it's part of the struggle. It's just like, I pray, and I fast. And I give charity and I'm trying, I'm trying, it's just it means I'm trying. That's what it means doesn't mean I'm perfect. Okay. And so the whole idea here is it's one of those things that we're doing for Allah, just like we pray, just like we struggle, but what shaitaan wants you to believe is that and when you mess up, you should just give up the whole game, because it's all or none. Right? You made a mistake. So don't pray. Right? You Oh, no, no, whoa, he comes in, he's like,
wait a minute, you're gonna commit that sin and then go pray such a hypocrite? You two faced, you're gonna do that and then go to the masjid. You're gonna show your face? You're gonna do that sin. You're so low, and you're going to face a law? No, no, no, no, don't how can you even face him? Do you understand what's happening here? He's trying to distance you from a law through despair.
Through telling you, you're not good enough to go to a law. There's no such thing as not being good enough to go to a law. A law accepts everyone. No matter how sinful you are, no matter how broken you are, Allah accepts you. But shaitan wants you to believe that you're unacceptable to Allah. You're unacceptable to go to Allah. There is no such thing. I'm going to emphasize this again. There's no such thing as not being acceptable to go to a law. A lot takes anybody, every buddy. And he his door is open to everyone, no matter how broken no matter how sinful. You all know the story of the man who killed 100 people, right? I'm gonna tell you in case you don't.
99 people he killed. This is a serial killer.
And he goes to a worshiper, and he says, I want to repent. And the worshippers says, bro, you can
note to self don't anger a person who just told you that they killed 99 people.
So he kills him too.
And he makes it 100.
So this guy still wants to repent. So he goes to a scholar now. And he says I want to repent, I killed 100 now.
And he says you can repent? Because he had the knowledge. The other guy didn't know he didn't give him the right answer actually.
He tells him You can repent, but you need to leave your environment you need to go to this other city.
Part of the part of the path of repentance is leaving your toxic environment, leaving your toxic friends leaving your toxic in company. So he says leave that city and go to this other place. And while he's traveling to that other place, he does
eyes in the middle. And when the angels come to decide who to take him, the angels, you know, they're the angel of wrath Angel mercy, who's gonna take him a lot tells them to measure the distance between where he died and where he was. And if he was closer to the New City to do you know, the angel of mercy to take him and if he's closer to the Old City, the angel for us to take him, you know what Allah did for this man? He shortened the distance of the earth to make him closer to the New City.
Now, has anyone in this room killed 100 people?
sha Allah? No. And in sha Allah never.
So how can we think that we can't go back to Allah that we aren't worthy of going to Allah when this man was forgiven? This man was forgiven. And he's still you know, it's like you just killed 100 and he still has the hope to repent. Like, that's intense, right? And us like the things that we make us lose hope, far less than this, right? Allah subhanaw taala says that if your sins were to fill the area between the heavens and the earth, and you were to go to him and assign no partners to him, he would give you forgiveness greater than that. Allah subhanaw taala loves to forgive. It's believed me it's shaitan who makes you believe that you've gone too far to go back? And it's him who makes
you believe that when you make a mistake, you should hide from Allah.
You should hide you know, when you like you disappointed a friend? What do you do? Do you pick up their calls?
You know what I'm saying? You hide you disappointed your parents? Do you go up to them? Or do you avoid them? avoidance right? So what we do with Allah
when we feel that we have disappointed that we have, we have we have done something to anger a lot. What do we do we avoid him to have shaitan avoid him, avoid him, don't turn to him. Don't cry to him. don't repent. In fact, just avoid him just just sedate yourself. distract yourself. You know what I mean? There's lots of things to sedate us and lots of things to distract us and you know, we can carry it in our pockets. So what we do is we just try to numb numb ourselves and avoid a lot like we would avoid and a disappointed parent.
Okay, that's a tool of shaitan In fact, when you anger Allah, you should run to him more for federal Illa federal means actually running, rushing, you know, going it's like you're escaping something to Allah.
You know, what, what are you escaping when you're running to Allah?
It's interesting. Yeah.
True. But you know, in in reality, we are running Yes. from your sins. Yes.
Mercy. So we, we rush to the mercy of Allah but in essence, we're actually running away from the Wrath of Allah. So we are running away from the anger of Allah to the mercy of Allah. It's all Allah, but we need to run to him. We need to run to him even when we feel that we have disappointed him and especially then.
All right, I think what we'll do, can we What time is it?
What's so how much time do I have left? Between Okay, so I'm going to actually ask you guys to stand up and like stretch and just have like a two minute three minute break. Thank you.
For q&a.
Yeah, I'll wrap it up and then do q&a.
Out of la mina chanology Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim, WA salatu salam ala rasulillah Allah le usafa Jemaine rubbish, Rafi sadri. We are suddenly Omri wahala. locked them in the center of Gokhale. I want to wrap up and summarize what I said. And then actually leave time for q&a. Okay, because in him that we have some extra time. So
to summarize the points, number one is the idea of perfection, that this can actually become a double edged sword that is used to make us despair. Number two is despair. And the fact that shaitan will tell you that, you know, you're not good enough, that that he are too far away from a law you've committed to any sense to turn to Allah. When you make a mistake, avoid a law. Those are all shaytani tactics to separate you from him. Try to make you not pray, try to make you take off your hijab try to make you stop going to the masjid try to make you separate from the good company. And he'll tell you things like they're boring. You know, I mean, older, they all think they're better
than me. That kind of thing. You know, I'm saying
So that you'll end up going with company that will take you farther and farther away from Allah by telling you that these other people are just too judgmental, right? Just kinds of things just to separate you from good company. No, no, don't go to y m, don't go to the messenger don't go to MSA. They're all judgmental. The people, the messenger, judgmental people over there. They're cool. They don't judge me. Well, they don't judge you because they're like, messed up.
Sorry.
My point is that this this is part of the tricks of shaitan to keep you away from good company. Number three, all or none. Islam is not all or none, but shaitan wants you to think it is. There's no such thing as she might as well take off her hijab, I just want to like slap somebody when they say that. I mean, don't say that. Don't say that. Don't Don't, don't enable shaitan against your sister, tell her she's not good enough, she made a mistake. So she might as well stop trying.
Alright, so all or none SM is not all there are none. But shaitan wants you to think that it is.
And then, of course, the idea of just not being conscious of his present. Now I want to just wrap up with some of the how do we protect ourselves. One of the best ways, obviously, to protect yourself is to know his tactics. But I'm going to tell you guys a practical list of how to protect yourself from these things.
I call this my Vicar challenge. Remember, remember, when they had this ice bucket challenge, everybody was like putting ice on their heads.
This is something inshallah more useful and less cold. This is the vicar challenge. Okay, three things that you do, and you are consistent in them, you will see revolutionary changes in your life. Just three things, everybody ready.
If you're not writing it down with a pen, write it down on your phone, or in your brain. But just remember these three things, number one,
number one
is go to your phone and download an app.
For a dog, any kind of app, there's my dog, I, you know, whatever kind of dog do I at fortress of a Muslim, whatever it is downloaded onto your phone. And every morning after fetch.
Every morning after fetch, open up your app and click on morning. Of course, after fetch, click on the morning doors. Now there is a collection of them that the profits I sell, I'm used to say after fetch, pick some amount of them and say it after fetch it every single day.
You can allot 10 minutes, 15 minutes however much time, but make it consistent, folks, it's like taking a vitamin. All right, you have to take it consistently, even if it's small, it will have big effects. Make sense? It's like sit ups dude. You know, if you want to do 1000 setups one day and not do it for two months, you ain't gonna see results. But if you do 50 every other day or 50 a day you will start to see results even though it's small. Make sense? Okay, so that's, that's number one. Now, that same da app after us, open it up again, and click on evening do us evening, of course. So you're following so far, this is all part. This is all step one.
Step one.
And the evening dries again. You read them however much after us. Alright. Number two.
If you go to a doctor, and you tell the doctor, doctor, I've been feeling sick lately, I don't have much energy. I don't know what's going on. And the doctor says
When was the last time you breathed?
And you're like, I don't do that anymore.
Why does that story make no sense? Because you would be dead. Right? Okay. This is our problem. We we we complain of spiritual problems. We complain of emotional problems, we complain of relationship, we complain of a lot of problems. But if we're not praying, praying salaat you know, Salah five times a day. It's like we're not breathing. It's like we're not taking an oxygen. And then we go to the doctor and say, I don't know what's wrong with me.
Okay, make sense. If you don't have oxygen in your body, don't even talk to me about what's my problem, right? It's like you go, No, no, Doctor, give me a prescription. We'll do it. You don't have oxygen. Right? It's like first breathe, and then come talk to me. But the problem that we need if we're not praying, that means that we don't even have oxygen in our blood. We don't even have oxygen in our body, but we're going to the doctor and asking him for some fancy prescription and some fancy medicine.
Fair enough. So your saliva
Is your oxygen,
your Salah is the oxygen, your blood and if you're not praying, then you're not taking an oxygen. And you can't ask yourself, why am I sick after that? Why is my heart dead? I don't know why I feel far from Allah. I don't know why I have all these problems. I don't know why I have anger problems. You're not praying, you don't have oxygen in your blood, you don't have oxygen in your body. That's the reason. So so that is actually a very first thing you have to focus on your Salah is the first question you're going to be asked about on the Day of Judgment.
Your Salah is the first question you're going to be asked about on the Day of Judgment. And the prophet SAW, Selim said, if your Salah is in order, then you will be successful. And if it's not, you will have failed.
Okay, so that's actually that one should have been number one. And number two was the dot app. Okay, but it doesn't matter. The point is, these are the two. Okay, one and two. So one is the salaah, which is your oxygen.
Number two is the dot app after fetch and after us.
The third time that you can use the dry app and I highly recommend is before you sleep, before you sleep, you click on even or you click on sleep, the dots for sleep before before before bed.
Number three. So I told you, I promised you guys that the three steps and it will revolutionize your life, right? This is called the VIP kid challenge. And I want you guys to actually do it. Don't even you don't even have to take my word for it, do it and you see for yourself. Number three is core n, that there's there should be some connection to the core and daily, some connection to the core and daily reading, understanding, implementing reflecting whatever.
These three things if you do them, if you do these three things, it's it's like putting on an armor, layers and layers of armor when you go on a battlefield. And if you aren't doing these things, I'll tell you what it's like. It's like a person who has no oxygen, no armor and goes out to the battlefield. Anyone know what's going to happen to them?
Okay, they're not breathing and they don't have any armor. How long are they going to last?
How many seconds? Can you last the oxygen any doctors want to tell me?
Not not even five minutes. Okay, so the point here is you're going to start getting brain dead and then you're going to die. I'm sure I mean, come on. We have like endo packs in here. Come on.
No, Mashallah.
So we you're gonna, you're gonna, the oxygen is going to be out of your bloodstream. Right? And then you have no armor. So you're going to be shot down.
And that's, that's what happens if you're not praying and you don't have Vicodin in your life and you don't have connection to Quran. When you do, you're oxygenated and you have the armor. And then that's how you get protected. But here's the other thing I want to remind you, if you do it once, and then you don't do it. It's it's like, okay, no, I don't need to breathe today. I did that yesterday.
That doesn't work, right? I don't need to eat today. I did that you know, a week ago, is something you have to do consistently to keep yourself protected. Base. Everyone get those three? Any questions about that?
All right. Let me stop here. So panicle ovahimba, Shadow Allah, Allah, Allah and star Federico to bootleg. We'll open it up for questions. Just take from the floor. Okay. Any questions?
Yes.
So there's so many The reason that I didn't give any specific one, all you do is you just go to the app store and you just click put d u, a, or do you a DA, and you'll find countless ones. I mean, there's my da I do I mean, fortress of a Muslim. There's so many collections, find one that you like, but here's what I recommend one that has the Arabic And if you don't read Arabic, the transliteration and then the meaning. Most of them have all three if you don't read Arabic, read the transliteration. Okay. And don't only read the meaning but read the transliteration and also understand the meaning. Any other questions? Yes.
Sorry, could you raise your voice?
Correct.
Okay. Okay. So
He's asking what if you're doing all of these actions, and it's still so routine, that you're not feeling the connection, and it's just not having an effect. If that's the case, then there are there are certain reasons why that might be the case. number one cause of that is sin, that we don't repent for sins that we don't repent for. So you may be committing sins that you're not repenting for. And those sins are what's kind of creating a crust over your heart. So you can't connect to Allah. So it but the reason I didn't mention that is it's actually included in the morning and evening. mathcad is towba is default. That's why I didn't mention it. But I should mention it, you
know, just to explain explicitly say it.
Included in these three things is towba. It has to be in there, its default has to be in there, because it's the thought is taking a bath for your heart. And no one can say that, yes, I eat, I take an oxygen I exercise. But yeah, I took a shower, I took a bath last October, so I'm fine.
And that's because, you know, you constantly have to clean that's what is default is it cleans the sin and the effect of sin off of the heart. But the reason I didn't mention it is because it's already in the code of morning and evening and, and sleep. specifically say that it's default, save as default is a drop in from a hadith that the prophet SAW Selim said was the the best to ask for seeking forgiveness. And he said, If anyone says this dog in the evening, and they die before the the morning, they will enter agenda. And if they say it in the morning, and they die before the evening, they will enter agenda. So say that it's default actually is in your apps for morning,
evening. mathcad. It's the one that begins alojamento de la Ilaha, Illa and jalapeno and abduch. That door. And this door is one of the best for cleaning the hearts. So that's one of the main reasons why that happens. What you're saying is because of our sins. And the second thing I'm going to say, of cause of that that phenomenon, or that ailment of being disconnected from Allah, even though we're doing actions is some sort of attachment in the heart that is blocking us from Allah, it's loving something as we should only love Allah will do that, too. So if it's our job, if it's our money, if it's our spouse, if it's our children, anything that is actually becoming a block. And
so I might be praying, I might be reading Quran, I might be doing everything in that list. But my heart is actually the reason that it's blocked from Allah is because I've put something else in the center where only a lunch should be. And sometimes it might be my career might be my job could be school, could be, you know, my spouse. So that's another reason why that happens. I have only two minutes left. So if there's one quick question, yes.
Okay, how do you differentiate between the West West Oh, shaitan and your own nest? Number one, I'll tell you that it actually doesn't really matter, because we have to fight them both in the same way. But I can give you some answers. But at the end of the day, it actually doesn't matter. There are two different kinds of enemies, but we actually fight them in the same way. And that's the scatter knifes and that's Vic if, and that's his default, and that's da. And that's, you know, a bad so So essentially, the armor is the same for both, essentially, although, of course, there are different like, you know,
nuances, but at the end of the day, the whole process of tests, kiya of purification of the heart is is actually to help us against both, okay, and everything I said in those three is going to help you against your knifes and against shaitan. Okay, because it's seeking refuge in Allah from both one of the dogs actually we say in the morning and evening is asking protection from the shaitan. And from the nest, it's like they're both together. And of course, only Allah can protect us from both. But one one thing that they say the scholars say is that
is that the neffs has certain attachments to specific things. Whereas shaitan doesn't care which direction he takes you to *, you know, whether it's from the front or from the from the northeast, Southwest, he doesn't care. So if he comes and tells you, hey, um, do this sin and you and you refuse, he doesn't care, he just finds another one, right? Okay, then do this sin, okay, then do this. And it's like, he keeps switching it up. The neffs is like attached to specific things. So it's like, if there's a specific sin, I can't leave, and I'm addicted to that specific sin. That's my neffs it's not just shaitan because I have myself has an attachment to that sin.
There's a specific thing I'm always thinking about in my salon a specific thing is just repeated that that's that's necessary. That's my own my own attachment.
But again at the end of the day we it doesn't really matter because our defense mechanism is the same for both. Mahoning County Heather was definitely welcome in order for him to panicle over him Decker shadow and Ella Hill and istockphoto to what axonemal a coma to America.