Those who struggle with a silent language using emotionality

Another perversity that satan insidiously uses to distance people from the morality of the Qur'an is emotionality. A person who thinks with his emotions loses his reason, together with the ability to think clearly. Such a person acts not according to the Qur'an but according to his feelings. Resentment, anger, jealousy, selfishness, arrogance and other such incitements of his lower self become such a person's basic guiding forces. After this stage, satan's work becomes very easy. He can take this person under his influence and direct him as he wishes.

Those who live their lives on the basis of emotionality are drawn into a great danger. If they do not escape from emotionality at once, it will prevent them from practicing religious morality and from acting in a way that will win Allah's favor.

Those who enter such a spiritual state under satan's influence will begin to use emotionality as a silent language. Allah says in the Qur'an: "...Satan made their actions seem good to them and so debarred them from the Way, even though they were intelligent people." (Surat al-'Ankabut: 38) The verse says that although people are aware, intelligent, rational and able to avoid evil, those who act using the methods of satan instead of the morality of the Qur'an will stray from the true path.

These people use emotionality as a ploy against those around them. In difficult moments when they wish to make people believe that they are sincere, well-intentioned and innocent, they resort to emotionality as their most effective way. At the same time, they see this as a way to express their inner resentments, anger and jealousy, to insist on getting what they want, and to conceal their avarice and weakness. By assuming such a character by satan's intimations, they can send many silent messages to those around them.

But when we say the word "emotionality," we must not think of certain familiar ways of behavior. Satan teaches those under his influence all the filthy riches of this morality. The following pages will consider the insidious methods of those who use emotionality as a secret language and the hidden messages they want to convey through these and thus reveal the game that satan plays with these people.

They weep to make people feel sorry for them
and to appear innocent

Crying is doubtlessly one of the best-known methods of emotionality. Those who act emotionally under satan's intimations use their situation as a ploy to influence those around them. One of the main factors that lead them to think in this way is that all their lives, they have seen how effective this ploy is among ignorant people. Some individuals far removed from the morality of the Qur'an and leading their lives according to ignorant rules think that tears are an important proof of innocence. They want to say that they told the truth, but were unable to prove it to those around them—and, by crying, think they will demonstrate that they were treated unjustly, that they were sadly helpless to explain themselves. Relying on these perverse beliefs, they assume completely innocent facial expressions to make others feel sorry for them.

From their childhood, they have seen people around them using this method and noted how effective it is. In their turn, under satan's influence, they embrace the same method to hide their insincerity. By using tears as a weapon, they think they can persuade others that they are sincere, well-intentioned and honest. They also think that they can hide their cooperation with satan, especially when someone urges them to live a better moral life, warning them that they have been following their lower selves and have not been serious in this regard. Immediately they take refuge in emotionality with the intention of making themselves appear innocent. They think that upon seeing their tears, others will be filled with pity and compassion and be convinced that they have done everything in their power with all sincerity, but that is all they could achieve. They believe that if they have been unable to obtain what they want with words, that result will be clinched by a few tears, and others will be fully persuaded.

This perverse ploy is accepted among those who act from an ignorant point of view, but people of faith would never see it as legitimate. For those who employ such a satanic method, it is not possible to convince believers of their innocent good intentions, because the morality of the Qur'an is the measure used by people with faith. The Qur'an reveals that the qualities proving that someone is well-intentioned are quite different. A sincere facial expression and tone of voice, intelligent and aware conversation, and meticulous conformity to the morality of the Qur'an are clear indications that a person fears and respects Allah.

There's no need to make a special effort or resort to special methods to prove the honesty of anyone with this kind of moral character. Using the sharp mind, understanding and sensitive conscience that Allah has given them, those of faith can easily detect such insincere people. For this reason, emotionality and crying—one of emotionality's major kinds of insincerity—achieve nothing when used against believers. In the Qur'an, Allah says that weeping is characteristic of a hypocrite with sickness and weakness in his heart.

We are told in the Qur'an that Yusuf's (as) brothers tried to cover up their insidious plan by crying. They were jealous of the love their father had for their brother, Yusuf (as); they came together and agreed to kill him by throwing him into a well. After they concocted this plan, they went to their father, feigning total innocence:

"Why don't you send him out with us tomorrow so he can enjoy himself and play about? All of us will make sure that he is safe." (Surah Yusuf: 12)

They went to their father and tried to assure him that they wanted what was good for their brother and would protect him under all circumstances. Having received permission and left Yusuf (as) in the bottom of the well, they came back to their father with a shirt of Yusuf's (as) smeared with blood that was not his. They cried and told their father a story consisting entirely of lies in an attempt to convince him that they were innocent:

That night they [the brothers] came back to their father in tears, saying, "Father, we went out to run a race and left Yusuf together with our things and then a wolf appeared and ate him up but you are never going to believe us now, not even though we really tell the truth." They then produced his shirt with false blood on it... " (Surah Yusuf: 16-18)

Thinking that the best way to make themselves appear innocent was to cry, they all together pretended to weep. Trying to appear innocent by crying is a method that people use for their own gain and to cover up their lies. As was the case hundreds of years ago, so today crying is the same satanic tactic, used with the same deliberate plan and sick logic.

A person with faith would never try to achieve what he wanted by such a method. Muslims have a real sense of compassion for those who trust in Allah completely, are aware that everything happens according to the destiny He has determined, and submit themselves to Allah. Because they fear Allah, they nurture love for those who strive as much as they can to live a good moral life and they believe in the words such people say.

They claim that they cry because they fear Allah

The Qur'an says that it is saintly to cry out of a fear of Allah. In Surah Maryam, Allah praises the deep faith and superior morality of the prophets:

... When the signs of the All-Merciful were recited to them they fell on their faces, weeping, in prostration. (Surah Maryam: 58)

In another verse, Allah describes the morality of those whose eyes fill with tears because they have submitted to faith:

When they listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they recognize of the truth... (Surat al-Ma'ida: 83)

As explained earlier, emotionality and the weeping it causes have no place in the morality of the Qur'an. Influenced by the pessimism that satanic apprehensions give, these individuals use weeping to cover their insincerity. When they're warned that this behavior is wrong and has nothing to do with the Qur'an, instead of giving it up and behaving as a Muslim, they seek a solution in more insincerity. Satan does not want them to see the truth and act according to the morality of the Qur'an; so, he inspires them to present their hearts—which they think cannot be deciphered—as proof.

When told that weeping is not proper Muslim behavior, sometimes they may secretly try to make themselves appear innocent by saying "I was crying for some other reason, but it wouldn't be right for me to mention it," as if they don't want to reveal the reason for their tears out of sincerity and faithfulness to someone else. Later, when pressed, they say that they were crying out of their fear of Allah. They claim that that they are crying out of regret; realizing that they are behaving wrongly and think that they may receive severe punishment for their behavior in the world to come.

However, they know that their claims are not right and that they are lying to cover their insincerity. With satanic logic they attempt to use the Qur'an to legitimize their bad moral behavior and counterfeit gains. But as with all traps, this one too is ineffective, they forget one important thing when they speak the insidious words of satan and his followers: Anyone who shudders in fear of Allah will immediately give up his wrong behavior. Crying and continuing in his insincerity with all his strength reveals that such a person does not fear Allah and that his actions are not honest. In the Qur'an, Allah gives an example to show how determined people would be if they really feared Him:

Despite all his threats of torture, the magicians in Pharaoh's service believed the message of Musa (as) and were ready to endure deaths of unendurable torture for the sake of their fear of Allah. The Qur'an tells us of their determination:

They [the magicians] said [to Pharaoh], "We will never prefer you to the clear signs which have come to us nor to Him Who brought us into being. Decide on any judgment you like. Your jurisdiction only covers the life of this world." (Surah Ta Ha: 72)

What they did shows that people who really feared Allah would immediately give up their wrong behavior and submit to Allah. Therefore, those who follow the way of insincerity under the influence of satan must do one basic thing: they must stop trying to legitimize their behavior by continuing in their lies but take refuge in Allah's forgiveness and strive to live a moral life to win His favor.

The secret language used in the stage of
emotionality before crying

To initiate the act of weeping, a person who employs emotionality as an insincere language at satan's instigation must first ready his spiritual state. In his satanic logic, he must make preparations so that those around him can notice the signs and understand the message that his weeping is meant to give. This preparation must be at least as effective as the crying; an atmosphere of real tension must be created and, for the person in question to be vindicated, he must be able to express that he risks everything to justify himself. Of course, this is just one instance of such a person's insincere thinking. The methods he uses and the message he tries to give with his silent language may vary according to the conditions of his inner state of mind.

We can see that emotionality may first appear to be an ordinary behavioral aberration, but it is subtly and intricately planned. Every action taken in this spiritual state is taken deliberately, aimed toward a previously conceived goal. The message contained in the behavior that satan has taught makes itself clear in what these people say in order to make their egos look innocent. We can examine some of these tactics under separate headings:

Defense methods

- In matters that threaten their lower selves, these people generally blame others. In order to enter an emotional state of mind to cry at will, they must convince others that they are the guilty parties. To this end they seek to offer proof, tell themselves that it is true and convince others. Thus, they strengthen their lower selves by taking every opportunity, with satan's help, to achieve their deceitful ends.

- Then, they need proofs to persuade themselves believe that they are right. And they will be able to express their emotionality insofar as they are able to convince themselves of this. Therefore, in their own minds, they imagine that this game's persuasive influence on people will be more effective.

- They are stubborn and determined in their behavioral aberrations and try to make others step back. Their purpose is generally to put themselves into a state of mind where they can cry. First, in a very stubborn manner they pretend not to understand what they had said, then claim that they were wrongly challenged. In this way, they produce what they need to justify tears.

- They pretend not to understand what's being said. To gain time to think, they ask people to repeat themselves; they want to be given explanations. Later, they say that the matter under discussion was very difficult and complicated, so that they can feel sorry for themselves.

- They pretend as if they are unable to talk. They make up sentences that do not have any logical sense or meaning and then feel sorry and cry to this desperate situation they experience. Their sentences are so long and meaningless that others forget how they began. Others feel uncomfortable because there seems to be no point to their conversation. They use many connecting words, one after another, such as "And..." "or," "I mean," "but," "because" and "for example"—while their listeners wait for some connection to appear from these endless sentences.

- Sometimes, their words and phrases are halting. Pretending to have difficulty expressing themselves, they make their listeners think that they are so affected by a situation that they cannot speak clearly. They use this defense method to make others feel sorry for them.

- In defending their lower selves, they behave like ignorant people who do not know how to speak or give effective answers. No matter how cultured and educated they may be, when defending their lower selves, they resort to basic methods that are far from dignified.

- They speak with a hoarse voice that makes their listeners uncomfortable. Their sentences are halting, illogical; their voices tremble as they speak as they prepare themselves for a bout of sobbing.

Forms of response

- They speak in extremely long-winded and complicated sentences. Because it is not possible to make a natural, intimate conversation with them, listeners have to pay special attention to understand what's being said to them.

- Generally, their replies don't relate to the question asked, for they are uncomfortable and peevish. Besides, giving a clear answer would require these people to be sincere and make them give up the atmosphere of emotionality and secrecy that they want to create. In order not to destroy the image they want to project, they give evasive answers in accord with their insincere state of mind.

- In response to questions, sometimes they give no answer at all, pretending not to have heard the question. Or sometimes they gloss over the question as much as they can with pained facial expressions. This is one of the methods they use to enter their melancholic, troubled, introverted spiritual state and make other people care about them.

- From time to time, they grow peevish and argumentative. They use this special method to legitimize their bouts of crying. In this way, they make others feel that they are in a tense state of mind and also create for themselves a state of psychological sensitivity to being treated unjustly. As a result, they succeed in weeping.

- In answers they give, they're careful to hide any love or respect toward others; they even seem to want to create the opposite impression. By expressing any love or respect, they would create a friendly atmosphere, and would lack the raw material for creating a situation of emotionality and so, would lose their ability to cry.

- They are careful to make their tone of voice sad, as soft as possible, monotonous. From time to time, they raise their voice to suggest that something unwelcome has taken place, without saying so specifically. They intend this tone of voice to lay the groundwork for a bout of crying.

They have a hidden sadness and an introverted personality

No one wants to hurt himself or find himself in situations that leave him sad and pessimistic. But satan approaches to persons of weak character when their lower selves feel helpless. He infects them with one of the sickest aspects of the human ego—the psychology of being unjustly treated. He instills this logic and draws people into a tense, emotional state of mind with groundless but persuasive examples from the past—all the product of satanic interpretation and constant negative thinking. Satan covers these people like the bark of a tree, and soon they fall under the influence of his every whisper. They believe they can protect their rights with the ideas that satan instills in them. They find all his ideas logical. The Qur'an tells us about the methods satan uses to influence people with weak characters:

We have assigned close comrades to them who have made what is before them and behind them seem good to them... (Surah Fussilat: 25)

Having arrived at this stage, a person feels no hesitation in crying or letting himself become introverted. He begins to enjoy giving the impression of a melancholic, secret, inscrutable soul. A person influenced by satanic thoughts is attracted by the idea of being noticed; to this goal, he assumes a spiritual state that anyone of sound mind would avoid at all costs. For such a person to change, someone else would have to take an interest in him. To get such a person to open up, in order to understand his behavior, one would need to take more effort than is needed with other people. Being one in whom others take an interest will thus placate his ego—and prolong the game.

However, this is entirely a frightening situation that one falls under satan's incitement. Anyone of sound mind would never choose to live in such a state of mind of his own free will. Allah tells us that there will be no fear or sadness for those who believe and obey the commands of the Qur'an:

We said, "Go down from it, every one of you! Then when guidance comes to you from Me, those who follow My guidance will feel no fear and will know no sorrow." (Surat al-Baqara: 38)

Hidden methods of crying of those under satan's influence

Satan teaches people to use emotionality as a means of being insincere, and shows them all the intricacies and secret methods in this regard. As seen earlier, emotionality gives expression to many kinds of behavioral aberrations. Crying is one of the most familiar, but satan teaches people other methods of secret crying to make others feel sorry for them. Those who use the negative state of mind they experience to send messages to people around them behave very carefully, since in their view, every one of these insincere methods has a different effect. They do not want to use all these ploys at once; but want to use each one in the best way to further their insidious plans. So they regard crying as their final ploy, and use the different stages that precede crying as preparatory maneuvers.

A person with trembling voice and various tearful facial expressions is actually letting others know, through satan's secret language, that danger is imminent. After a few more words, this first stage—with a trembling, lowered tone of voice that will later become the weeping voice, and controlled trembling of the lip—will be played out successfully. By these means, he sends out the message that unless others step back and agree that this person is in the right, a bout of weeping will shortly ensue. His purpose is to get everything he wants, have his lower self placated, to be acknowledged as right and have others acknowledge themselves in the wrong. According to their satanic logic, he must prove this with ample examples that he's been treated unjustly and not given his due. He must be praised and have it acknowledged—even if no one believes it—that his crying has proven what a good and innocent person he is. Only then the bout of weeping may be prevented.

However, anyone with faith knows immediately that all this is an insidious game played by a person of superficial thinking who's not aware that Allah knows everything. The believer will remind this person that his lower self is playing a very unseemly game that will humiliate him. In order to stem the bout of crying right at the beginning, the believer will try to make the person aware of what he is doing and warn him with verses from the Qur'an. The same person will ask why the person began to weep and make him state with his own words the reasons for his insincerity. The believer will affirm that the bout of crying did not make this person appear innocent; but was rather a humiliating display of weakness befitting people who do not put their trust in Allah. A person who knows what he is doing and does not surrender his behavior despite these warnings will be held accountable in Allah's presence for continuing in this way.

Someone who doesn't get what he wants with a quivering voice and tearful expression may resort to a second ploy, making it appear that he is about to weep. At this stage, his eyes start to assume a moist and uncomprehending expression that suggests he is about to cry. He looks more deeply at the other person trying to influence him. Now, his voice is almost completely inaudible. To convince others know that the last stage is very near, he answers with halting, uncomprehending and trembling words, to emphasize his helplessness as much as he can. This person expects to make others feel sorry for him and carries on his uncompromising satanic quest for compassion. He intensifies the situation with emotional looks and halting speech. His voice is thin, and he emphasizes his helplessness with pitiful facial expressions.

However, it is never fitting or acceptable for a Muslim to be helpless or without recourse. Under every circumstance, he draws his strength and security from Allah; he is at all times wise and able to solve his problems. No obstacle will daunt him. He knows that Allah has created everything with its solution and behaves with the strength of character that his faith gives him. The Qur'an tells us that a person who trusts in Allah will overcome every obstacle by Allah's will:

Do not give up and do not be downhearted. You shall be uppermost if you believe. (Surah Al 'Imran: 139)

People lacking this spiritual strength that sincere faith gives are always uncertain, without willpower. They give their attention only to their insincere goals. They employ their secret methods of tears (quivering voice and sorrowful expressions) to attain their goal. But when they see that their intended messages have been ineffective, the only one thing left to do according to their warped way of thinking is to cry.

When none of these preparatory stages achieves the desired end, they quickly put this final stage into action. The voice stops completely, there is no talking. If they don't get what they want, they cry excessively and if they sense that they won't get what they want, they cry even more.

In order to be acknowledged as right, these people don't hesitate to humiliate themselves and risk appearing almost inhuman. In the Qur'an, Allah says that such people who listen to their lower selves in their desire to be right in others' eyes will, contrary to their intentions, be humiliated:

If We had wanted to, We would have raised him up by them. But he gravitated towards the Earth and pursued his whims and base desires. His metaphor is that of a dog: if you chase it away, it lolls out its tongue and pants, and if you leave it alone, it lolls out its tongue and pants. That is the metaphor of those who deny Our signs. So tell the story so that hopefully they will reflect. (Surat al-A'raf: 176)

By crying, those who make friends with satan are doing something very insidious. One of the major proofs is that any time they like, these people can abandon this tearful character and show a different kind of face. When with others who share the same kind of character, they are extremely lively and talkative. They have no trouble being open; they look natural and speak in an ordinary way. Actually, their mental state is not tearful at all. On the contrary, they are smiling, joyful, at ease and extroverted. In the Qur'an, Allah describes the state of these people:

Those who did evil used to laugh at those who believed. When they passed by them, they would wink at one another. When they returned to their families, they would make a joke of them. (Surat al-Mutaffifin: 29-31)

Those who use emotionality as a method of
aggression fall into their own trap

From this chapter, we see that the behavioral aberration emotionality engenders is yet another of satan's deceptive methods. And those who behave in this way under satan's influence eventually fall into their own trap. In the Qur'an, Allah draws our attention to this important truth:

... Shown by their arrogance in the land and evil plotting. But evil plotting envelops only those who do it... (Surah Fatir: 43)

Satan starts to make this emotional state rule the entire life of a person under his control. It is no longer a tactic; these people experience emotionality as a permanent spiritual state and open themselves every moment to satan's insincerity and wickedness. More importantly, emotional thinking is completely contrary to the morality of the Qur'an; gradually these people grow farther and farther removed from true faith and the kind of morality that is pleasing to Allah. The weepy state that they chose earlier as a tactic now occupies a major part of their lives. They regard everything that happens, every word they hear, from an emotional point of view; and as a result, are often overcome by sadness and become introverted. In the Qur'an, Allah says that crying takes possession of a person's life as a punishment for the wicked things he has done and for the insidious plans he has made:

Let them laugh little and weep much, in repayment for what they have earned. (Surat at-Tawba: 82)

Crying is not regarded by people as a punishment; but is actually a perfect recompense for those who do not trust in Allah and do insidious things to protect their lower selves. Above all, one given to crying is not happy; he is extremely pessimistic. Being encompassed by despair, his mind is clouded. He cannot distinguish between right and wrong and persists in this state of mind, though knowing that it does him harm. As a recompense, Allah has made his life sad and full of grief. The finest blessings in the world are not enough to make him happy; he cannot take joy from beautiful things; but can think only about his own problems and his own pain. The solution to his problems is actually very simple, but he suffers deeply in believing that they will never end. Such a person realizes that he is following satan, that satan is his enemy and that he will harm him and draw him into the flames of Hell. But he cannot find in himself the strength to oppose him. He has submitted his whole power of his will to him.

It is actually within this person's power to bring all this to an end any time he wants. But because he has not made the Qur'an his guide, he cannot follow the way that Allah reveals in it. Therefore, he cannot find a way out of his predicament. He knows that if he continues in this immorality, a very difficult life awaits him in the world to come, that his misery and grief will be impossible to reverse and that he will experience great sorrow for not opposing satan. But despite all the warnings of his conscience, he does not fear Allah enough and cannot find the strength to rescue himself from his spiritual state.

If he does not choose to be sincere and give up pandering to his lower self, he won't attain the kind of moral life that pleases Allah. For the sake of his lower self, the rebelliousness he displays will lead him into physical and spiritual ruin. There are various signs of this ruin. First, his crying tactics will take over his personality; he will become unbalanced and weep over everything. He will always be pessimistic, negative and discontent; fearful and sad as he waits for every day to bring him new sorrows. As long as he resists changing his life according to the morality revealed in the Qur'an, the dimensions of his ruin may increase still further.

However, it is very easy to escape from this situation. Allah reveals in the Qur'an that, if anyone takes the advice given, He will lead him on the true path toward what is good for him:

... But if they had done what they were urged to do, it would have been better for them and far more strengthening. In that case We would have given them an immense reward from Us and We would have guided them on a straight path. (Surat an-Nisa': 66-68)