ভূমিকা

Do not follow the steps of the Satan. And whoever follows the steps of the Satan, then verily he commands indecency and wrong. Had it not been Allah’s grace and His mercy on you, not one of you would have ever been pure. But Allah purifies whom He pleases; and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” The Arabic word /xutuwat/ is the plural form of the word /xutwat/ that means ‘step’.

The holy Qur’an has used the phrase /xutuwatiš šaytan/ (‘the footsteps of the Satan’) when it is the matter of calumny and lust, in order to indicate that Satan encourages man step by step to do some sins. Though these verses do not follow the subject of ’Ifk, they complete the content of that matter. It is a warning for all believers that evil thoughts and deeds sometimes penetrate gradually and invisibly.

If they are not controlled and hindered in their first steps, man will get alerted when the die is cast. Thus when the first temptations of spreading lewdness or any sin get manifest, they must be immediately withstood, so that defilement does not get prevalent. In the first verse, addressing the believers, it says: “O you who believe! Do not follow the steps of the Satan.

And whoever follows the steps of the Satan, then verily he commands indecency and wrong...” If ‘Shaytan’ is interpreted into the vast meaning of the word, as any ‘ruinous, felonious, cunning creature’, the extensiveness of this warning in all dimensions of life becomes clear.

A pure and faithful man can never be all of a sudden involved in corruption, but it is done step by step: First step: hobnobbing and getting familiar with wicked persons Second step: attending their parties Third step: thought of sin Fourth step: committing questionable examples and errors Fifth step: committing lesser sins Finally he will do the worst sins and he is just like a person on whom an offender’s yoke is laid and the offender leads him to precipice step by step, so that he falls down and will be ruined.