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Ordered out of Allah's court, Shaitaan immediately begs for relief: 'He said: "Give me respite till the day they are raised up." (Allah) said:
"Be thou amongst those who have respite." 7:Al-A'raf:14-15
But having received respite, instead of being thankful and repentant,
Shaitaan like any low character on whom kindness and grace are lost -
Mard-e-Nadan pey kalaame-e-Narm u Nazuk Bey Asar - slipped deeper into
transgression. Assured of Allah's reprieve to go unpunished and
unchecked
to the Day of Judgement, he hardened even more in his attitude. He
became
emboldened to blame Allah for his insubordination and vowed to mislead
those for whose sake Allah had accursed him.
2.The Challenge:
"Then will I assault them from before them and behind them, from their
right and their left: Nor wilt Thou find, in most of them , gratitude
(for
Thy Mercies)."
7:Al-A'raaf:17
Shaitaan's vanity and his confidence are not altogether incomprehensible; he was a devotee of Allah, he had been in Allah's noble company. Once Allah had reprieved him, he knew that he had been spared retribution until the end of the world. It was this confidence in Allah's word that when assured of an open field, he swung to take his revenge against man. He acknowledges that without the reprieve, and Allah's grant of freedom to mankind to choose its path, he could not have challenged to them.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala grace to Shaitaan should not be seen as His acquiescence to Shaitaan's wicked ways. Rather, it is the royal indifference - a testimony to Allah being free of any want or tied to any wish - of the 'Unmoved mover'.
'(Iblis) said: "Then by Thy power, I will put them all in the wrong - except thy servants amongst them."' 38:Saad:83
To appreciate Allah's detached stand it is important to be in no doubts regarding Allah's indifference to all needs. He is Absolute, which means that he requires nothing and is affected by nothing. He is therefore absolutely independent. He gains nothing from mankind's majority choosing to follow the right path, and He most certainly loses nothing from Shaitaan succeeding in misleading the whole of mankind.
The words of the Hadith Qudsi - a hadith in which Allah addresses directly and which is either revealed through Gibraeel (PBUH), or through a dream, or Ilhaam - underscores Allah's indifference to the actions of man.
" O My servants you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything." Sahih Muslim
Shaitaan's efforts to mislead, notwithstanding all his powers, would come to naught if his struggle had to be against Allah's might. He has challenged to mislead mankind on two grounds; first, Allah's leash given to him to the end of the world to do the worst that is possible within him, and second, because Allah gave mankind the discretion to choose its own way between good and evil. Shaitaan wages war on the basis of this limited free will granted to man.
On the other hand, Man's limited discretion makes him distinct from Allah's other creations such as the angels, the sun, the moon, the stars etc,. which have no will of their own. Such creations are all under Allah's Ab solute command; they are incapable of disobedience, unlike man. This is why Shaitaan in all these centuries and millenia has failed to win over a single star, sun, or moon to turn it away from its commanded sphere. It is only of the mankind and the jinns that are his prey.
However, in our vulnerability, i.e., our freedom to choose, also lies our strength; which is the ability to choose correctly. As one philosopher phrased, there can be no ought without a can. Because we can, therefore, we ought to choose to be Allah's servants.
Mufassirin (Interpreters) have stressed on the many lessons contained
in
this saga of human frailty, Shaitaan's cunningness and the resultant
loss
of honour for man and Shaitaan.
* Shaitaan was able to deceive man because man was given the limited
freedom to determine his course; Shaitaan has been unable to influence
in
the least those servants of Allah, who by themselves have no
discretionary
powers.
* Shaitaan is helped in his efforts to mislead mankind by the latter's
lust
for life and forgetfulness. To our parents Hazrat Adam and Hazrat Hawwa
(PBUT), he offered immortality of the angels. On account of their short
memory, they forgot that Allah ZullJalale wa Al-Akram had put man on a
much
higher pedestal by having commanded the angels to prostrate themselves
before Prophet Adam (PBUH).
* Falling into Shaitaan's trap and disobeying Allah Al-Aziz wa Al-Hakim
can
lead to humiliation only. Among the respectable, to be disrobed is the
ultimate indignity, as this episode is wont to show. Shedding off
clothes
is neither a sign of being liberal or broadminded. If anything, such a
person carries Shaitaan's brand, having succumbed to his guile, and
should
be prepared for Allah's wrath.
' O Children of Adam! Let not Shaitaan (Satan) deceive you, as he got your parents out of Paradise, stripping them of their raiments, to show them their private parts.' 7: Al-A'raaf:27
Muslim Brothers and Sisters, spreading of Islam is a responsibility placed upon all of us. In Quran, Allah commands: 'Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong.' Al-Imran:104.
Allah also instructed Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as follows; 'O Messenger!
Proclaim the (Message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord.'
5:Al-Maidah:67 As his Ummah, we share this burden. Kindly forward these
writings on Islam to whomsoever you may. May Allah Kareem accept our
insignificant efforts. Aameen.
It is incumbent upon us to respect the Quranic ayahs. If you possess
text
with Quranic ayahs please ensure that it is given due respect.
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