After earning a spiritual elevation from the nation of Jinn to the angelic world, due obviously to his sincere worship and devoution in awesome obedience to Allah, the Shaytan destroyed all the virtues he had earned himself in the sight of Allah due only to his brazen sense of ingratitude.
When Allah informed the angels that He was to create a vicegerent on earth, they said: “Will Thou place therein one who will make mischief and shed blood?” Allah (SWT) told the angels that He knew that they know not. After creating the first man, Adam (AS), Allah (SWT) taught him the nature of all things which knowledge the angels did not have. Adam (AS) was able to tell the angels about the nature of all things when Allah (SWT) requested him to do so; placing man in that pure and innocent state (at that time) on a degree above the angels.
Consequently, Allah commanded the angels to bow in obeisance unto Adam (AS). The angels altogether bowed except Iblis who was naughty and thus became one of those who reject faith. Allah narrates the episode that ensured from Shaytan’s waywardness in Qur’an 7:12 “(Allah) said: “what prevented thee from bowing when I commanded thee?’ He said: ‘I am better than he (man); Thou created me from fire, and he from clay”. It was this arrogance and brazen egotism that eventually led to Iblis’ expulsion from the angelic world in the heavens. Allah states in Qur’an 38:77 “(Allah) said: ‘Then get thee out from here: for thou art rejected, accursed”.
It was at this point that Allah declared Iblis and indeed his progeny under a collective name, the Shaytan, as man’s overt enemy. Allah thus cautioned man to beware of the evil machinations of the Iblis; stating in Qur’an 20:117 “Then we said: ‘O Adam! Verily this is an enemy to thee and thy wife: so let him not get you both out of the Garden, so that thou art landed in misery”. Not only had Allah warned that the devil, Shaytan, is an apparent enemy of man but had clearly pointed to Adam (AS) that all he and his wife needed in the Garden of Happiness have amply been provided for including food, drink and shelter.
When Allah (SWT) declared as in Qur’an 38:78 that Iblis shall continue to enjoy the wrath of His curse until the Day of Judgment, Iblis pledged to lead Adam (AS) and thereafter the entire mankind away from the path of guidance except those who proved to be truly righteous servants of Allah (SWT). Allah’s response to Iblis’ vow as contained in Qur’an 38:85 reads “That I will certainly fill Hell with thee and all those that follow thee”. In fulfillment of his pledge, Iblis began his treacherous escapade with Adam (AS) by whispering evil to him that he could lead him (Adam) to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays.
In the end, both Adam (AS) and his wife, Hawwau (Eve), ate of the tree. That was how Iblis made them slip from the Garden and got them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. Hence, Allah (SWT) reminds man in Qur’an 35:6 to consider Shaytan as his worst enemy and treat him as such; stating “Verily Satan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his adherents that they may become companions of the Blazing Fire”. Nonetheless, Allah (SWT) assured Adam (AS) and the entire race of mankind that whoever shuns Shaytan and follows His guidance when it comes shall have no cause to grieve.
Shaytan’s ultimate target in his destructive project is man. There are several snaring techniques employed by the Shaytan to get his victims off the track of guidance. The Shaytan uses intrigues to recruit or capture man in to his gang of rebellious hearts. Allah quotes the Shaytan in Qur’an 4: 119 saying “I will mislead them, and I will create in them false desires; I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and to deface the (fair) nature created by Allah…”
Slitting the ears of cattle is just one instance (from the snaring techniques) of superstitions to which men become slaves when they run after false gods. This is just the case in today’s world of fetish belief by contemporary men and women as manifest in their rampant use of charms, amulets, and other paranormal accessories of the sixth-sense. The act of believing in superstitions and in the false magical powers of charms actually leads man, in the long run, away from Allah and from His guidance. To deface the (fair) nature created by Allah finds expression today in the common trend among modernized men and women who either on account of superstition or on account of coveting the life of this planet engage in things that rather seek to deface their true nature.
To realize his mischievous goal of hoodwinking man in to destruction, the Shaytan, by Allah’s will, sneaks in to man’s body through the eyes, hair, ears, mouth, and other openings of the human body. When Shaytan tiptoes, creeps or slips in to man’s body; the victim comes under Shaytan’s hypnotist influence.
The Shaytan manipulates the mind of his victim(s) towards evil and nothing but immorality. He does that as explained in the last chapter (surah) of the holy Qur’an, (Qur’an 114) by whispering evils in the hearts of mankind. The Shaytan prevents his victim(s) from engaging in virtuous deeds.
As believers, let us not be like the accursed Shaytan who after been honoured with special spiritual favours betrayed his benefactor. Let us always give gratitude to Allah regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves. Life is not without ups and downs. Let us remain thankful to Allah for being alive, for being healthy, for being blessed with children, and for every other tangible and intangible blessings. To our fellow beings, let us not bite the finger that fed us. May Allah protect us against becoming stooges to Shaytan, in our thought and actions, amin.
