ISLAM – THE ONLY ETERNAL TRUTH

“THEY (THE UNBELIEVERS) CONSPIRE TO EXTINGUISHTHE NOOR (DEEN) OF ALLAHWITH THEIR MOUTHS (WITH THEIR ARGUMENTS OF ‘SPIRITUALITY’), WHILE ALLAHSHALL COMPLETE HIS NOOR EVEN THOUGH THE KAAFIROON ABHOR IT.”(Qur’aan, As-Saff, Aayat 8)

“IT IS HE (ALLAH) WHO HAS SENT HIS RASOOL WITH THE GUIDANCE
AND THE DEEN OF HAQQ SOTHAT IT BECOMES DOMINANT OVER ALL IDEOLOGIES EVEN THOUGH THE MUSHRIKOON ABHOR IT.”
(Qur’aan, As-Saff, Aayat 9)

TALBEESUL IBLEES(DECEPTION OF IBLEES)

SHAITAAN VOWED:

“Most certainly, I shall lie in ambush for them along Your Straight Path.Then I shall attack them from their front,
and from their rear, and from their right and from their left. And,You (O Allah!) will not find most of them grateful.”(Surah A’raaf, 16 and 17)

Talbeesul Iblees is an extremely effective stratagem in the armoury of Shaitaani weapons of moral and spiritual destruction. Talbeesul Iblees is Shaitaan’s snare of confusion and deception by means of which he entraps innumerable people into the tentacles of vice, sin, bid’ah and kufr. He approaches people via the stratagems of logical argument, religious argument, and philanthropic argument to befuddle them and to cast them into the dregs of immorality and corruption in belief and practice. With his cunning snares he succeeds in bringing down into ruin from whatever sublime status one may be occupying. If Allah’s aid is not at hand, everyone will be the victim of the subtle plots and tricks of Shaitaan.

Shaitaan approaches Ulama and Sulaha via the routes of Ilm and the Deen, casting them into confusion, then deception with ‘logical’ arguments to convince them that baatil is haqq, and transgression is piety. He had first succeeded in deceiving Hadhrat Aadam (alayhis salaam) and Hadhrat Hawwa (alayhas salaam). By his talbees he succeeded in securing the expulsion of our illustrious Ancestors from Jannat. Thereafter, throughout the history of mankind, Shaitaan has managed to bring about the fall and ruin of many outstanding saints and scholars. Therefore Allah Ta’ala repeatedly warns us to be alert and always on guard against the talbees of Iblees

“O Sons of Aadam! Shaitaan should not be permitted
to cast you into deception as he had caused the expulsion of your parents (Aadam and Hawwa) from Jannat. He removed from them their garments so that he could expose to them their private parts.Verily, he (shaitaan) and his league see you while You cannot see them. Verily, We have made the shayaateen the friends of those who have no Imaan.”(Surah A’raaf, Aayat 27)

By means of deceptive logical arguments, Iblees had succeeded to convince Hadhrat Aadam (alayhis salaam) and Hadhrat Hawwa (alayhas salaam) to eat from the forbidden tree, Allah Ta’ala warns us to beware and be alert so that we do not fall into the snares of Iblees. He approaches human beings, especially Muslims, in a variety of subtle and ‘logical’ ways, even via ostensibly Deeni channels, to entrap us into his tentacles.

The safest and most effective method of protection against Talbees-e-Iblees is to adhere firmly to the Way of the Sahaabah and the Salf-e-Saaliheen. Diversion from their Tareeqah is fraught with grave consequences of deviation and falling into the snares of Iblees.

It is when the saint/scholar ignores the prescriptions and proscriptions of the Divine Shariah, relying on his opinion and logic that Shaitaan achieves his victory with his trap of Talbeesul Iblees. When the ways, admonition and advices of the Ambiya and the Akabireen are set aside, and personal opinion is engaged in misconceived exercises and projects of assumed virtue at the behest of the nafs, Shaitaan casts his spell of deception on the intelligence of a learned man and succeeds in side-tracking him from Siraatul Mustaqeem, just as he had vowed: “Most certainly, I shall lie in ambush for them along Your Siraatul Mustaqeem.” (Qur’aan)

On the occasion of his expulsion from Jannat, Shaitaan had vociferously declared that he would be employing his snare of talbees. He was confident of ‘victory’, hence he proclaimed to Allah Ta’ala: “And, You will not find most of them grateful.” So successful is Shaitaan in the employment of his trick of Talbees that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “Most certainly, the fate which overtook Bani Israaeel will most certainly overtake my Ummah to such an extent that if among them (the Yahood and Nasara) someone commits fornication with his own mother, then there will be in my Ummah persons who will perpetrate that same (heinous misdeed).”

Talbeesul Iblees is the presentation of Baatil in the form of Haqq. Corruption is viewed as righteous, and vice as virtue. Elaborating the meaning of Talbeesul Iblees, Shaikh Abdur Rahmaan Ibnul Jauzi (rahmatullah alayh) says:

“Iblees approaches people to the best of his ability, and he constantly increases his control over them. Know, that the heart is like a fortress. That fortress is protected by walls. The walls have entrances. Inside the fortress are rooms. The inhabitant of the fortress is Aql (Intelligence). The Malaaikah visit this fortress. On the outskirts of the fortress are some waiting rooms. Hawaa (base emotional desire –the nafs) and the Shayaateen frequent these waiting rooms without hindrance. (These waiting rooms are called rabadh) There is an ongoing struggle between the inmate of the fortress and the occupants of the rabadh.

The shayaateen diligently and constantly circle the fortress waiting in expectation for any laxity of the fortress’ guard so that they could make inroads into the fortress. It is therefore, incumbent. for the guard to be well aware of all the entrances to enable him to discharge the duty of guarding all the rooms. This is what he has been appointed to do. At no time should he be lax in his guard-duty for even a moment, for verily the enemy is not lax.
This fortress becomes radiant with Thikr and dazzling with Imaan. In the fortress are highly polished mirrors. The images of all things which pass by are seen in these mirrors. Therefore, the very first strategy of shaitaan is to create abundant smoke in the rabadh. This smoke blackens the walls of the fortress, and clouds the mirrors. Perfect meditation wards off the smoke and Thikr polishes the mirrors.

The enemy (shaitaan) frequently makes an attack on the fortress and succeeds in entering. The guard defends and beats him off, expelling him from the fortress. Sometimes, shaitaan remains for a considerable time due to the laxity of the guard.

Sometimes, after shaitaan has darkened the walls of the fortress and clouded the mirrors with smoke, he swiftly passes by unnoticed.

Sometimes shaitaan wounds the guard due to his laxity. He imprisons the guard and extracts service from him. Shaitaan then remains inside the fortress fabricating schemes to appease and aid the nafs. Sometimes he poses as a wiseman (but) in evil.

Hasan Ibn Saalih (rahmatullah alayh) said: “Verily, shaitaan opens for a person 99 avenues of virtue in order to trap him into one avenue of vice. Hadhrat A’mash (rahmatullah alayh) said that once some Jinn said: ‘The most difficult person for us to deceive is a man who is steadfast in following the Sunnah. But with the people of Hhwaa (nafsaani desires), we make a great mockery of them.”
(Talbeesul Iblees)

The slightest divergence from the Straight Path of the Sunnah and involvement in doubtful things are the introductory steps for ultimate entanglement in the tentacles of Shaitaan, which leads to ruin and destruction. Among his acts of deception is the trick of hanging the bait of noble ends in front of a learned man. A molvi or sheikh of shallow knowledge quickly falls prey to his emotional dictates when the bait of altruism is dangled in front of him. Then by means of baseless interpretation he justifies departure from Siraatul Mustaqeem – Shariah – for the sake of the noble end. But the ultimate consequence is not the attainment of the noble end. Instead, the Molvi/Sheikh falls by the wayside, a victim of the plot of Shaitaan. He thus destroys his Akhlaaq and Imaan by his submission to the base and carnal instincts and desires of his nafs. Many a great man had fallen in the trap of Talbeesul Iblees which brings everlasting spiritual ruin in its wake.