Page 29 - Why Do You Deceive Yourself ?

Being Sincerely Religious without Deceiving Yourself 27
When you think a little, you can also easily see that everything
around you is not the work of chance but exists because of Allah's
boundless power, knowledge and control. In addition, as we are told
in the verses above, creating the Hereafter is an easy matter for our
Lord; and there can be no doubt whatsoever that it conforms to divine
justice. Be careful, and do not under any circumstances ignore these
truths and try to deceive yourself, because those who do so and avoid
facing the truth of the Hereafter will be unable to compensate for their
errors there and will live in eternal pain.

Obedience to Satan

The great majority of people do not know the true characteristics
of Satan and picture him as an imaginary being according to what they
have heard from other people and seen in the movies. So while some
people believe Satan has an independent power of his own (surely
Allah is beyond this) and grossly exaggerate him, others regard the ex-
istence of Satan with scepticism and are unable to accept it. Even if
they grant the possibility that he may exist, they do not believe that
Satan has any effect on them whatsoever. Neither of these positions are
based on any information or evidence but result from ignorant super-
stition. On this subject, as on all others, we can obtain the most correct
and reliable information from the true Book of Allah. As our Prophet
(saas) states, "The best word is the word of Allah and the best guidance is the
guidance of Muhammad." (Sunan Ibn Majah, Muqaddima, 7)

As we are told in the Qur'an, first and foremost Satan possesses
no independent power. He is a being created by Allah and wholly
under His control. Everything which happens in the world does so
only because Allah wills it. After being dismissed from Allah's pres-
ence, Satan asked Allah to grant him a period until the end of the
world. We are told of his dismissal from Allah's presence and the pe-