To practice their religion, Muslims are led to make life choices, and spirituality is not always a smooth, peaceful journey. Depending on how their life is structured, believers will be tested to varying degrees by temptations, wherever they happen to live. How can we face the trial of sins and how can we avoid committing them in order to preserve our faith? That is today's subject, with these 10 tips.
Tip 1: Know the harm of sins
The first practical tip for protecting yourself from the temptation of sins is to learn your religion. Indeed, by educating himself in the religion, the believer will learn to distinguish good from evil, will keep himself informed about the acts of worship to follow, but above all he will learn, and this is the goal sought here, to avoid sins when he finds himself confronted with them.
How can you avoid something that you do not know, or do not comprehend?
Thus the pursuit of knowledge is an obligation in Islam for every Muslim man and woman, and this also involves knowing which acts are blameworthy so as not to commit them.
For this, the Muslim who is keen to protect himself can turn to a mosque where there are religious gatherings in his area, just as he can read and do his own research, notably on the internet, but above all through reading or enrolling in online courses.
He will learn to know the Quran and not only to read it. He will strive to remain firm on Allah's exhortations concerning the prohibitions to flee from, just as he will be firm on the recommendations to follow.
The Sunnah of our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, contains the meritorious deeds just as it contains the reprehensible and forbidden actions that our Prophet calls us to keep away from.
Allah, to Him belong Glory and Majesty, also reminds us of this:
Q. 59:7 (...) Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it; and fear Allah, for Allah is severe in punishment.
Tip 2: Have modesty before Allah, Glory be to Him
The second tip that the believer draws from the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is getting used to feeling modesty before his Lord. How can we commit failings towards Allah, by no longer praying or by abandoning meritorious deeds we had become accustomed to, or again how can we be tempted by the false appearances of this life, however dazzling they may seem, when we pray to Allah as if we could see Him?
Having modesty before Allah means being aware that our Lord sees us and hears us. He knows what our breasts conceal and the slightest of our hidden thoughts. This almost ever-present remembrance is the result of an elevated form of worship, a high degree of faith (Ihsan) that we must seek to attain, and which is explained in this prophetic Tradition reported by Bukhari:
Worship Allah as if you see Him. For if you do not see Him, He surely sees you.
It is a degree of faith that one must seek to reach, and which allows one to catch oneself when tempted by any sin or blameworthy act.
Tip 3: Be certain that blessings slip away as a result of committing sins
Sins have many harmful effects on the believer's existence, and becoming acquainted and conscious of them makes the desire to commit them even more repugnant in his eyes.
Avoiding making oneself responsible for sins therefore means guarding against their disastrous consequences in life, since they:
- obstruct the path of obedience
- prevent the causes of abundance
- diminish health and strength
- weaken determination
- destroy blessings
- reduce the span of life
When we learn to know the heavy aftermath they leave in our daily lives, we think twice before committing a sin.
Tip 4: Know that there are punishments corresponding to each sin
Out of Mercy, Allah purifies His Servants of their failings towards themselves, generally, in the very area where they sinned. This means that on Earth the servant will be able to repent and purify his soul and body of all the evil he had committed, and this in order to prevent him from having to enter Hell for that sin. In this there is a proof of love on Allah's part.
When the servant learns about sins and their consequences, as well as the trials he will have to undergo in order to purify himself, he will think twice before letting himself be seduced by the glittering side of temptations that trample his efforts, and this will be a source of good for him, helping him to remain on the straight path of his Lord.
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Tip 5: Feel more love for Allah than fear of His Punishment
Loving one's Lord, loving the idea of meeting Him on the Day of Final Judgment, fills the believer's heart with a light, intense feeling that lets him experience a serenity which he preciously safeguards. He does not want to let anything disturb this pleasure, this Closeness with Him that he maintains through remembrance, prayers, silence and meditation upon His Blessings, seeking forgiveness... so many acts that seem to be acts of obedience but which in reality hold a savor that cannot be driven by fear.
Rather, the Love that He offers us and that we want to keep within ourselves, and, of course, to offer to those around us, is an even greater driving force than the fear of His Wrath, though the latter is healthy for us too.
The believer who loves Allah wants only to worship Him, and even though souls are weak, he repels, by every means, everything that distracts him from his goal: pleasing Him.
Fear or dread are necessary, but they cannot equal that feeling of intense love once it is experienced. On the contrary, the one who lets himself be overwhelmed by fear of Allah risks ending up despairing of Him, of His Forgiveness, and persisting on the path of misguidance.
How often can the Muslim be paralyzed by phrases hammered into him such as “given how far gone I am”?
Tip 6: Know your own worth
Allah, to Him belong Majesty and Glory, chooses from among His Creatures those to whom He wishes to grant Paradise, out of Love from Him and as a reward for what they used to do. He is the One who knows what hearts conceal, and consequently nothing escapes Him. The faith that the believer feels, however small it may be, in other words, is the result of His Will.
Recognizing this and taking it to heart means admitting that, despite our journey, our decision to follow the way of Allah, this faith represents a gift from Him to us. It is His Decision to guide us. It is an honor that we must become aware of. And when that is the case, the Muslim tries by every means at his disposal to protect his soul from sins, out of gratitude to the Most Merciful for having chosen him as a Muslim.
When he remembers this honor with which Allah has favored him, he flees bad deeds as much as he can. The best advice is therefore to remain firm on the straight path of Allah and to remember that we will meet Him in the state in which we will have left this Earth.
Tip 7: Prefer the Hereafter (Akhira) to the life of this world (Dunya)
Another tip for avoiding committing failings towards oneself, for nothing harms our Lord and we harm only ourselves, is to detach ourselves from this world as much as we can. How can we remember that to Allah we shall return, if we are obsessed with the accumulation of possessions and lost in distraction throughout our days?
Indeed, the race for riches, the love of money and worldly pleasures distance us from closeness with Him, whereas we shall return to Him whether we like it or not.
No one has said that we must disregard our needs, nor suppress our ambitions. Living in comfort in no way prevents living in the Remembrance of Allah.
Let us just remember that making the Hereafter our priority prevents us from embarking on acts forbidden by our Lord. Placing before our eyes the Meeting with our Creator makes us want to surpass ourselves in good deeds and in learning, so as to meet Him Pleased with us, by His Will.
This famous hadith reminds us of it thus:
According to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, once took him by the shoulder and said: “Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a passer-by.” The son of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say: “When you reach the evening, do not wait for the morning, and when you reach the morning, do not wait for the evening. Take from your good health for your illness, and from your life for your death.” (Al-Bukhari)
Tip 8: Think often about death
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “Think often about the thing that puts an end to pleasures: death.” (At-Tirmidhi)
Thinking about death, even if only for a second, pulls us out of that state of elation and brings us back to a reality we flee from: we will be brought to account for what we used to do on Earth, for what we amassed in secret or what we gave by day and by night. The remembrance of death calls out to us and makes us abandon the exaggerated hope in a lifespan that we do not know. Why put off our uprightness until tomorrow when our time is numbered?
Death puts things back in their place in this world. Nothing is eternal except His Face. Nothing is truly indispensable except that which will improve our condition in the Hereafter and prepare us for our True Life.
Tip 9: Conform to your Din, and remain in worship as much as you can
This tip is important because no intention is worth anything except through the actions it will have produced. Often remembering death would be of little use without taking the resolution to bring a change to our behavior, without living a life in accordance with our values and the Will of our Lord.
In addition to remembering our end, it is crucial to remember that we will be resurrected in the state in which we will have left the Earth: will it be as a believer, or not? in a state of prayer? or in distraction and disobedience?
When this exercise is done in full awareness, the believer clings to uprightness, as much as he can, without seeking hardship, but persevering in living a life in the remembrance of Allah and His worship. However small his deeds to please Allah, ta'ala, may seem in his eyes, the believer will abstain from indecencies and will remain upright in calling those around him to conform to the obedience of Allah, through good conduct, in sha Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do good deeds with seriousness, sincerity and moderation! And know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the deed most beloved to Allah is the most constant one, even if it is small.” Sahih al-Bukhari
Tip 10: Be patient in the face of temptations
Finally, the last tip, and not the least, is to hold fast to patience on the Path of Allah. Indeed, when the human being is favored with the deep feeling of belief in Allah, the certainty of meeting Him on the Day of Final Judgment, he will hold on to doing everything to stabilize the faith in his heart. He will follow Him in the hope of meeting Him Pleased with him.
Then the believer will become aware during his life of the importance of conforming to His commandments, and he will want to work. To work with constancy and humility.
Then, calling to good conduct will become obvious to him, and while respecting the rules of propriety and mutual love, he will encourage his loved ones to believe, to work and to remain upon the Truth. He will call to the Straight Path even if he cannot guide those he loves by himself.
Guidance is granted only by the Almighty. One must be aware of this... and patient!
The believer is forewarned by Allah, to Him belong Majesty and Glory, in Surah Al-Asr, that on this path patience is recommended. Inevitably, temptations will be on his road, malicious people as well, and the desire to seek the easy way will be sources of temptation. Only those who are firm will have success, unlike the loss incurred by those who pay no attention to the use of their time, as Allah, ta'ala, warns us at the beginning of Surah Al-Asr:
- By Time!
2. Man is surely in loss,
3. except those who believe and do righteous deeds, and enjoin one another to the truth, and enjoin one another to patience.
May Allah have Mercy on us all and admit us into His Vast Paradise among His Servants who will have succeeded in the Two Worlds! Amin
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