Page 66 - Commonly Disregarded Qur'anic Rulings

64 COMMONLY DISREGARDED QURANIC RULINGS

One of the aims of satan is to prevent a Muslim from
reading Allah’s words with attention and understanding or
putting them into practice in the course of the day. Because
Allah guides believers to right conduct through the Qur’an,
satan's unique aim is to divert them from it. For this reason,
he wants them to fail to properly understand its content and
tries to turn them away from the Qur’an.
When faced with the strategies of satan, Allah commands
believers to take refuge with Him:

Whenever you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge with
Allah from the accursed satan” (Surat an-Nahl; 98)
Those who have faith in Allah and put their trust in Him
will be secure from the evil insinuations of satan:
He [satan] has no authority over those who believe
and put their trust in their Lord. (Surat an-Nahl; 99)

AVOIDANCE OF JEALOUSY
AND SELFISH GREED

For believers, faith entails exemplary behavior. But this
does not mean that they have come to the end of their test-
ing because, like everyone else, Muslims also have a lower self.
Allah reveals in the Qur’an that, in keeping with the pur-
pose of the environment of testing, He inspires people to
avoid the wicked tendencies of the ego. Jealousy and greed
are characteristics of the baser self:
... But people are prone to selfish greed. If you do
good and guard against evil, Allah is aware of what
you do. (Surat an-Nisa’; 128)