Satan inculcates a lack of confidence, despair for the future, and a pessimistic outlook of events in people who befriend him. He does not want people to have faith and to trust and obey Allah, he does not want them to submit to their destiny, or to live withhope and enthusiasm. This is because all those merits are encouraged by Allah and all draw people closer to Him. They also are essential to live a life in accordance with the moral values of the religion. Of course Satan does not want people to draw closer to Allah, to enthusiastically and decisively live by the religion chosen by Allah. For that reason by inculcating despiration, he tries to drive them to dispiritedness, languidness, , depression, helplessness, and boredom.

One of the things that Satan wants to make the believers do, but fails at, is to feel despair when situations appear negative. Satan fails only with the sincere believers, for he cannot pull them toward himself due to their ever-mindful faith, which causes them to observe carefully Allah's commands and advice at all times. Since being positive is an immutable command ofAllah, that ismentioned in the Qur'an,it is not even possible for believers to adopt a different attitude on this point. Allah tells believers:“Do not despair of solace from Allah. No one despairs of solace from Allah except for people who do not believe. (Surah Yusuf, 87)” So, believers avoid showing any tendency toward such a state of mind.

Other verses also condemn falling into despair and state that it is one of the unbelievers' negative characteristic. The related verses are as follows:

Man never tires of praying for the good, and if evil touches him, he despairs and loses hope. But if We let him taste mercy from Us after he has suffered hardship, he says: "This is my due. I do not think that the Hour is going to come. And if I am returned to my Lord, I will definitely find the best reward with Him." But We will inform those who do not believe of what they did, and make them suffer a severe punishment. (Surat al-Fussilat, 49-50)

Those who reject Allah's Signs and the meeting with Him, such people can despair of My mercy, and such people will have a painful punishment. (Surat al-'Ankabut, 23)

Those who lose hope and rebel, have fallen into Satan's trap and fulfilled his commands. On the other hand, believers are always hopeful and look positively upon their future And thus they gain Allah's good pleasure and the reward of the hereafter and, as a favor from Him, live a healthy and happy life in this world. Satan cannot lure them into despair, because they are hopeful under all circumstances, bound firmly to the Qur'an, and have taken Allah as a close Friend. Since this subject is among the most important  and  even core points of the moral values of Islam, believers are just as meticulous with it as they are with all other Qur'anic teachings.

Satan does not want Allah's religion to prevail. Rather, he wants people to live lives based on anti-religious morals, and hopelessness is one part of this model. In some societies, hopelessness has become a philosophy of life. Those who are under Satan's influence reach a state in which they receive egotistical pleasure out of songs, films, and other forms of expression that reflect hopelessness and pessimism.

However the mind, mentality, opinion, and reasoning of those without hope are not conducive to healthy decision-making. Just as hopelessness can cause people to lose their physical and mental health, it is also a serious mental disease that, depending on its severity, can lead people to commit suicide. Obviously, such people cannot be expected to live according to the Qur'anic morals. This situation serves Satan very well, for he uses it to make people stray from the religion and any expectation in the hereafter, and to drag them along with himself toward an endless punishment. Throughout human history, this has always been his greatest goal.

People without hope infect those around them with the same negative depressive state. In effect, they virtually become Satan's helpers, for they can inculcate in other people the spiritual state desired by Satan. With this approach such a person- willingly or unwillingly – turns into Satan's servant, despite the fact that humanity was created only to serve Islam and to be Allah's servant.

May 04, 2009

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