Mu’min’s arms...

Mu’min’s arms: mustahabat (non mandatory) prayers and tark al-makruhat, or abstinence from undesiderable acts Offering non-obligatory prayers, to the best of one’s physical capabilities, is very effective for warding off the enemy, Satan. Similarly, abstaining from doing or using things, although permissible but not desirable, is very useful. Tark al-Ghaflah or Avoidance of Carelessness too might help.

The more a person is careless of the enemy, Satan, the more he will have the propensity to commit sins. With carelessness one might find himself dangerously near the mouth of a serpent. Despite all the friendship and nearness with Satan, the person will not get any support from him when the time for retribution ( mukafaat) comes. At that moment Satan will turn away his face as if he never knew the person.

Satan intensifies his attacks in stages The initial attempts of Satan will be to tempt the mu’min to commit unsavory things ( makrūhāt). Then he will open the way of the minor sins ( dhunub as-saghira ) to the person. He puts into the mind of the person that the sins he was committing were very trivial and thus encourages him to inadvertently commit major sins ( dhunub al-kabira). The man himself thinks that he was committing minor sins, which thought is itself a major sin[^1].

Satan them persuades the person to commit major sins as a habit. In this way he overwhelms the heart and the spirit of the person. He attacks the mu’min’s faith and puts him in severe doubts and fears. Thus Satan makes him his helpless prey. He doesn’t keep the person capable of comprehending that he is the victim of Satan’s plot. Only the people of taqwa (piety), with their effective defenses, can save themselves from the maneuvers of Satan.

The poor ignorant person cannot meet the onslaught of Satan. Wudhu or ablution, the sharp instrument of defence of a Mu’min Of several non-obligatory things that can come to the aid of a mu’min is to always maintain the state of wudhu. The Prophet (S) says*, “Al-wudhu silaah al-mu’min*!” ( Wudhu is the weapon of a mu’min!) It is the duty of a mu’min to confront the satans that he is in mortal combat with them. Therefore he must always be clean and with valid wudhu.

A person should always be with wudhu, and if some time has passed after performing the ablution, he should renew it as a measure of carefulness that it might have gone void without the person noticing it.