WHY DID THE SATAN BECOME AN ENEMY TO HUMANITY?

WHY DID THE SATAN BECOME AN ENEMY TO HUMANITY?

Satan is the greatest enemy of mankind. Even the most cruel person in this world can only kill you; yet perhaps that death may lead you to Paradise. However, no evil done by any human being is as deep and lasting as the destruction intended by Satan. Satan’s ultimate goal is to make people unhappy in this worldly life and to lead them to Hell together with him.

Satan is a being who is arrogant and defeated by his pride. Our Prophet (PBUH) said: “Beware of arrogance, for because of arrogance Satan became Satan—the accursed (cursed and expelled from the presence of Allah).”  

So why did Satan become an enemy to humanity? Before human beings were created, Satan lived peacefully among the jinn. At that time, his name was Iblîs. Then Allah willed to create humankind.

Al-Baqarah-30: And your Lord said to the angels: “Verily, I will make a vicegerent (Caliph) on the earth”, they said: “Will you place therein the one who will spread lawlessness therein and shed blood and we glorify you with praises and sanctify You”? He said: “Surely, I know what you do not know”.

Human beings were created as the caliphs (vicegerents) of the earth — representing Allah and holding a beloved rank in His sight as the noblest of creation. The human being is the only creation possessing three distinct dimensions and free will: the physical body, the soul (nafs), and the spirit (ruh). Never before in the universe has such a being been created, nor will one ever be created. 

* Allah created the physical body of the human being from dry clay, referred to as tîn or salsâl in the Divine Presence (Ind-i  Ilâhî),(Al-Hijr 26).

* Allah shaped the human soul (nafs) by placing within it nineteen different vices (Ash-Shams 7)

* Allah breathed into the human being from His spirit (As-Sajdah 9). Because of this spirit, He commanded the angels and the jinn to prostrate before the human being.

Al-A'raf-11 And certainly We created you, then shaped you, then We said to the angels: “Bow down to Adam”. They bowed down except Iblîs (Satan), he was not among those who prostrated.

Al-Kahf-50 And We had said to the angels: “Prostrate to Adam”. They prostrated immediately, except Iblîs (Satan). He was one of the jinn. So, he rebelled against the Command of His Lord. Do you still then take him and his offspring for friends rather than Me, while they are your enemies? What an evil retribution (Hell) for the wrongdoers!

Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam (PBUH), defying Allah’s command.

Al-A'raf-12: (Allah) said: “What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?” Iblîs (Satan) said: “I am better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created from clay”.

Iblīs compared physical bodies and, out of arrogance and pride, claimed, “I am superior to him,” thereby opposing the command of Allah. Yet Allah did not command prostration to Adam (PBUH) because of his physical body or his soul, but because of the spirit breathed into him from Allah. Through this spirit, the human being represents Allah on earth. However, Iblīs refused to accept this reality and asked Allah for respite.

Al-A'raf-13: He (Allah) said: “Then get down from there, for it does not befit you to behave arrogantly therein. Go forth right away. Surely you are of the humiliated”.

Al-A'raf-14 (Satan) said: “Grant me respite until the Day of Resurrection (the Day they are raised).”

Al-A'raf-15 He (Allah) said: “Surely you are among those granted respite.”

Al-A'raf-16: [Iblis] said: “Because You have led me astray, I will surely sit on Your Ṣiraṭ al-Mustaqîm (the path of guidance that leads to Allah- seeking to hinder them).”

Al-A'raf-17: Then I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and You will not find most of them thankful.

Satan will continue striving until the Day of Judgment to lead people away from the path of Allah, to bind them to himself, and to deceive them. For this purpose, he constantly operates through practices based on occult knowledge. However, Allah’s divine knowledge, conveyed through the Holy Scriptures sent to all of His prophets, is a guarantee of happiness for humankind.