Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

salam, my question is

if Allah has made this world then why did he create satan

 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Why Allah created Shaytaan?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,  no grave, no prophet,  no imam,  no dai,  nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

My dear and beloved brother, the only two beings whom the All-Wise Lord Creator created and bestowed them with a ‘free will’ are the Jinns and Mankind.  If one amongst the Jinn or Men of their own bestowed ‘free will’ chooses to deny, defy, and disobey their Lord Creator, they would be called a Shaytaan.

 

No one is born a ‘Shaytaan’, nor is the ‘shaytaan’ a separate race or creed or creation of the Lord Creator; but rather it is the choice one amongst the Jinn or Human race makes, or the deeds one does of one’s own free will that makes one ‘Pious’ or makes one a ‘Shaytaan’. 

 

Allah Subhanah did not create a Shaytaan, just as He did not create a murderer, or a liar, or a thief, or a adulterer, etc.; it is the deeds one chooses to do of one’s own free will that makes him a murderer, a liar, a thief, an adulterer and a Shaytaan!  Allah Subhanah did indeed create the Jinn and the Human race amongst His creation, and the one who of his own free will chooses to persistently deny, defy, doubt, and disobey their Lord Creator choose to become a Shaytaan by himself.

 

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verses 11-25:

11      It is We who created you and gave you shape; then We bade the Angels bow down to Adam and they bowed down; not so Iblees (the Jinn); he refused to be of those who bow down.

12      (Allah) said: "what prevented thee (O Iblees) from bowing down when I commanded thee?"  He (Iblees) said: "I am better than he: thou didst create me from fire and him from clay."

13      (Allah) said: "Get thee down from this: it is not for thee to be arrogant here: get out for thou art of the meanest (of creatures)."

14      He (Iblees) said: "give me respite till the day they are raised up."

15      (Allah) said: "be thou among those who have respite."

16      He (Iblees) said: "because Thou hast thrown me out of the way lo! I will lie in wait for them on Thy straight way.

17      "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).

18      (Allah) said: "Get out from here, disgraced and expelled.  If any of them follow thee, Hell will I fill with you all.

19      (Allah said): O Adam!  Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden and enjoy (its good things) as ye wish: but approach not this tree or ye run into harm and transgression."

20      Then began the Shaytaan (Iblees) to whisper suggestions to them bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them (before): he said "Your Lord only forbade you this tree lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever."

21      And he swore to them both that he was their sincere adviser.

22      So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree their shame became manifest to them and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies.  And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that the shaytaan was an avowed enemy unto you?"

23      They said: "O our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: if Thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy mercy we shall certainly be lost."

24      (Allah) said: "Get ye down with enmity between yourselves.  On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood for a time."

25      He (Allah) said: "therein shall ye live and therein shall ye die; but from it shall ye be taken out (at last)."

 

In light of the above verses of the Glorious Quran it is absolutely obvious that Iblees was one amongst the Jinn, and of his own free will he chose to disobey the command of his Lord, and persisted in his disobedience; and that is when Iblees became one amongst the Shayaateen!  If one reads the above and all the other verses in the Quran where the incident of the creation of Adam and the disobedience of Iblees is narrated in Truth, one would realize that the Lord Most High addresses the Jinn by his name Iblees before his disobedience, and only after Iblees persisted in his disobedience, he is termed as the Shaytaan!

 

In context of the above incident it is also evident that Hadrat Adam (a.s.) too made an error and disobeyed the Command of the Lord; but the difference between Adam’s (a.s.) disobedience and the disobedience of Iblees was that Hadrat Adam (a.s.) immediately turned back to his Lord and sought forgiveness, while the evil and accursed Iblees chose to persist in his disobedience of the Lord and thus became one amongst the Shayateen! 

 

Thus my beloved brother, contrary to popular belief, no one is born a ‘Shaytaan’, nor is it a separate or distinct creation of Allah Subhanah.  It is only when one amongst the Jinn or Human race persists in his defiance and disobedience of their Lord Creator, who becomes a Shaytaan in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your Brother in Islam,

 

 

Burhan