Examples of the plots and cunning of the devil

1. Changing the creation of Allah. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah.} [Quran 4: 119] His mischief is not limited to be against Allah The Almighty in His religion; rather, it went beyond that to be against His creation.

Scholars of Tafseer mentioned some of the forms of distorting the creation of Allah The Almighty in the pre-Islamic era such as gouging out the eye of the camel and naming it Al-Haami which is the male camel whose back is protected of carrying anything on it for it has many offspring. So, it would be freed from work for the the sake of the idols. Other evil ways of changing the creation of Allah The Almighty are tattooing and branding the faces of animals with fire.

Also, thinking of some creatures in different ways from which Allah The Almighty assigned (designated), such as believing in planets as gods or believing in solar and lunar eclipses as indications of the conditions of people, are also included in changing the creation of Allah The Almighty and all of such things are from the plotting and whispering of the devil to misguide the creation from worshiping and believing in Allah The Almighty alone.

2. Averting people from the remembrance of Allah The Almighty. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer.} [Quran 5: 91], {And when you see those who engage in [offensive] discourse concerning Our verses, then turn away from them until they enter into another conversion. And if Satan should cause you to forget, then do not remain after the reminder with the wrongdoing people.} [Quran 6:68} This is one of the greatest aims of the devil i.e. to instill negligence in the hearts of people so that he may overcome them easily after that. Actually, the remembrance of Allah The Almighty is the best means to expel the devil, and Allah The Almighty describes the devil with two descriptions saying: {the retreating whisperer } [Quran 114: 4] i.e. he is the one who whispers in the breasts of the Children of Aadam and who always retreats and withdraws when the slave mentions his Lord. Mujaahid said: When Allah The Almighty is mentioned he (the devil) withdraws and contracts, and when He The Almighty is not mentioned he expands over the heart.

3. Misleading scholars. This is one of the most important aims of the devil, for misguiding a scholar means misguiding his followers. Allah The Almighty mentioned the story of the scholar who preferred his own desires to obeying his Lord. Then Satan overcame and dominated him, so he became one of his soldiers and became a source of misguiding and misleading people after he had been a source of guidance to them. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators. } [Quran 7: 175] Accordingly, the scholar should be more wary of the traps and plots of Satan. He should also know that his knowledge will not make him safe from the plots and cunning of Satan and that Allah The Almighty is the only protector with His power and strength.

4. Evil suggestion of the devil. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And if an evil suggestion from Satan pricks you, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing.} [Quran 7: 200] Allah The Almighty likened Satanic insinuations in the human soul to the prick that a needle causes for it is hard to observe it or to observe its effect. This is an eloquent metaphor for one does not observe the whispers of Satan and he may be too negligent to observe their effects. So Allah The Almighty draws our attention to that so as to expel the temptations of Satan and avoid their effects by seeking refuge with Him from Satan and his plots. Allah The Almighty is the only One Who is able to expel such temptations and their harmful effects.

5. Impulse of the devil. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, those who fear Allah - when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight.} [Quran 7: 201] This verse has an eloquent description of how Satan misleads the Children of Aadam. Satan roams around them like the one who roams around a place before entering it so that when he observes a state of negligence from them, he touches them with his impulses and casts his whispers in their hearts to commit sins and misdeeds. However, the believer is intelligent enough to know his plots and cunning and to expel them with the remembrance of Allah The Almighty before the satanic insinuations and suggestions have full control of him. That is because if such insinuations were neglected, they would turn to be determinations and then actions and then a habit which would be difficult to get rid of.

6. Incitement of Satan and his partnership with the Children of Aadam in their wealth and children. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." But Satan does not promise them except delusion.} [Quran 17: 64] This verse represents the greatest and the oldest battle; a battle whose field is the heart and mind of the son of Aadam; and whose protagonists are the devil and the son of Aadam. Its aim is to occupy the mind and heart of the son of Aadam and to submit him to obeying Satan and his party. The arms of Satan in that war are his voice i.e. everything that calls for what Satan calls for of obscene and evil deeds, and his horses and foot soldiers i.e. his soldiers whom he sends to mislead people. Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “Iblees (Satan) erects his throne on water and sends his emissaries among the people. The closest to him is the one who causes the most Fitnah (mischief).” [Muslim]

Also, amongst the arms of Satan are his promises that he gives to people if they obey and submit to him. It is with that weapon that he got Aadam, may Allah exalt his mention, and his wife out of Paradise when he said to them as Allah The Almighty Says (what means) on his behalf: {Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal.} [Quran 7: 20] His promise was just a lie and deception.

7. Enticement and prolonging hopes. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, those who reverted back [to disbelief] after guidance had become clear to them - Satan enticed them and prolonged hope for them.}

[Qruan 47: 25] This is also one of the strategies that the devil adopts in misguiding and misleading those who know the right and the way of guidance by adorning, beautifying, and facilitating evil matters. In this way, souls proceed to such evil matters willingly and discouraged not by hardship or difficulty. If the remembrance of death hinders them, Satan hastens to mend the situation by deceiving them with hopes of a long life.

To be continued...