The Description of The Devil
Before we
proceed we have to differentiate between the description of the devil and the
devil himself. The devil in a general sense is whoever pulls people away from
obeying Allah and from truth, whoever lures into sin and whoever pushes people
to evil. Anyone of these is a DEVIL.
We have to know that there are devils
from among both the jinn and mankind, who are unified by one description, same
as they are unified in their mission: spreading sin and corruption on the
earth. The devils from jinn are those who disobey from among the jinn; who
hinder from truth and call to disbelief, and the devils from mankind execute
the same mission.
Thus, the word here describes a
specific mission and not a specific being; for whoever calls to disbelief,
polytheism, atheism and disobedience is a DEVIL.
As to Satan, he is a devil from the
jinn, who once enjoyed a high status. It is even reported that he used to live
with the angels. He is one of the creatures of Allah but he differs from angels
in being created having the power of free choice. He cannot revolt against the
Decree of Allah even if he is given the authority of free choice but he can
only revolt against obedience. Therefore, Satan’s disobedience to Allah was not
a mutiny against the Decree of Allah, his disobedience to Allah did not
overstep the Will of Allah, who chose to create him having the power of free
choice, capable of obeying and also capable of disobeying.
That power of choice was the inlet of
Satan and every sinner to disobedience. This is an important issue which we
must understand before we continue the discussion about mankind and Satan.
Definitely, nothing whatsoever in the Universe can revolt against the Decree of
Allah, but Allah has created some creatures compelled to obey (as the Angels)
and has created others free to choose whether to obey or disobey (as jinn and
mankind). Thus sinning emanated on earth as a result of such will that Allah
has given to part of His creatures, whom He created capable of obeying or
disobeying.
There is a long discussion about the
disobedience of Satan, some say: how can
Satan be judged for refusing to prostrate to other than Allah? That Allah
ordered Satan to prostate himself to Adam (peace be upon him) and Satan refused
to prostrate to other than Allah!!!
To those atheists and others who spread
such idle talk we say that you certainly did not understand the meaning of
worship. Worship is the obedience shown by the creature to the Commands of his
Creator. Based on this rule when Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has
commanded that we should offer five Salat (Prayers) each day, Salat becomes both an act of worship and obedience; similarly,
the Zakah
(Obligatory Charity), the Sawm (Fasting), the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca) and all the Commands of Allah. Worshipping
Allah is obeying Him and disobeying the Command of Allah is sinning against
Him.
We must not argue against the Command
of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, but we should readily obey Him. For
instance, we must never ask why should we offer five Salat and not four, three or two. We must
never reject the Command of Allah, but we must obey even if we did not know the
wisdom. Because the essence of worship is that it is from the Decreer and
Master, Allah, all praise and glory is to Him.
Our duty is to verify that the Command
is from Allah, and since it is a Command from Allah, then that should be the
sole reason for fulfilling it: it is Allah who ordered so. Other than that is
not open to discussion.
The role of the human mind is to deduce
that this universe has a God Who has created and originated it. That this God
is the One Who created us and originated a highly exact and magnificent system
and a universe infinitely marvelous that could not have existed without a Great
Creator.
If we reach this point then this is the
birth of faith. But our minds are limited and have reached thus far and cannot
go further. For instance, they cannot know Who is that Great Creator? What is
His Name? What does He want us to do? Why has He created us?
Here starts the role of messengers to
complete everything. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, sends a messenger
whom He supports with a miracle from Heaven that go beyond all the laws of the
universe. This messenger informs people that Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty
and Might, is the Creator of this universe and He is the One Who subjected it
entirely to the service of mankind. Even the mighty universal powers that
surpass the power of man million times, as the sun, the seas, the stars and
others, all these powers are subjected to serve man.
Everyday the sun shines and never can
disobey and say: “I will not rise today.” Water evaporates from seas which then falls as rain, they
never have one day disobeyed and said that their water will not evaporate! Nor
can they prevent the evaporation process and prevent rain from falling down on
the earth.
Thus, the duty of the messengers is to
tell us that Allah has created all existence and subjected it to us, and wants
us to worship Him and to perform certain duties.
The messengers convey to us the law of
worshipping Allah, and Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, support them with
miracles that go beyond all human powers, to assure people that they are truly
the Messengers of Allah. And also to close the door on any imposter or devil
who might claim prophethood to mislead people.
Once we learn what the Truth [Al-Haqq: one of the Beautiful Names of Allah] wants from us, we must hear and obey, because the Commands
are from Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might. With His Infinite
Knowledge He knows everything and we do not, and with His Wisdom He knows the
wellbeing of the universe, but with our foolishness we commit evil and think it
goodness.
Allah, all glory is to Him, with His
Gracious Attributes of absolute perfection should be worshipped and if man is
to argue, it is self-evident that he should only argue with a compeer. A doctor
or an engineer can argue with a fellowworker, but a doctor cannot discuss medicine
with a carpenter or a plumber, it would be futile. To have a fruitful argument
it must be between coequals and who among us is equal to Allah, be ever gloried
His Majesty and Might, in Knowledge or Power, to argue with Him regarding what
He commands or forbids? Recite the Saying of Almighty Allah in His Noble Book,
which means:
“It is not for a
believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a
matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And
whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear
error.” (Al-Ahzâb, 33: 36)
And His Saying which means:
“The Messenger has
believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the
believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and
His messengers, [saying], ‘We make no distinction between any of His
messengers.’ And they say, ‘We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness,
our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.’” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 285)
