Quran Garden

How do you protect yourself from an enemy you cannot see? Why is there animosity between devils and people? Do you know all the tactics Satan uses against you, and how to defeat them? If you like to learn the answers to all these questions and much more, you have come to the right place. Quran Garden has prepared a 3-part mini-series just for you! Let's get started.

Session 5

أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

I seek refuge in God from Satan, the accursed.

Before you begin reading the Quran, God wants your meeting with Him to be under His care and protection. He says:

Whenever you recite the Quran, seek refuge with God from the accursed Satan. (16:98)

Why? Because when you turn to your Creator and seek refuge in Him, you become stronger despite your weakness, and as long as Allah is by your side, your abilities and power surpass all others. Keep in mind that many of the distractions that occupy your mind while you recite the Quran are Satan's work. Thus, before you begin reading, it is vital to fine-tune your attention and direct your consciousness to receive God's words properly.

Satan often targets the believer's weaknesses to lead them astray. If someone is particularly strong in one area, Satan approaches them from a different angle. For example, if you are careful in your prayers, offering them properly at their appointed time, Satan will attempt to sway you regarding wealth. He whispers the fantasy of a richer and safer future if you do not pay the Zakat almsgiving to the poor. But in reality, this is a lie because charity instills God's blessings and protection in your wealth. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, told us, "Never has the wealth of a person decreased due to charity." The devil takes advantage of people's greed and ignorance by tempting them to pursue unlawful earnings and neglect paying Zakat on their lawful income. Likewise, if a person is rigorous regarding wealth, the devil may tempt him or her to indulge in adultery. And if Satan finds you abstaining from all of these immoral acts, he may turn you to the allure of drinking, bad company, or slander. He keeps revolving around the person's weaknesses until he drags them into sin.

For this reason, you should seek refuge in God, so He may strengthen your weak points and protect your vulnerabilities. When you ask to be in God's company before reciting the Quran, He keeps Satan from distracting you. Only then can the Quran serve as your true source of guidance and enlightenment.

Here, you may ask, doesn't everyone who reads or listens to the Quran benefit equally? We answer: No. While the virtues of the Quran are equally available to everyone, each person reaps from them according to the strength of his or her faith. Listen to the following Aya,

Among them are those who listen to you and then, when they leave your presence, say to those who have been given knowledge, "What was that he just said?" They are those whose hearts God has sealed up and who follow their own desires. (47:16)

In other words, the Quran did not have any effect on them. On the other hand, it certainly has a positive impact on the believers who listen attentively, as mentioned in this verse,

Say: "It is a guidance and a healing for those who believe." But as to those who believe not, there is deafness in their ears, and to them it is blindness. They are, as it were, being called from a far-off place. (from 41:44)

As you can see, the most crucial element in reaping the benefits of the Quran is the state of your mind and faith when you read or listen to it. For this reason, God wants you to purify and distance yourself from Satan and protect against any distraction. And while we cannot see Satan, and might not even be aware of his presence, he can see us. God says,

O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them. Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not believe. (7:27)

How do you protect yourself from an enemy you cannot see? You protect yourself by seeking refuge in a power that has the ability to see and overcome Satan: God Almighty. Only then will the Quran's true essence penetrate your heart.

God expelled the devil Satan from His mercy, making him accursed and destined for Hellfire. Why? Because Satan denied God's command to prostrate before Adam. His disobedience reached its height not because he disobeyed a direct order from God but because he questioned God's wisdom, as stated in this Aya,

God said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you to?" He replied, "I am better than him. You created me from fire, and You created him from clay." (7:12)

It is as if Satan was not pleased with God's judgment and intended to be equal to his Creator. God's response to Satan's defiance and arrogance was to expel him from His mercy. Satan blames Adam for his downfall, and thus, his aim is to lead not just Adam but all of humanity astray into Hellfire.

Adam and Eve, peace be upon them, lived in Paradise, and had all their daily needs readily fulfilled without any work or effort. Paradise was rich in trees and luxuries, providing Adam and his wife with all kinds of fruit. They were permitted to eat from whatever they wished, except for one tree, the fruit of which was forbidden. Satan began to allure them towards sin by persuading them that, by abstaining from this tree, they would be deprived of great benefits. God says,

Satan whispered to them so as to expose their nakedness, which had been hidden from them: he said, "Your Lord only forbade you this tree to prevent you from becoming angels or immortals." (7:20)

And, in another chapter,

But Satan whispered evil to him: he said, "O Adam! Shall I lead thee to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?" (20:120)

In order to trick Adam and Eve, Satan exploited their reverence for God and swore by God's honor to gain their trust, as stated in this aya,

Then he said to them on oath, "I am your sincere friend." (7:21)

Through these examples, you can appreciate how Satan approaches us from many different angles. He approached Adam and Eve, trying to convince them that whoever ate from the tree would become an angel, immortal, or would be granted an everlasting kingdom. Satan tries to convince us that there is benefit in what God has forbidden, suggesting that disobeying the Creator will bring us wealth and power. Adam and Eve ate from the tree but did not become immortal or attain any lasting kingdom. Instead, their private parts became manifest to them.

They understood that God only intended good for them by making the fruit of the tree unlawful. Had Adam and Eve thought rationally, they would have realized that Satan's temptations were false. If the tree really could make the eater immortal, then why did Satan feel the need to ask God to grant him life till the Day of Resurrection? He could simply have eaten from the tree.

Always keep in mind this animosity between Satan and Adam, and remember that Satan asked God to keep him alive until the Last Day so he could take revenge against Adam and the entire humankind by deviating them towards sin. By staying vigilant and seeking refuge in God, you can expose Satan's whispers and ensure his attempts fail.

A famous adage goes, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat." Congratulations on taking the first step toward understanding your enemy. Join us next week as we discuss the places, times, and tactics Satan uses to drag you into sin.