Why did Allah(SWT) create shatan(devil) if Allah new that shatan wouldn't listen to Allah's order.
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:
I just
wanted to ask some questions that I am not getting the questions to.
why
did Allah(SWT) create shatan(devil) if Allah new that shatan wouldn't
listen to Allah's order.
why
couldn't Allah(SWT) turn shatan into a good jin instead of giving shatan a
challenge
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Allah says in the Holy Quran in Chapter 67 Surah
Al Mulk verse 2:
He (Allah) created death and life that He
may test you, to see which of you is the
best in deeds.
The All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord bestowed two things upon
Jinns and Humans which He did not bestow upon any in His Supreme Creation, and
thus put only these two amongst all His creation to a test for a period of one
life:
Whoever amongst man or jinns studies and ponders over the
innumerable wonders and Signs in the various creations of the Majestic Lord,
and uses his bestowed intelligence and power of reasoning to understand his
mission of creation, recognize His Supreme Lord and Creator, and of his own
‘free will’ chooses to submit his will to the Will of his Creator, and chooses
to live his life in accordance with the guidance of his Creator, passes the
test of life and is promised the Eternal Mercy, Grace, and Rewards of Allah
Subhanah.
And whoever amongst man and jinn uses his bestowed
intelligence and power of reasoning to do everything else but does not
recognize or denies his Supreme Creator, refuses to submit his will to the Will
of His Creator, and of his own ‘free will’ chooses to live his life in
accordance with any guidance other than that of His Supreme Creator, miserably
fails the test of life and will have a severe accounting in the Presence of His
All-Mighty and Majestic Lord on an Inevitable Day.
Your
Question: …why did Allah(SWT) create shatan(devil) if Allah new that
shatan wouldn't listen to Allah's order.
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 chooses 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 the Jinn ‘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.
Your
Question: … if Allah new that shatan wouldn't listen to Allah's order. why
couldn't
Allah(SWT)
turn shatan into a good jin instead of giving shatan a challenge
Allah says in the Holy Quran in Chapter 67 Surah
Al Mulk verse 2:
He (Allah) created death and life that He
may test you, to see which of you is the
best in deeds.
Absolutely everything in creation is unconditionally and
inherently obedient to their Lord Creator….but The Lord In His Absolute Wisdom
and Perfect Knowledge, Willed to bestow only two amongst His creation (Jinns
and Humans) intelligence and a limited ‘free will’ to choose between obedience
and disobedience for a period of one lifetime…and thus involved them in a test.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chatper 16 Surah
Nahl verse 9:
9 And unto Allah leads straight the Way but there are ways that turn
aside: if Allah had Willed He could have guided all of you.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chatper 32 Surah Sajdah
verse 13:
13 If We had so Willed We could certainly
have brought every soul its true guidance.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chatper 16 Surah
Nahl verse 93:
93 If Allah so Willed He could make you all one people: but He leaves straying whom He pleases and He guides whom He
pleases: but ye shall certainly be called to account for all your actions.
If the Lord Most Majestic Most Supreme so Willed, He could
have very easily made every man and every jinn to unconditionally submit their
wills to their Lord Creator, just as everything else in His creation are
unconditionally obedient to their Lord Creator….but then the Will and Decree of
the Lord to put man and jinn to a test would be compromised!
For a period of this one short and transitory life, to
fulfill the tenets of the test Decreed by the Lord….every man and every jinn is
allowed and permitted by their Lord Creator to obey Him if they so will and
please, or disobey Him if they so will and please…..the consequences that their
choice will bring upon them in the Eternal and Everlasting life of the
Hereafter will obviously be diverse (to say the least!)!!!
Thus brother, the very fact that the Lord bestowed the
creation of man and jinn with intelligence and a limited ‘free will’ was only
to involve them in a ‘test’…..and it was never ever the Mission of creation
that every single man and every single jinn would believe in their Lord and
unconditionally submit their wills to Him….for that then would be against the
very principle of the ‘test’ as Decreed and Willed by the Lord Most Wise, Most
Supreme, Most Exalted.
Hadrat Abu Hurayrah (r.a.) reported that the
Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘By Him in Whose Hands is my life, if none of
you committed sin, Allah would annihilate you and instead bring forth a people
who would commit sin, then seek His forgiveness…so that He may forgive them.’
Related by Muslim
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and
commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),
one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any
other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be
assured of being led astray.
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 and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
