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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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:

  1. Intelligence or the Power of Reasoning
  2. A ‘free will’ for a limited period of one life-time to choose whatever path one wishes to live his 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

 

 
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