Bismillah
What is shaytan doing to us?
إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ لِلْإِنسَٰنِ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ ﴿٥﴾
Indeed Satan, to man, is a manifest enemy. [Quran, Yusuf 12:5]
When Iblis complained to Allah that Adam alayhissasalaam is made from dirt, he pretended that he didn't know that Adam was made of two other components -- balance and soul.
[So mention] when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I am going to create a human being from clay. (71) So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration." (72) [Quran, Sad 38:74
Iblis knews if he acknowledged the other two components, then he acknowledged how incredible the human beings actually are. If he acknowledged only the dirt component, then we are no different than other animals that eat, sleep and breed.
[So mention] when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I am going to create a human being from clay. (71) So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration." (72) So the angels prostrated - all of them entirely. (73) Except Iblees; he was arrogant and became among the disbelievers. (74)
[Quran, Sad 38:74]
Iblis hates humanity for being given the position of vicegerent on this earth. He swore he will destroy the children of Adam, that is us. His rage never stops.
[Iblees] said, "By your might, I will surely mislead them all (82) [Quran, Sadd 38:82]
He has many ways of destroying human beings. One of the main ways is to make us feel worthless. One of his greatest succes is when he can convince us that we are not worthy.
The world today is facing this serious crisis of people feeling worthless, especially after they retire or lose a job or lose their lands.
Be aware of negative thoughts and take steps to counter them. If you don't have enough value for yourself, you are always going to look for value from someone else. You will always looking for somebody else's compliments or validation.
Allah already honored the son of Adam.
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam... [Quran, al Isra' 17:70]
So we should not care about people's validation. Though we do need correction from each other
When you value yourself, being criticized is not a humiliation. When people criticize you, they are doing you a favor to help you improve. When you have low self esteem, the criticism will really push you down. Once you have self worth, then you see correction is an opportunity to grow and not humiliation.
May Allah protect us from the whispers of shaytan. Aameen.
www.darannoor.com
