The Devil's Da'wah Techniques

OK, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Since when does Shaytaan do Da’wah?’ Right??? Well that’s not the kind of da’wah I’m referring to here. I’m talking about the kind of Da’wah where Shaytaan (may Allah’s curse be upon him) tries to convert us Believers to ‘HIS’ religion (the religion of kufr) or at least lead us astray from the straight path.

While studying tafseer of Surah al-Baqarah, my Ustadh (may Allah preserve him) taught us ‘The Devil’s Da’wah Techniques'. We reached a place where Allah says in verses 34-36 of Surah al-Baqarah:

34. And when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before ‘Adam!" So, they prostrated themselves, all but Iblis (Satan). He refused, and became one of the infidels.
35. And We said, "O ‘Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise; and eat at pleasure wherever you like, but do not go near this tree, otherwise you will be (counted) among the transgressors."
36. Then, Satan caused them to slip from it, and brought them out of where they had been. And We said, "Go down, all of you, some of you the enemies of others; and on the earth there will be for you a dwelling place and enjoyment for a time."

When Shaytaan refused to prostrate to Adam (alayhis salaam) out of pride and arrogance, he earned Allah’s wrath and he was refused Jannah. While, on the other hand, Adam and his wife Hawa were told by Allah to enter Paradise and enjoy everything therein, but to not come near a certain tree.

Shaytaan at this stage had pure hatred for Adam (alayhis salaam) and couldn’t stand the fact that he was refused Paradise because of him. So what does the Shaytaan do? He comes up with a plan to get them out of Jannah. But not just any plan; A SLY, SLICK PLAN. This is after all Shaytaan we’re talking about.

He proceeded to Adam (alayhis salaam) and used the most eloquent words and talks to him as if he is his best friend. Think about it, would you ever take advice or listen to someone who had pure hatred for you? Even if you didn’t know they hated you, you would be able to tell by their expression on their face innit? But Shaytaan’s clever, he puts on a disguise.

He goes to them and says:

Then Satan whispered to them, so that he might expose to them their shame that was hidden from them; and said, "Your Lord has not prohibited this tree for you, but to avoid your becoming angels or your becoming eternal." He swore an oath, "I am one of your well-wishers." [Qur’an Al A’raf: V. 20-21]

So Shaytaan made them eat from the tree that Allah forbade them and they were all thrown out from Paradise and dwell on earth for some time. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

So my dear brothers and sisters, you’ve seen how easily Shaytaan managed to get Adam and Hawa, our father and mother (may Allah’s peace be upon them) from paradise using his ‘da’wah techniques’. He’s been using these techniques since day one and has managed to misguide many.

Here’s another story the Sheikh narrated to illustrate the ‘Devil’s Da’wah Techniques’. It’s about a pious worshipper named Burseesah who fell into the traps of Shaytaan. May Allah protect us all from the Shaytaan. Ameen.

The Story of Burseesah

There were three men from Bani Israel who were called to fight for the sake of Allah. They accepted the call, but they had concerns for their sister as she would be left behind with no-one to look after her. After some discussion, they agreed that the best place to leave her would be with the most trusted person in town.

This was a pious man called Burseesah, who lived in a sanctuary and devoted his entire life in the worship of Allah. They came to Burseesah and said to him, "O Burseesah. We know you to be a pious and trustworthy man. We have been enlisted to fight for the sake of Allah and we want to leave our sister with you. O Burseesah! We trust no one else in town except you. Please take care of our sister."

Burseesah immediately said, "AoothoBillah! (I seek refuge in Allah) Get away from me! I have sworn to spend my time devoting it to the worship of Allah! I do not want to deal with these issues and be burdened with looking after someone"

The three men said to him, "O Burseesah! We have no where else to take her! We can’t leave her with anyone else and we don't trust anyone else. Please take care of our sister!"

Shaytaan heard the discussion, and came to Burseesah.

"Burseesah..." The waswaas [evil whisperings] began. "Burseesah if you don't look after her, she might be left with someone who is not trustworthy! You have to take this responsibility"

Burseesah listened and finally agreed to look after her. He told the brothers to leave her in a separate house so not to distract him from his acts of worship. They left her there, said goodbye and went to jihad.

Burseesah would continue his acts of worship as normal, and during the day he would leave food on his doorstep so the woman would have to leave the house to collect the food. This also ensured they never saw one another and Bursesah never even left his place of worship.

Time passed by. Shaytaan came to Burseesah.

"Burseesah..." he whispered, "You can't leave the food on your doorstep! As she is leaving the house someone might see her by herself. All alone and venerable and take advantage of her. Rather than her leave her house, you go to her house and drop off the food on her doorstep."

Burseesah made the decision that this was the right thing to do, and followed the bait that Shaytaan masked in a cover of righteousness. So during the day Burseesah would leave his worship, leave his place of worship, go to the house and leave the food on her doorstep.This happened for a while and with the trap just being set, Shaytaan moved in for the next step.

"Burseeeeesah..." the whispers came again. "Burseeesah...you are now leaving the food on her doorstep, but still this is not good. She still has to open the door and collect the food. Someone might still see her and she is so beautiful. She is VERY beautiful".

This servant of Allah, who never saw this woman started to be tempted by the whispers from Shaytaan about her beauty.

"Burseesah, her beauty is intoxicating and if someone sees her they may try something. You have to leave the food INSIDE her house. You don't have to look at her. Just knock on the door, and hand her the food as she opens the door."

Burseesah saw no harm in this. After all, it would stop people from seeing her. More deception covered in righteousness.

So again, Burseesah would leave his worship, leave his place of worship, go to the house and knock on her door to hand her the food.

Time passed by again. Shaytaan remained patient before executing his next plan.

Shaytaan came again.

"Burseeesah...you can’t leave this poor woman all alone. Without any company. No one is speaking to her. She's lonely Burseesah. Just talk to her. There’s no harm in saying salaam and asking how she is. You can talk to her from behind the door...you don’t have to see her...just talk from outside."

He liked the idea and when he would bring her the food he would talk to her behind the door while she was in her room. They would talk for hours every day and the relationship began to get stronger. Shaytaan found it easier and easier to drag him into the next step.

"Burseeesah.....Burseesah....you can't just sit behind the door. You know each other well enough to be in the same room now. Just sit in the same room and speak to her. You don't have to look at her. Just sit in the same room."

Burseesah began to follow the advice of Shaytaan. Everytime they met, the talk became more intimate as they began getting closer...and closer...and closer.

...He would hold her hand......

...The kiss came a few days later...

Eventually...they made zinaa [fornication] with each other.

"Ohh what have I done" Burseesah said as he realised his mistake.

--From being a slave of Allah...to becoming a fornicator.--

But the story did not end there. From that night, the woman became pregnant. Nine months later she delivered a baby boy. The familiar whispers started again as Shaytaan flowed through Burseesah's veins like blood.

"Burseeesaah...when her brothers come back and find out their sister has a child in zinaa, you are going to be in trouble! There is only one way to solve this problem. Burseesah........you have to kill the baby! Get rid of the evidence!"

Grief and anxiety ran through Burseesah's mind as he listened to the whispers of Shaytaan. He did what he heard and killed the baby.

"Ohhhh Burseesah. Do you think this woman will keep this a secret after you killed her own child?? Nooo. Burseesah.....the only thing to do now is to kill her!"

Burseesah then killed the woman and buried both mother and child under the house and covered it with a rock.

--From being a slave of Allah...to becoming a murderer.—

The three brothers returned and went to greet their sister. She was no where to be found. They went to the house of Burseesah and asked him, "Where is our sister?"

"She has passed away" he said as he pointed to a fake grave.

The brothers were saddened by the loss, and made du'a for her. That night when they went to sleep, Shaytaan came to them in their dreams and told them all what had happened.

"Burseesah has lied to you! Burseesah killed your sister! Burseesah made zinaa with her! She is buried under the rock inside the house."

As they all woke up in the morning, and talked about their dream, they began relating the same dream and thought there must be some truth in it. They first dug up the grave Burseesah pointed to and found no body. They stormed to Burseesah's house and demanded to know what had happened to their sister. One of them saw the rock in the house and uncovered it, where they saw their sister and her child.

"What has happened to our sister?!” The eldest screamed.

They forced Burseesah to disclose the secret of what happened and Burseesah told them everything.

Burseesah was taken to court where he confessed everything to the King. The King sentenced Burseesah to be executed. As they dragged him to his death, fear overcame Burseesah.

For the first time during this whole incident, Shaytaan appeared before Burseesah and said to him, "Oh Burseesah! Listen! Look at me! I was the one who was whispering to you since this whole thing started! I am Shaytaan!"

Burseesah's fear grew as the blade for his execution was brought!

"Now I can get you out of all this trouble. I was the one who put you in it, and I can get you out of it!"

"Oh Shaytaan, what should I do?!" Burseesah cried!

With an evil grin, Shaytaan said, "Make sujood to me. I am Shaytaan and I will save you! Bow down and prostrate to me!"

Burseesah fell down in sujood to Shaytaan and as soon as he did this, Shaytaan ran away!

.....and Burseesah was executed.

--From being a servant of Allah, bowing down to Allah...to becoming a servant to Shaytaan...bowing down to Shaytaan.

–-- From Imaan...to the worst type of kufr - bowing down to Shaytaan! –

Who could ever imagine a servant of Allah making sujood to Shaytaan!?

Imagine if Shaytaan came to Burseesah at the beginning and said "Burseesah make sujood to me", would Burseesah do it? NO!

If Shaytaan came to Burseesah at the beginning and said "commit zinaa" , would he do it? NO!

If Shaytaan came to Burseesah at the beginning and said "commit murder" , would he do? NO!

But Shaytaan knows the game! He's been playing his tricks since the time of Adam. Classical method of misleading people. Through step by step deception. This is how Shaytaan pulls at your feet and deceives you. So even if something may SEEM to be like an insignificant sin / action, be careful. It might be the start of a trap.

Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

Allah tells us

O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, (should know that) he orders (one to commit) shameful acts and evil deeds. Had it not been for the grace of Allah upon you, and His mercy, not a single person from you would have ever attained purity. But Allah purifies whomsoever He wills. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. [24:21]