Twelfth Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1444 A.H.
Shaytan (4)
the symbol of evil
utilizing material and human capabilities for serving his aims
I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth, and that Muhammad, our master, is His servant, Messenger, and Last Prophet.
O Allah, confer Your salat and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad as You conferred Your salat and blessings upon Ibrahim and the Family of Ibrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad's good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahidin.
O Allah, guide us and grant us acceptance, for You are All-Hearing, All-Knowing; accept our repentance, for You are the Relenting and the Merciful.
Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
In the context of discussing the danger of Shaytan, his endeavour to influence humans, his intense enmity towards humans, and what the Quran mentions regarding this matter, we spoke about some points concerning this topic. Of the last points we spoke about in yesterday's lecture was the fact that Shaytan's activities have expanded through his offspring, his clan, his soldiers, and his assistants and that he no longer operates alone in targeting humans with the aim of seducing them, misleading them, and entangling them in transgressions, crimes, and grave sins. He even operates through wide networks that have jinn who are specialized in various fields:
- There are those who are specialized in inciting evil and turmoil among human beings,
- those specialized in immorality,
- and those specialized in cultural and intellectual misguidance.
And the list goes on, with specialists in other fields related to the various spheres of life.
The expansion of Shaytan's activity has reached such an extent that some humans have become devils themselves, which continues to be seen in human reality through generations. There are those humans who have turned into complete devils, despite being humans in form. This is what the Holy Quran confirms in many verses and instances, such as this verse in which Allah says, {'And so We have made for every prophet enemies—devilish humans and jinn—whispering to one another with elegant words of deception. Had it been your Lord's Will, they would not have done such a thing. So leave them and their deceit. So that the hearts of those who disbelieve in the Hereafter may be receptive to it, be pleased with it, and be persistent in their evil pursuits'}.
In this blessed verse, Allah clarifies to us that the enemies of the prophets and the ones who oppose the Divine Message in everything it called to (uprightness, righteousness, self-purification, goodness, benevolence, and obedience to Allah) and in everything it warned against (immorality, evil deeds, corruption, transgression, injustice, and aggression) are the devils, the devils from the jinn and humans. They work together to fulfill their mission of confronting the Divine Message, hindering its spread among people, and preventing people from responding to it (the Divine Message) and to the messengers and prophets in general. {'And so We have made for every prophet enemies'}: Every prophet faced enemies and encountered opposition in his efforts to guide people, change them for the better, save them, and lead them towards success, goodness, and what pleases Allah and leads to the good ultimate outcome: attaining Jannah and being saved from the Fire.
Shaytan's concern about the efforts of the messengers and their followers in guiding people
Their enemies, both human and jinn devils, are enraged by this. Shaytan is angered by any activity aimed at rescuing people from him, protecting them from his influence, ensuring their well-being, and leading them to their salvation, success, triumph, and deliverance from misery, misguidance, and eternal torment. He wants a situation where he does not need to face complications or restrictions that would impact his evil efforts to subject humans to temptation, misguidance, and corruption and lead them towards destruction, misery, and eternal torment.
The efforts of the prophets and those efforts that are an extension of their efforts—the efforts meant to guide people, save them, and lead them towards their success, salvation, and ultimate triumph in the Hereafter—infuriate, worry, and disturb Shaytan. He considers such efforts as a threat that can lead to the failure of his mission and diminish his influence as he is eager to destroy as many people as possible. In his oath, he swore, {'By Your Glory! I will certainly mislead them all, except for those among them who are Your sincere servants'}. He made an exception for a very small minority of those whom he believes to be immune to his influence and not to follow him towards what leads to destruction, misguidance, and disobedience to Allah (Glory be to Him). Shaytan said, {'I will certainly take hold of his descendants, except for a few'}. Therefore, Shaytan seeks the destruction of the overwhelming majority of humans, sparing only those whom he is unable to influence. So he is worried by the efforts of the prophets and any effort that falls within the scope of their mission to guide people and within the scope of Allah's guidance and the guidance that is conveyed through His books to His servants and that aims to save humanity and works towards their salvation. This is why they oppose the prophets and the righteous. They are filled with anger and worry towards them. In various accounts and narrations, there are many details that support this.
In a narration, when the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH&F) was sent, Shaytan became worried upon learning about the matter. He was greatly saddened and disturbed by it, and he expressed his sorrow in a specific manner. Why? Because he saw that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&F) in his efforts to guide humans and save them—as he was the one to whom Allah said, {'We have sent you only as a mercy for the whole world'}—would hinder his influence at a time when the prevailing conditions, in general, were conducive to seducing and misleading human society, corrupting it, and pushing it towards destruction and far away from guidance and truth. People at that time went so far in their misguidance. Both human devils and jinn devils work together to lead mankind astray.
The jinn devils, with Iblis at the forefront as their leader (May Allah curse him), cannot prevent the messengers and prophets from carrying out their mission. Their attempts to hinder their activities and influence on people are done through whispering and temptation. That is why they feel the need to collaborate with those humans who yielded to their temptations to the extent that they themselves become devils.
When does a human turn into a devil?!
When does a person become a devil? A person becomes a devil when he loses the elements of goodness within himself, when he loses his self-purification, drifts far away from goodness, self-purification, and righteousness, and becomes wicked. His soul becomes a wicked soul, accumulating and increasing in wickedness to the point where he himself becomes a misleading and corrupting element. He himself then seeks to corrupt others, and the devils from the jinn no longer need to influence such a person towards corruption or misguidance. He himself has become corrupted and wicked to a great extent, actively seeking to ensnare others, corrupt them, and lead them astray. He himself has become completely corrupt and wicked, making devils' efforts and whispers unnecessary: He is guaranteed to move willingly in that path due to his own wickedness, his terrifying corruption, his dead conscience, and the negative influence that dominates his thoughts and inclinations. In this state, a person turns into a devil.
This state varies among people based on the level of their wickedness, their corruption, and their abilities and capabilities that they employ in their evil actions to serve Shaytan's agenda of temptation, corruption, and misguidance. That is because people differ even in their levels of abilities and experiences, their capacity to influence others, their energies, and the talents and capabilities they possess.
The human who has turned into a corrupt and wicked person to the extent of turning into a devil constantly seeks to tempt or corrupt and mislead others. He employs all his abilities, energies, and influence. If he is in a position of authority and influence in society—that is, if he occupies a prominent social position, has a position of responsibility, or has influence in a particular field—he utilizes his influence and power to carry out his devilish tasks. In such cases, there is a mutual cooperation between the devils among humans and the devils among the jinn. This is why Allah (Glory be to Him) says, {'And so We have made for every prophet enemies—devilish humans and jinn—whispering to one another with elegant words of deception.'}
The mutual cooperation between the devils among humans and the devils among the jinn involves exchanging opinions and sharing experiences regarding plans, ideas, and conspiracies that can be used to tempt and influence others.
When a person reaches the point of turning into a devil (We seek refuge in Allah), he becomes ready to accept whispers from the devils among the jinn and to welcome and follow them. In addition to his own experiences, skills, and abilities, which he benefits from or possesses as a human, he also receives more due to the whispers from the jinn. This is expressed in the Quran with the phrase, {'whispering to one another'}—whispering what they can use in tempting others: {'elegant words of deception'}. They use adorned and embellished words that enable them to deceive and influence others, portray themselves as working for their best interests, and tempt others with what aligns with their desires and inclinations, causing them to act accordingly.
It is not unlikely that some devils among the jinn also benefit from some devils among humans. This is because some human devils may possess greater skill in temptation, misguidance, and negative influence than some jinn devils, especially as some human devils hold influence within communities, whether through certain positions, roles, or any other form. This allows them to exert more influence. Some may excel in intelligence, life experience, understanding of people, strong knowledge of society, and familiarity with their immediate environment, and this enables them to have a greater influence in tempting and misleading others compared to many jinn devils. Consequently, they become individuals that jinn devils also benefit from their experience that has proven effective in reality and seek to use that experience in certain places or regions and against those humans they seek to tempt or influence.
Belief in the Hereafter and its role in curbing the influence of Shaytan and desires
{'So that the hearts of those who disbelieve in the Hereafter may be receptive to it, be pleased with it, and be persistent in their evil pursuits'}: The hearts that are inclined towards it are the hearts of those who have no genuine belief to protect them, that kind of genuine belief in the Hereafter that makes you entirely submit to Allah, liberates you completely from all influences pertaining to the self, the influences of your inclinations that lead you astray. The devil's influence on you intensifies when you yourself start to incline and submit to negative effects. When you deviate, he pushes you into more deviation. When you submit to negative effects, he adds more and more. However, when your belief in the Hereafter is that kind of belief that makes you completely submit to Allah and transcend above all your personal inclinations, be they moral aspirations, materialistic ambitions, or any other influences, as people differ in what influences them. Some individuals may not be influenced by materialistic inclinations, materialistic ambitions, or even sensual desires that, for example, have to do with immorality, moral corruption, or other worldly pleasures of that kind. However, they might be influenced by non-materialistic aspects such as non-materialistic ambitions and then deviate because of that, or they might have other issues such as arrogance, self-admiration, conceit, or other factors that influence them, though they still possess a religious character in terms of their religious rituals and the nature of their religious orientations. In fact, they have a very serious problem, and Shaytan cares only about leading one astray in any way possible. If you want to be a wicked, unrespectful, immoral, and corrupt person, this pleases him. If you want to be a greedy person, chasing after money at any cost, by any means, through forbidden acts, sins, corruption, and injustice, this pleases him. If you want to appear religious while having issues of arrogance, self-admiration, or conceit, this pleases him, too.The important thing for him is that you deviate and end up in Jahannam. That is what matters to him.
The categories of people Shaytan leads towards Jahannam are diverse, ranging from disbelievers, munafiqin, and wicked individuals to those within religious and non-religious environments, from misleading and scholarly personalities to ordinary people. They all have something in common: their deviation, in one way or another, from the path of Allah and their pursuit of their inclinations. He leads them in that direction, and they are influenced by what the devils present to them. They are influenced from the depths of their hearts. The influence of the devils resonates with their own inclinations, as it is often said in contemporary terms, 'they harmonize with it.' Indeed, they align with it, find comfort in it, and incline towards it. They are influenced by it, act upon it in their practical lives, and {'be persistent in their evil pursuits'}. But that is only after they feel {'pleased with it'}: They harmonize with it, find comfort in it, accept it, interact with it, and consider it the right path, and it then shapes their actions. This is an extremely dangerous state.
The grand project of Shaytan and his utilization of human potentials to serve his project
As some humans turn into devils and the sphere of devilish activity keeps expanding to recruit new groups from humans—as humans, they move among people and enjoy various titles, according to their different roles, positions, and tasks in life. Even though, they move with Shaytan, his ultimate goal is to exert control over humanity as a whole, except for a few individuals whom he knows to be immune to his influence.
Allah (Glory be to Him) clarifies for us Shaytan's extremely spiteful orientation to control human society and then move humans with all their potentials, energies, and capabilities to what leads to their destruction, misery, disgrace, humiliation, and torment (We seek Allah for refuge). He gives an account of Shaytan's attitude, rage, malice, and orientation:
{'He said, "Do you see this one you honoured above me? If you delay my end until the Day of Resurrection, I will certainly take hold of his descendants, except for a few." Allah responded, "Go! Whoever of them follows you, Jahannam will surely be the reward for all of you, an ample reward. And incite whoever you can of them with your voice, mobilize against them all your cavalry and infantry, share with them in wealth and children, and make them promises." But Shaytan promises them nothing but delusion. "You surely have no authority over My servants." And sufficient is your Lord as a trustee'}.
Shaytan's expression {'take hold'} denotes complete control and the endeavour to target humans through using temptation and pushing them towards destruction. {'I will certainly take hold of his descendants, except for a few'}: Shaytan excludes some humans because he understands he cannot take hold of them.
Allah (Glory be to Him) replied to him saying, {'Go! Whoever of them follows you, Jahannam will surely be the reward for all of you, an ample reward.'} That is because Shaytan cannot gain control by force or power. However, the problem of a lot of people is that they follow him, and that is why Allah says, {'Whoever of them follows you, Jahannam will surely be the reward for all of you'}—Jahannam, which is the terrible torment—{'an ample reward'}: an adequate reward that is very terrible. Nonetheless, Allah (Glory be to Him) is free from the need of people and their obedience and worship.
{'And incite whoever you can of them with your voice'}: 'Fool those you can fool and deceive among them and lead astray through your seduction and temptation towards that wretched and evil destiny, towards Jahannam.' {'Mobilize against them all your cavalry and infantry'}: 'Utilize all your abilities, everything you can do, to influence them.' {'Share with them in wealth and children'}: In pursuit of this grand project aimed at tempting all human society across generations, which is a big society he wants to tempt and mislead, Shaytan needs immense capabilities and great efforts for this: to tempt, corrupt, and mislead billions of humans across generations and push them into sinful acts that are bad acts, have negative effects on them in the immediate worldly life, and lead to severe consequences for them in the Hereafter. How can he strengthen his activity? How can he operate at this level? This work requires funding, efforts, and cooperation with many persons in large numbers. So how does he manage to achieve it?
He has moved to mobilize those humans whom he controls and has influence on, so he doesn't need to lose a single penny or to exert effort to access material resources in order to influence them and pursuit his activities. He does not burden himself with activities such as investments or hard work to gather funds for his project. Similarly, he does not need to struggle to provide energies, capabilities, and resources to seek influence through educational and informative activities, as he does not need to establish specialized universities or the like. He uses humans themselves to employ all their energies, capabilities, and abilities in what leads to their destruction, their misery, and their torment: He makes you offer from your own wealth what causes you suffering. You purchase your own torment, paying for your own destruction and torment (We seek refuge in Allah). He even makes many individuals, countries, institutions, and organizations, at a personal or collective level, fund with vast amounts of money and budgets whatever he needs to fund in all aspects of life, be it an evil activity, a misleading activity, a harmful activity, an insulting activity, a criminal activity, etc.
He also pushes humans to engage in forbidden commercial and economic activities, aiming to make them earn money through forbidden means. This includes engaging in usury, drug trafficking, illicit activities, prohibited contracts, forbidden methods, and prohibited substances. He participates with them in these activities and becomes a partner in their wealth. He becomes a partner to countries in their vast budgets, to companies, to institutions, to individuals, to individuals from the wealthy, the rich, and the poor even with their limited wealth. Indeed, this is true when the poor allocate a portion of their money to forbidden practices, immorality, corruption, injustice, or any other forbidden matters. This is the foundation upon which he operates.
Shaytan also has his seductive and corrupting voice, which leaves a negative effect by corrupting people's souls, such as through obscene and corrupting songs and the voice of misguidance and falsehood that spreads in the human arena to seduce people, mislead them, and exert influence over them. This extensive activity occurs within the realm of human reality. This control is extremely dangerous for people who willingly allow Shaytan to influence and dominate them, harnessing all their energies, potentials, financial capabilities, and material wealth to serve him.
And then there is human wealth: {'Share with them in wealth and children.'} How many humans recruit themselves with him in all fields: in acts of misguidance, in sinful and oppressive deeds, in crimes? How many criminal networks does he have, those who are active in spreading crimes? How many soldiers does he have, operating with military capabilities to unjustly kill people, to seize control over them, to subject them to Taghout and falsehood, and to wage war against the oppressed, commit injustice against them, persecute them, and commit the most heinous crimes against them? This is all part of his sharing with humans in wealth.
Therefore, Shaytan operates through their human and material capabilities, leading them towards their own destruction. In doing so, he gains control over them, a harmful control. When a person becomes subjected to the control of Shaytan over himself, by his own choice, he has allowed the worst and most malicious enemy to dominate him. It is the worst state for a human to be in: to be under the control of Shaytan. It is degrading, shameful, and humiliating for a person to reach a point where Shaytan has control over him. That is true when your enemy (the impure, vile, wicked, sinful, evil being that symbolizes evil, falsehood, misguidance, and disbelief) has control over you, influencing you, directing you wherever he wants, and making you do what he wants. All of this is a loss for you, misery upon you, and a severe state of punishment. It is an extremely bad state to fall into!
When does a human become a worshiper of Shaytan?!
And that is why the situation can reach what Allah (Glory be to Him) has clearly mentioned to us in the Holy Quran to warn us about it in this worldly life and present it as evidence against us in the Hereafter: {'Did I not command you, O Children of Adam, not to worship Shaytan, for he is truly your sworn enemy'}. When you become influenced by Shaytan, when you move according to his desires, when you prioritize your obedience to him over your obedience to Allah by disobeying Allah and obeying Shaytan, then your state itself has become a state of worshiping Shaytan: {'not to worship Shaytan'}. So you are worshiping your enemy, a sworn enemy who seeks to lead you to loss, destruction, and misery. You are worshiping a very evil enemy who has nothing attractive about him: He is filled with malice towards you and takes pleasure in your suffering, and he delights in leading you towards what entails punishment, loss, and humiliation for you. He finds satisfaction when he succeeds—due to your response, your inclination, and your eagerness towards fulfilling his desires—in dragging you down from the status Allah has honoured you with, targeting the human and faith aspect. This is a very important aspect in which Allah has allowed you to seek more transcendence. Through it, you can ascend as a human further and further towards faith and towards the ranks of Allah's righteous servants. Shaytan seeks to lead you towards the fire of Jahannam and divert you from the path that leads you to eternal happiness, the pleasure of Allah, and Jannah. It is indeed a terrifying state!
Allah (Glory be to Him) says, {'Then will you take him and his descendants as allies other than Me while they are enemies to you? Wretched it is for the wrongdoers as an exchange'}—that is true when you persist in following and worshiping someone who is your enemy, a wicked and malicious enemy whose only concern is to seek your destruction, misery, and humiliation and push you towards demeaning acts that diminish your worth. Shaytan gets angry when he sees some people enjoy honour and dignity. He wants to belittle you, to defame you, and to push you towards sinful acts that bring you shame. He wants to make you miserable: If you are leading a righteous and stable life because you are upright in it, he wants to steer you towards evil and disgraceful acts. Therefore, he is your enemy, and he is at war with you. The state in which a person succumbs to Shaytan is extremely terrifying!
He also exerts complete control over some individuals, including the category of munafiqin, as Allah describes them in the Holy Quran: {'Shaytan has taken hold of them, causing them to forget the remembrance of Allah. They are the party of Shaytan. Surely Shaytan's party is bound to lose'}. Those who deviate to the extent that their actions and activities hinder others from following the path of Allah and adhering to Allah's guidance and serve falsehood, Shaytan gains complete control over them. This is expressed by the phrase, {'has taken hold of them'}, which implies complete dominance and significant influence over them—{'Shaytan has taken hold of them.'}
The munafiqin are a group that belongs to Islam, but in their allegiance, interests, and activities, they work for the benefit of the enemies of Islam. Therefore, when their work program becomes a program to serve the enemies of Allah, this means it serves Shaytan at the same time—it becomes a work that serves Shaytan! Due to his control over them, they forget the remembrance of Allah: They fail to remember Allah (Glory be to Him) with His greatness, power, planning, wisdom, and strength. They forget Allah and pay no heed to Him (the Almighty), so they perceive the enemies as everything. They do not have trust in Allah and hope in His victory. As a result, they consider that the correct way to safeguard their interests and themselves and to protect themselves from the harm of the enemies is to work for the enemies. They move according to this way of thinking.
{'They are the party of Shaytan. Surely Shaytan's party is bound to lose'}. Shaytan is the greatest loser. He is the ultimate loser among all creation, and he loses along with his party and everyone who follows him on his path, all those who submit to his influence.
The same applies to disbelievers who move in this life in a direction totally opposite to the way presented by Allah and his religion and guidance. They move in the opposite direction. This means that they work for the benefit of Shaytan, even against themselves and against human society. As a result, their state of misguidance and their very bad direction conflict with the guidance of Allah, His religion, His prophets, and His messengers. They live in a very terrible state of misguidance where they are forsaken by Allah and vulnerable to the influence of devils.
When a person goes astray, becomes corrupt, deviates completely, and defies Allah and the truth, then he will be forsaken by Allah and left vulnerable to the influence of devils, as part of his punishment. That is why Allah (Glory be to Him) says, regarding the disbelievers, {'Do you not see that We have sent the devils against the disbelievers, constantly inciting them?'}. As a result of their disbelief, defiance, and opposition to the truth, and their insistence on following falsehood, they are forsaken, and the devils are allowed to influence them, pushing them further into misguidance. That is because of their own misguidance, their own defiance, and their persistence in opposing the guidance of Allah, His religion, His way, His Messenger, and His prophets. The devils are constantly active in pushing them deeper and deeper into disbelief, falsehood, and evil. They keep disturbing them, leaving them no room to find tranquility or peace. The devils keep inciting them, pushing them, and disturbing them. This is evident in their reality, as they are never at peace or calm. They are constantly irritated and pushed, and this is a terrifying and extremely dangerous state. (We seek refuge in Allah.)
That is enough for today.
We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us success in seeking what pleases Him. O Allah (Glory be to You), have mercy on our virtuous martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. You are All-Hearing!
O Allah, accept our fasting, nights of worship, and good deeds.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.