(And do not follow the steps of Shaitan; surely he is your blatant enemy.) (2:208)
- Our Lord has warned us numerous times in the Quran of Shaitan's steps.
- Each step of Satan's steps aims to bring you closer to his three major goals:
(1)Adding you to his party
(2) Sabotaging your life and dragging you to hell
(3) Severing your relationship with God.
- Satan works with individuals gradually and in small steps, which appear to be normal and simple. The goal of Satan’s steps is not obvious from the beginning. Eventually, one finds himself caught in the devastating consequences of his actions without realizing that he was moving towards his destruction from the start.
- For example, there are many steps that a person takes before falling into adultery, murder, or contracting a chronic disease that compromises his mobility and quality of life. The goal of Satan is to immerse people in corruption of all kinds, including corruption of morals, health and relationships.
(O mankind! eat the lawful and good things out of what is in the
earth, and do not follow the footsteps of the Shaitan; surely he is your
blatant enemy* For he commands you what is evil and indecency, and that ye
should say of Allah that of which ye have no knowledge.) (2:168-169)
In the previous verses, we see three types of demonic thoughts that result in most of the human problems:
1- Harm thoughts: Thoughts of harming yourself or others (such as self-torture, suicide, murder, hatred, insults, theft, etc.).
2- Filth & lust thoughts: sexual thoughts outside of marriage (such as adultery, homosexuality, marital infidelity and lewd speech, etc.).
3- Blasphemy thoughts: offensive thoughts about God & the religious values (such as attacking the holy Quran, distorting the divine messages in the holy verses, and inventing new religions and misleading people).
- Prevention: - The solution is to stop following Satan’s steps (that is, to link your life events and your thoughts together so you can pay attention to the steps of Satan and put a stop to them).
- Review your actions and status in several aspects of your life. For instance, your health, your work, your social relationships, and your relationship with your Lord. And ask yourself, am I on a negative path? What are the positive steps that I can take right now?
- Whenever you get harmful, indecent thoughts or thoughts of saying what you do not know about God, remember that the source of these thoughts is not you, but Satan. Thus, you will become more observant & aware of Satan's steps which leads you to stop following these thoughts. Moreover, you should not feel guilty because these thoughts came to your mind. Also, remember to seek refuge in God, the All- Hearing, All-Knowing, from Satan, in order to overcome these thoughts.
