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The First Footstep Of Shaytan | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
If you avoid the first of his many footsteps, you can avoid the trail altogether. What are the common ways in which we fall, and how do we get back up?
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, last week I spoke about a subject that I know strikes very close to home for many people. And I want to begin my khutbah actually by saying that my intention for speaking about these things is not to injure, not to hurt, but bi'idhnillahi ta'ala to sincerely advise myself and everyone in regards to some of the phenomenons that we're seeing in our community. And sometimes it's best described through a meme, right? That's where we live in. You know, you see all of those memes of how it started and how it's going. And subhanAllah, I was thinking about how it started and how it's going. So many of the ugly phenomenons in our community, we don't think about the how it started part. We just see the how it's going and then we mock that part. And we try to brush it under the rug institutionally and individually sometimes, especially when we are the ones that are indicted by the how it's going part. Try to brush it under the rug. And in order to really work through ugly phenomenon, things that are undesirable in our community, in our family lives, in our individual lives, it's important to get back to the how it started. Where are we? And we know Allah talks about khutuwat al-shaytan. wa la tatabi'u khutuwat al-shaytan innahu lakum aduwwun mubeen. Do not follow the footsteps of shaytan. Verily, he is a sworn enemy to you. And so here's what I want to focus on in this khutbah. What is the first of those footsteps? There is the first khutwah, the first footstep, because if you step in the first footstep, then you're likely to go down the trail. What is the first footstep of shaytan look like when we face these types of things in our lives? And so let me give you an example. You read the hadith about the man who killed 99 people and then killed 100 people. The hadith is about the mercy of Allah. He sought Allah's forgiveness. I wonder what his first murder was like. I wonder what the first, we know what the last one looked like.
And the purpose of that hadith was to speak about redemption and the possibility of the mercy of Allah even for a person guilty of that crime. But I wonder what his first killing was like. That was a lesson that surely there is something that led him the first time to do that. And then a door opened for him. What led him? What was the argument? Was it a dispute? When did he first put blood on his hands? To where it became normal for him to take another 99. That wasn't the premise of the hadith. But that's what you think about, right? If you're in that person's spot, where did this go? Sometimes we have stories and narrations from our tradition. It's not a hadith, but the famous narration of Barsisa. The man who ended up, you know, going from a priest or a monk, a worshipper of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and went down this long track of committing adultery and then eventually committing murder and then lying to commit his murder, or to cover up his murder. All of these different things that happened, right? But it's the first step that's actually emphasized in that story, that he got caught, he got hooked. And once he got hooked, it was downhill from there and the possibility of where shaitan could lead you. So, all this is to say that a lot of times we see someone as an individual in our community, or we see a phenomenon in our community that's really, really messed up, and we look at it and we say, Oof, I don't want to touch that. What a monster. What a far person that is from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. What a devastating situation. We hate it. Sometimes it's very obvious to the eye. A person walks in the masjid and unfortunately, we have those judgmental stares and looks, and it could be that person has put something behind them in the past, or it could be that person is coming to put something behind them in the past, but the looks like, oh wow. Or we hear of a bad situation, and we say, how could that person do that? Not in the means of let's be introspective as a community, but in the means of mockery. How could that person go down that route where they've gone so far to commit such a grievous sin?
And so, the first footstep of shaitan means going back and trying to see what happened, not for the intention of excusing their current behavior, but to learn from their mistakes. What do we do better as communities? What do we facilitate better? What do we do better as families? What do we do better as individuals? To learn, وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ Don't follow the footsteps of shaitan. And so, I want to talk about this. Shaitan lays traps for you in accordance with two things. What's going to work and where you are. What's going to work and where you are. Where you are in your current spiritual state. So, for example, if you're a good doer, he'll try to corrupt the intention of your good deeds. Or he'll try to take you from your good deeds to idleness first, to relinquishing those good deeds. Not straight from good deed to sin, but to get you lazy. Take you from good deed to idleness. And then he'll take the idleness to minor sin. And then he'll take the minor sin to major sin. And then he'll take the major sin to disbelief. That's خطوات الشيطان summarized in brief. Right? How do I take someone from here, where I was, right? Because shaitan was a good doer himself. And bring them all the way to where I am right now. I know the process because I went through that process. Right? And we find subhanAllah that what he ultimately wants to do is mess with your sense of recognition as well. You know, in the beginning, you recognize good and evil. And that in and of itself is good. But if you take enough steps, you don't know how far you are down the path at some point. Right? You can't track where you left, where you've departed from, and where you are going to. And that's why, you know, one of the key tactics of shaitan is البدع, is innovation. Innovation because when a person is committing innovation, blameworthy innovation, they don't realize that they're doing anything wrong. So it introduces certain things into the religion, makes a person start to think that they're doing something good.
Very powerful statement from al-Hassan ibn Areeh radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma. قَالَ بَلَغَنَا أَنَّ إِبْلِيس قَالَ سَوَّلْتُ لِأُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَمَ أَلْمَعَاصِي فَقَصَمُوا ظَهْرِي بِالْإِسْتِغْفَارِ He said that Iblis said that I have decorated, embellished, you know, like when Ya'qub alayhi salam, Jacob says to his sons, بَلَ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرَةٌ that yourselves have embellished an evil thing for you. He said, I tried to embellish al-ma'asi, the evil deeds for the Ummah of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, but they broke my back with istighfar. They seek forgiveness from Allah and Allah takes them back. So it's like, it's yes, some people will commit sin, but people come back to Allah. We just passed Arafah. May Allah have allowed all of us to be amongst the forgiven. Allahumma ameen. People commit sin, they make istighfar, it breaks shaitan's back. His life's work with you is gone. So he said, فَسَوَّلْتُ لَهُمْ ذُنُوبًا لَا يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى مِنْهَا وَهِيَ الْأَهْوَاتِ So I decorated some other things for them. I embellished some other things that they don't even seek forgiveness from Allah for. And that is wishful thinking, الأهواء, the innovative types of things that come into the religion, where they take these paths, they start to in essence lose recognition of what is good and what is bad. The sunnah becomes unrecognizable to them. The true path of guidance becomes unrecognizable to them because they've got it all figured out or so they think. So delusional thinking is what he's getting at in terms of, you know, bid'ah being the symptom of delusional thinking at that point. So it's bid'ah, innovation in the ideological sense, but on a micro level, it's manipulation of a noble intention that is often the first step to shaitan. And that's what the ulema mention. The first step of shaitan is usually manipulation of a noble intention. Let me be real with you. I can't tell you how many cases of infidelity started off with,
I was trying to help. I was trying to help. Someone needed me to counsel, you know, he reached out to me. She reached out to me. I was trying to get involved in a positive way. I was trying to emotionally support someone until emotionally support meant emotionally exploit. And emotionally exploit led to things getting physical and things getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. What was the first thing that shaitan did? So wal'tu lahum, I made, I embellished a noble intention. I was trying to do something good here. I tried to get involved. How many times does a person get between two people in a bad relationship and end up being the cause of the greatest disaster in the relationship? See it over and over and over again. I'm not even talking about imams and counselors. I'm talking about the friend that got pulled in becomes the greatest enemy. You were supposed to help. You made things worse for everybody. But it was a noble intention that got exploited. I'm only giving one example. Imam al-Ghazali says the first step of shaitan usually is what? Al-niyya al-hasana. It's a good intention. I want to do khair. I want to do good. And so the ends justify the means. How many people get involved in masajids? Not this masjid by the way. Get involved in masajid and they want to do something good and then end up bringing the dirtiest politics to their masajid. The house of Allah. I wanted to fix things. I had to get things right. And so I had to play these games. But I mean like we play dirtier politics than Republicans and Democrats sometimes in our masajid. Right? Like start pitting groups against each other. Start doing this stuff. Why? Because I got to set the house of Allah right. Really? That's how you're going to set the house of Allah right? That's your intention? But shaitan takes a noble intention first step. And once you get in that first step, the ends justify the means. You are operating on a false ethical premises. A false ethical premise that I can do whatever I need to do now because I have a noble intention. So shaitan doesn't say well bring this tactic in. Bring this tactic in.
Footstep, footstep, footstep, footstep, footstep. So the first way, the first step of shaitan for many people is a noble intention. A noble intention where suddenly the ends justify the means and then it just gets out of hand way too quickly. The second one is what? Is excusing yourself due to your circumstances. Blaming other people or other things for your moral failures. That person did this, said this to me, did this to me. The masjid was unwelcoming. The people were judgmental. I'm sick of this people and I'm sick of these. You know what? I was forced, I was pushed to do this haram because my spouse wasn't being a good spouse. I was pushed to that moral failure. No, I didn't have a supportive environment. Maybe you're right. Maybe you're right about your spouse. Maybe you're right about your environment. Maybe you're right about the masjid. Maybe you're right about someone who poorly gave you advice. Maybe all of that is true. But you bear your own burden. Don't allow shaitan to lead you to a place where you will blame others, circumstances or people for your moral failings. Doesn't work that way with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah will punish and Allah will reward accordingly. So if you have to struggle more to be morally upright, the reward is greater. But you never justify and say, well everybody else and every this person said this to me and I went through this and this. No, absolutely not. First step. Because once you open that door, who's going to close it? Who's going to stop you? You've justified your indulgence at that point. That's the second thing. And the third thing and the last thing dear brothers and sisters is the belittling of sins due to open indulgence around you in sins far greater. محقرات الذنوب.
The belittling of sins, the belittling of a sin due to the open indulgence in كبائر, in major sins around you. Why? Because the first step is, you know, is it really that big of a deal if I do this? Because I'm looking around me and these people are doing all sorts of things. So it's okay. Not realizing that that person that you're saying is indulging in كبير on a major sin probably started off with the same mindset that you have right now. It's just, you know, like I'm not that bad. So it's okay if I do this much because at least I'm not doing that much. Not realizing that that much started off with this much. Three things. A noble intention. The first footstep of Shaytan. A noble intention. Secondly, blaming others for your moral failings. Thirdly, belittling your own sin because someone else is committing a major sin around you. Then it's quicksand. The trail of Shaytan is quicksand. You step in it and it sinks you. The first step, it doesn't go linear. It goes downwards from there. It's a downward spiral. Mujahid, he has a powerful statement. He says, قَالَ إِبْلِيسَ مَا أَعْجَزَنِي بَنُ آدَمَ فَلَنْ يُعْجِزُونِي فِي ثَرَاثٍ He said that the son of Adam has made me incapable in certain ways, but there are three ways that he has never been able to make me incapable. إِذَا سَكِرَ أَحَدُهُمْ أَخَذْنَا بِخُزَامَتِهِ فَقُدْنَاهُ حَيْثُ شِئْنَا He said that if he gets drunk, then we take him by his reins and we drive him wherever he wants while he's drunk. Drink some alcohol, gets intoxicated. By the way, خَمْر means intoxicant, any intoxicant falls under the ruling of خَمْر. Before you get to, well, is this halal and this haram? His senses are lost. So what do we do? At that point, you are under influence, literally under the influence.
He takes you and takes you by your reins and takes you wherever he wants. So when you come back to your senses, you would have done so much that you feel like you can't recover from. He said the second thing. He says وَعَمِلَ لَنَا بِمَا أَحْبَبْنَا So he says إِذَا سَكِرَ أَحَدُهُمْ أَخَذْنَا بِخُزَامَتِهِ فَقُدْنَاهُ حَيْثُ شِئْنَا وَعَمِلَ لَنَا بِمَا أَحْبَبْنَا وَإِذَا غَضِبَ قَالَ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمْ وَعَمِلَ بِمَا يَنْدَمْ So the first thing he said, we get him drunk, take him, he does all types of things under the influence and he does whatever we want him to do. The second thing he said, get him angry and while he's angry he will say things that he will forever regret. Come on, that's what happens. وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَرَ We don't know how to control ourselves in our anger. We don't know how to control ourselves. So you say and do things in your anger that you don't mean but then because of your ego you double down after you're not angry anymore. That's خطوات الشيطان, take you to a bigger step. Yeah, I meant what I said. I'm not that sorry. Right? Because he took you to the next step. And the second thing he says, وَنُبَخِلُهُ بِمَا فِي يَدَيْهِ وَنُمَنِّيَهُ بِمَا لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ And we make him stingy with what he possesses and we make him have hope in what he will never possess. SubhanAllah. So stop quicksand. The point is if you realize there's a common trend here under the influence or not in your senses in those moments. So what do we take from this? The Prophet ﷺ said, إِنَّ الْحَلَالَ بَيِّنَ وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنَ وَبَيْنَهُمَا أُمُورٌ مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ لَا يَعْلَمُوهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ Look, halal is clear. Haram is clear. What is lawful is clear. What is prohibited is clear.
And between them are many things, doubtful matters that people don't understand what they're getting into. There's a gray area between the black and the white. But there is a black and white here. There is a halal and haram. There are clear red lines. Those are not cloudy, but there's a gray area between those two things. And the Prophet ﷺ is telling us what? A person will have salama, will have peace in their religion and in their honor, if they steer away from the gray area as a whole. Try to stay away from the gray area. If you can see red on the haram side, then that means you're too far into the gray area. Just go back. Try to make sure you can always see the halal side clearly. And that's your starting point. And if there is a departure, sometimes an excuse, sometimes something where you have a special circumstance, where you have fiqh and a true fatwa behind it, that's all, you know, the halal is still there. But the line is still there and you can still see it. Because once you're closer to the other side, the Prophet ﷺ says, أَلَا وَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ مَلِكٍ حِمَىٰ أَلَا وَإِنَّ حِمَىٰ اللَّهِ مَحَارِمُؤُوا۟ Scary part of the hadith, honestly. The Prophet ﷺ said, every king has a sanctuary. Now, it's not sanctuary as in the haram, like masjid al-haram, right? Because it's not in a positive sense here. If you think about a king that lives, you know, and has a fence, that's meant for security and protection, but you don't transgress that fence. There's the house and then there's the area in front, right? The courtyard. You don't jump in that courtyard. You don't cross without permission. The Prophet ﷺ is saying, وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثْرِ الْأَعْلَةُ اللَّهِ بَلَوْنَا الْحَيْيَسُ الْإِنَّ Allah has his boundaries that are very, very clear. Every king has those boundaries and his boundary is what he's clearly made haram. Dear brothers and sisters, the point of this is what? Once you've crossed that boundary, the sirens are going off.
It doesn't matter if you're close to the fence or you're far from the fence and now, you know, deeper in. You've crossed the boundary, the sirens are going off. Your recognition is lost. How much more are you going to consume once you've allowed yourself to consume one element of haram? You know, subhanAllah, my friend Sheikh Sajid, Umar may Allah bless him, he said something very profound. He said, Islamic finance is grounded in Islamic economics. Once you lose the ethical premise, then you get into haram, you know, halal, haram, loopholes, loopholes, loopholes. Once you start, you say, you know what, let me allow this amount of riba. It's like, I always use the example of a gas station owner who, you know, used to pledge, I will never sell haram, alhamdulillah. Stayed away from alcohol, then he brought in the gambling. I said, it's only a matter of time. Why are you going to bring in lottery? I mean, once you do that, boom, the next step is there, right? So, who's going to stop you once you've consumed that one element of haram? How many more messages are you going to send once you've already transgressed allowable communication before emotional infidelity becomes physical? How much more are you going to reveal of what Allah commanded you to conceal of your aura once you've gone past what the clearly defined limits are? Where does it go beyond that? How much more are you going to watch once you've already normalized watching certain things? Because PG-13 looks very different 13 years ago. Once you get in past the clear part of it, where there's no ambiguity into what's definitely unacceptable in deen, where are you going and where are you going to lead? So, dear brothers and sisters, once you've gone past the clearly defined limits, your conscience goes, then your recognition goes, and only an outsider can then see how far you've fallen because you don't even sense gravity anymore. Free fall. So, someone else sees you declining, but maybe you're not even listening to advice anymore because you're running into the area where the sirens are. Here's the good news. If you turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
one step back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala negates all of those steps to shaitan. One moment of sincere istighfar and, Ya Allah, I'm ready now. Ya Allah, I'm going to change. Because once you remove yourself from that hima of Allah, then you make yourself more likely to be in the shade of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You can't be in the shade of Allah. Come truly close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. One step back to Allah negates all of it. La taqnatu min rahmatillah. Don't despair from the mercy of Allah. But you've got to make that step back. No one's going to make that step back for you. You have to make that step back. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us all to come back to Him sincere, fully. Allahuma ameen. Alhamdulillah wa salatu was salamu ala rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Allahumma khufuru al mu'mineena wa al mu'minat wa al muslimeena wa al muslimat. Al ahya'i minhum wa al amwat. Innaka sami'un qareebun mujeebu da'wat. Allahuma khufuru lana wa arhamna wa a'fu anna wa la tu'addibna. Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam takhfuru lana wa tarhamna la nakunana minal khasireen. Allahuma innaka a'fuun tuhibbu al afwa fa'afu anna. Allahuma khufuru l walidina. Rabb rahamuhumma kama rabbona sigara. Rabbana ahablana min azwajina wa dhuriyatina qurrat a'ayun. Wa ja'alna lil muttaqina imama. Allahuma nsur ikhwanina al mustad'afina fee mashariq al ardi wa magharibina. Allahuma aslih wa al ikhwanina al mankoobina fee kudi makan. Allahuma ahlik al dhalimeena bil dhalimeen. Wa khurijina wa ikhwanina min bayneem salimeen. Ibadallah anna Allah ya amru bil adli wal ihsan wa ita'i dhil qurba wa yanhaa anil fahshaa wal munkari wal baghi. Ya'idukum la'alukum tadhakkaroon. Fathkurullahi yathkurukum wa shkuruhu alani'ma yizid lakum. Wala dhikrullahi akbar. Wallahi ya'amma tasna'oon wa sallam.
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