10. Enmity of Satan towards the Human Beings

The Process of Creation
A Qur'anic Perspective

by Dr Israr Ahmad

10. Enmity of Satan towards the Human Beings: The Battle between Good and Evil

The narrative of Adam (pbuh) and Iblees has been mentioned at seven different places in the Holy Qur`an. The last part of these verses is of special significance as it points out a potent factor causing perennial strife and conflict between good and evil or Truth and Falsehood going on in the human world viz. Satan’s enmity towards Adam (pbuh) and his progeny and acting as an invisible powerful agent in misleading man and causing him to deviate from the straight and righteous path. The accursed Satan, after becoming an abominable agent on disobeying Allah’s command, asked for respite till the time humans are raised up on the Day of Judgment which Allah (swt) granted him. Iblees not only refused to bow down, he refused to be of those who bowed down. In other words, he arrogantly despised the angels who bowed down as well as man to whom they bowed down and he was in rebellion against Allah (swt) for not obeying His order. Arrogance, jealousy, and rebellion were his triple crime. Thus in a very egotistic and arrogant manner he openly declared his enmity and lasting war against Adam (pbuh) and his progeny. Out of the seven aforementioned places in the Qur’an, in three of them the enmity of Satan has been pointed out by Allah (swt) Himself thus:

i) Ayah 36 of Surah Al-Baqarah reads:

“….. We said: Get ye down, all (ye people) with enmity between yourselves …..” [2:36]

ii)  In Surah Ta Ha, initially Ayah 117 states:

“Then We said: O Adam! Verily this is an enemy to thee and thy wife …..” [20:117]

And later on in words very similar to those of Surah Al-Baqarah, we read in Ayah 123 of Surah Taha:

“He said: Get ye down, both of you --- all together, from the Garden, with enmity one to another …..” [20:123]

iii) In Surah Kahf, however, Allah reports this in a manner of complaint in these words:

“….. Will ye then take him (i.e. the Satan) and his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies to you! Evil would be the exchange for the wrongdoers!” [18:50]

At other places, the cursed Satan expresses his aggressive and deceptive designs against Adam d and his progeny in a very challenging manner:

i)  “….. I will bring his (i.e. Adam’s) descendants under my sway --- all but a few!” [Al- Isra; 17:62]

ii) “(Iblees) said: Then by Thy power, I will put them all in the wrong --- except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy grace).” [Sa`d; 38: 82, 83]

iii) And in Surah Al-Hijr, we read:

“(Iblees) said: O my Lord! Because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong --- except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy grace).” [15: 39, 40]

iv)  And the most elaborate statement is made in two verses of Surah Al-A`raf:

“He (Satan) said: Because Thou hast thrown me out of the way, Lo! I will lie in wait for them on Thy straight way. Then I will ambush them from their front and from behind them, from their right and their left. Nor wilt Thou find, in most of them, gratitude (for Thy mercies).” [7: 16, 17]

Thus evicted from paradise, Satan vowed to seduce humankind from the straight path. He continues to deceive them with false promises, and tempts them away from “the path made straight”; he makes it appear crooked. While Allah creates and beautifies the world, Iblees defaces creation and makes evil conduct look deceptively beautiful. He is the persistent skeptic and rebel who questioned and disobeyed Allah when He ordered him to bow to Adam d, Allah’s deputy or vicegerent on earth. The slinking evil whisperer, as the Qur`an calls him in its final Surah famous for its onomatopoetic effect, is hell-bent on misguiding humankind away from Allah and uses every nefarious strategy as he and his evil tribe spy on Adam’s d progeny. He has misled a vast multitude (Yaaseen 36:62) of humankind. The foolish repudiation of the absolute sovereignty of the compassionate Allah, at the instigation of Satan, is the centerpiece of the Qur’an’s account of human condition and history.

The above lines give clear guidance and knowledge with regard to the strife and conflict between good and evil that takes place both in the inner denizens of human self and the outer or external conflict. On the internal side, the strife is between the two components of human’s own being, viz. the animal instincts and the pure spiritual ego or soul. The animal part of man is ruled entirely by the lower instinctual desires, lusts and carnal indulgence that press for immediate gratification and thus always lead to immoral behaviour. These have no consideration at all whether the fulfillment is achieved by means of permissible means or otherwise. Part of Ayah 53 in Surah Yusuf refers to this in these words, explaining at the same time the nature of nafse-ammarah:

“I do not absolve my own self (of blame); the human (lower) self is certainly prone to evil …..” [12:53] 

The majority of commentators construe this verse to mean that Yusuf d (Joseph) was referring to his fidelity to the  Aziz, although he was human and liable to err. Ammarah is that part of human self that prompts to immoral act and thus is prone, impelling, headstrong and passionate. In the Qur`an, one reads about these states or stages of the development of the human soul. Ammarah, which is prone to evil, and if not checked and controlled will lead to immorality and sin; Lawwamah which feels remorse on evil, and resists it, asks for Allah’s grace and pardon after repentance and tries to amend; it hopes to reach salvation; Mutmainnah, the highest stage of all, when it achieves full tranquility and satisfaction. The second stage, i.e. nafs-elawwamah may be compared to conscience, except that in English usage, Conscience is a faculty and not a stage in spiritual development. As a modality of inner self which condemns immoral activation, it comes very close to the Qur`anic characterization of it.

Source:  The Process of Creation

 to be continued  . . . .