Concerning this point, Satan has many ways and means. It is recorded in Sahih
al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"During your sleep, Satan ties three knots at
the back of your Decks. He breathes the following into them, 'The night is long so keep on
sleeping.' If the person wakes and praises Allah, then one of the knots is unfastened. And
if he performs ablution, the second knot is unfastened. When he prays, all of the knots
are unfastened. After that he will be energetic and happy in the morning. Otherwise he
would get up listless and grouchy."
It is also recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari
and Sahih Muslim that he said,
"When one of you rises from your sleep he
should make ablution. He should rinse his nose three times. For Satan stays in the upper
part of one's nose during the night."
Al-Bukhari also records that the Prophet (peace be
upon him) was asked about a man who sleeps until the morning comes, that is, after the
time of the dawn prayer. He said,
"That is a man whom Satan has urinated
into his two ears."
What we have mentioned is from among the ways that
Satan hinders the human from doing some actions. He also whispers into the human a love
for laziness, postponing or procrastinating actions and thinking about what a long period
of time one has for such and such action or work. Ibn al-Jauzi has written on this topic,
stating,
How many of the Jews or Christians have considered
in their hearts love for Islam. But Iblees always hinders them. He says to them, "Do
not be hasty. Look closer into the matter." And they postpone their conversion until
they die as unbelievers. In the same way the one who is disobedient to Allah postpones his
repentance. He sets his sights on his desires and he hopes he will repent later. But, as
the poet said, "Do not rush to perform the sins you desire and think about the period
of repentance beforehand." How many are determined to do something and then they
postpone it. Perhaps a scholar is determined to return to his study. Satan says,
"Rest for a while." Or a servant is alerted to the prayer at night and he says
to him, "You have plenty of time." He will not stop making people love laziness
and postponing of actions and he makes the person rely on hopes and dreams.
It is necessary for the energetic person to take
matters into his own hand and act upon his energy. The energetic finds the time to do
things and does not procrastinate and he turns away from just dreaming. The one who has a
real fear of Allah does not feel safe of punishment. The soul never stops in its dispute
about evil and facing the good. But it always expects that it will have plenty of time to
complete the good. One of the early scholars said, "Beware of procrastinating. It is
the greatest of the soldiers of Satan." The serious, non-procrastinating person and
the one who rests on his hopes and puts off working are like two who are passing through a
city while journeying. The serious, energetic one buys his provisions early and waits for
his traveling out of the city. The procrastinator says, "I will wait, as perhaps we
will stay here a month," and continues to put off buying his provisions and preparing
for his departure, until the last minute wherein he becomes rushed and mistake prone. This
is how people are in this world. Some of them are prepared and alert. When the angel of
death comes, he is not sorrowful. Others are deceived by thinking they can procrastinate
and they will despair when the time to move on comes. It is part of one’s nature to
love laziness and dreams but then Iblees comes and builds upon that. This makes it
difficult to struggle against him in that matter. But the one who is alert knows that he
is in the middle of a battle. He knows that his enemy does not rest. And if it seems that
he is resting, it is actually just part of his strategy…
Ibn al-Jauzi, Talbees Iblees, p. 458
