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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين محمد رسول الله ﷺ صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليمًا كثيرًا.
My brothers and sisters, I remind myself and you that we, human beings, and we as Muslims are living in a state of war. By “war,” I do not mean war with this country or that country, nor with this person or that person. The war is with Shaytan. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ (inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un). Allah said, verily the Shaytan is your enemy, so become his enemy.
Allah did not say ignore him. Allah did not say don’t listen to him. Allah said, “become his enemy.” There is a big difference between ignoring somebody, not listening to somebody, and being an enemy. Ignoring, not listening, and so on—we should do with whoever is telling us things which are wrong—but that just means that you are passive; you just walk away. You don’t listen to that person and so on. But being an enemy means you will try to harm that person; you will try to fight. And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is telling us: فَاتَّخِذُهُ عَدُوَّةً (“fat-takhidhu ‘aduwwatan”). Become the enemy of Shaytan because he is your enemy. So we are in a state of war; we have to understand this first.
For example, if you went yesterday, one of my young friends was telling me we were talking about African wildlife and so on. He told me, “I read in one book that leopards are harmless; that leopards will not attack human beings.” I told him, “The leopard did not read the same book.” So you read the book, but the leopard did not read the same book. Don’t think that the leopard will not have you. As far as the leopard is concerned, you are like Mars ice cream or a Mars bar walking around. As far as the leopard is concerned, you are food. So don’t think the leopard will not eat you. If you go into the forest, the reason I am giving you is that I am giving you the example. If you go into the forest and say, “Oh, it’s so nice and very beautiful; I am going for a stroll,” that is fine. But there are things in the forest which also like you. They like you. Like biryani—that’s how they like you, right? You should be careful. You have to understand who is there.
Similarly, as far as Shaytan is concerned, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي سِلْمِي وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا هَوَىٰ شَيْطَانٍ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ (“Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu udhkhulu fis silmi kafafatan wala tattabiyu huta alayhi shaitan innahu lakum adhoom mubeen”). Allah said, “O you who believe, enter into Islam completely, fully, and totally.” Right, and Allah is saying this to whom? Allah did not say “ya ayyuha alkafirun” (O disbelievers) or “ya ayyuha alnaas” (O people). Allah said, “ya ayyuha allatheena aamanu” (O you who have believed). We may Allah have mercy on us; we think that we say “la ilaha illallah,” but what more do you want? It’s not a question of whether Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying it to everyone. This Ayat came to those who believed. It didn’t come to me; it didn’t come to you. It came to Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba radi allahu anhum ajma’in, who are the ultimate example today. If we ask, “Who are the examples of the believers, who are the mu’mineen?” When Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in the Quran everywhere says “mu’mineen” (believers), “muhsineen” (doers of good), who are those people? They are the Sahaba of Rasulullah ﷺ. And this Ayat is coming to them: “Ya ayyuha allatheena aamanu.”
Allah is saying, “Enter into Islam completely: udhkhulu fis silmi kafafatan.” Not partially. I am in Islam as far as the masjid is concerned, but when I go out of the masjid then I have my own law. No, this is not right. That is why you see this beauty of the Quran al-Karim. Allah said: لَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِهِ (“la tattabihu khutuwati shaitan”). Allah did not say “la tattabihu shaitan” (don’t follow Shaytan). Why “khutuwati”? Allah did not say don’t follow Shaytan; He said, “Don’t follow the footsteps of Shaytan.” There is a difference between following somebody and following the footsteps. When you say “don’t follow so-and-so,” it means that person is there, don’t follow him—this one who is here. But when you say “don’t follow the footsteps,” it means that the one who made the footsteps is not there; he is gone. So now if I follow the footsteps, whose responsibility is it? Mine. I am responsible. I can’t say, “No, no, what can I do? I am helpless; Shaytan caught me and took me.” Shaytan didn’t do anything. Shaytan walked on this path, and you also are not mistaken—you did not follow the footsteps by mistake. Allah told you these are the footsteps of Shaytan; don’t follow them. Then you can’t say, “I did not know.” Right, you have to understand.
When Allah says that Shaytan is the enemy, then how does Shaytan deceive us? How does Shaytan tempt us? The sign of Shaytan’s enmity is that Shaytan tempts us and puts waswas in our hearts and minds. That’s all he does. Shaytan cannot physically harm you. Shaytan cannot physically force you to do something. Shaytan can only tempt you. Shaytan can whisper: Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you do that? Here is this fantastic scheme. Heights! Okay, some riba is there. So what doesn’t matter—times have changed. We are living in modern times. You know those are 7th century things; this is the 21st century. The reason Muslims are depressed is because we don’t go for interest-based banking. People say all this nonsense. So we say, “No, no, sorry. We follow the footsteps of the Nabi alayhi salatu wasalam. We follow the footsteps of Rasulullah salatu wasalam, not the footsteps of Shaytan.”
So Shaytan tempts in two ways. One is by helping us do things which are our own shahwat (desires). Whatever it is, right? Whether it is eating haram, drinking haram, having relationships which are haram, behaving in ways which are haram. Please understand: I remind myself and you that when we say something is haram, we are not saying this is an oppression from Allah on us (nauzubillah). The haram is something which is by itself harmful for us. Even if it was not haram, I was speaking at many, many years ago—more than 25 years ago—I was speaking at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and somebody asked me, “What is the Sharia?” So I said, “The Sharia is a system of law which any decent, intelligent, responsible citizen can and would like to follow. That’s it. You don’t even need to be a Muslim; any decent, intelligent, and responsible person would like to follow that method.” The Arabic word for that is Sharia because everything in the Sharia which is prohibited is intrinsically bad. All addictions are prohibited. Tell me what is good about energy. Whichever addiction—whether it is alcohol, whether it is cigarettes, whether it is vaping, or whether it is any form of narcotics, any drugs—what is beneficial about that? Nothing. It is by itself evil. It is by itself something which harms you.
So even if somebody was not following Islam or something, he said, “No, no, I don’t believe in it,” that person—if he is intelligent, if he has got some sense—he will not do something which harms himself. Why will he do it? Similarly, being unfaithful to his religion, to your wife, your husband—is this a good thing by itself? Even if there is no punishment associated with that, is this a good thing to be unfaithful to your spouse? No. So any decent human being will not do that. You don’t need the Sharia; you don’t need a threat of Jahannam to live a clean life.
Similarly, eating pork—for example, right? The Christians made it halal on themselves, but Isa A.S. never ate pork. You ask him, “Did Isa A.S. eat pork?” No. Then why are you eating it? No, Paul said it is okay. Who’s Paul? Was I mean as far as you are concerned, there is one Nabi called Isa A.S., who’s Paul? So this is what Shaytan does. What Shaytan does is Shaytan tells you that what Allah has prohibited is okay. Can be done? It cannot be done. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala prohibited for our benefit. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is not allowed to do that. He is not harmed. He is not benefited by what we do. So all the things which are prohibited in the Sharia are for our benefit. All the things which are permitted in the Sharia are for our benefit.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying: Shaytan is an enemy. So open your eyes, be aware. There is a difference between two forms of deception which happen to us: one is the nafs and one is Shaytan. Right, these are the two things we receive, and there is a difference between the two. You should know what is the difference. The nafs tells us and compels us to do something which that nafs likes. For example, some people are addicted to social media; for other people, there is no problem—they throw the phone somewhere, it doesn’t matter. Some people like watching television; others, we in our house, have not had a television now—I think for over 40 years we don’t have a television when we lived in America. I used to say to people that this is the only house in the whole of America which does not have a TV. So for me, if I say, “No, no, I am not watching TV,” it is not a problem for me; it is something which I don’t want to do anyway. But for somebody else, it is a big struggle. Alcohol—for example, some people who are addicted cannot do without it. If they don’t have their drink, it is an addiction. For some people, you and me, it doesn’t matter. I don’t drink alcohol, of course, I don’t drink alcohol; it is not a problem.
So the nafs has certain things—each person’s nafs has certain things that that person likes. So for that person, the temptation of the nafs is connected with that; it is not connected with anything else. But Shaytan will tempt you in any way that displeases Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. So it does not matter to Shaytan whether you are drinking alcohol or whether you are dealing in interest, or whether you are fornicating and indulging in adultery, or whether you are oppressing somebody, beating somebody, discriminating—whatever it is, as long as it is disobedience of Allah, Shaytan is happy. It doesn’t matter. So anything you do as long as it is prohibited, as long as it is evil, as long as it is a sin—for Shaytan, it is fine. Not for the nafs. For the nafs, it is a particular thing which that nafs, that individual, is addicted to. Other things don’t matter. So we should differentiate between these two things: both are bad, but at least you know where it is coming from, right?
So with Shaytan, therefore, it is very important for us to be aware. And that’s why I began with my saying today, saying that we are in a state of war. Now, if you are in a state of war, then nothing else is important except remaining alive, except your safety. Right? If you are in a state of war, you are not going to say, “No, I am going to build my business and I will grow my business and I will see what’s my advertising policy.” Forget that man! You got some bomb going to fall on your head or something, or somebody, some soldier is going to come and shoot you. So you are not worried about your business; you are not worried about which car should I have—should I buy this car or that car? You are in a state of war. Forget about which car; your life itself is known to be at stake. So if you are in a state of war, there is nothing that is in your framework. You are not concerned about anything other than remaining alive. And that is the mental framework we should have with regard to Shaytan. Nothing else is important except staying safe from Shaytan.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala showed us how that is very easy: What is the way to stay safe from Shaytan? Say, “I will be from Shaytan.” That is it. Say, “I will be from Shaytan.” Any time any attack of Shaytan comes, say, “I will be from Shaytan.” Take refuge in the protection of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Right, our ulama, our ayima, have said that with Shaytan there is no—not even an atom of goodness—in Shaytan. So you cannot appeal to Shaytan’s good side, in one way or the other. Have some pity? Have some kindness? Have some… this? There is no such thing. He does not—that does not exist with him. It is not there. So with Shaytan, the protection is the protection of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala told us: Ask the protection of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala from Shaytan. So say, “A’udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim.” Any time any temptation comes, say, “A’udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim.”
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has promised to protect, InshaAllah, Allah will protect. So I remind myself and you: Please let us live with awareness. Don’t live with ghafla. Don’t live with a state of—you know, you don’t know what’s going on. No, no, ghafla. Live with awareness. And that awareness comes with dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. It comes with seeking the protection of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. And it comes with always remembering that Shaytan is there and Shaytan is real. This is what the biggest deception of Shaytan is: Shaytan has convinced us that he is not real. Shaytan has convinced us human beings that he is not real. Shaytan is real; Shaytan is very real. And therefore we should be very careful of Shaytan. And the way to be careful of Shaytan is: Say, “A’udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim.” We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for His protection. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to keep us in His protection. We ask Allah to save us from Shaytan. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that He gave us iman. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to keep us in a state of iman and to take us in a state of iman. Wasallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.