How to Avoid the Devil's Trap

 

How to Avoid the Devil's Trap

 It is narrated from the Qur'an that when he was expelled from heaven, Satan asked Allah to tempt Adam's children and grandchildren to become his friends in hell someday. The devil said, "I will surely come to them from in front of them and behind them, from their left and their right. And indeed they will not be Your grateful servants” (7:17).

According to Al-Kattani, this verse talks about the stages of Satan's strategy in misleading humans. Demons trap humans gradually. Starting from the roughest and most difficult bids to the most subtle and easy stages. However, it is precisely in this most subtle and easy trap that many humans are trapped.

According to al-Kattani the "front direction" is a trap associating partners with Allah and committing major sins. This is the most difficult offer for humans to comply with. At this stage, Satan offers kufr, invites people to reject religion, the existence of God, the message of the Apostles and the truth of the scriptures.

When it fails, the temptation from "backwards" is also offered by the Devil, namely the trap of committing small sins, which is easier to follow than the previous offer. The devil seduces people that sin is human and besides, he said, Allah is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful. Therefore, there is still compensation for repenting. For people who are prone to Satan's temptations.

The Prophet SAW warned: "Do not underestimate small sins, because small sins will become big when people collect them." In a narration, Ali bin Abi Talib said, "The biggest sin is a sin that is considered small by the perpetrator."

If it fails to seduce humans from the front and back, Satan designs a third temptation, a trap from the "right direction". The right direction, according to al-Kattani, is an offer to do things that are permissible but can neglect the obligatory. Morning exercise is permissible but if it can distract us from getting to the office on time, we are trapped in the temptations of these three devils.

The last trap came from the left, this was the most delicate offer. Satan offers us with the main worship, but neglects us from the more important things. Praying is the main thing. If we are busy doing dhikr, cleaning ourselves or contemplating in the corner of our house, then we ignore social problems, then we forget what is more important. When we fuss over small differences in worship and forget about the quality of our economy, we have fallen into this trap that comes from the left.

It is narrated that when the Devil said these words, the angels became sorry for humans, then they said: "O Allah, how can humans escape the trap of Satan?"

Allah replied that there were still two ways left: up and down, "if people raise their hands in prayer humbly or prostrate with their foreheads on the ground in complete reverence, I will forgive their sins." (HR Thabrani)