Spread the word!! These are the 7 Ways Satan Decepts Humans
Satan will do everything he can to realize his desire to plunge humanity into error. Starting from rough heart whispers to subtle whispers that humans cannot recognize except those whose hearts are not careless.
However, this does not mean that people who are obedient in worship will be free from Satan's snares. Even in this case, Satan will use special tricks to deceive people who are devout in worship. So without realizing it, he had fallen into the error that Satan wanted.
There are 7 kinds of ways Satan uses to deceive humans. One of them is by encouraging people to worship. So often those who are trapped feel that they have done good deeds, even though without realizing it, this actually makes Allah SWT angry. So what are Satan's other ways to deceive humans? Here is the complete description.
1. Satan forbids humans to disobey Allah SWT
Satan will openly whisper to humans not to carry out their obligations as servants. So those who are influenced by Satan's whispers will of course neglect their obligations without feeling guilty.
Meanwhile, those who are cared for by Allah will of course reject this whisper and say, "I really need a reward from Allah SWT, therefore I must have provisions from this world for an eternal afterlife."
2. Satan invites humans to postpone obedience
If someone who is whispered by Satan continues to carry out his obligations, then Satan will make further efforts. He will persuade the person to delay carrying out his obligations. So it is not uncommon for him to end up neglecting his obligations.
However, this is different from those who are cared for by Allah SWT, they will refuse and say, "My death is not in my hands. If I postpone today's charity for tomorrow, then when will I do tomorrow's charity? Even though every day has its own charity."
3. Encourage people to rush to do good deeds immediately
At certain times, Satan traps humans by encouraging them to rush to do good deeds as soon as possible. The devil will say, "Come on, hurry up and do charity, so you can hunt for other deeds."
So that those who are safe will certainly refuse and say, "A little but perfect charity is better than a lot of but imperfect charity."
4. Encourage people to carry out good deeds as perfectly as possible so that they are not criticized by others
Satan's next way to deceive people is to encourage people to do good deeds perfectly. because if it is not perfect then it will be criticized by others.
However, people who are looked after will certainly refuse and say, "For me it is enough to be judged by Allah SWT and there is no benefit in doing charity because of humans."
When Satan loses on this path, he will move on to tempting humans with the next method, namely deceiving humans with the fifth path.
5. Satan implants a sense of arrogance in the hearts of people who do good deeds
Satan's next step in deceiving people is to plant a sense of pride in their hearts because they have done good deeds. Satan will whisper to the human being, "How high your rank is because of your good deeds and how clever and perfect you are."
While those who are aware of Satan's tricks will say, "All majesty and perfection belong to Allah SWT, and not my strength or power. It is God who has given me guidance to be able to do the good deeds He is pleased with and give great rewards with His grace. So that without God's grace, what is the price of my deeds compared to the many blessings that God has given, in addition to my many sins."
If Satan still loses in this path, then he will deceive humans using the sixth method, which is very subtle and unknown to any human except those whose hearts are not careless.
6. Satan will mix worship with his tricks
If the fifth path fails, Satan will use the sixth path to trap humans. This path is much more powerful than the previous one and no one will be able to avoid it except for a person who is astute and resourceful. In this case, Satan will whisper to humans to be serious about worship.
"Be sincere in your deeds in a place where no one can see, you worship for God, then God will show your piety and kindness to other people."
In this case, the devil whispers to humans not to show off their worship to other humans, because Allah SWT will show that he is a good person in the eyes of other creatures. So that the devil interferes with every person who does good deeds with his very subtle deception. Although his speech meant to include part of the disease of riya.
While the protected people will say, "O Mal'un (the cursed one) you are constantly tempting me to destroy my deeds in various ways. Even now you are pretending as if you are going to improve my deeds when your intention is to destroy them. I am God's servant, and He is the one who made me. If Allah SWT wants to reveal my deeds or hide them, then make me noble or humble, then this is Allah's business. I will not be anxious whether my deeds are shown by God to humans or not, because that is not a human business."
So that if the devil loses in this way, then he will take another way to deceive people from worshiping Allah SWT.
7. Satan will whisper that the current deeds are just a waste
After failing to deceive with the sixth path, then the devil will tempt with the seventh path by saying that, " Oh man, you don't need to trouble yourself to do righteous deeds, because if you have been designated by God as a happy being, then there will be no harm if you leave your deeds because you will still be a happy person. Meanwhile, if you have been designated as a wretched person, then there is no use if you do charity, because you will still be wretched."
So that those who are protected will be given the strength to reject the devil's deception and say, "I am only a servant who has the obligation to uphold the command of Allah SWT, which is to worship Him, and Allah is All-Knowing, He punishes what He wills and He do what He wants. God will break his promise, those who do good deeds will be given pleasure and those who disobey or do not do good deeds will be punished with punishment."
These are the 7 paths taken by the devil to deceive people, various ways and strategies are arranged to lead people away from worshiping Allah SWT. So that if we are not careful, then we can fall into the valley of error. May we be the ones who are given guidance by Allah SWT so that we can avoid Satan's trap. Amen.
*Quoted from "Minhajul Abidin-Imam Al Ghazali, Towards a True Believer" by K.H. Abdullah bin Nuh, 2006. (most unique)