RECOGNIZE YOUR SHAITAN 1

BY
Shaikh Jalilu Issah

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful

English Transliteration

[002.208 Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo odkhuloo fee alssilmi kaffatan wala tattabiAAoo
khutuwati alshshaytani innahu lakum AAaduwwun mubeenun]

[002.209 Fa-in zalaltum min baAAdi ma jaatkumu albayyinatu faiAAlamoo anna Allaha
AAazeezun hakeemun]

Translation

[002.208 O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the
footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy.]

[002.209 If ye backslide after the clear (Signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is
Exalted in Power, Wise.]

Exegeses
Allah is talking about two different groups. One group is of the people who are sincere to
Allah and His holy teachings given in the holy Quran, whereas the other group is of the
 RECOGNIZE YOUR SHAITAN 2
BY
Shaikh Jalilu Issah

people who are hypocrites. In the verses Allah Subhana-Wa-Ta’aala is calling all the
believers. So that they could reconcile with each other in order to remain on the path of
Allah. It is told by some scholars the reason that why these verses were revealed on
Muhammad (Salla 'Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam) that actually one of his (Salla 'Llahu 'alayhi
wa sallam) companions called Abdullah Hibun Kalam had accepted Islam. The after he
accepted and embraced Islam he went to the prophet (Salla 'Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and
said that would he (Salla 'Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam) allow them to read Taurat in the salat
in stead of Surah Fatiha? He asked that they would like to recite Taurat in their namaz.
When he got the negative answer then he asked one more question that he they could act
upon Taurat in their practical life instead of acting upon the holy Quran.
Then under the circumstances Allah revealed this verse on Muhammad (Salla
'Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam) saying Ya ayyuha (Oh you) allatheena (who) amanoo (believe).
Allah is addressing to all believers Oh who you believe in odkhuloo (enter) fee (into)
alssilmi (Islam) kaffatan (completely). Now would see the meanings of alssilmi. In
Arabic it means harmless. There are many interpretations of this holy part of the verse
but it has been agreed on that it has the meanings what are mentioned above. So Allah is
saying them; Oh you believe! Enter perfectly in Islam (by obeying all the rules and
regulations of the Islamic religion) and follow not the footsteps of Shaitan. Verily, he is
to you a plain enemy.
Let me describe in more common way of understanding that one should enter into
Islam with whole body not with his head only. There is no concept to be in Islam with
half of the portion of your body. And it is a sorry state of affairs that really in our
practical life we can see there are a lot of Muslims they are not fully in Islam. Their
Islam is situational and circumstantial. In some portions they do have firm belief and
other portions they ignore. Why? This is not the Islam. For example some say OK yes it
is important to have a firm belief in Muhammad (Salla 'Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam), Ahlul
Bayt and other parts of Islam but it is not important to offer prayers five times in a day.
Even people leave out the fasting in the holy month of Ramadan. And they offer many
spurious illogical excuses for not doing these wajib (religiously obligatory) acts. Word
alssilmi comes from word Islam. Islam means complete submission before Allah
Subhana-Wa-Ta’aala. That’s why we call ourselves Muslim. That one prostrated before
Allah and His teachings. There is no place to budge even a millimeter from the Islamic
land of the holy Quran. Allah says

We ask the Prophet Ibrahim

(AS) to submit hi will to Us. Then in return of it the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) said
I did submit to the Lord of all worlds. So it is not a
mere submission. There is the complete submission of body and mind. Some scholars
say that this verse is talking about some Non-Muslims during the time of the prophet
(Salla 'Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam) that they believe those companions they believe in Islam,
and they acted according to the Islam but at the same time they kept some of their old
traditions of Islam. That once in a while they practiced the traditions what they used to
do before embracing the Islam. And those actions and traditions Islam did not permit to
 RECOGNIZE YOUR SHAITAN 3
BY
Shaikh Jalilu Issah

do them or repeat them. Because there were two kinds of traditions when Islam came.
There were some traditions that before Islam people used to practice. And when Islam
came some of those traditions Islam approved them and allowed the people to continue
those traditions. The second part of those traditions Islam had forbidden them. And in
openly Islam had declared them haram. Then some of those who became Muslims later
on, they kept practicing the traditions that were prohibited by Islam. So Allah Subhana-
Wa-Ta’aala is talking to those people who do not accept Islam and at the same time have
some traditions which were against the values of Islam. There was a condition that if you
desire to accept and embrace Islam then you would have to accept all the quarters and
prohibitions of Islam. Half of the acceptance will not serve the purpose. So it is the
interpretations of some scholars. This is the general understanding of this verse.
Allah Subhana-Wa-Ta’aala is not talking about the submission here. Allah
Subhana-Wa-Ta’aala is talking about the peace. It is indicating that the peace can not
take place unless under being the banner of Islam and peace. That if people desire to
have peace, it can only take place when the entire people are under faith. Since as longer
as there is no faith among two people or among the group of people and they all have
different desires. Since before you go what is the cause of conflicting among human
beings? If you look at the deeper the reason why people disagree and even kill one
another. It comes from the self and vested interests. This is all the result of selfishness
and nothing else. In point of fact the disagreement is the crush of the desires of the
people of their own particular thoughts and this creates a big problem. So Islam brings
people together in order to make them live under the banner of peace. Islam tells and
teaches the norms of peace and safety for others. So Islam says enter into the peace
completely. And this would give you complete and peace and safety. That’s why Allah
Subhana-Wa-Ta’aala is calling people. There are lots of things that can cause the
division among people. One of them is language. And that is one of things of the white
people. Second factor of the conflict is money. We are all in hot pursuit of money and
we transgress the limits in getting the money. Social class is also a factor of the
disagreement and the conflict among us. Race is also a factor. This factor also divides
people into groups. So we have seen the factors what divide people. So there should be a
system and unified system which may bring people on one platform in the united form.
The system is the only Islam and Islam only. And the survival is only sure if we accept
the whole system of Islam in complete form. We should not leave any portion of the
corner of Islam. We have to enter completely. Then we can have the peace and security.
The first example is Hajj. There is uniformity and complete safety and peace of
every possible kind of life during the performance of the rituals of Hajj. Though there
are different languages, colors, race, traditions of them in their respective locations. But
during the Hajj rituals there is nothing evident, which might be said, different. That’s
why Allah says that one must enter Islam completely. Then there is a guarantee for peace
and progress.
Allah says wala (and do not) tattabiAAoo (you follow) khutuwati (footsteps)
alshshaytani (of Satan). There are clear instructions for us not to follow the footsteps of
Satan. Al khutuwat has come five times in the holy Quran. There we have been told not
to follow the footsteps of the Satan. If you happen to recite the hadith of Ahlul Bayt you
 RECOGNIZE YOUR SHAITAN 4
BY
Shaikh Jalilu Issah

would come to know that it is mentioned that Satan has five important weapons to
mislead the follows of the holy Quran. Allah is giving us warning that if the peace is to
be maintained then we have to be away from the five fiendish footsteps. Khutuwat is a
plural word of Khutwa. And Khutwa means step. Satan comes to you and asks you to do
some kind of evil work. He actually comes to us through his footsteps.
Allah tells us Now recite Qul aAAoothu birabbi alfalaqi (Say: I seek refuge with
(Allah), the Lord of the daybreak). We should also recite Ilahi alnnasi (The Allah of
mankind) Min sharri ma khalaqa (From the evil of what He has created). Allathee
yuwaswisu fee sudoori alnnasi (who whispers in the breasts of mankind). The holy
Quran tells us in very open words that when Satan comes he whispers in our heart in
order to mislead us. After this he comes to the second step. He creates the place of
materialism in our hearts. After this he diverts our attention to the best things in the
world. He tries his level best to distract our attention to the things and material, which
may make our senses out. Satan tells you about your personality that you are something
big. And then he leaves you alone. Since in these steps he has done his jobs to put you
off the track. Jew scholar long time ago, it is mentioned in surah Al Hashr, this scholar
was respected in his time. People used to come to him for the cure and treatments and for
everything. People with mental problems also used to come to him. And this man used
to cure them. Once people brought a woman to him who had some kind of mental
problem. He started working on her to cure her disease. She had three brothers who
brought her to the man. They left the woman with that man the scholar. The first thing
that Satan did with the scholar that he whispered into his heart. The whisper was that he
was not alone with that woman. And it developed an evil thought in his mind that he
began thinking about that woman that she was a piece of beauty. And then the man did
haram with her. Then after he finished that haram with that woman, she became
pregnant. This story is mentioned in the holy Quran. Allah in surah Al-Hash says
[059.016 Kamathali (they are like) alshshaytani (satan) ith (when) qala (he says) lil-
insani (to man) okfur (disbelieve) falamma (so when) kafara (he disbelieves) qala (satan
says) innee (I am )baree-on (free) minka (of you)]. After that when that scholar came to
know the condition of the woman, then the Satan again whispered in his heart to kill the
woman so that people may not come to know his offense. And he finally killed the
woman in order to conceal his offense and haram what he did with the woman. The
scholar buried her in his room. This was another step of Satan. Then after it Satan went
to the brothers of that woman who was killed to tell them the story. Anyway the brothers
directly went to the grave of the woman where she was buried. They decided to kill the
scholar. When they were about to kill the man Satan came there. And told the scholar
that he was going to die. There Satan offered him to do Sujood to him if he wanted to be
saved from the hands of the brothers of the murdered woman. Instead of reconciling to
Allah, the scholar preferred to do Sujood to Satan. The scholar asked him that how could
he do Sujood to him that he was tied on arms and legs. He proposed that the scholar
could do Sujood to him by nodding his head to him. He did Sujood to Satan. After
receiving Sujood from his Satan thanked him and told him that he would be right back
then he would rescue him from that problem. But the scholar did not see the Satan until
the Day of Judgment. Anyway Satan replied him that what he wanted to do with him he
 RECOGNIZE YOUR SHAITAN 5
BY
Shaikh Jalilu Issah

did. Also he told him that he further had no concern with him. He wanted to make
disbelieve.
We have got the lesson that Satan is always following us. We had better
recognize the ways of Satan and avoid at any cost. Otherwise on the Day of Judgment
there would be no place of us among the believers. Islam is giving us warning that even
the first step of Satan may entice us to follow other footsteps of him and we may destroy
our lives. Allah says alshshaytani innahu lakum AAaduwwun mubeenun (Verily, he is to
you a plain enemy). Satan is your open enemy. The word mubeenun means evident,
clear, nothing hidden, visible to the naked eye. In surah An-Nisa Allah says
I was on my path. Make sure that
most of them will never become believers. I will misguide
them. And you never find most of them to
be grateful to you. Allah has told us at many different places in the holy Quran about the
nefarious designs of Satan and also we have been given the right and safe paths.
Prophet Musa (AS) asked Satan that what is his best way to mislead the people?
Satan replied that why prophet Musa (AS) asked him this question. Prophet Musa (AS)
replied that he wanted to know the modus operandi of Satan. Satan then said he had so
many of them. Prophet Musa (AS) asked him to let him know some of his satanic tools
to him. He agreed to tell him only two of them.
Satan told that his best weapon to mislead the people is the money. For the sake
of the money people kill their fathers, mothers, and other blood relations. And other tool
is woman. In support of his second weapon Satan told the Prophet Musa (AS) the story
of the Prophet Adam (AS) and Eve. He told that when he went to the Prophet Adam
(AS) to get him to eat the fruit of the tree, Adam refused to eat it. Then Satan told that he
approached Adam through Eve. And Eve convinced Adam to eat the fruit of the tree.
So Satan told the Prophet Musa (AS) that he uses two big weapons such as money
and woman.
Further would be discussed in detail in next session Inshallah!