Nafsiya Reflections: The Enemy Within

Welcome to another episode of Nafsiya Reflections - The Enemy Within

Have you ever felt like you worked so hard to get somewhere or get something and then felt like you were self-sabotaging yourself? Yearning for something so bad, you would do anything to get it? Or Getting so far then finding yourself back to your old habits, aggressively pulled back to square one... once again? Or pushing yourself to the point of “burn out”?

We want something, work for it, and work hard only to find ourselves in continual moments of disappointment, dissatisfaction, or/and overwhelm. Wishing we could be stronger, better, more organized, more disciplined. If we could actually do what we wanted to do! We find ourselves fighting, throwing punches, as Dunya has us against the ropes once again. Gathering all the energy we have to stay up. To throw that punch. An inner war. A battle to keep going. It becomes a war within ourselves. What if I told you that you weren’t the only one tearing yourself apart? You weren’t the only one standing there against those ropes, telling yourself to give up? What if I told you...there was something trying to second doubt every productive move you have. A voice that tells you, you aren’t going to make it, if you keep it up. That you aren’t going to stay on your feet. Telling you to imagine how comfortable it would feel to fall to that floor and give up. How it’s not worth it.

Yes! You probably guessed it. The Shaytan, the devil, Iblis.

See, I once read a quote along the lines of “The greatest trick Shaytan ever played, was convincing us he wasn’t there”. Alhamdulilah, as Muslims we know he is. But we can sometimes forget how close he really is. Or can be.
Let me remind you of an ayah in Surat al Hijr, Ayah 39,

(قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ)

[Iblees] said, "My Lord, because You have put me in error, I will surely make [disobedience] attractive to them on earth, and I will mislead them all

Iblis was expelled from heaven, after Allah (swt) accursed him for his disobedience. And in that, he promised to try his hardest to lead us astray. To mislead us.

We sometimes forget that he is the invisible enemy. When he comes to us in the weakest of our states, when we are sad, feeling hopeless or overwhelmed, so that we may lose our faith, AstaghfirAllah. The enemy that whispers in our ears, telling us “You can’t do this”, “How are you going to marry her if you don’t talk to her” or “Jilbab? Really? So old fashioned... your gonna look like your grandma”. “As if you're ‘religious’! It’s just one glance”.

He can make us fight, doubt, and misinterpret any situation, if we let him. See, Shaytan is working bit by bit to get us where he wants us; working to try to make the Haraam attractive. And if we do have low Emaan, it becomes pretty easy to do that in this day and age, especially under the systems we live under. But, and this is a big but... listen to the rest of the blessed Ayat in Surah al Hijr Ayah 40 - 42,

(إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ)

“Except, among them, Your chosen servants.”

And Allah said,

(قَالَ هَـٰذَا صِرَاطٌ عَلَيَّ مُسْتَقِيمٌ * إِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانٌ إِلَّا مَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ)

[Allah] said, "This is a path [of return] to Me [that is] straight. * Indeed, My servants - no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of the deviators.

He can’t doubt the strength of a true believer. He has no power over a believer. A true believer who seeks refuge in Allah (swt), our Protector. A believer who follows the Sunnah of Rasool Allah (saw), always reminding ourselves that this is Dunya... a pathway... no matter what we face. And that Allah will surely accept true repentance.

That there is no need to fall into these worldly temptations. We must know for certain, Allah is the only one who can get us out or give us what we need. For what is not meant for you will never be yours, and was meant for you, will only be yours. Always keeping our faith in Allah strong. Knowing that He is The One and Only One who can give us what we need. Guiding us away from Jahanam, Hell, and closer to the path of Jannah. The path to Him (swt).

We must always remember that it may not be, what we convince ourselves it is sometimes. That it may not always be what we see that is right. Rather we must always reflect on the Quran and Sunnah. So in the end, we can give up, let the whispers take us wherever they may, or get up, say A'othou bilAllah min Al Shaytan Arajeem. And know that the pain or struggle we feel at times is not weakness, rather it is pain and struggle that in the end gives us strength, making us stronger, tougher, better.

It is the enemy within...

The enemy that will never have power over us as long as we stand firm and keep our faith in Allah (swt).

(وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ)

[And do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.] Al-Baqarah: 208

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