Allah who are mindful of Him?

Allah Most High has said, describing the hypocrites:

“Satan has gained mastery over them and made them forget the remembrance of Allah.”

That is, he has taken control. The expression hādha al-ibila hawdhan means “he drove the camels along.” As for those over whom Satan has gained mastery, driving them to oppose what Allah and His Messenger have commanded, Allah Most High says:

“Do you not see that We have sent the devils against the disbelievers, inciting them relentlessly?”

That is, stirring them up violently. These are the people of whom He says:

“Satan has gained mastery over them and made them forget the remembrance of Allah. They are Satan’s party. Indeed, Satan’s party are the losers.”

In the Sunan collections, Abū al-Dardā’ reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whenever there are three people in a village among whom neither the call to prayer is made nor the prayer established, Satan gains mastery over them.”

Thus, any three of these people among whom neither the call to prayer is made nor the prayer established belong to Satan’s party, over whom he has gained mastery—not to the friends of the Most Merciful whom He has honoured. This remains so even if they are devoted worshippers and ascetics who practise hunger, sleeplessness, silence and seclusion, like the monks in monasteries and those who dwell in caves and caverns: the people of Mount Lebanon, Mount al-Fath at Asūn, Mount Laysūn, and the Cave of Blood on Mount Qāsiyūn, and other mountains and places frequented by many ignorant, misguided worshippers. There they undertake retreats and ascetic exercises without the call to prayer being made or the five daily prayers being established among them. Rather, they engage in acts of worship that neither Allah nor His Messenger has prescribed. They worship Him according to their own spiritual tastes and experiences, without assessing their states against the Quran and Sunnah