How Can We Choose the Right Path in Facing Satan’s Attacks?
We are all somewhat familiar with the nature of Satan, and from previous lessons, we understood that Satan is our open enemy. But have you ever thought about how we typically react to Satan’s attacks?
Each of us has a different stance towards these attacks. Some believe in Satan’s enmity and take necessary actions and precautions against him, while others remain indifferent and, whether intentionally or not, fall victim to his temptations and assaults.
Satan is a sworn enemy whose only goal is to drag us to hell and lead us away from the straight path. We can either surrender to this enemy and acquire eternal suffering for ourselves or, as God has instructed, take him as an enemy and rise to fight against him. It is clear that fighting against Satan is not possible without at least a minimal awareness of the types and methods of his attacks. This awareness helps us to be less deceived, as we then know the Satan’s lying in wait zones and not to neglect them—the neglect that can facilitate any of four types of Satan’s attacks.
We cannot achieve perfection on the straight path without engaging in conflict with Satan. Any silence or passive response to his attacks only makes him more eager and ensnares us further. Therefore, instead of despairing, we should consider the four types of Satan’s attacks as a form of vaccine that increases our strength against future dangers. However, confronting Satan does not necessarily mean facing him head-on. Sometimes, the best way to combat Satan is to consciously ignore his temptations. Just as our enemy uses all his experience and power to lead us astray from the straight path, we must utilize all our capacities to consciously fight against Satan’s attacks.
Satan’s Methods and Tactics
To overcome Satan’s attacks, we must understand his strategies and how he attacks, and we must also close off his avenues of influence over us. For Satan, achieving his goal is what matters most, and his goal is to prevent our healthy birth into the hereafter and to keep us from fulfilling our purpose of creation. For some of us, a single attack may be enough, while for others, depending on our personality structure and circumstances, he may use all types of attacks or a combination of two or more. Generally, people believe that negative tools and inherent qualities, whether haram (forbidden) or unholy, are used by Satan to lead us astray. However, the truth is that Satan does not differentiate between these tools and inherent qualities.
Satan uses anything related to our sensory, imaginal, estimative, and intellective matters, in all their forbidden, mubah (permitted), or sacred forms, to deceive us. Thus, without considering the various sensory capabilities we possess, he has fifteen different methods to tempt us. Sometimes he may deceive us through forbidden imaginations, and at other times through permitted imaginations like concerns of everyday life and home, or even through sacred imaginations that have a divine flavor. He may also lead us to misuse knowledge and, due to our academic status, cause us to become arrogant. Of course, our sensory forms, which include what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, also play a significant role in the Satan’s attacks, as they can lay the groundwork for his future tricks. For example, someone who does not pay enough attention to what is halal (permissible) and haram in their eating habits easily creates an opportunity for Satan to succeed in other areas.
Satan is aware not only of our obvious matters but also of the most hidden thoughts and feelings in our minds. He infiltrates our desires by exploiting our emotions—such as fear, hope, and longing—through the desire and anger we harbor. In doing so, he influences our thoughts and will that arise from these emotions. In this way, he sets the stage for an effective attack within us and, at the right moment, leads us astray through fear, sadness, temptation, or false promises. The sadness produced by Satan can either slow down our progress or completely halt us; sometimes, they are so powerful that they change our direction entirely, placing us on a path contrary to what God desires.
Blocking Avenues of Influence
Satan certainly needs a way to deceive us. He always targets things we feel deprived of or thirsty for, or through which we derive pleasure. He focuses on what we need. Things we have disconnected from or grown indifferent hold no significance for Satan. For example, for an elderly person who is not familiar with social media, the various traps and temptations present online are irrelevant. For someone who is financially secure, promises of money, a house, or a car are unlikely to be effective. Similarly, someone who holds high social positions is not easily tempted by promises of status; they may be more concerned about the fear of losing their position or may face attacks from the right that lead them to arrogance. Someone who seeks to gain a degree or social status will likely face attacks and temptations that place them in comparison and competition with others. Perhaps the lack of social standing might make them feel sad, or Satan may use his frontal attacks and they could be struck by anxiety or fear about the future.
In any case, Satan needs a foothold to penetrate our souls. Just as the fiercest storms cannot enter a house without a hole or opening, Satan cannot enter us without a means of access, although he is so experienced. Sometimes, he uses seemingly insignificant matters that lead to our weakness and negligence, and then, in a surprise move, delivers his final blow, slowing or stopping us through sadness or despair. For instance, he may attack from the left and tempt us and lead us into sin, then chastise us so harshly that we lose all motivation and hope to repent and return to God’s embrace.
Thus, one of the best ways to deal with Satan’s attacks is prevention. Through self-knowledge, by knowing the various dimensions of our souls, we can identify the avenues and openings for Satan’s influence. To succeed in dealing with Satan’s attacks and blocking his avenues of influence, we must control the lower dimensions of our being and let our supra-rational dimension govern our existence. The more we strengthen the divine dimension of our existence, the further we distance ourselves from Satan’s attacks. This means that by adequately nourishing our supra-rational dimension, we do not leave a handle for Satan in the material nature of our being. However, we must not forget that all these actions depend on our understanding of the battlefield and our readiness for the fight against Satan. Otherwise, even the strongest individuals often face defeat when they lack the necessary preparedness or are caught off guard by the enemy’s attacks.
In this lesson, we have become familiar with various tactics and schemes of Satan. We stated that surrendering to Satan’s attacks means our downfall, so we have no choice but to fight. To combat him, we need to be aware of the types and methods of his attacks and understand where our weaknesses and opening points lie. Satan uses our sensory, imaginal, estimative, and intellective matters in three states: forbidden, permitted, and sacred states, and does not limit himself to negative qualities and forbidden matters. We must also utilize all our capacities in our struggle against him and leave no handle for Satan to grasp.
What path do you take in facing Satan’s attacks? Are you considering cutting off Satan’s footholds within yourself?