Protecting the Worships from Satan

One of the important cordial disciplines of the salat and other worships which is of the chief cordial disciplines, and to implement it is one of the great affairs and minute problems, is protecting the worships against the intrusion of Satan. The noble ayah :"And those who keep guard on their salats" [39] probably refers to all degrees of keeping guard, a degree of which, or rather the most important one of them, is to guard against Satan's intrusion.

To go into details, we say that it is quite explicit to the people of knowledge and the men of heart that as bodies require material food for nourishment, and that the food should be suitable for their disposition so that they may be brought up corporeally and have vegetable growth, similarly the hearts and the souls require a particular food to suit them both, so that they may be educated with it, and feed on it to grow up spiritually and progress inwardly. The nutritions suitable for the growth [nash'ah] of the souls are the divine knowledge [ma'arif] from the beginning of existence till the ultimate end of the system of existence. It is expressed in defining philosophy by the great experts that: "It is man's development into a mental world matching the material world in its form and perfection." [40] This is an indication of the said spiritual nutrition, as the hearts feed on spiritual merits and divine rites. It must be noted that each one of these foods, if kept away from Satan's intrusion and prepared by the hands of the guardianship of the Seal of the Prophets and Allah's great friend (SA), the soul and the heart would be nourished by them and would attain to the perfection becoming of humanity and ascend to the proximity of Allah. Getting rid of Satan's intrusion, which is a preliminary step to sincerity, cannot really be brought about, unless the salik be in quest of Allah in his suluk, and tread upon his selfishness and self-conceit, which are the origin of all evils and the inner diseases. This, in its full meaning, is not possible except by the Perfect Man, or, rather, by the sincere holy men [awliya'] (AS). But the salik must not despair of the inner kindness of Allah, because to despair of Allah's mercy is the beginning of all coldnesses and weaknesses, and it is one of the great sins. That which is possible for the common people, too, is the delight of eyes of "the people of knowledge" [ahl-i ma'rifat].

So, it is a must for the salik on the road to the other world to act very seriously to rid his knowledge [ma'arif] and rites [manasik] of the intrusion of Satan and the commanding soul [nafs-i ammarah], and to go deep into his doings, quests and desires, with strictness and examination, so as to find out the ultimate objective of his journey, learning the principles of his inner activities and spiritual nutrition. He is not to neglect the tricks of the soul and Satan, as well as the snares of the commanding soul and Iblis. He is always to distrust his self in all his doings and activities, and never to let it go willfully. It is quite possible that, with a little negligence, it may overcome man, knock him down and drive him to perdition and annihilation. If the spiritual foods were not free from Satan's intrusion, and if he shared in preparing them, the souls and hearts would not be educated with them nor can they reach their becoming perfection, let alone the irreparable insufficiency that would befall them. Such foods may probably cause man to join the group of Satans or the quadruped and beasts of prey. Then whatever is the capital of happiness, the source of the human perfection and the means of attaining to high ranks, results in the opposite, and drives man to the dark abyss of misfortune. Actually we did come across some of the so-called gnostics who had been led astray because of their deep indulgence in the gnostic terminology, such that their hearts became inverted and their interiors were darkened. Their gnostic practices strengthened their selfishness and I-ness, and they uttered improper allegations and abnormal expressions. Similarly, among the ascetics and the devotees there were persons who practised asceticism and self-purification, yet their exercises only aggravated their hearts' impurity and their interiors' darkness. This is because they did not keep on their divine spiritual journey and migration to Allah, and their scholarly and ascetic suluk (journey) was subject to the intrusion of Satan and the self's desire, and so, it was to Satan and self. We also noted that among the students of religious sciences there were some who had badly been affected by their studies, which increased their moral corruption; and knowledge, which should have guided them to success and salvation, had driven them to annihilation and led them to ignorance, hypocrisy, arrogance and deception. Likewise, it is seen that among the people of worship and ceremonies, who persist in observing disciplines and traditions, there were those whose worship and sacrifices -which are the source of reforming the conditions and souls had affected their hearts with impurity and darkness, causing them to be conceited, egotistic, arrogant, pampered, slanderous, ill-tempered and distrusting the servants of Allah. These are also caused by neglecting to observe those divine mixtures [ma'ajin].

Naturally, the mixture [ma'jun] prepared by Satan's filthy hand and the meddling of the obstinate self can give birth to nothing but Satanic character , and, since the heart gets its nourishment from them, in any case, and they become the inner image of the soul, after a while of man's so continuation, he becomes an offspring of Satan, and will be brought up under his patronage. And when the visible eye of such a man is closed and his invisible eye is opened, he will see himself among the Satans. Thus, the result will be nothing but a loss, and his regret and repent will avail him to nothing. Consequently, the traveler on the road to the Hereafter , notwithstanding his religious branch or divine method, has, firstly to be on the alert, like a kind doctor or a compassionate nurse, to take full care of his moods, looking for the faults of his conduct with strictness, and secondly, as he does so, he is not to neglect seeking refuge with the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Glorified and Most High, in his privacy, and supplicating in the presence of His Sanctity and Majesty.

O Lord! You do know our weakness and helplessness. You do know that without Your helping hand we cannot find our way out of the hands of such a powerful enemy who covets the great prophets and the perfect and high holy men. Without Your spark of kindness and mercy, this strong-handed enemy will knock us down on the ground of annihilation and hurl us into the pit of darkness and wretchedness. We adjure You by Your distinguished favourites and intimate confidants to extend Your helping hand to us, the bewildered in the valley of error and the fallen down in the desert of seduction. Purge our hearts from rancour, deceit, polytheism and doubt. Surely You are the Patron of Guidance!

Notes:

[39]. Surah Ma'arij: 34, and Surah Mu'minun: 9.

[40]. Mulla Sadra and his disciples used this expression to define philosophy, to which some added the phrase: "in its image and perfection,"

On Vivacity and Cheerfulness

Of other cordial disciplines of the salat and other worships ,one, which has good results, or rather it opens some doors and uncovers some secrets of worships, is that the salik is to try to worship with vivacity, cheerfulness of heart and gaiety of mind, and to avoid laziness and reluctance in performing worships. He is to choose for worship a time in which he is quite prepared to perform it with animation and freshness, feeling no tiredness or lassitude. Should one force oneself to worship in times of laziness and tiredness, it would probably bring about bad consequences, such as feeling tired of worshipping and of taking the trouble and bearing difficulty. Then, gradually, one may feel disgusted with worshipping. Furthermore, it may possibly turn man completely away from remembering Allah, and give pains to the spirit from the state of servitude, which is the source of all happiness. Such worship will bring no luminosity to the heart, and the inside of the soul will not have any reaction, and the image of servitude will not become the image of the inner heart. It has already been said that the aim of worship is that the inner soul should become the image of servitude.

We now say that one of the secrets and results of worships and austerities is that the will of the soul becomes operative on the realm of the body, and its authority is overcome by the majesty of the soul and is annihilated, and the forces and soldiers spread in the kingdom of the body can no longer revolt, disobey and be obstinate and selfish. They actually surrender to the inner kingdom of the heart, or rather those forces gradually dissolve in the invisible heavenly domain, and its command is effective on the visible dominion. The will of the soul gets stronger and takes the reins of the kingdom from Satan and the commanding soul, and the soldiers of the soul are driven to submission, from submission to contentment, and from contentment to annihilation. In this situation the soul will get to discover some secrets of worship and some actual manifestations will appear. But all these cannot be implemented unless the worships are performed cheerfully and actively, away from every sort of laziness and carelessness, so that a mood of affection and love towards remembering Allah, the Exalted, and the state of servitude, with familiarity and consistency, happen. Loving Allah and remembering Him is one of the great affairs which is very much cared for by the people of knowledge, and is a subject of competition among the people of suluk. Physicians believe that if food is eaten with cheerfulness and gaiety, it will be digested much easier. Similarly, psychiatrists stress that if the spiritual nutrition is taken cheerfully and enthusiastically, and with avoiding laziness and affectedness, its effect will appear very quickly in the heart and the inner heart will be purified more quickly, too.

This discipline is referred to in the Glorious Divine Book, the upright Lordly pages, as it, in defiance of the disbelievers and the hypocrites, says:" ... And they do not come to the salat unless they are sluggish, and they do not spend unless they are reluctant ... ", [41] and the noble ayah: "O you who believe! do not approach the salat when you are drunk ... ", [42] The word "drunkenness" is explained in a hadith to mean "sluggishness". Some narratives refer to this discipline. By relating some of them we shall give pride to these papers.

Muhammad ibn Ya'qub, quoted Abu 'Abdullah (Imam as Sadiq) (AS) as to have said: "Do not force yourselves to worship." [43]

Abu 'Abdullah (as Sadiq) (AS) is (also) quoted to have said: " The Messenger of Allah (SA) said: 'O 'Ali, this religion is firm, get into it mildly, and do not cause yourself to hate worshipping your Lord." [44]

Imam al-' Askari (AS) is quoted to have said: "when the hearts are active, confide in them; and when they are reluctant, bid them farewell". This is a general instruction to deposit in your hearts any information you may when they are lively and gay, and leave them alone when they are restive. So, in acquiring knowledge [ma'arif] and sciences this discipline must also be applied , and the hearts must not be forced when they are irresponsive.

It can be gathered from this and other hadiths that there is another discipline which is also an important chapter of asceticism. This discipline is "considerateness" [mura'at], that is, the salik, in whatever stage he is, in scholarly or in spiritual and practical austerities and strifes, must consider his conditions, treat his soul with kindness and care, and avoid burdening himself with more than it can bear, especially the young people and the inexperienced, to whom this discipline is quite important. If the young people do not treat themselves considerately and kindly, and if they do not meet the needs of (their) nature through lawful ways, they will be subject to a great danger which cannot be compensated. The danger is that when one is too severe with his self and pulls the reins too hard, they will break off, and then the will gets out of control, and the accumulated natural needs and the sharp fires of desire, under unlimited pressure of austerity, burn out the whole kingdom. If a salik's reins break off -God forbid! -or an ascetic person becomes unable to control himself, he will fall so deep in a precipice that he can never see the face of rescue, nor can he ever return to the road of happiness and righteousness. Thus, a salik, like a clever physician, has to feel his own pulse during his progress on the journey and to treat his self according to the requirements of the conditions of the journey. when the flames of desire, which are the vanity of youthfulness, blaze high, one is not to completely prevent his nature from getting satisfaction, but one has to resort to lawful ways to put out the flames of his desire, as gratifying the desire, according to the divine command, is a complete help along the journey to Allah. So, he is to marry, as it is one of the great divine laws, which, besides being the base of the survival of the species, has a great effect on the journey to the Hereafter, too. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah (SA) said "He who marries will keep half of his religion." [46] Another hadith says: "He who desires to meet Allah pure, let him meet Him with a wife." [47] The Messenger of Allah (SA) is quoted to have said: "Most of the people of Hell are the singles". [48] A hadith from Amirul Mu'minin ('Ali) (AS.) says: "A group of the companions abstained from women (their wives), and from eating in daytime and sleeping at night. The Messenger of Allah (SA) was informed about them by Umme Salamah (his wife). He came to them and asked them: 'Do you reject women (your wives)? I do go into women (my wives), eat in daytime and sleep at night. Whoever disregards my tradition is not of me. Allah, the Exalted, has revealed: "O you who believe! do not forbid the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, and do not transgress. Surely Allah does not love the transgressors, And eat of what Allah has provided you as lawful and good, and fear Allah in Whom you believe," [49]

Generally speaking, the traveler along the road to the Hereafter is to be considerate with respect to the ups and downs of the soul. And, while he is never to curb the needs (of his nature) which, otherwise, would cause big mischiefs, he is also not to be severe nor to exert pressure upon himself with respect to worship and practical austerities, especially during his youth and on starting the journey, as otherwise this will also cause the soul to feel exasperated and bolt away, and, perhaps, lead him to abandoning remembering Allah.

This point is frequently referred to in the noble hadiths. The noble Al-Kafi, quoting Imam as Sadiq (AS), says: "During my youth I was seriously and earnestly doing my worshipping. My father told me: 'My son, act less on that, as when Allah, the Exalted, loves someone, He will accept his little"'. [50]

Another hadith goes almost the same. [51]

The same course relates another hadith to the effect that Abu Ja'far (Imam al-Baqir) (AS), quoting the Messenger of Allah (SA), said: "Surely this religion is firm, so go deep in it with mildness, and do not cause Allah's servants to hate worshipping Him; otherwise, you will be like the one whose mount was too tired to go on, so he neither finished the journey nor preserved the mount". [52] Another hadith says: "Do not cause yourselves to hate worshipping Allah." [53]

However, the criterion for being "considerate" is that one should be observant of his soul's conditions and act according to its strength and weakness. When one's soul is strong and able to perform worships and bear hardship with good endurance, he should, then, try to perform the acts of worship. As to those who have crossed the prime of life, and the fires of their desires have subsided to some extent, it is suitable for them to increase their ascetic austerity, and to set foot on the road of self-discipline with manly vigilance and industry. The more they accustom themselves to ascetic practices, the more doors will be opened to them, until the soul gradually overcomes the forces of (their) nature, which will be subjugated to them under the majesty of the soul.

Concerning the noble hadiths which urge the people to strive earnestly in worshipping and praise the people who do so with reference to the worships and austerities of the Imams of (the Islamic) guidance (AS), as well as the noble hadiths which recommend economy in worshipping and praise it, both categories are based on the different people of suluk and the ranks and conditions of the soul. The general criterion is the vivacity and the strength of the soul or its weakness and aversion.

Notes:

[41]. Surah at Taubah: 54.

[42]. Surah an-Nisa': 43.

[43]. 'Usul ul Kafi, vol. 3, p. 129, "Book of Belief and Disbelief', ch. on "Equality (moderateness) of Acting and Continuing it", hadith 3.

[44]. Ibid., p. 138, ch. on "Economy in Worshipping", hadith 6.

[45]. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 75, p. 377, "Book of ar-Raudah", ch. 29, hadith 3.

[46]. Ibid., vol. 100, p. 220, "Book of al-'Uqud wal-'Iqa'at" (Contracts and Agreements), chs. on "Marriage", ch. 1, hadith 14, quoted from Amali by Shaykh al Tusi, vol. 2, p. 132.

[47]. Ibid, hadiths 18 and 35, quoting Raudatul Wa'izin, p. 373, and Nawadir ar-Rawandi, p. 12.

[48]. Wasa'ilush-Shi'ah, p. 15, "Book of Marriage", ch. 2, hadith 6.

[49]. Surah al-Ma'idah: 87-88. Ibid., hadith 8,

[50]. 'Usulul Kafi, vol. 3, p. "Book of Faith and Disbelief', ch. on "Economy in Worshipping", hadith 5.

[51]. Ibid., hadith 4.

[52]. Ibid., hadith 1.

[53]. Ibid., hadith 2.