In his opening address to his evil servants, he said, "We can't keep the Muslims from going to Mosque. We can't keep them from reading the Quran and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience with Allah. If they gain that connection with Allah, our power over them is broken. So let them go to the mosques, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Allah. This is what I want you to do, servants. Distract them from gaining hold of their creator and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"



"How shall we do this?" shouted his servants. "Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6 - 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.



Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work!" "Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, VCR CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-Islamic music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Allah."



"Fill the coffee table with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogues, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and emotional offering of free products, services, and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so the husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Ha! That will fragment those families quickly!" "Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!!



And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions." "Go ahead, let them be involved in soul winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Allah. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work! It was quite a convention. And the evil servants went eagerly to their assignments causing Muslims everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and to rush here and there. I guess the question is: has the devil been successful at his scheme? ARE YOU BUSY????? B - Being U - Under S - Satan's Y – Yoke



The things shaytan flees from One of the ways of avoiding falling into riyaa' is to know the things which Shaytaan flees from:



1. When you say: La ilaha illAllaah - wahdahu laa shareeka lahu - lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu - wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadeer. [There is none worthy of worship except Allah alone. He has no partners. To Him belongs the Dominion, to Him belongs all praise and He is capable over all things] a hundred times a day. The evidence is what has been reported in the Saheeh of al Bukhaari and Muslim from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that Allaah's Messenger (saw) mentioned the above words and then said:



"He will receive the reward of setting free ten slaves, a hundred good deeds will be written for him and a hundred bad deeds will be erased from him. It will be a sanctuary from Shaytaan for him on that day until he reaches the evening. No one will come with something better except one who increases beyond that".



2. Recitation of Ayaat ul-Kursi when you go to bed. Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported that the Messenger (saw) put him in charge of guarding the zakaah of Ramadan and someone would come and take handfuls from the zakaah for two nights in succession.



On the third night, he (Abu Hurayrah) grabbed him and said: "I will take you to Allaah's Messenger (saw)". He (the thief) said: "Leave me alone and I will teach you some words by which Allaah will benefit you". He then said, "When you depart to go to your bed recite aayaat ul-Kursi until you complete it. There wil never cease to be from Allaah a guardian to protect you and Shaytaan will not approach you until you wake up". When he explained this to Allaahs Messenger (saw), he said, "He has told you the truth althought he is a great liar". (al-Bukhaari).



3. When you spit on your left three times and seek refuge in Allaah from the evil of what you see in a dream. Abu Salamah bin 'Abdur-Rahman said: "I heard Abu Qataadah ibn Rab'iyy say: "I heard Allaah's Messenger (saw) say, "The good dream is from Allaah and the bad dream is from Shaytaan. When one of you sees what he dislikes, let him spit on his left three times when he awakens and let him seek refuge in Allaah from its evil and then it will not harm him"". Abu Salamah said, "I used to see in my dream that which wouldbe more burdensome to me than a mountain and when I heard this hadeeth I considered it as nothing." In another narration he said, "I used to see in my dream which would make me concerned until I heard Abu Qataadah say: "I used to have dreams which would make me ill until I heard Allaah's Messenger (saw) say, "The righteous dream is from Allaah. If one of you sees what he loves then let him not inform anyone about it except one whom he loves. And if he sees what he dislikes, let him not inform anyone about it. Let him spit on his left three times and let him seek refuge in Allaah from Shaytaan, the accursed from the evil of what he saw and it will not harm him.""



4. Upon saying, when leaving the house "Bismillah tawakaltu 'ala Allah, la hawla wa la quwata illaa bilLah" [In the Name of Allah, I place my trust upon Alaah, There is no power nor movement except by Allaah]. Anas (ra) reports that Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "Whoever says (when he leaves his house): "In the Name of Allah, I place my trust upon Alaah, There is no power nor movement except by Allaah" it is said to him: "You have been sufficed, you have been protected and you have been guided". Then one of the devils turns to another and says, "How can you get to a man who has been sufficed, protected and guided". (Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, hasan saheeh). Umm Salamah (ra) said, "Allaah's Messenger (saw) never left my house except that he raised his sight to the sky and said, "Allahumma innee a'oodhu bika an adil aw udal, aw azil aw uzal, aw azlima aw uslam, aw ajhal aw yujhal 'aleeyy (O Allaah I seek refuge in you from leading others astray and being led astray, from causing others to slip and being made to slip, from oppressing others or being oppressed and from making others ignorant, and being kept ignorant."" (at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, an-Nasa'ee, Ibn Majah. at-Tirmidhi said "hasan saheeh", al-Albaani agreed with him in al-Kalim ut-Tayyib, no.59).



5. Remembering Allaah the Sublime and Exalted when entering the house and before eating. Jaabir (ra) said: "I heard the Prophet (saw) say: "When a man enters his house and remembers Allaah the Exalted upon entering and before eating, Shaytaan says: "There is no place for you to spend the night and there is no supper for you." When he enters the house and does not remember Allaah, Shaytaan says: "You have found a place to spend the night" and when he does not remember Allaah upon eating his food, Shaytaan says: "You have found a place to stay and some supper"". (Muslim).



6. Saying "A'oodhu bilLahil-'adheem wa bi wajhil-kareemi wa bi sultaanihil-qadeemi min ash-Shaytaani-rajeem" [I seek refuge with Allaah the Mighty, with His Noble Face and with His Eternal Authority from Shaytaan, the Accursed] when entering the mosque. 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (ra) said, "When the Prophet (saw) used to enter the mosque he woul say, "I seek refuge with Allaah the Mighty, with His Noble Face and with His Eternal Authority from Shaytaan, the Accursed". He then said, "When (a man) says this, Shaytaan says: "He has been protected from me for the whole day"". (Abu Dawud, al-Albaani declared it saheeh in Saheeh Abu Dawood, no. 458, and an-Nawawee and Ibn Hajr declared it hasan).



7. Upon pronouncing the adhaan. This is due to what has been reported from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "When the call to prayer is made, Shaytaan flees on his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight so that he does not hear the adhaan. When the adhaan is completed he comes back. When the iqaamah is pronounced he takes to his heels again until it is completed. Then he returns again and whispers into the heart of the person and says to him: "Remember this and remember that". So the person remembers those things which were not in his mind before the prayer began and as a result, he forgets how much he has prayed". (al-Bukhaari, Muslim). Pronouncing the adhaan can be done at any time to repel Shaytaan. This is due to what has been reported by Muslim from Abu Saheel bin Abu Saalih who said: "My father sent me to Bani Harithah and there was a young boy with me. Someone called him by his name from a wall, so he went to have a look at the wall but did not see anything. I mentioned that to my father and he said: "If I had known that you would encounter this I would not have sent you. However, when you hear a voice then make the call for prayer since I heard Abu Hurayrah (ra) saying the Prophet (saw) said, "When the call for prayer is made, Shaytaan flees".



8. When seeking refuge in Allaah due to the Exalted's saying: "And when an incitement to evil comes to you from Shaytaan, seek refuge in Allaah. He is the All Hearing, the All Knowing". (41:36)



9. When you say "A'oodhu billah minka, al'anuka bi l'anatillaah" [I seek refuge in Allah from you, I curse you with the curse of Allah] three times during the prayer. Abu Dardaa' (ra) reports that "Allaah's Messenger (saw) stood for prayer and we heard him saying, "I seek refuge in Allaah from you". Then he said, "I curse you with the curse of Allaah" three times. At the same time, he was stretching out his hand, trying to grab hold of something. When he finished his prayer we said to him: "O Messenger of Allaah! We heard you say something in the prayer which we have never heard from you before and we saw you stretching out your hand". He said, "That was the enemy of Allaah, Iblees. He came with a flame of fire and tried to throw it in my face. I said, "I seek refuge in Allah from you" three times and then (I said), "I curse you with the curse of Allaah" three times and he did not hesitate. Then I desired to capture him. By Allaah! If it had not been for the supplication of our brother (the Prophet) Sulaymaan, he would have been tied up and the children of Madinah would have played about with him"". (Muslim). In another hadeeth from 'Uthmaan bin Abul-Aas (ra) who said, "I said, "O Messenger of Allaah! Shaytaan comes in between me and my prayer and my recitation, confusing me." He said, "That is a Shaytaan called Khunzub. When you feel his presence, seek refuge in Allaah from him and spit on your left three times." I did as he said and Allaah took that (distraction) away from me." (Muslim)



10. When the servant finds something in his soul that concerns him and says "huwal-awwalu wal-aakhiru wadh-dhaahiru wal-baatinu wa huwa bi kulli shay'in 'aleem" {He is the First and the Last, the Outermost and the Innermost, and He has Knowledge of every single thing.] Abu Zameel (ra) said, "I said to Ibn 'Abbas (ra), "What is this thing which I find in my soul?" - meaning doubt. He said, "When you find something like that in your soul, then say, "He (Allaah) is the First and the Last, the Outermost and the Innermost and He has knowledge of every single thing."" (Abu Dawood, al-Albaani declared it hasan in al-Kalim ut-Tayyib no.135).



11. When a calamity befalls you and you say "QadrAllahu wa ma sha' Allaahu fa'ala" {Allah has decreed (this) and He does whatever He wills]. Abu Hurayrah (ra) reports that Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "The strong believer is more loved by Allaah than the weak believer, but in both there is good. Be zealous for what will benefit you. Seek help from Allaah the Mighty and Majestic and do not become incapacitated. If something afflicts you, do not say: "If only I had done such and such" but say, "Allaah has decreed (this) and He does whatever He wills". Indeed saying "if.." opens up the doorway of Shaytaan's handiwork." (Muslim)



12. When you say "Bismillah, Allahumma janibna ash-Shaytaan wa janibish-Shaytaana maa razaqtna" {in the Name of Allaah, O Allaah! Make us distant from Shaytaan and make Shaytaan distant from what you bestow upon us". Ibn 'Abbaas (ra) reports that the Prophet (saw) said, "If one of you says, when approaching his wife (for intercourse): "In the Name of Allaah. O Allaah! Make us distant from Shaytaan and make Shaytaan distant from what you bestow upon us" and offspring is decreed for you, Shaytaan will never be able to harm it (i.e. the offspring)". (al-Bukhaari, Muslim).



13. When you say in a state of anger "A'oodhu bilLaahi min ash-Shaytaan ir-Rajeem" {I seek refuge with Allaah from Shaytaan the Accursed[. Sulaymaan bin Sard (ra) said, "I was sitting with Allaah's Messenger (saw) and two men were abusing each other. The face of one of them had become red (out of anger) and his veins had become inflated. Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "I know a word which, if he was to say, his anger would leave him. If he said: "I seek refuge in Allaah from Shaytaan the Accursed", his anger would leave him"" (al-Bukhaari, Muslim).



14. Upon saying "bismillah" [in the Name of Allah] Abul-Maleeh (ra) reports that a man said, "I was behind the Messenger (saw) and his riding animal stumbled. I said, "May Shaytaan perish", and he said, "Do not say, "May Shaytaan perish". If you say that he will grow in sixe until he becomes the size of a house and says, "By my strength". Instead say, "In the Name of Allaah". When you say that, he reduces in size until he is like a fly." (Abu Dawood, saheeh isnad).



15. When you supplicate for blessings for something which wirns your admiration. Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "When one of you sees something in his self or in his possessions which amazes him (or wins his admiration) he should invoke blessings upon it as the (evil) eye is indeed true and real".



16. When you recite the M'uwadhdhataan [Surah al-Falaq and Surah an-Naaz]. Abu Sa'eed (ra) said, "Allaah's Messenger (saw) used to seek refuge from the jinn and from the effects of the (evil) of men until the m'uwwadhdhataan were revealed. When they were revealed he clung to them and abandoned what was besides them." (at-Tirmidhi, hasan; an-Nasa'ee and Ibn Maajah - saheeh).



17. When you make the prostration of recitation. Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "When you read a verse of prostration then prostrate, Shaytaan departs crying and says: "Woe be to him. He was ordered with prostration and he prostrated - so for him is Paradise. I was ordered with prostration and I refused - so for me is the Fire." (Muslim, Ahmad and Ibn Maajah).



18. When you recite Surah al-Baqarah. Abu Hurayrah (ra) reports that Allaah's Messenger (saw) said, "Do not turn your houses into graves. Indeed Shaytaan flees from a house in which Surah al-Baqarah is recited." (Muslim).



19. When reciting the Qur'aan. The Messenger of Allaah (saw) went out one night and passed by Abu Bakr (ra) who was praying with a lowered voice. Then he passed by 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (ra) who was praying with a raised voice When they came together with the Prophet (saw), he said, "O Abu Bakr! I passed by you while you were praying with a lowered voice." Abu Bakr (ra) said, "I made the one with whom I was conversing with (i.e Allaah) hear it, O Messenger of Allaah." He then said to 'Umar (ra), "I passed by you while you were praying with a raised voice". 'Umar (ra) said, "O Messenger of Allaah! I was incitng those who were asleep and driving away the Shaytaan." The Prophet (saw) then said, "O Abu Bakr! Raise your voice somewhat" and he said to 'Umar, "lower your voice somewhat". (Abu Dawood, al Haakim, who declared it saheeh as did adh-Dhahabi).



20. When you move the finger during the prayer. It is established that Allaah's Messenger (saw) used to move his finger, supplicating with it (Abu Dawood, an-Nasaa'i, Ibn al_Jaarud in al-Muntaqa and others) and the Messenger of Allaah said, "It is more powerful against the Shaytaan than iron" - meaning the forefinger. (Ahmad and others). Imaam Ahmad was asked, "Should a man point with his finger in the prayer?" He replied, "Yes, vigorously". (Ibn Haani mentioned it in Masaa'il of Imaam Ahmad). Messages in this topic (1) ((( Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem )))



Let there be a community among you who call to the good, and enjoin the right, and forbid the wrong. They are the ones who have success.(Qur'an, 3:104)



They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the righteous.(Qur'an, 3:114)



If you avoid the serious wrong actions you have been forbidden, We will erase your bad actions from you and admit you by a Gate of Honour.(Qur'an, 4:31)



Help one another in birr (righteousness, virtue), and taqwa (piety, fear of Allah, God-consciousness), and do not help one another in sinning and transgression. And fear and revere Allah; verily, Allah is severe in punishment.(Qur'an, 5:2)

You who believe! Have fear of Allah and seek the means of drawing near to Him and strive in His way,so that hopefully you'll be successful. (Qur'an, 5:35)

Ask your Lord for forgiveness and then repent to Him. He will let you enjoy a good life until a specified time, and will give His favour to all who merit it. But if you turn your backs, I fear for you the punishment of a Mighty Day.(Qur'an, 11:3)



Strive for Allah with the striving due to Him. He has selected you and not placed any constraint upon you in the religion-the religion of your forefather Ibrahim. He named you Muslims before and also in this, so that the Messenger could be witness against you and you could be witnesses against all mankind. So perform prayer and give alms and hold fast to Allah. He is your Protector-the Best Protector, the Best Helper. (Qur'an, 22:78)

(((Subhan-Allahi Wa-Bihamdihi, Subhan-Allahil Azeem)))