The blue mosque
A reflection inspired by the presentation on Tazkiyah tun Nafs by Sheikh Mokhtar Magroaui, Istanbul, Turkey
(7:175:7)
fa-insalakha
but he detached ( skinning)
Skinning is a process by which the skin is removed. Be it be a part of plastic surgery and thus clearly defined and desired or a brutal act of terror as in skinning the palefaces in the Indian Cowboy era of North America, it strips a person of all protection and leaves him or her in an extreme state of vulnerability at many levels to the invasion of hostile elements.
Skin is not only a source of beauty but also of sensitivity and protection from external pathogens and marauding infections which can invade the body from a breach of the skin.
Allah Subhanawataala describes the cover of the protection of Emaan, Tawheed and His Remembrance as a skin that covers and protects the inner sanctums of the human being.
In this ayah from Surah Araaf, Allah Subhanawataala speaks of what happens to someone who deliberately or out of ghafala ( uncaring, ignorance) removes the signs of Allah from his or her life. He Subhanawataala likens it to skinning himself, i.e. removing the protection of his/her inner being from the unseen negative forces especially Shaitaan.
The skinning of the human soul occurs when we remove the signs and guidance from our practical being, and shed them leaving us highly vulnerable to the attack of Shaytaan with its full arsenal of emotional, psychological, and physical harmful agents. Just as a human being devoid of its skin has no protection from the external onslaught of pathogens, thus it is with a human being who strips himself/ or herself from the signs of Allah which strengthened him though the belief in tawheed, emaan, and made him a true soft hearted human being, considerate of himself as well as others in every walk of life.
Once the Quran and its remembrance is stripped from a human being, leaving him completely vulnerable to Shaytaan who then attacks him in full force and the human who has been skinned and all vestige of the protective shield of Allah removed has no defense at all.
Thus Allah Subhanawataala says in Surah Araaf:
[7:175] Saheeh International
And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators.
Siraat-e-Mustaqeem 