Concerning this point, Satan has many ways and means. It is recorded in Sahih
al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
| “During your sleep, Satan ties three knots at the back of your Decks. He breathes the following into them, ‘The night is long so keep on sleeping.’ If the person wakes and praises Allah, then one of the knots is unfastened. And if he performs ablution, the second knot is unfastened. When he prays, all of the knots are unfastened. After that he will be energetic and happy in the morning. Otherwise he would get up listless and grouchy.” |
It is also recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that he said,
| “When one of you rises from your sleep he should make ablution. He should rinse his nose three times. For Satan stays in the upper part of one’s nose during the night.” |
Al-Bukhari also records that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about
a man who sleeps until the morning comes, that is, after the time of the dawn
prayer. He said,
| “That is a man whom Satan has urinated into his two ears.” |
What we have mentioned is from among the ways that Satan hinders the human
from doing some actions. He also whispers into the human a love for laziness,
postponing or procrastinating actions and thinking about what a long period
of time one has for such and such action or work. Ibn al-Jawzi has written on
this topic, stating,
How many of the Jews or Christians have considered in their hearts love for
Islam. But Iblees always hinders them. He says to them, “Do not be hasty.
Look closer into the matter.”And they postpone their conversion until they
die as unbelievers. In the same way the one who is disobedient to Allah
postpones his repentance. He sets his sights on his desires and he hopes he
will repent later. But, as the poet said, “Do not rush to perform the sins
you desire and think about the period of repentance beforehand.”How many are
determined to do something and then they postpone it. Perhaps a scholar is
determined to return to his study. Satan says, “Rest for a while.” Or a
servant is alerted to the prayer at night and he says to him, “You have
plenty of time.”He will not stop making people love laziness and postponing
of actions and he makes the person rely on hopes and dreams.
It is necessary for the energetic person to take matters into his own hand
and act upon his energy. The energetic finds the time to do things and does
not procrastinate and he turns away from just dreaming. The one who has a
real fear of Allah does not feel safe of punishment. The soul never stops in
its dispute about evil and facing the good. But it always expects that it
will have plenty of time to complete the good. One of the early scholars
said, “Beware of procrastinating. It is the greatest of the soldiers of
Satan.” The serious, non-procrastinating person and the one who rests on his
hopes and puts off working are like two who are passing through a city while
journeying. The serious, energetic one buys his provisions early and waits
for his traveling out of the city. The procrastinator says, “I will wait, as
perhaps we will stay here a month,” and continues to put off buying his
provisions and preparing for his departure, until the last minute wherein he
becomes rushed and mistake prone. This is how people are in this world. Some
of them are prepared and alert. When the angel of death comes, he is not
sorrowful. Others are deceived by thinking they can procrastinate and they
will despair when the time to move on comes. It is part of ones nature to
love laziness and dreams but then Iblees comes and builds upon that. This
makes it difficult to struggle against him in that matter. But the one who is
alert knows that he is in the middle of a battle. He knows that his enemy
does not rest. And if it seems that he is resting, it is actually just part
of his strategy.
Ibn al-Jawzi, Talbees Iblees, p. 458
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