A person can know full well that a sin is wrong, want to leave it, and still find himself falling into it again as time passes. Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr opens his book How to Escape Sins with exactly that condition, and the book is his answer to it: not another warning about what sins do, and not a lesson on repentance itself, but the things that move a servant to stay away from sins in the first place, at the moment his soul is calling him towards one. What Do Sins Do to a Person? treats the harm sins cause; Repentance (Tawbah) treats the way back and its conditions. This page treats the means of not falling.
The book began as a lecture. Its full title is How to Escape Sins: The Ways and Means to Refrain From The Disobedience of Allah, and its cover states that it is based on the words of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in his book ‘Uddah as-Sabirin wa Dhakhirah ash-Shakirin [The Equipment of the Patient and the Investment of the Grateful], where Ibn al-Qayyim gathered twenty of these means in one chapter. Al-Badr presents them one by one, with explanation of his own added. He calls them al-bawa’ith [the motives that move a person], and he defines the word himself:
“The term ‘al-bawa’ith’ refers to the things or the reasons that encourage the servant to repent and assist him to rush towards repentance and to avoid sins and remain far away from them, whenever a person’s soul might incite them to commit a sin or an evil deed.”
Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr, How to Escape Sins (printed p. 10).
He Is Watching: Reverence, Love, and His Blessings in Your Hands
The first means is reverence and veneration of Allah: that the heart holds Him as He deserves to be held, magnificent and exalted. Allah asks: “What is [the matter] with you that you do not attribute to Allah [due] magnificence? While He has created you in stages?” (Surah Nuh 71:13-14). In the moment of temptation, reverence means remembering that this Magnificent and Venerated Lord is watching him, observing his actions and listening to his statements:
“Thus, if this preventative factor affects the heart it inhibits, deters and prevents the individual from committing sin, by the permission of Allah.”
Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr, How to Escape Sins (printed p. 13).
The second means is the love of Allah, realised in the heart. A heart driven by love of Him, al-Badr says, is kept busy with Him and kept back from what angers Him, because true love makes a person avoid whatever the one he loves detests. He quotes the well known lines of poetry: “If your love were true, you would certainly obey him. Surely, the lover is obedient to the one who he loves” (printed p. 14).
The third means is to acknowledge and recognise the blessings of Allah: health, hearing, sight, home, and wealth, all of it from Him, while the angels carry up the evil deeds committed with those very blessings. Al-Badr tells of a man whose soul was inciting him to sin, who came to a person of knowledge. The scholar said to him, “If you intend to sin then go to a place where Allah cannot see you.” The man answered that this is not possible. The scholar said: “Therefore, you should not use any of the blessings which Allah has bestowed upon you to disobey Him” (printed p. 15). Two things together, al-Badr explains: the blessing of Allah upon him, and the fact that Allah is watching him.
What the Sin Costs: His Anger, the Loss, and the Calamity
The fourth means is reflecting over the punishment of Allah: being conscious that He is angered by those who disobey Him, as He punished and drowned the people of Pharaoh when they angered Him (Surah az-Zukhruf 43:55). Al-Badr draws the lesson to the single weak servant:
“He should know that the anger of Allah and His punishment cannot be repelled by anything. So what about this weak servant?! Therefore, being aware of the anger of Allah is among the greatest deterrents, hindrances and obstacles to the servant committing sins.”
Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr, How to Escape Sins (printed p. 17).
The fifth means is to be conscious of the great loss that results from sin: how much good a person gives up when he obeys his soul. The Prophet ﷺ said that the adulterer is not a believer while he is committing adultery, and likewise the thief while stealing and the drinker while drinking (al-Bukhari and Muslim, per the book’s footnote); a publisher’s note quotes Shaykh al-Fawzan that the faith negated here is the perfect and complete faith, not the basis of faith itself. And the sinner turns away from the life promised to the righteous believer:
“Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a true believer; verily to him We will give a good life, and We shall certainly pay them a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do.”
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nahl (16), verse 97, as quoted in How to Escape Sins (printed p. 19).
The tenth means belongs here too: to be conscious of the calamity that follows sin and the wellbeing that follows obedience. What sins bring upon a person and a land is treated in full on the page What Do Sins Do to a Person?; here the awareness itself is the restraint. The people of obedience, al-Badr writes, are in wellbeing, while the people of sins are the people of calamities: “So calamities are connected to sins and wellbeing is connected to the obedience of Allah” (printed p. 26). A man may be tried in his body while his religion is in the most complete wellbeing; another may be sound in body and ruined in his religion, and it is the second who should think hard about his state.
The Fight Itself: The Soul, the Devil, and the First Thought
The sixth means is suppressing one’s soul and conquering the devil, because, as al-Badr puts it, “the soul and the devil are the source of every sin and the origin of all evil”. For this fight the Prophet ﷺ taught a supplication (du’a) [a prayer of asking] for the morning, the evening, and going to bed, seeking refuge from both sources of evil at once, and from doing evil to oneself or bringing it upon another Muslim. Shirk in it means associating partners with Allah in worship:
“O Allah, the Creator of the heavens and earth, the Knower of all things hidden and apparent, the Lord and Sovereign over all things; I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek refuge with You from the evil of my own soul, from the evil of the devil and his shirk and from committing evil against my own soul or bringing it to another Muslim.”
The Prophet ﷺ, as quoted in How to Escape Sins (printed p. 20); the book’s footnote records it in at-Tirmidhi and others, graded sahih [authentic] by Shaykh al-Albani (Sahih Sunan at-Tirmidhi, no. 3529).
The eleventh means is striving against the soul, mujahadah [striving against one’s own soul and desires]: training oneself, again and again, to answer the call to desire with the religious motives instead. Allah promises the striver guidance:
“As for those who strive hard for Us, We will surely guide them to Our Paths. And verily, Allah is with the good doers.”
Allah’s words in Surah al-‘Ankabut (29), verse 69, as quoted in How to Escape Sins (printed p. 27).
The twelfth means strikes earlier still: repelling evil thoughts before they grow. Al-Badr sets out the path a sin travels inside a person, from a thought to a desire, then an intention growing in the heart, then an evil will, then a determination to the action. So the thought, before it becomes a strong intention or a determination to commit the sin. A person should “cut off these evil thoughts from the very beginning”, because left in place they “will increase and evolve from one thing into another” (printed p. 28).
Cutting Off the Paths, and Filling the Heart Instead
The thirteenth means is to sever every connection and cause that stirs unlawful desire in the heart: the relationships, the places, the things that rouse the call to sin. The aim is not to kill desire itself, al-Badr says, but to redirect it towards what pleases Allah. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen makes the same move from the other side: a people who look at their misfortunes “from an Islamic perspective by way of the Book and the Sunnah” will “abandon all that is a cause of these misfortunes” and return to Allah (The Ill Effects of Sins, printed p. 17). The causes are cut off, not merely regretted.
The fourteenth means fills what the cutting off leaves empty: contemplating the signs of Allah, His recited signs in the Qur’an and His universal signs in the creation, as the people of understanding do, who remember Him standing, sitting, and on their sides and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying: “Our Lord, You have not created this without purpose” (Surah Al ‘Imran 3:190-191). Such reflection, al-Badr writes, strengthens faith, increases the servant’s connection with Allah, and repels the ignoble whispers (printed p. 31).
What Allah Gives the One Who Walks Away
The seventh means is to be conscious of the compensation and the reward. Leaving a sin is not a bare loss; the one who leaves something for Allah is paid back with better: “Whoever leaves something for Allah will find that Allah will replace it for him with that which is better” (printed p. 22). The compensation, he says, comes as delight, happiness, and joy of the heart, felicity, and blessings in this life, together with the good of the Hereafter. And the leaving itself counts as worship: “Abandoning sinfulness is obedience in itself, an act of devotion to Allah and a part of your faith through which you draw closer to Allah” (printed p. 22).
The eighth means is the ma’iyyah of Allah [Allah being with His servants], in the specific sense the book explains: His being with His patient and pious servants by His help, protection, and support, not the general sense of His knowledge of all things. Allah is “with the patient” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:153) and “with those who fear Him, and those are good doers” (Surah an-Nahl 16:128). And this specific being-with, al-Badr writes, “necessitates victory, protection, assistance, aid, and success” (printed p. 23). The one who stays patient and refuses the sin is not left alone in the refusal; he is working to be among those who deserve that being-with.
Death Is Near, This World Is Short, and Paradise Remains
The ninth means is to stay attentive to the imminent approach of death. No one knows what he will earn tomorrow or in what land he will die (Surah Luqman 31:34), and the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions to keep death in front of them:
“Constantly remember the destroyer of pleasures.”
The Prophet ﷺ, as quoted in How to Escape Sins (printed p. 25); the book’s footnote records it in Ibn Majah, graded sahih by Shaykh al-Albani (Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah, no. 3453). The destroyer of pleasures is death. Al-Badr shows how to use the reminder at the moment of temptation: if the soul incites a person to go somewhere for a sin, he can answer it: “O soul, suppose that you were to die on the way or during this trip” (printed p. 25). It has really happened, he notes: a man travelled with no purpose but to commit sins on the trip, and died in that state. Held in the mind, the reminder becomes a protective barrier against the sin.
The fifteenth means is recognising the reality of this world: how quickly it ends, and that it is, in Allah’s words, “only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children” (Surah al-Hadid 57:20), while the real life is the home of the Hereafter. Al-Badr counts a sixty year life, minus childhood and the third spent sleeping, against a Day whose measure is fifty thousand years. The Prophet ﷺ put the stance in one sentence:
“Be in this world as though you are a stranger or a wayfarer.”
The Prophet ﷺ, as quoted in How to Escape Sins (printed p. 34); the book’s footnote records it in al-Bukhari (no. 6416).
The nineteenth means looks past this world entirely, to the eternal bliss of Paradise. Presenting Ibn al-Qayyim’s nineteenth way, al-Badr writes that it “is for the servant to know that Allah has created him for an eternal existence which has no end, for honor and not humiliation, for tranquility and not fear, and for riches and not poverty” (printed p. 42). This is in the Hereafter, where Allah promises His servants: “On such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:112). Sins put those lofty stations at risk; remembering what he was created for makes a servant fight his soul rather than feed it.
Turning to Allah, and Seeing the Two Pulls
The sixteenth means is to turn to Allah: to the One in whose Hand the hearts of the servants are, who disposes of all their affairs. “And whoever holds firmly to Allah, then he is indeed guided to a straight path” (Surah Al ‘Imran 3:101). “And your Lord says: Call upon Me; I will answer you” (Surah Ghafir 40:60), and He is near to the one who calls on Him (Surah al-Baqarah 2:186). The daily words the Prophet ﷺ taught carry this turning into ordinary life. When a man leaves his house saying, “In the Name of Allah, I rely upon Allah, there is no power and no might except with Allah,” this is what follows:
It is then said: “You have been guided, sufficed and protected.” The devils withdraw from him, and one of them says to another: “What can you do to a man who has been guided, sufficed and protected?” (The Prophet ﷺ, as quoted in How to Escape Sins, printed p. 37; the book’s footnote records it in Abu Dawud, graded sahih by Shaykh al-Albani, Sahih Sunan Abu Dawud, no. 5095.) Al-Badr comments that the narration shows the station of the legislated supplications and of sincere reliance upon Allah “in this important matter, which is the prevention of sins and avoiding them” (printed p. 37).
The seventeenth means is to understand the two opposing forces that pull on every servant. One pulls him upwards, towards the Loftiest Companion [Allah, the Most High], through obedience, which raises his rank (Surah al-Mujadilah 58:11). The other pulls him down:
“The other force pulls him towards the lowest of the low, and this is the force of the soul that incites him to evil, the devil, evil companions and corrupt associates.”
Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr, How to Escape Sins (printed p. 39). Knowing which pull he is feeling at a given moment, a servant can name it for what it is and refuse the path that debases him.
A Garden That Has to Be Cleared, and Knowledge That Has to Be Worked
The eighteenth means is an example from Ibn al-Qayyim that al-Badr explains at length. Rain does its work only on ground that is clear and empty, and vegetation grows perfectly only where the place has been cleansed of filth. A tree choked by weeds competing for its water can be starved or killed by them, however much rain falls. The believer’s faith is that tree: Allah makes the good word like a good tree, its root firmly fixed, its branches high in the sky, giving its fruit at all times by its Lord’s permission (Surah Ibrahim 14:24-25). The ground of the heart has to be cleared of what chokes it before the good can grow.
The twentieth means, with which Ibn al-Qayyim concluded the twenty, guards all the rest. It warns against being deluded into thinking that knowing these means is itself the escape:
“So mere knowledge of the motivational factors for escaping sins that were mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim is insufficient. Rather, it is mandatory for this knowledge to be accompanied by the struggle against one’s soul in order to act upon these matters.”
Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq al-Badr, How to Escape Sins (printed p. 44).
These are not matters for circles of learning only; they are to be brought to mind in the situation itself, when the soul is calling, and worked with until the servant is safe. Al-Badr closes by advising everyone to review the chapter itself in Ibn al-Qayyim’s ‘Uddah as-Sabirin wa Dhakhirah ash-Shakirin, and he ends by asking Allah to protect him and the reader from sins and their harm.
Further Reading
- What Do Sins Do to a Person?: what sins do to the heart, to provision and blessing, and to a person’s standing.
- Repentance (Tawbah): what repentance is, its five conditions, and when it is no longer accepted.
- Does Allah Forgive Every Sin?: whether Allah forgives every sin for the one who turns back.
- What Is Istighfar? Seeking Allah’s Forgiveness and Its Virtue: what seeking forgiveness is, and what Allah promises the one who holds fast to it.
- Why Does a Muslim Conceal His Sins?: covering one’s own sins and the faults of others.
- Leaving Islam and Taking Pride in Disbelief: what it means to leave Islam, and the sin of open, proud disobedience.
References
- Dr. Abdur-Razzaq ibn Abdul-Muhsin al-Badr, How to Escape Sins: The Ways and Means to Refrain From The Disobedience of Allah. Hikmah Publications, First Edition, 1434 AH / March 2014 CE; translated by Abul-Layth Qasim Ibn Aggrey Mutiva; ISBN 978-1-4951-0354-4. Owner-supplied copy. The book’s cover states that it is based on the words of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim from his ‘Uddah as-Sabirin wa Dhakhirah ash-Shakirin. Used for all twenty means in the book’s order: the meaning of al-bawa’ith (printed p. 10) and the means chapters (printed pp. 12-44). The thirteenth means (printed p. 29) is summarised and its hadith is not quoted, because the book’s own footnote records that Shaykh al-Albani declared that hadith weak while Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said its meaning is sound. This article does not draw on the book’s closing section, “Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Actual Words” (printed p. 46 onward).
- Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, The Ill Effects of Sins. Al-Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution, First Edition, 1415 AH / 1994 CE; translated by Aboo Talhah Dawood ibn Ronald Burbank; ISBN 1 898649 04 9. Owner-supplied copy. Used for one point only: looking at misfortunes from an Islamic perspective leads to abandoning their causes (printed p. 17).
Note on spelling and checking: the books print the name of Allah with long vowels and their transliteration uses diacritics. In this article the name is written “Allah” throughout, in the quotations as well as the text, and transliteration inside the quotations is written in plain letters. The held copy of How to Escape Sins is an image scan with no text layer; every quotation from it was read and confirmed on the rendered page image, and its printed page numbers run one behind the PDF pages of the scan (printed page = PDF page minus 1).
Verified on 2026-10-27 against the books listed above.