[B]Procrastination![/B]

[hodman]

One of the hardest things to do for most muslims today is to stay focussed on our journey out of this world and into the hereafter.We are sidetracked by the temporary pleasures of this world like our families,jobs etc.I came across this article and thought I'd share it with y'all hoping that we can exchange ideas on our own indiviual ways of overcoming that feeling of laziness that tells us to put things off.

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-Jauzi 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 one’s 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…

[Muhammad]

procastination is a deadly habit.

habits can be learned and un-learned,

 

so there is still hope for those

of us who suffer from this disease.

 

the best way I found to eliminate it

is to break it down and write it down.

 

 

"Kill the monster while it is young"

[hodman]

that's a good idea muhammad.I guess it is true that habits can be learned and unlearned but learning it is much easier than stopping them.

[S.O.S]

posted by Hodman:

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…

Dear brothers Hodman and Mohammad,

 

This very important matter since we all too often are forgetful of the devil and his viscous tricks to hamper our paths, not only towards hereafter, but anything of benefit to us in both worlds, we need a defence mechanisms and the best defence is to attack. Rather than being always one step too late or on the backfoot, always being on the receiving end and all your actions becoming mindless reactionary reflexes in stead of thought-out non-circumstantial active actions, we need to adopt superior strategies (that is superior to the devil). Here is simple one-two-three step formula:

 

When Iblis (the commander of the satanic army) dispatches his forces from his command-centre which is a secret base located on one of the oceans, we need to attack with all our marine-forces before they reach land. One of the fierless marine divisions include the renown Four-rakca-duxxa regiment. The strategic books describe as follows:

 

1) Repported by Naciim bin Hammaar Al-Ghadtfaanii that he heard Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) saying: Allah said: O son of Adam! Don't feel short of performing four Rakcaat (prayers) at the afternoon. (If you do so) I will safeguard you (against the Satan) for the rest of the day. (see in the sunan of both Axmed and Abuu Daa'uud)

 

If that somehow goes wrong and the enemy reaches land, then we need to engage them by land with our land-armies which are very effective in defeating the satanic armies. One such crucial unit is the All-in-the-name-of-Allah division, but if you fail in this, you are in danger of loosing the battle. You don't call the shots anymore, and as a consequence, we get the problem Hodman described in this post. Moreover, this is what the strategic books show us:

 

2) Repported by Ibn Cabbaas (rc): Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Ibliis said: O Lord! For every one of Your creatures You have arranged sustenance and means of livelihood, but what is mine? Allah said: Anything on which Allah's name is not mentioned (can be yours). (see Abuu Naciim's Al-Hilya)

 

When the more experienced commander of the satanic army overpowers you, then the final strategic act you can always rely on is to retreat and call on the aerial bombardments to gain the upper hand again. This is Istighfaarah-aerial-power as shown below:

 

3) Abii Saciid Al-Khudriyyii (rc) repported: I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) saying: The devil said to his Lord: By Your Glory and Majesty! As long as the progeny of Adam exist on earth, I shall continuously misguide them. At this Allah remarked: By My Glory and Majesty! As long as they seek My forgiveness, I will go on to pardon them. (see sunan Axmed)

 

Shams-ud-Din

[Muhammad]

Shams-ud-Din, that was very exciting strategy. JZK

 

also, could you mention little about the Ayah-Kursi Warriors sent from Heaven, and their two shifts of Night and Day, and also our Sheilds( Ikhlaas, Falaq, and Nas) in the battle against the al-Waswaas al-Khanaas.

 

Insha'Allah lets keep them Al-Khanaas!

[S.O.S]

Brother Mohammad,

The defence force at our disposal is enormous, and I just picked three random battles, so you may pick another random three your turn!

[hodman]

I really like these strategies they are practical and a way to fight back instead of letting shaitan have the upper hand.May Allah bless you both for sharing them.

[Muhammad]

Here is an advice from one of this Ummah's best scholars in our dual against the eternal nemesis to Ibn Adam

 

10 Ways of Protection from Shaytan

Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah

 

Summarized from

Bida’i` al-Fawa’id

(304-308)

Translated by islaam.com

 

1. Seeking refuge with Allah from Shaytan. Allah the Most High said, “And if there comes to you from Satan an evil suggestion, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.†[41:36]

2. Recitation of the two soorahs al-Falaq and an-Nas, as they have wondrous effect in seeking refuge with Allah from his evil, weakening Shaytan and protection from him. This is why the Messenger, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, said: “No person seeks refuge with anything like the Mu`awwidhatayn (soorahs al-Falaq and an-Nas)â€. [an-Nasaa’i, 5337]

3. Recitation of Ayat al-Kursi (2:255).

4. Recitation of soorah al-Baqarah. The Messenger, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, said, “The house in which al-Baqarah is recited is not approached by Shaytan.†[Muslim]

5. The final part of al-Baqarah. The Messenger, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, said, “Whoever recites the two last verses of al-Baqarah at night they will suffice him.†[Muslim]

6. Recitation of the beginning of soorah Mu’min (Ghafir), until His saying, “wa ilayhi-l-maseer†(to Him is the destination). (i.e. “Ha. Meem. The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Knowing, the forgiver of sin, acceptor of repentance, severe in punishment, owner of abundance. There is no deity except Him; to Him is the destination.†[40:1-2])

7. Saying “la ilaha ill Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa `ala kulli shay’in qadir†(there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, He has no partner, His is the Dominion and Praise, and He is able to do all things) a hundred times.

8. The most beneficial form of protection from Shaytan: abundance of remembrance of Allah, the Exalted.

9. Ablution and prayer, and they are from among the greatest means of protection, especially at the time of emergence of anger and desire.

10. Abstinence from excess speech, food and mixing with people