Being fooled by the here below and by the devil, Muslim Spirituality Collection (4), Lyess Chacal (Pocket)

Let yourself be fooled by the here below and by the devil (Gurûr), Muslim Spirituality Collection (Volume 4), by Lyess Chacal (Pocket)

The vices of the soul which are born of the passions, in particular, draw their source from the attraction that life here below exerts on the soul. These passions might very well have been inconsequential if they had not been stirred up by the Evil Demon, the very one who swore to mislead Adam's offspring. Lyess Chacal, relying, to do this, on the thought of Abu Hamid al Gazali (1058-1111) famous thinker and theologian who wrote, among other things, his no less famous Ihya' 'ulúm al din (Revivification of the sciences of religion), exposes how here below and demon form a formidable "couple" to deceive man and push him to delude himself as to the reality of life here below.

The Koran warns, however, in terms that could not be clearer, about the dangerousness of these two "associates": "O Men! May the immediate life not deceive you and may the Deceiver not deceive you about Allah." Nothing works. Despite the many Koranic exhortations inviting man not to let himself be deceived by temptations and pretenses, he seems "magnetized" by one and only obsession: to satisfy his immediate desires even if it means losing eternal bliss.

About the Author: Lyess Chacal

Lyess Chacal Doctor of the University of Paris IV Sorbonne, Lyess Chacal was more particularly interested in Islamic thought through the work of al Gazali. He is the author of numerous works on this author. He is, in particular, the author of illusion and deception in Islam, published by Oryms editions.