Satan: Mankind's Worst Enemy

Unlike the descriptions of the devil in Christian doctrine, Shaytan (Satan:The Devil) is not a fallen angel; rather he is a Jinn (A creation of Allah that was created before humankind from smokeless flame. They are referred to at times as spirit beings, banshees, poltergeists, phantoms and so forth) who can think, reason and has free will.
Allah allowed him to reside amongst the Angels, but because of his pride and arrogance he despairs of ever knowing Allah's mercy and has vowed not to inhabit the depths of Hell alone. Satan's wish is to take as many human beings with him to the Hellfire as he can. Make no mistake about it; Satan is mankind's mortal enemy. He is cunning, crafty and supremely arrogant.
The Qur'an warns us of his enmity over and over "O children of Adam. Let not Shaytan deceive you..." (Quran 7:27)
"Surely Shaytan is an enemy to you so take him as an enemy..." (Quran 35:6)
"...And whoever takes Shaytan as a protector or helper instead of Allah, has surely suffered a manifest loss." (Quran 4:119)
It is important to understand that even Satan himself recognises the Oneness of Allah and His right to be worshipped. Allah has informed us that the promises of Satan are nothing but deceptions and lies, and Satan concurs, for he can offer nothing.
"And Shaytan will say when the matter has been decided: "Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves..." (Quran 14:22)
Every act of disobedience that is hated by Allah is loved by Shaytan, he loves immorality and sin. He whispers into the ears of the believers, he disrupts prayer and the remembrance of Allah. One of Islam's greatest scholars, Ibn ul Qayyim, may God have mercy on him, said: "One of his (Satan's) plots is that he always bewitches people's minds until they are deceived, he makes attractive to the mind that which will harm it".
Satan has wide-ranging experience in the field of deception; he has tricks and temptations and he whispers relentlessly. Satan is able to pinch and poke, implanting thoughts and desires. However Allah has not left humankind defenseless. He has provided us with weapons and one of the greatest is information. Satan is our mortal enemy and in order to combat his tricks and illusions we need to know him well. The long term goal of Satan is to deprive as many people as possible of Paradise and to lead them to Hell. To achieve this aim he has set many short term goals. Being aware of these goals means we are able to arm ourselves with weapons of defence.
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