# Ep. 13: Shaytan's 6-Step Plan  | Road to Return

**Author:** Yahya Ibrahim
**Series:** Road to Return | How to Come Back from Sin
**Published:** 2021-06-26
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/yJnZuJuoC0E
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-13-shaytans-6-step-plan-road-to-return
**Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia

## Description
The devil’s plan to drive us away from doing good is not always as direct as we may think. Sh. Yahya Ibrahim describes six steps that the Shaytan attempts to push us further from Allah, both by drastic and gradual means.

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Shaytan attacks mankind through six different ways.

**[0:18]** The first and most serious is that Shaytan wants mankind to worship other than Allah. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Didn't I make a covenant with you, O children of Adam, that you worship not the Shaytan,

**[0:37]** that you turn away from the worship of the devil. That is the straight path of submission of Islam. So Allah tells us that the Shaytan wants us to worship him. Meaning that the Shaytan wants us to worship anything other than Allah.

**[0:56]** It is the worship of the Shaytan to give love, fear, hope to anything other than Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in a way that should only be given to Allah. And if the Shaytan isn't able to fool us, to trick us, to lead us away from the worship

**[1:12]** of God, from being servants of Ar-Rahman, the second attack of the Shaytan is to make us change our religion from the inside so it becomes corrupt. And that's what the word bid'ah means. Bid'ah is heresy where a person thinks they're doing good, thinks they're worshiping Allah,

**[1:30]** but Shaytan has mixed up the aspects of faith that it's been changed that we're actually pleasing the Shaytan by not doing it the way the Prophet taught us. So how do we go against the second aim of the Shaytan, which is only second to us worshiping

**[1:47]** other than Allah, is Shaytan wants us to muddle up our faith, to change our religion, to take away from it certain things and to add to it things that shouldn't be in it. As Allah tells us in the Quran, Al yawma akmaltu lakum deenakum

**[2:02]** On this day, I made perfect for you your religion. Wa atmamtu alaykum ni'mati And I completed my favor upon you. Wa radheetu lakumul islama deena And I have shown you that the right deen, the right way of life is Islam submission

**[2:18]** to me. So therefore don't change from the faith what can't be added to it and what should never be taken from it. And therefore always resist the call of people saying, we need to reinterpret this, we need to take these things out of the Quran, we don't need to follow the sunnah.

**[2:37]** That is an attempt of the Shaytan to confuse us as normal practicing Muslims. Our way is the way of hearing and obeying the word of Allah. The third attack of the Shaytan is to make us fall into major sins, sins that the Quran

**[2:53]** is very clear on. Wala takhrabu al zina Don't go near sexual immorality. Don't look at haram things, don't talk about it with the wrong people. Don't get involved in the processes that will lead you to doing things that are haram.

**[3:12]** That's a major sin. And the Shaytan if he can't get us to fall into major sins, that our eyes are polluted, our hearts are disfigured with haram, that we miss our prayers, that we're not comfortable in giving charity, that we're people who lie to other people to please them and to please

**[3:30]** ourselves. If he can't get us to do these major things, he comes at the minor things that are sins, but that are not directly in the Quran, but we know that they're wrong in our judgment. We know in our heart that they are displeasing to Allah.

**[3:46]** Number five is that if he can't get you to worship him and worship other than Allah, to change the religion and do things that are not meant to be done, an addition or it's abstraction from Islam, if he can't get you to make major sins and minor sins, the Shaytan

**[4:03]** then comes to distract you by doing lawful things that aren't halal or haram. So there you are, you're at home and you're just sitting there playing your video games. There's nothing wrong with that, but it gets to a point where you've wasted so much of

**[4:20]** your day. And instead of you wanting to, for example, polish up Juz Amma that you've memorized, instead of you helping your mom out in the home, or instead of you getting up when you hear your dad coming in and greeting him at the door, you're just sitting there playing video games, which is fine, but it stopped you from doing something better.

**[4:40]** And if doing permissible things stops you from doing better things, then it's also an attack from the Shaytan. The last attempt of the Shaytan is that the Shaytan will try to get us to do good things that are lesser than the better things we intended to do.

**[4:58]** So it might be that you're coming to the masjid and you intended, mashallah, to pray and to give a little bit of a donation and that you're going to buy your mom something really nice and you want your mom to be happy. So there you are, you come to the masjid and you have $25 and you intend, I'm going to

**[5:16]** give $5 after Salatul Jumu'ah and $20 I'm going to buy my mom some flowers. And all of a sudden you do something good where you gave, you know, $20 to the masjid. It's a good thing. It's a beautiful thing, but it's not as good as making your mom feel valued and having

**[5:33]** biru walidain. And then you got home, but you didn't bring your mom those flowers. You didn't bring her that joy. You didn't do that thing that you intended to do. So the Shaytan made you do something good. He opened for you a door of good, but he didn't let you do the better thing that you intended

**[5:50]** to do. You read from the Quran, but you had intended to finish a juz' a day, but you read just a few pages, which is amazing, but you never got to complete the Quran over the 30 days. You never got to complete the Quran in this year's recitation. You wanted to finish it from one Ramadan to the next.

**[6:08]** Why? Because you read, but you didn't read enough. You got distracted with other things and may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la protect us against the aim and the plotting and the planning of the Shaytan. Allahumma Ameen.

## Other Episodes in "Road to Return | How to Come Back from Sin"
- [Ep. 40: Fake News | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-40-fake-news-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 39: It's Just a Joke | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-39-its-just-a-joke-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 38: Friday Prayer Is Not Practical | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-38-friday-prayer-is-not-practical-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 37: What Happens Online Stays Online | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-37-what-happens-online-stays-online-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 36: I'm Not A Racist, But... | Road To Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-36-im-not-a-racist-but-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 35: I Will Never Forgive Them | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-35-i-will-never-forgive-them-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 34: Isn't Zakat Like Sadaqah? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-34-isnt-zakat-like-sadaqah-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 33: The Most Important Thing is Love | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-33-the-most-important-thing-is-love-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 32: Everyone is Doing It | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-32-everyone-is-doing-it-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 31: It’s Just a Video | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-31-its-just-a-video-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep: 30 Always Put Yourself First | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-30-always-put-yourself-first-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep 29: Marijuana is Not a Drug | Road To Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-29-marijuana-is-not-a-drug-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 28: God Knows my Intention | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-28-god-knows-my-intention-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 27: I Do Pray...Just Not Often | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-27-i-do-pray-just-not-often-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 26: Did You Hear? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-26-did-you-hear-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 25: Does God Really Care? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-25-does-god-really-care-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 24: Just say Bismillah | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-24-just-say-bismillah-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 23: Parents Just Don't Understand | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-23-parents-just-dont-understand-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 22: Why Do They Have It So Easy? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-22-why-do-they-have-it-so-easy-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 21: Going Against The Flow | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-21-going-against-the-flow-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 20: Hoping For The Best Without Doing Your Best | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-20-hoping-for-the-best-without-doing-your-best-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 19: Good Intentions With Wrong Actions | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-19-good-intentions-with-wrong-actions-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 18: Good Actions With The Wrong Intention | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-18-good-actions-with-the-wrong-intention-road-to-return.md)
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- [Ep. 14: Resistance & Resilience | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-14-resistance-resilience-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 12: No Good Without Evil | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/no-good-without-evil-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 11: Mastering Self-Control | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-11-mastering-self-control-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 10: The World And Its Splendor | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-10-the-world-and-its-splendor-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 9: An Enemy Within | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-9-an-enemy-within-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 8: Your Inner Voice | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-8-your-inner-voice-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 7: Four Dangers: Causes of Sin | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-7-four-dangers-causes-of-sin-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 6: Different Types of Sin | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-6-different-types-of-sin-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 5: Are All Sins Equal? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-5-are-all-sins-equal-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 4: What Are Sins? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-4-what-are-sins-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 3: Content with God | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-3-content-with-god-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 2: Finding Peace | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-2-finding-peace-road-to-return.md)
- [Ep. 1: Submitting to God | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-1-submitting-to-god-road-to-return.md)
- [Trailer: Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/road-to-return-trailer.md)