FAQ in the category of Satan

The Activities of Satan

In various places in the Quran, what kind of activities Satan does and will do are pointed out in the verses.  For instance:

When We said to the angels, "Prostrate yourselves to Adam" they prostrated themselves, but not Iblis: he refused. Then We said: "O Adam! Verily, this is an enemy to thee and thy wife: so let him not get you both out of the Garden so that thou art landed in misery. "There is therein (enough provision) for thee not to go hungry nor to go naked" "Nor to suffer from thirst nor from the sun's heat." But Satan whispered evil to him: he said "O Adam! Shall I lead thee to Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?" In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced. But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him, and gave him guidance. (Taha, 116-122) 

Behold! We said to the angels: "Bow down unto Adam": they bowed down except Iblis: he said "Shall I bow down to one whom Thou didst create from clay?" He said "Seest Thou? This is the one whom thou hast honored above me! If Thou wilt but respite me to the Day of Judgment, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway all but a few!" Allah said: "Go thy way; if any of them follow thee, verily Hell will be the recompense of you (all)― an ample recompense. "Lead to destruction those whom thou canst among them, with thy (seductive) voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises to them. But Satan promises them nothing but deceit. "As for My servants, no authority shalt thou have over them." Enough is thy Lord for a Disposer of affairs. (al-Isra, 61-65)

(Iblis) said: "O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong―  "Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by thy grace). (al-Hijr,  39-40)

The Satan threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly. (al-Baqara, 268)

(The pagans), leaving Him, call but upon female deities: they call but upon Satan the persistent rebel! Allah did curse him, but he said: "I will take of Thy servants a portion marked off. "I will mislead them and I will create in them false desires; I will order them to slit the ears of cattle and to deface the (fair) nature created by Allah." Whoever, forsaking Allah, takes Satan for a friend, hath of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest.

120.  Satan makes them promises, and creates in them false desires; but Satan's promises are nothing but deception.(an-Nisa,  117-120)

Now, let us see in detail as an explanation of those verses what Satan does, what kind of tricks and traps he uses to deceive people.

Satan makes sins seem nice

Satan has made their deeds seem pleasing in their eyes. (an-Naml,  24)

There are various verses that have the same meaning. For instance, al-An’am 43, al-Anfal 48, an-Nahl 63, al-Ankabut 48, al-Hijr 39…

The greatest activity of Satan is to present sins as nice and attractive things to people. For instance, when two people argue, they may fight; such a minor argument may end up in a murder because no mind is present in fury. When fury overwhelms a person, he cannot think reasonably. In the end, one of the parties may go to the grave and the other to prison. 

If they think reasonably, they will not suffer such consequences. However, Satan showed them their bad deeds as good deeds and caused such a distressing outcome.
The presentation of sins as good deeds by Satan can be likened to this: Someone puts bad things in good packing and makes people eat them as if they are sweet.

The following is stated in another verse:

Is then one who is on a clear (Path) from his Lord, no better than one to whom the evil of his conduct seems pleasing, and such as follow their own lusts? (Muhammad, 14)

The believer has a ‘bayyina’ from his Lord. Bayyina has meanings like, evidence, proof and sign. An unbeliever does bad deeds. Those bad deeds are decorated by Satan and they seem nice. For instance, Satan deceives him by a trick like, “What is the harm of drinking alcohol; man should take pleasure from the world. “ Such people act in accordance with their desires and pleasures. 

The ideology of “hedonism”in the Antique Age philosophy is nothing but acting in accordance with desires and pleasures. The followers of this ideology are plentiful today. 

The philosophical school called hedonismsees the world from the point of view of desires and pleasures. Their aim is to satisfy their senses and to take pleasure. Today, many people are affected by this ideology of Satan; they regard all kinds of sins as permissible and virtually cease to be human.

Satan keeps people busy with false desires

I will mislead them and I will create in them false desires… (an-Nisa,  119)

Satan keeps people with false dreams and desires. People who travel in the desert sometimes see a mirage and they think it is real; they run toward it. However, they run toward a dream. Similarly, Satan makes people spend time with false ideologies and dreams. For instance, a wrong ideology emerges and many people follow it. In fact, it will not be useful for them and it will not make them happy. For instance, the ideology of positivism became dominant in the 19^th century and it affected the humanity deeply. According to that ideology, one should not believe in things that cannot be proved; since things like spirit, angel, the hereafter that religions mention cannot be proved,  they should not be heeded. That ideology puts forward this view: “From now on, temples, churches, mosques, synagogues, etc should be replaced by laboratories; clergymen should be replaced by scientists and the principles of belief should be replaced by the results obtained by science. Ironically, many people all over the world, including the people living in the Islamic world, were influenced by that ideology. 

As a matter of fact, not everything consists of matter. Even in man, spirituality is on the foreground more than matter. There are thousands of feelings in man that have no relation with matter. A book does not consists of letters only; it is full of meaning; the universe is full of meaning, too.

I discussed these issues with a philosopher years ago. I said to him, “We make use of philosophy but philosophy is not everything. For instance, philosophy cannot explain how creation took place.” He said,

“I do not use the word ‘creation’. I prefer to use formation, instead.”

I said, “Suppose that you left the classroom and the blackboard was clean; when you returned, there were nice pictures and meaningful sentences on the board; would you regard it as formation or would you say, “who wrote them and who drew them?”

He said, “I believe in science. I accept that science cannot explain this issue but I believe that it will be explained scientifically even if it is hundreds of years later…”

He could not get rid of believing even when he escaped from belief. He did not believe in Allah but he believed in “science”. He did not accept a pre-eternal Allah but he could not get rid of accepting matter as pre-eternal…

Satan makes people believe in such false ideologies and dreams; he prevents people from seeing the truths. 

Satan uses demagoguery

Satan knows to make deceitful sentences very well. So to speak, he is a yapper. For instance, he mentions the vastness of the universe, confuses the mind of man and says that one being cannot govern such a vast area alone. On the other hand, he mentions individuals and says that the majesty of Allah does not let Him deal with such unimportant things; for instance, he says, “ why should Allah, with His Majesty, deal with unimportant things like the wing of a fly?”
As a matter of fact, it is wrong to compare Allah to a creature. How can the perfect works of an artist can know the artist? Those works of art cannot make a painting; so how can they say, “An artist cannot make a painting, either?” 

On the other hand, it is a clear visible fact that this realm, whose borders we cannot imagine, is governed by one being. Man who is clever and conscious cannot govern even his own body. His liver has more than four hundred functions but he cannot even list four of them. It is ridiculous for man to say,” I  govern my body myself.” The one who governs our body also governs the realm.

The fact that Allah deals with the wing of a fly despite His Majesty is a necessity of a limitless power. When the sun rises, its reflection is seen on all of the bright things like a mirror; it illuminates everything at the same time; not one single thing is excluded. Let it not be misunderstood but all of the beings are like mirrors; Allah becomes manifest on all of them at the same time; when He deals with one of them, it does not prevent Him from dealing with others.  

Satan keeps people busy with meaningless things and nonsense

…I will order them to slit the ears of cattle... (an-Nisa, 119)

Before Islam, when a she-camel gave birth five times and when the fifth calf (young camel) was male, Jahiliyyah Arabs slit the ear of that animal and they regarded it haram to make use of that camel. Thus, they rendered haram what Allah made halal.  

Besides, they sacrificed animals before their idols and slit their ears as an indication that they were vows.

Then, we can understand the content of the verse as, “They will render haram what Allah has made halal; they will commit shirk thinking that they are worshipping.” 

Today, many people do wrong things that originate from superstitious traditions as a result of the tricks of Satan. For instance, in some regions of our country, a person becomes a ‘kirve’ for the circumcision ceremony of the boy and from then on, this kirve is regarded as a member of that family. They regard it haram for their children to marry like milk siblings.  It is only a tradition; it does not bring about any difference or privilege in terms of privacy and marriage. The religion of Islam does not order the system of being a kirve but it does not refuse it, either. However, Islam does not accept the applications that render haram what is halal and that renders halal what is haram. 

Satan wants to interfere in the nature created by Allah

…I will order them to deface the (fair) nature created by Allah... (an-Nisa, 119)

People intervenein the nature created by Allah through the suggestion of Satan. It may be in the form of changing the form or some characteristics of nature. For instance,

-They will break and deprave the nature of man instead of improving it. For example, they will try to turn women to men and men to women; they will use men instead of omen and women instead of men.

-They will have esthetic operations that do not originate from necessities and obligations.

-Instead of natural and legitimate marriages, they will carry out unnatural and illegitimate marriages; they will abandon what is clean and take what is impure.

-Although they are given serious aims for life, they will abandon serious things and be engaged in entertainment; they will abandon their work and play games.

-Although man’s nature is honorable, they will assume attitudes that are not in compliance with human honor. For instance, they will regard honesty as foolishness and dishonesty as a merit. 

- Although man needs religion due to his nature, they will change it and regard religion as a bogey; they will keep away from religion and religious values.

Today, the attempts to make changes in the genes of man and other living beings can be evaluated within the scope of the verse. There are some useful applications but some of them are carried out with malicious intentions; for instance, some special drugs given to man can drive him away from his nature and turns him to a wretched person.  There is no doubt that such applications are the acts of Satan.

The pills that the people who see life as a means of satisfying the lust use to this end are interference in nature and craziness of pleasure.

Satan makes people worship invalid gods

Hazrat Sulayman (Solomon) had been given a magnificent sovereignty. Even the birds were under his command. At that time, there was a queen named Balqis in Yemen. The bird called Hudhud went to Yemen and saw that people there abandoned worshipping Allah and started to worship the sun. He informed Hazrat Sulayman about it as follows: 

I found her and her people worshipping the sun besides Allah: Satan has made their deeds seem pleasing in their eyes, and has kept them away from the Path― so they receive no guidance―. (an-Naml,  24)

Satan made the people of Saba worship the sun; besides, he tried to present people with invalid gods throughout history.

As the Quran states, those gods are, “nothing but some names.” (Yusuf, 40) That is, there is no proof that they are gods. People gave them the title of god and then started to worship them.  For instance, some people replace Allah with nature, which is a divine art. They see the beings that inform about the attributes of Allah like knowledge, will and power as “the works of nature”.

“For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command) "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil"…” As the verse above states, the wisdom behind sending prophets is to ensure people to worship one Allah. (an-Nahl, 36)
The word “taghut” mentioned in the verse is derived from the word tughyan, which means “invalid god that is worshipped except Allah”. Everything and everybody that necessitates disobedience to and rebellion against Allah is regarded in the scope of the concept “taghut”.

As the Quran states, the characteristics of those invalid gods are as follows: 
- They can create nothing but are themselves created, have no control of hurt or good to themselves; nor can they control death nor life nor resurrection. (al-Furqan, 3)
-They do not hear or see those who worship them. (Maryam, 42)
-They can neither be of any good to them nor do them harm. (al-Anbiya,  66)
-People are slaves like them. (al-A’raf,  194)
-there is no proof that they are gods. (al-Hajj, 71)

As the simile of the Quran states, to expect some benefits from those invalid gods is like to take refuge in the “spider web, which is the flimsiest house. (al-Ankabut,  41) However, the humanity have not been able to get rid of those spider webs throughout history.

Some of those invalid gods are as follows:
1-Satan
2-Evil-commanding soul

3-Idols
4-People

1-Satanhas become the god of some people. Acting upon the meaning of worshipping as obeying, we can say that the people who do what Satan wants: worship him, that is, become his servant. In addition, nowadays there are some people who directly worship Satan with some rituals. 

2-Evil-commanding-soulis the form of the soul that has not been educated. Desireis the wish of the soul that it tends to and its pleasure. The following verse attracts attention to the fact that desire is an invalid god: “Have you seen the one who takes his vain desire as his god?”. (al-Jathiya, 23) God and those orders are fulfilled. If the evil-commanding soul of man gives some orders and those orders are fulfilled, it becomes clear that the soul and its desires are regarded as an invalid god.

The verse above tells about the state of a person who gives up obeying God and starts obeying his desires. Such a person accepts his desires as god, does not think about god, assumes what his soul wants as god and wants to satisfy his pleasures. He bases his religion on his desires, does not see any evidence and does not heed them. 

3-Idols have been present throughout the history of the humanity.  Some of them were built by people out of wood, stone, silver, etc. Some of them had faces others did not. There are various forms of idolatry from the totems of the primitive tribe religions to the modern idols of the so-called civilized people of today.  
The majority of people accept the existence of Allah but they disagree about His attributes.  Jahiliyya Arabs who said, “We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah” (az-Zumar, 3), actually accepted the existence of Allah. However, in his creed, a symbol is necessary because Allah is somewhere far away. Those idols have been symbols and many people have not been able to get rid of worshipping idols. A Hindu who regards the cow as sacred and a Buddhist who prostrates before a Buddha statue probably see them as divine symbols and worship them.  

Many people imagine Allah as a creature and want to see him at once. The tribe of Moses who said the following is a good example of it. “O Moses! we shall never believe in thee until we see Allah manifestly”. (al-Baqara,  55)

Hamdi Yazır makes this interesting interpretation about the verse above:

“The people who do not accept anything but what they perceive with their senses, who do not believe or do not want to believe in the things that they do not see are like the blind who walk without sticks. They want to hold and touch their gods. According to them, spiritual things are what they reach through their minds and abstract things are illusions. They seek concrete things to worship. If they cannot find concrete things, they themselves make them; they worship them and ask help from them because worshipping is a natural law in man; they cannot get rid of it. However, when they cannot see the real deity, and when they cannot get any support from their hearts and minds, they ask for support from something that they can see and touch. They look at least for an ox or a calf under an ox...”

The statement of Hamdi Yazır, “They look at least for an ox or a calf under an ox” refer to many things:

During the time of Hazrat Moses, Egyptians regarded the ox as a sacred animal just like the cow for the Hindus of today. The tribe of Moses stayed in Egypt as prisoners for a long time; so they were influenced by that wrong belief. They could not get rid of that belief even if after they adopted the true religion. When Hazrat Moses went to Tur, somebody called Samiri made a calf from jewelry and said, “this is your god”; the tribe of Moses did not hesitate to worship the calf.  (Taha, 83-97)

Similarly, in the event that is narrated in the chapter of al-Baqara, God Almighty ordered sons of Israel to slaughter a cow; which contains the message of abolishing cow worshipping. (al-Baqara,  67-74) That is, the ox is not a deity to be worshipped but a bounty from Allah, who is the real God, to people; which can slaughter and eat if they want.

Along with those historical events of idol worshipping, there are also some contemporary events:

A professor from South Africa goes to India to do some researches.  While traveling with a Hindu colleague, the train stops somewhere, which is not a train station. They wait for a long time. The South African professor asks why they are waiting.

His Hindu colleague says, “I do not know but I will go and ask why.” When he returns, he says, “There is nothing to worry about. There is a cow lying on the railway. When it gets up, the train will go on.”
Then, the South African professor says, “It is very surprising! People worship cows even in the twentieth century!” The Hindu professor asks,

“Do you not have anything like that?”

When the South African Professor thinks for a while, it dawns on him and says,

“You are right; we have something like that, too. It is even worse for us. Your cow will get up and move after a while. We have such cows that will never get up even if years pass.”

4-People can be idolized in two forms:

1-Despots enslave people.
2-Leaders are accepted as gods in the course of time.
A typical example for the first one is the Pharaoh.
As it is stated in the following verse: “Thus did the Pharaoh make fools of his people and they obeyed him: truly were they a people rebellious (against Allah)”, the Pharaoh despises his people and makes fun of them. (az-Zukhruf 54) He says, “I am your Lord, Most High” and forces them to obey him. (an-Naziat, 24)

The most evident example of idolizing a person in the course of time is Jesus in the eye of Christians. Jesus, who is a slave and messenger of Allah was seen as a part of the divinity by some Christians in the course of time; he was given a share from divinity. However, nobody deserves worshipping except Allah. A stone cannot be a deity; a person cannot be a deity, either. Everything is a creature of Allah.

Satan causes delusions in prayer (salah)

A person who starts to perform prayers asks a scholar, “When I did not use to perform prayers, Satan did not struggle with me; however, after I started to perform prayers, he started to cause delusions. Why?”

The scholar answers, “There is a saying in Turkish: ‘They throw stones at a tree with fruits’; that is, successful or talented people are attacked by others. In the past, you did not have any fruits; so, Satan did not struggle with you; now, you are like a tree with fruits; he is trying to get your fruits. As a matter of fact, pirates attack the ships that have treasures; thieves try to burgle the houses of the rich people.”

Everybody who performs prayers complain that Satan causes delusions during the prayer. To perform prayers is a positive deed; not to perform prayers is inaction. Satan is disturbed when people do positive deeds; therefore, he struggles with people when they worship. If he can, he will prevent people from performing prayers. When he cannot do it, he tries to depreciate and harm prayers. He makes people delay performing prayers or makes people think about unnecessary things while performing prayers. 

The Prophet stated the following:
“When the call for the prayer is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels, passing wind with noise, When the call for the prayer is finished, he comes back. And when the Iqama is pronounced, he again takes to his heels, and after its completion, he returns again to interfere between the praying person and his heart, saying to him. 'Remember this or that thing.' till the person forgets how many rakahs he has performed.” (Bukhari, Bad’u’l-Khalq,  11)

As a result of the delusions of Satan and due to ignorance and laziness, some people may have a thought like this: “It is good to perform prayers but to perform them every single day five times is a lot. Since they never end, it becomes wearying.” For instance, with the delusion of Satan, a person who just reached the age of puberty might say, “If I live for seventy years, I will have to pray for the remaining fifty-five years. It will never end.” However, man will perform prayers only five times a day. When he performs one prayer, he does not have to perform any other prayers until time of the next prayer starts. 

If a woman to get married suddenly sees the dishes that she will wash in her lifetime in front of her like a mountain, she will probably give up marrying. However, she will wash only a few dishes every day.

God Almighty states the following:

…establish Regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do. (al-Ankabut,  45)

The people who read that verse may get a delusion like this: 

“There are some people who pray but they have not been able to get rid of shameful and unjust deeds. Then, how should we understand that verse?”

If a person who performs prayers cannot get rid of shameful and unjust deeds, it means there is a problem with the prayers he performs. If a prayer is performed truly and properly, it will protect him from shameful and unjust deeds.

In addition, the following point is also important:
Are shameful and unjust deeds common among the people who perform prayers or those who do not?

When a person researches it, he will see that the people who perform prayers are free and away from shameful and unjust deeds compared to those who do not perform prayers. For instance, drinking alcohol and fornication are very rare among those who perform prayers regularly; they are common among those who do not perform prayers.

Satan makes people yawn

Yawning is an indication of lethargy and laziness. The Prophet said, “Yawning is of Satan.” (Muslim, Zuhd, 56)

However, a person can yawn due to some reasons like sleeplessness and tiredness. In such cases, it will be better for him to try to prevent yawning. The Prophet stated the following in the second part of the hadith above: “Therefore, when you are about to yawn, try to prevent it as much as you can.”

The Prophet stated the following in another hadith:

Satan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, 'The night is long, so stay asleep.' When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays, the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise, one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart. (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 12)

Another thing that leads man to laziness is to eat too much. A completely full stomach will disturb the whole body; therefore, there will be no place for knowledge and wisdom in that person. If he speaks, he will speak lazily; if he listens to somebody, he will listen by yawning; if he works, he will work inefficiently. The Prophet never filled his stomach completely and said,

“A believer does not fill his stomach completely.” (Darimi, Wasaya, 1)

To eat a little eliminates laziness, lethargy and too much sleep, which stupefies people. The heedlessness of a person who eats too much will increase. Therefore, the Prophet insistently advised us to eat less:

“Man has not filled a container worse than his stomach. A few morsels that will keep him upright will be enough for him. If a person does not find it sufficient to eat a few morsels, he should divide his stomach into three parts; He should allocate one third of it to food, one third to drinks and one third to breathing (that is, one third should be left empty).” (Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 47)

Satan tries to prevent people from prostrating

Prostration is one of the pillars of prayer. Besides, it is wajib for a person who reads or listens to one of the verses of prostration in the Quran to prostrate.

The following is stated in the Quran: “What then is the matter with them, that they believe not?― And when the Qur'an is read to them, they fall not prostrate?” (al-Inshiqaq,  20-21)

There are fourteen verses of prostration in the Quran. They are as follows: 

al-A’raf, 206; Ra’d, 15; an-Nahl, 50; al-Isra, 109; Maryam, 58; al-Hajj, 18; al-Furqan, 60; an-Naml, 25; as-Sajdah, 15; Sad, 24; Fussilat, 37; an-Najm, 62; al-Inshiqaq , 21 and al-Alaq 19.

Satan did not prostrate before Hazrat Adam; therefore, he becomes very disturbed when sons of Adam prostrate before Allah. The Prophet stated the following regarding the issue:

When the son of Adam recites the Ayah of Sajdah (prostration) and then falls down in prostration, Satan goes into seclusion and weeps and says: Alas; and in the narration of Abu Kuraib the words are: Woe unto me, the son of Adam was commanded to prostrate, and he prostrated and Paradise was entitled to him and I was commanded to prostrate, but I refused and am doomed to Hell.. (Muslim, Iman, 35)

Satan, who does not prostrate before Allah, wants to prevent people from prostrating. He causes delusions like this in some people who believe in Allah:

“Allah does not need your prostration. Prostration is performed to show respect; you already have respect for Allah. Your heart is pure; that is enough for you…!”

It is a reality that Allah does not need our prostration or other kinds of worshipping. The Creator does not need his creatures. However, man needs worshipping and prostration. This way, man assumes an attitude that fits a slave and he gets rid of bad states like conceit and pride. 

In fact, all of the beings are in a state of bowing down:

“Seest thou not that to Allah bow down in worship all things that are in the heavens and on earth― the sun, the moon, the stars; the hills, the trees the animals; and a great number among mankind?…” (al-Hajj,  18)

The bowing down in the verse denotes their surrendering and obedience to Allah.

In prostration, the slave is in the nearest state to his Lord. He assumes an existence that never ends in the presence of the Being, who puts the universe under his command. 

Satan makes man look from a wrong point of view

Sheikh Said says,

“A person who has the habit of looking for faults sees the feet of the peacock when he looks at it.”

The peacock is one of the most beautiful birds but if one looks at its feet only, it will be seen as an ugly bird. However, if it is seen as a whole, it will be seen as a wonderful bird.

Islam is beautiful like the peacock; however, some people criticize it in terms of slavery, the equality of the witnessing of one man to two women, the permission of marriage up to four women for a man, etc. In fact, all of those issues have reasonable and clear explanations. However, both human and jinn devils are in pursuit of presenting the religion of Islam as something ugly by putting forward those issues.  In fact, both those issues and similar issues show the beauty and perfection of Islam let alone being a fault.

On the other hand, if 999 gates of a palace are open and only one gate is closed, it cannot be claimed that it is impossible to enter that palace. However, Satan constantly wants to show and make people see the single closed gate. That those issues are not known by some people does not mean that they have no reasonable explanations. However, Satan and his accomplices attract people’s attention to such issues and want to make people doubt and then deny Islam.

For instance, although there are thousands of even numerous evidences about belief in Allah, Satan makes people look from a weak point and tries to make them deny Allah.

Satan leads people to aberration under the disguise of impartiality

People show objective or subjective attitudes toward things and events. Subjectivity and objectivity are opposite concepts. Objectivity means to see and accept the things and events as they are not as we want them to be. In subjectivity, the judgments that are given and the conclusions that are made are based on the nature of the personality of a person, his desires and values; they are evaluated based on those criteria; they have no relationship with the properties of things. 

When we look from the point of view of that definition, we can say, “being objective is good and being subjective is bad”. However, Satan influences some people based on the aspect of objectivity. For instance, he may say to a person who does philosophical researches, 

“You accepted Islam as a whole. What if Islam is not really the religion of Allah? Why do you not regard it with doubt? Scientific look necessitates doubt! An intellectual like you should not accept things without investigating!”

It is necessary to know the following principles against that delusion of Satan:
- It is excessiveness to doubt clear and obvious issues.
- It is excessiveness to doubt everything, even clearest and most obvious issues; similarly, it is also excessiveness not to doubt anything. Methodical doubt has a special importance in finding out scientific truths. Such a doubt leads man to investigate things and it makes man free from accepting things blindly, without asking any questions.
-Doubt must not be an end in itself; it must be a means of finding the truth and obtaining real information.
-Sometimes, being impartial causes the elimination of a person. If a man says, “This house is mine but it might not be mine” about his own house, he will lose his house. Similarly, if a person doubts the issues that he believes in and says, “It might not be like that”, it will cause him to conclude, “it is not like that” in the course of time.

Satan leads people to imitate others

When they are told to follow the (revelation) that Allah has sent down, they say: "Nay we shall follow the ways that we found our fathers (following)." What! Even if it is Satan beckoning them to the Penalty of the (Blazing) Fire? (Luqman, 21)

Imitation (taqlid) means to accept a word without any evidence. A person who imitates others slavishly is called a“muqallid”. Such imitation is an important weakness of personality and a big obstacle to reach the truth.

Imitation means to try to resemble someone. In general, the attitudes and acts of great people are imitated. To imitate people who are on a good way is a good character. To imitate people who are on a bad way is a great disaster...
The Quran rejects slavish imitation. For instance, let us have a look at this verse:

When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah hath revealed" they say: "Nay! we shall follow the ways of our fathers." What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance? (al-Baqara,  170)

Hamdi Yazır writes the following while interpreting that verse:  
“The reason for following someone or something must not be being old-new or the way of their fathers but compliance with the order of God and the evidence of God. If the fathers obeyed the orders of God and knew what they did, they can be followed. On the other hand, if the fathers did not accept the orders of God and did not know what they did, they cannot be followed.”

The verse that narrates the state of those who scream in hell by stating, “Our Lord! We obeyed our chiefs and our great ones and they misled us as to the (right) path...” informs us about the outcome of imitation in the hereafter. (al-Ahzab,  67)

What is essential is searching not imitating. That is, finding out the truth by examining and searching.

A person who imitates slavishly is condemned in our religion.

The verse that condemns those who follow the wrong of their fathers continues as follows:

“The parable of those who reject faith is as if one were to shout like a goat-herd, to things that listen to nothing but calls and cries; deaf, dumb, and blind. They are void of wisdom.” (al-Baqara,  171)

Baydawi interprets it as follows: “Unbelievers who imitate do not pay attention to what is recited to them. They do not heed what is recited. In that case, they are like animals that hear the voice but do not understand the meaning.”

Imitators will be at ease if there is a shepherd that directs them. Otherwise, they are bound to lead a mean life. They cannot decide on their own. They cannot use their own minds. 

There must not be slavish imitators among the followers of a religion that rejects imitation. However, especially in places where ignorance prevails, there exists such imitation among Muslims. Approaches like, “The master knows it”, “If my sheikh says so, it is correct”, “If my leader says so, it is correct” causes the cover up of the truths. In Islam, nobody is innocent except prophets. Everybody may make mistakes. The real great people never say that they are infallible. When they make a mistake or it turns out that they are wrong, they repent. They do not keep insisting on making mistakes. 

Badiuzzaman said Nursi reminds us the following regarding the issue:

“No mischief-maker says, ‘I am a mischief-maker.’ he seems as if he tells the truth. He regards what is wrong as what is right. Nobody criticizes what he sells. However, do not buy anything before checking. Many vague words are used in trade.”

Satan utters grandiose and flowery words

Satan utters grandiose words to deceive people. It is expressed as follows in the Quran:
“Likewise did We make for every Messenger an enemy,― evil ones men and Jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception. If thy Lord had so willed, they would not have done it: so leave them and their inventions alone.

To such (deceit) let the hearts of those incline, who have no faith in the Hereafter: let them delight in it and let them earn from it what they may.” (al-An’am  112-113)

While the Prophet calls people to Allah, some human and jinn devils utter some flowery and grandiose words to make people doubt and alienate them from the religion. For instance, they say,  
-Why have Muslims been in a terrible situation economically for hundreds of years if Islam is the true religion?
-That person performs prayers but he is immoral. That is, the religion does not make them acquire high ethics.
-Why should alcohol be haram? If Allah created the grapes, should wine, which is produced from them, not be halal?

Such flowery words cause many people doubt the religion of Islam and prevent them from benefiting from Islam. In fact, there are clear answers to those questions. However, when people do not know those answers, they may be deceived by the delusions of Satan. 

Satan subverts the criteria of value

The Criteria of the All-Compassionate and Satan are opposite to each other. Therefore, Satan wants to subvert the criteria of value; he calls halal what is haram and he calls haram what is halal.

For instance, it exists in the nature of man to believe in the true religion and to live in accordance with it. However, according to Satan and his accomplices, “Religion is the opium of the people; it numbs people and makes them lazy.”

As a religious judgment, alcohol is “an abomination of Satan's handiwork.” However, according to Satan, alcohol is a part of life.  In addition, according to those who are the slaves of Satan, alcohol “is a must for civilization. A person who does not drink alcohol cannot be a modern person.”

As a religious judgment, it is haram and a sin to take bribes. However, according to Satan, it is foolish not to take bribes. 

Therefore, the following prayer is one of the most famous of the ummah:

“O Allah! Show us the truth as truth and make us follow it.

Show us the wrong as wrong and make us avoid it.”

Satan drives a wedge between people

Man has a nature that is keen on his own interests. Consequently, people have conflicts of interest among them. 

The religion aims to train that keenness on interests in people and make them people that make self-sacrifices for one another. Allah states the following in the Quran:

Say to My servants that they should (only) say those things that are best: for Satan doth sow dissensions among them: for Satan is to man an avowed enemy. (al-Isra, 53)

In fact, all people are the brothers of one another in terms of their ancestor because they are all the grandchildren of Adam. However, Satan makes them forget this relation and cause them to fight one another.

For instance, he maligns racism; he says to some people, “You are the master race; you are a noble nation.” Thus, he makes them invaders. 

The religion declares believers to be brothers but he spreads separatist views among them, making believers enemies to one another. This enmity can sometimes cause wars. Or, he magnifies the small problems among them so much that the parties do not show love and respect to one another. 

He may even make brothers born of the same parents enemies to one another due to a small question of inheritance.

Satan frightens people

Satan wants to prevent people from doing good deeds by frightening them. There may be different manifestations of it. The verses of the Quran enlighten us regarding the issue. For instance, 

1-”Satan threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly.” (al-Baqara,  268)

“To give something away for the sake of Allah” is an important principle in the religion. However, Satan tries to prevent it by saying, “If you give it away, your goods will decrease. Why should you give it away?”

In fact, goods do not decrease when you give them away. They may decrease but Allah makes them abundant. When you draw water from a well, new water comes; if you do not draw water from a well, it becomes still and has a bad smell. If you prune the branches off a tree, it becomes stronger and yields more fruits.

2- “Those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts met,― it was Satan who caused them to fail because of some (evil) they had done. But Allah has blotted out (their fault): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing.” (Aal-i-Imran, 155)

The verse is related to the Battle of Uhud. Two tribes wanted to return at the beginning of the battle due to the delusions of Satan.

The battlefield is also a field of struggle against Satan. Before the battle in the field, a battle takes place in the hearts. Satan tries to frighten the believers and intimidate them through the broadcasts he makes from the center called “the Satanic delusion”. He sometimes becomes successful. While the battle continues in the field, the battle in the heart continues, too. The battle in the field ends but the battle in the heart continues severely. 

3-“It is only the Evil One that suggests to you the fear of his votaries: be ye not afraid of them, but fear Me, if ye have Fait.” (Aal-i-Imran, 175)

This verse is also related to the Battle of Uhud. Muslims were defeated in Uhud. While leaving the battlefield with his army, Abu Sufyan shouts at the Prophet, 

“We took the revenge of Badr. Let us meet in Badr next year.”

The Messenger of Allah says, “Inshaallah”.

When the time that has been determined comes, Abu Sufyan sets off with his army. However, he has a fear in his heart. He wants to return. He meets Nuaym b. Masud on the way. He sends Nuaym to Madinah for intimidating propaganda. Nuaym b. Mas’ud arrives in Madinah and says, “Abu Sufyan is coming with an invincible army. I swear by Allah that not even one of you will survive.”

Against this propaganda, the Messenger of Allah says to the Companions, “I will fight against them even if I am alone”, showing his resoluteness. He goes to Badr together with the Companions. They stays there for eight days do some shopping and return. This expedition is called the Expeditionof Sawiq.

The Quran mentions that expedition as follows:

Men said to them: "A great army is gathering against you, so fear them": but it (only) increased their Faith. They said: "For us Allah sufficeth, and He is the best disposer of affairs.

And they returned with Grace and Bounty from Allah: no harm ever touched them; for they followed the good pleasure of Allah: and Allah is the Lord of bounties unbounded.” (Aal-i-Imran, 173-174)

Satan does not let man confess his mistakes

When Satan was asked why he had opposed to the divine order, he tried to defend his disobedience instead of saying, “I made a mistake; forgive me”. That is, not to confess one’s mistake is a Satanic characteristic; to admit one’s mistake and to ask for forgiveness is a nice act. A person who sees his mistake as a mistake tries to get rid of it; however, a person who does not admit his mistake cannot get rid of it.

In the Quran, Allah repeatedly calls us to repent and ask for forgiveness. He orders His Prophet the following:

“Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for the fault, and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes.” (Muhammad, 19)

The Prophet himself constantly asked for forgiveness and encouraged his ummah to do so.  (Bukhari, Daawat 3)

The Prophet says, “I swear by Allah that I ask Allah for forgiveness more than seventy times a day.” In some other hadiths, it is stated that the Prophet asked for forgiveness a hundred times a day. (Muslim, Dhikr,  41; Abu Dawud, Witr,  26)

Hazrat Abu Hurayra states the following:

“I have not seen a person who asks for forgiveness more than the Prophet.”

As a matter of fact, prophets are innocent. The Prophet asked for forgiveness at least seventy times a day because he wanted to be a good model for his ummah. 

There is an ideal form of everything. Even if a person does very good things, he needs to ask for forgiveness for fear that he cannot attain that ideal form. The asking for forgiveness of the Prophet can be seen from this point of view.

Satan leaves people in the lurch

Satan arouses and motivates people but then leaves them in the lurch.

We see an example of it in the Quran when the Battle of Badr is narrated:

Satan, who uses every opportunity to deviate man, is active in the Battle of Bdr, too: 

Remember Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them, and said: "No one among men can overcome you this day, while I am near to you": but when the two forces came in sight of each other he turned on his heels and said: "Lo! I am clear of you; lo! I see what ye see not; lo! I fear Allah; for Allah is strict in punishment.’“ (al-Anfal, 48)

In the explanation of the verse, there are some narrations stating, “Satan was seen under the disguise of Suraka b. Malik before the Battle of Badr and encouraged the people of Makkah to fight in the battle.” It may also mean that Suraka spoke so because he was inspired by Satan.

Besides, it should not be forgotten that Satan does not have be under the disguise of anybody to cause delusions. Therefore, we can regard his deceiving Makkans as deceiving other people, too. Satan encouraged and flattered the polytheists and he was frightened and fled when he saw the army of the angels. There is no difference between Satan making a murderer kill someone or making a thief steal something and flattering polytheists before the battle by saying, “No one can overcome you today...”.

The following is stated in the Quran about Satan leaving people in the lurch:

(Their allies deceived them), like the Evil One, when he says to man "Deny Allah"; but when (man) denies Allah (the Evil One) says "I am free of thee: I do fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. (al-Hashr, 16)

The reason why the verse was sent down is related to the munafiqs of Madinah encouraging Banu Nadir Jews to fight against believers. They said, “If ye are expelled, we too will go out with you and we will never hearken to anyone in your affair; and if ye are attacked (in fight), we will help you." However, when the battle started, they turned their backs. (al-Hashr,  11-12)

That is what Satan does. He encourages man to do bad deeds. While doing it, he acts as if he wants good things for man. However, when he throws man into unbelief, he says he is free of the man and turns his back.

According to most of the scholars, Satan will say he is far away and free of them on the Day of Judgment, which is more appropriate in terms of the apparent meaning of the verse.

Some scholars interpreted Satan as Iblis and the man mentioned in the verse as Abu Jahl. It is certain that Abu Jahl was deceived by Satan but it is also obvious that there is no definite sign indicating that meaning. 

In fact, religion is a test. It is necessary to distinguish between lofty spirits like diamond and mean spirits like coal. Satan and his accomplices are necessary for this operation of distinguishing. 

Satan encourages people to drink alcohol and to gamble

“Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination― of Satan's handiwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.  Satan's plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain?” (al-Maida, 90-91)

Alcohol and gambling are harmful diseases that have been seen in almost every community since the first age. Today, they have reached extremely crazy dimensions.  Governments, which have to prevent their citizens from harmful things, were deceived – so to speak – by Satan and they established breweries and distilleries and legitimized gambling. In fact, governments, which struggle against narcotics, must struggle against alcohol and gambling, too. 

Some of the harms of alcohol and gambling are stated as follows in the verse:
1- They cause enmity and hatred among people.
2- They hinder people from remembrance of Allah.
3- They hinder people from worshipping like prayers.

A drunken man is a man with problems. His mental faculties do not function well. He does not get on well with people. He cannot have a happy family life.

The word translates as “gambling” is mentioned as “maysir” in the verse. This word includes all kinds of haram earnings obtained easily like gambling, lottery, football pools, lotto, etc. What is essential in Islam is to work. Those things that are earned easily make people rich by battening on others. 

A person who gambles is always in stress. He is egoistic because he lives based on the losses of others. He actually loses even when he wins because he loses many values like dignity, honor and high ethics while he wins. 

There are two more things that are forbidden along with alcohol and gambling in the verse: idols and fortune arrows.

Idols continue to exist today with various kinds.

The prohibition of fortune arrows actually means the prohibition of all kinds of fortune telling. In the Era of Jahiliyyah, Arabs used to draw lots by using arrows and they tried to find out signs about the future. Those who wanted to do some important things like traveling, trade, marriage, etc drew arrows of luck to find out whether they would be good for them. The arrows of luck were in the bag in the hand of the guard of Hubal. Somebody who wanted to draw arrows of luck would go before Hubal give some money to the guard and the guard would draw an arrow from the bag.   

People would act in accordance with those arrows. For instance, if the arrow had, “my Lord ordered me to do it” on it, they would do it; if the arrow had, “my Lord prohibited me from doing it” on it, they would not do it.

Satan makes people forget

Forgetting is one of the weaknesses of man. The worst kind of forgetting is to forget Allah and the hereafter and to do deeds that are contrary to the purpose of being sent to the world. It is complete heedlessness.

Some people pretend to be believers although they do not believe. God Almighty states the following about those munafiqs:

“The Evil One has got the better of them: So he has made them lose the remembrance of Allah. They are the Party of the Evil One. Truly, it is the Party of the Evil One that will perish!” (al-Mujadila, 19)

One of the most important weaknesses of the soul is to forget. Hazrat Adam, the first man, was ordered not to approach the forbidden tree but he forgot about that order, approached the tree and ate the fruit of the tree.

That characteristic of Adam is present in all of the children of Adam. That is, man is a forgetful being.

For instance, he forgets what he ate yesterday; he forgets the promise he made to his friend; he forgets his appointments…

However, the most terrifying of them is to forget Allah, not to keep his promise he made to Him and to forget the orders and prohibitions of Allah. Such forgetfulness is complete heedlessness. Allah states the following about such heedless people: 

And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget themselves souls! such are the rebellious transgressors. (al-Hashr, 19)

They no longer look at their own souls; they keep themselves busy with others. For instance, they never notice their own faults but they always see the faults of others. They regard themselves as free from mistakes. They never remember that they will die one day. They daydream as if they will live in the world eternally.  

The verses: “The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things), until ye visit the graves.” mention the state of such people. (at-Takathur, 1-2) while they say, “my property, my wealth, my rank”, life ends suddenly and those heedless people find themselves in the grave. 

That is, the punishment of forgetting Allah is to forget the soul. A person who forgets his soul cannot deal with it and cannot educate it.

Satan proceeds to the target step by step

O ye who believe! Follow not Satan's footsteps: if any will follow the footsteps of Satan he will (but) command what is indecent and wrong... (an-Nur, 21; al-Baqara, 168, 208; al-An’am, 142)

In the verse, following the way of Satan is likened to following the footsteps of someone. Those who follow his footsteps cannot get rid of being his slaves. In the verse above and in verse 169 of the chapter al-Baqara, the following is stated: “Satan commands what is indecent and wrong.” The word “commands” indicates that those who follow him are his civil servants. 

Satan has a road map about everybody. Satan knows how to approach a person. For instance, he will not say to a person who performs prayers regularly five times a day, “That is enough. Do not perform prayers any more!” Instead, he will persuade him to perform the morning prayer at home instead of the mosque; he will say, “The weather is cold; it is also your duty to take care of your health. Perform the prayer at home today.” In another phase, he will try to make him perform all his prayers at home. In the next phase, he will cause him not to wake up for the morning prayer. If he can, he will make him abandon prayers completely. 

Satan does not start by saying, “come on, drink some raqi!” First, he makes man drink something light like beer. Then, he makes him be curious about other kinds of alcoholic drinks. Then, he says, “you have tried all of them; taste this gin, too”. Thus, Satan destroys him.

He does not suggest illegitimate intercourse to a young man and woman who know about haram at once. He starts a clean friendship at first. In the course of time, he makes them have an illegitimate sexual intercourse.

Satan strives against prophets, too

Hazrat Adam was the first man and the first prophet; as it was mentioned earlier, Satan strived against him, too. He also strived against other prophets. 

For instance, let us have a look at the case of Hazrat Ibrahim and his son, Hazrat Ismail. The event of Hazrat Ibrahim sacrificing his son, Ismail, is narrated in the Quran.

Then when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! do as thou art commanded: thou will find me if Allah so wills one practicing Patience and Constancy. (as-Saaffat, 102)

The dreams of prophets are like revelation. Therefore, Hazrat Ibrahim told his son about his dream. His son, Ismail, surrendered to that judgment. The divine aim was to test the father and the son and to inform people about the sacrifice as a form of worshipping.

Satan suggested delusions to both Hazrat Hagar and Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ismail. However, none of them heeded what he said.

Satan said to Hazrat Hagar, “Your husband will sacrifice Ismail.” Hazrat Hagar did not listen to Satan. He said to Hazrat Ibrahim, “Can a man act upon a dream?” Satan suggested delusions to Hazrat Ismail, in three places saying, “Your father will slaughter you.” However, they all threw stones at him and did not heed what he said.

Today, the places where Satan is stoned in Mina during Hajj, are the places where Hazrat Ismail chased away and stoned Satan and where he agreed being sacrificed willingly by obeying the order of Allah.

We see another example of the issue regarding Jesus: Satan opposed to Jesus and said
“Since death and everything is based on the predestination of Allah, jump down from a high place and you will see that you will die.”
Jesus said:
“God Almighty tests His slaves and says: ‘If you do this, I will do that; do it and see what happens.’ However, the slave has no right to test god Almighty and say, ‘If I do this, will you do that?’”

Satan deceives scholars, too

Knowledge is among the values that elevate man. However, knowledge without deeds is not enough. Some people may rise to the rank of scholars but they may deviate despite their knowledge and be ridiculed by Satan. The following verse describes very effectively the low level of those who fall into deviation despite their knowledge:    

Relate to them the story of the man to whom We sent our signs, but he passed them by: so Satan followed him up, and he went astray. If it had been Our will, We should have elevated him with our signs; but he inclined to the earth, and followed his own vain desires. His similitude is that of a dog: if you attack him, he lolls out his tongue or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls out his tongue. That is the similitude of those who reject Our signs (al-A’raf,  175-176)

The verse describes the state of the bad scholar who acts contrarily to his knowledge. His fall into deviation originates from his knowledge not from his ignorance. He prefers unbelief to belief deliberately. 

 The word “insilakh” is used in the verse in order to express exiting belief in such a way as not to return. Insilakh is used in the sense of shedding the skin for an animal. It is significant that the statement, “Satan followed him up is used, not “he followed Satan”. That expression shows that Satan hunted him.

The dog is the dirtiest animal; its value is low and it has the meanest soul. What it thinks is only its stomach. It has a strong greed. It gives consent to the lowest things. It regards carcass to be better than fresh meat. If a dog finds a carcass, even if it is enough for one hundred dogs, it will not share it with anyone and will snarl at the ones that will approach. One of the unpleasant states of the dog is lolling out its tongue; people who follow Satan are likened to a dog like that. 

There are various narrations about the identity of the person described in the verse as one of the scholars from the children of Israel, Umayya b. Abi Salt or Bal’am b. Baura. Umayya b. Abi Salt learned from the heavenly books that Allah would send a prophet but he expected that he himself was going to be the prophet. When the Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was sent as the prophet, he denied the prophet due to his envy. The Prophet said, “His poetry believes but his heart is an unbeliever” about him.

Bal’am was a person who had some knowledge about divine books. However, as Hamdi Yazır points out, what is aimed by this narration is not the description of that person but understanding the state of such a scholar. It is possible to see people like the one described in the verse in each period. 

Satan leads people to wrong conclusions by acting upon some truths

One important trick of Satan is to draw wrong conclusions by acting upon some truths. If he bases his tricks on wrong things, it will be noticed. However, the fact that he sometimes uses the truths makes him more dangerous. 

We see the first example of such a situation in the case of Satan avoiding prostration before Adam:

“(Allah) said: "what prevented thee from bowing down when I commanded thee?" He said: "I am better than he: thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay."” (al-A’raf, 12)

In the sentence of Satan: “I am better than he: thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay”, there is one correct and one incorrect judgment.  This part is correct: “thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay”. However, it is wrong to say, “I am better than he is”, acting upon the first correct judgment.

Sometimes, Satan can cause a delusion like this:
-Was not everything determined by qadar?
-Yes, that is right.
-Then, you are a prisoner of qadar. Your qadar condemned you to commit those sins!”

However, it is wrong to draw such a conclusion acting upon the fact that everything was determined by qadar because we were given the will by qadar, too. The divine qadar program that put the sun to a certain orbit forced us to choose one of the various alternatives.  “To be bound to choose something does not eliminate the will.” Or, we can express it in another way: “Man is bound to be free.”

In the following two verses, we can see how people draw wrong conclusions due to the delusions of Satan:

1-”The worshippers of false gods say: "If Allah had so willed, we should not have worshipped aught but Him― neither we nor our fathers― nor should we have prescribed prohibitions other than His.’” (an-Nahl,  35)

2- “they say "If it had been the will of (Allah), Most Gracious, We should not have worshipped such (deities)!" Of that they have no knowledge! They do nothing but lie.” (az-Zukhruf, 20)

The expressions: “If Allah had so willed, we should not have worshipped aught but Him― neither we nor our fathers― nor should we have prescribed prohibitions other than His” in the first verse are actually true. However, the point that they are wrong is the fact that Allah let them free regarding the issue.

The expressions: “If it had been the will of (Allah), Most Gracious, We should not have worshipped such (deities)” in the second verse are also true. However, the point that they overlook is the fact that Allah leaves people free to use their own will regarding those issues. Otherwise, there would be no testing and it would be impossible to talk about the good deeds of the good people and the bad deeds of the bad people. A person is not free to choose being male or female but he is completely free to choose belief or unbelief.

Satan leads people to the precipice

Say: "Shall we indeed call on others besides Allah― things that can do us neither good nor harm― and turn on our heels after receiving guidance from Allah― like one whom the evil ones have made into a fool, wandering bewildered through the earth, his friends calling `Come to us' (vainly) guiding him to the Path."…(al-An’am,  71)

The verse describes the situation of a person who deviates from the way of Islam by following the footsteps of Satan. Muslims call him but he does not heed them. According to the belief of Arabs in the Era of Jahiliyyah, when a person proceeds in the desert, a jinni or ghost appears and shouts to him, “Come this way” and leads him to the precipice.

We can explain the example in detail as follows: One person remains behind the caravan and is lost. He does not know where to go. He looks around in a puzzled way and walks here and there unconsciously. His friends start to seek him and see him in the distance. Meanwhile, the devils step in and shout at him, “Come this way!” The direction that they call is the precipice. If he goes toward the place where the devils call, he will be destroyed. When his friends see that he is doing toward destruction, they shout as loudly as they can, “come toward us!”, calling him to the right path.

There are some people who are lost in the human caravan that proceeds in the desert of the body and that is a candidate for the endless bliss. The devils and devilish people resort to all kinds of ways to drag those puzzled people into the pit of Hell. The people on the true path want to save those people and call them to the guided way.

The nonsense of Satanic Verses

“Did Satan and jinn bring anything to the Prophet as they brought some things to soothsayers and mediums? That is, did they intervene in the revelation in any way?” This issue has been on the agenda from time to time since the beginning of Islam. A similar approach is present in the claims of Makkan polytheists about the Prophet stating that he was a soothsayer or mad. That is, they say, “Satan sometimes whispers to him those things.”

This verse of the Quran is an answer than can silence them: 

“No evil ones have brought down this (Revelation): It would neither suit them nor would they be able (to produce it). Indeed they have been removed far from even (a chance of) hearing it..” (ash-Shuara,  210-212)

That is, to bring something like that is contrary to the nature of Satan. Satans have mischief and aberration in their nature; they will never state things that order what is good that prohibit what is bad and that guide people to the right way. Suppose that they wanted to do so, they would be dismissed from the sky by angels and heavenly catapults.   

There exists a fine point in the fact that they were prevented from listening to the Quran when it was revealed:

If Satans could have listened to it, they would have informed the soothsayers about it. Then, they would have said, “What was sent to Muhammad was sent to such and such a soothsayer” and trust in the revelation would have been unsettled.  However, as it is stated by this verse:  “"He (alone) knows the Unseen, nor does He make any one acquainted with His Mysteries― "Except an messenger whom He has chosen: and then He makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him,”, guarding angels watched when the message was sent down to the Prophet. (al-Jinn,  26-27)

One of the wisdoms behind the fact that the angels observed is to prevent Satan from trying to seem to the Prophet in the form of an angel.

One of the issues that devilish people who want to make people doubt the divine revelation bring forward through “the revelation” they take from their own Satans is the trash of “Satanic verses” or “the event of Gharaniq.

They try to support their ideas through the following verses: 
“Never did We send an messenger or a prophet before thee but when he framed a desire, Satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but Allah will cancel anything (vain) that Satan throws in, and Allah will confirm (and establish) His Signs: for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom:

That He may make the suggestions thrown in by Satan, but a trial for those in whose hearts is a disease and who are hardened of heart: verily the wrongdoers are in a schism far (from the Truth):

And that those on whom knowledge has been bestowed may learn that the (Qur'an) is the Truth from thy Lord, and that they may believe therein, and their hearts may be made humbly (open) to it: for verily Allah is the Guide of those who believe to the Straight Way.” (al-Hajj, 52-54)

Zamakhshari, an interpreter (mufassir), mentions the following narration while explaining those verses: 

The tribe of Hazrat Prophet had turned away from him; his relatives had not supported him; they had opposed him. The Messenger of Allah had been disturbed by their turning away from him and desired them to become Muslims. Therefore, he did not want anything that would drive them away from him to be revealed so that they would tend to become Muslims and give up their obstinacy. When he was together with people from his tribe and he was in such a state, the chapter of an-Najm was sent down. He started to recite:  

When he was reading the verses “Have ye seen Lat an Uzza? And another, the third (goddess) Manat?” (an-Najm, 19-20), Satan intervened his thoughts causing him delusion. The Prophet said, “These are the exalted Gharaniq, whose intercession is hoped for” by mistake. The Messenger of Allah did not notice that he said so. Then, he noticed it thanks to his attribute of innocence. (There is also a narration stating that Jibril warned him). Or according to another narration, Satan uttered that couplet. People heard that couplet. When the Prophet prostrated at the end of the chapter, the polytheists who were there prostrated complacently.

The narration that led the enemies of the religion to the claim of “satanic verses” and that became known as “Gharaniq” is what is explained above.

Now, let us deal with the content of this narration in various aspects:

1. It is a clear contradiction for those who reject the divine revelation to try to use the Quran as evidence.
2. That Zamakhshari quotes this narration does not mean that he accepts it. It is possible that he quoted it as a piece of information.
3. This narration was not accepted as true by most interpreters.
4. The information that the chapter of an-Najm was recited and that the polytheists prostrated together with the Muslims at the end of the chapter exist in hadith collections but the sentence about Gharaniq does not exist. 
For instance, the following is reported in the Sahih of Bukhari from Ibn Mas’ud:
“The first chapter in which a verse of prostration was sent is the chapter of an-Najm. When this chapter was sent down, the Messenger of Allah prostrated. The people who were there prostrated, too. However, I saw a man take a handful of soil from the ground and prostrate on it.” (Bukhari, Tafsir, 53/4)
5. In one of the narrations reported by Zamakhshari, it is stated that Satan uttered that statement. Even if there were something like the event of Gharaniq, it was an intervention in order to sabotage the recital of the Prophet. As a matter of fact, today when a person makes a speech, his opponents can shout slogans.  
6. When Yaqut al-Hamawi describes Uzza in his book, Mu’jamu’l-Buldan, he quotes the poem mentioning Gharaniq and say polytheists recited that poem when they circumambulated the Kaaba. Then, this statement does not belong to the Prophet; it is Satanic delusion belonging to polytheists. 
7. The beginning of this chapter indicates clearly that this narration is wrong:

Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him. (an-Najm,  3-4)

As it is understood from the views quoted above, there is no indication showing that Satan intervened in the revelation in the narration that is tried to be made famous as “the Event of Gharaniq”. However, the religion is a testing. It is stated in the verse that it was a mischief (fitnah). (al-Hajj, 53) Fitnah lexically means to put metals like gold and silver into fire to understand whether they are fake or not. As a result of this testing, people with diamond spirits like Abu Bakr will be distinguished from people with coal spirits like Abu Jahl.

Is it regarded unbelief to dream unbelief?

The most important and dangerous delusion of Satan is related to the issues of belief. He carries it out by making people confuse dream and reality.

A person can sometimes dream unbelief and polytheism. For instance,
“What would happen if there were more than one god?”
“what if everything ends with death? What if there is no hereafter?”
“What if qadar binds us?…”
To dream those things does not mean to accept them.

Islamic scholars have determined this criterion: “to dream unbelief is not unbelief.” When man dreams to eat something, his stomach is not filled; when he dreams to have a fortune, he does not become rich; similarly, when he dreams unbelief, he does not become an unbeliever. 

The dirt seen on the mirror is not dirt; the image of a snake on the mirror will not bite; the image of the fire on the mirror will not burn. Similarly, the dirty memories related to unbelief that come from outside without based on a person’s will do not harm a person. 

When the Prophet was asked about the delusion caused by Satan, he said,

Does a thief enter a house in which there is nothing? That is what belief is. (Muslim, Iman, 211)

The answer of the Prophet mentions a principle that relieves the people who suffer delusions. That is, the delusions that come to the heart and that disturb the heart do not harm belief; on the contrary, they prove belief because the heart of the person who is exposed to delusions is disturbed by them; that is, he does not accept those delusions. It shows the belief existing in him. 

Satan approaches from four directions

When Satan did not prostrate, he was dismissed from divine mercy. Since he was punished because of man, he wanted authority from Allah in order to disturb and deviate him. When he was given the authority, Satan said:

He said: "Because thou hast thrown me out of the Way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on Thy straight Way. "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). (al-A’raf, 16-17)

What is first understood from those sentences of Satan is that he tries to do his best in order to make man deviate from the way to Allah. Satan is very ambitious and determined regarding the issue. Satan is the greatest obstacle on the way to Allah.

Satan sits on the way of Islam for man and says to him,“Will you abandon the religion of your ancestors?” He does not heed what Satan says and becomes a Muslim. Then Satan sits on the way of migration and says to man, “If you leave your country, wou will be lonely.” He does not heed what Satan says and migrates. Then, he sits on the way of jihad and says to him, “If you go to the war, you will be killed; your property will be shared by others; your wife will marry someone else.” He overcomes this last obstacle, too. Then, he proceeds. (Nasai,  Jihad,  19)

Fakhraddin Razi reports the following in his tafsir:

The angels felt pity for man when they saw the resoluteness of Satan and said, “How can man get rid of Satan when he has surrounded him from four directions?”

God Almighty said to them,

“There are two more directions as down and up. If man opens his hands upward and asks from me in modesty? Or if he prostrates in awe? I will forgive his sins of seventy years.”

The approaching of Satan from the front, back, right and left can be understood in different ways.

For instance, there is the Doomsday and the hereafter in front of man; Satan makes him deny them. There is the world behind him; Satan makes him turn toward the world. When he approaches from the right, he tries to prevent man from doing good deeds and charities.

For instance, when man wants to give sadaqah, he tries to prevent him by saying, “In fact, you need this and that; why do you give money to that beggar?” Or, he acts upon the principle of the lesser of the two evils; he keeps man busy with small charities to prevent him from doing big charities. He acts as if he wants the goodness of man but prevents him from doing charities. For instance, he persuades a man who can do big charities and serve believers to lead his own life and prevents others from benefitting from him. 

When Satan approaches from the left, he makes man see bad deeds as good deeds by decorating them; he wants to make man spiritually dirty through the stains of sins.

From another point of view, the four directions can be understood as follows: the front as dream and imagination, the back as delusion and groundless fear, the right as lust and the left as wrath.

Satan keeps the imagination of man busy with wrong and superstitious things. As it is known, man first imagines and then he does things. For instance, before a thief burgles a house, he burgles it imaginatively many times; then, he burgles it in reality. Every sin starts with imagination.

Satan used delusion and groundless fear to prevent good deeds and charities.  For instance, when a person wants to give an important portion of his property away as charity, Satan steps in and says to him, “what if you lose your work and become needy in the future? What if this or that happens?...”, causing him to make calculations; thus, he may prevent good deeds and charities.

Lust is related to the desires of man. Satan deceives man regarding ranks, fame, satisfying pleasures, etc. 

Wrath is related to the fury of man. There is a saying, “There is no mind in the fury.” When fury is active in man, the mind becomes deactivated; that person becomes ready to do any madness due to the encouragement of Satan. For instance, when the cow of a person enters his neighbor’s garden and eats one or two tomatoes, his neighbor utters such bad words that a reasonable mind will not approve them; or, he acts so foolishly that even a child does not behave like that. Sometimes, it may continue until one of them kills the other. One of them goes to the grave and the other to prison; he lives regretfully until the end of his life. 

Shaqiq Balhi, a great saint, says the following, which can be regarded as the interpretation of the verse above:

“I am attacked by Satan from four directions every morning. When he comes from the front, he says, “Do whatever you want. Allah is the Forgiver and the All*Compassionate.” I answer him uttering this verse:

Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful; And that My Penalty will be indeed the most grievous Penalty. (al-Hijr,  49-50)

When he approaches from behind, he frightens me mentioning the possibility of the risk of poverty for me and my family. Then, I read him the following verse:

There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance depends on Allah... (Hud,  6)

When he approaches from the right, he tries to praise and elevate me mentioning my good deeds; he says, “There is no one who worships like you in the world.” I silence him by reading the following verse:

...So persevere patiently: for the End is for those who are righteous. (Hud, 49)

(That is, it is necessary to see the end of it, not today. When a person sets out to go somewhere, he is not regarded to be successful until re reaches his destination. For instance, if a person who drives to Ankara from Istanbul has an accident in the last kilometer, he cannot reach his destination.)

When he approaches from the left, he shows me the beauties and the lustful pleasures of the world; he tries to arouse my pleasures. Then, I remind him the following divine statement:

…And between them and their desires, is placed a barrier ―. (Saba’, 54)

(That is, the people of Hell are terrified when they are exposed to the torture of Hell; there will be no desires left for them. For instance, when the most beautiful meals are put before a person who undergoes torture, he will not desire them.)

When I recite them, Satan returns without obtaining anything.”

Satan tries to steal man’s belief

Satan is a thief; he tries to steal the most valuable jewel of man in his heart, that is, his belief. Today, the doubts that are seen almost everywhere regarding belief prove that Satan works very hard to this end. For 70 years, a delusion like, “Religion is the opium of the people” was one of the fundamental principles of a state that was based on communism. In that system, a war had been declared against “what is sacred”. Nowadays, religion is in a more respectable state worldwide. However, the delusions of Satan regarding the issue are not over.

Satan insists on stealing the belief of man. He insists until the last minute. Even in football, there may be surprises in the last minute; similarly, Satan works hard to steal even the belief of people who have taqwa through his delusions in their deathbed and to send them from this world as deniers.

Theoretically, it is possible for Satan to steal the belief of a person but people who have strong belief get ready for the last minute throughout their life; therefore, their belief is under protection; even if Satans come with their armies, they will not be able to do anything to them. Their belief is not in their mind only; it is in the depths of their hearts; Satans cannot penetrate into those depths. 

Satan leads people to fire

The one who was created out of fire will end up in fire. However, he does not want to be alone in fire; he wants to have many people, who were sent to the earth as vicegerents, with him in fire!

If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of Most Gracious, We appoint for him an evil one to be an intimate companion to him. Such (evil ones) really hinder them from the Path but they think that they are being guided aright! At length when (such a one) comes to Us, he says (to his evil companion): "Would that between me and thee were the distance of East and West!" Ah! Evil is the companion (indeed)! When ye have done wrong, it will avail you nothing, that day, that ye shall be partners in punishment!. (az-Zukhruf, 36-39)

It is understood that the bodies of those who follow Satan will burn in fire and their spirits will burn in repentance. However, this last repentance will not be of any use; they will not be able to be saved from fire.

It is necessary to be protected from Satan so as not to suffer such a disastrous end. First, it is necessary to know the ways of protection from Satan and then to apply them. In the next chapter, the way of protection from Satan will be explained. To apply them is up to the volitional resoluteness of the individual. A person who does not use the medicine he has cannot be cured. If one does not apply the means of protection from Satan, they will not be of any use.

Satan is not an angel but a jinn. Like the human beings, the jinn have been given the freedom of obeying or disobeying by their will.

He explains why Satan was also included in the command of “Prostration before Adam” together with the angels although he was not one of the angels, as follows: “When Allah Most Exalted commanded angels to prostrate before Adam, Satan was also included in this command. For although he was not of their kind, he resembled them and performed their deeds. Therefore, Satan was also counted as addressee to this command which was directed to angels. And he was condemned because he did not fulfill the command.” (36)
Ibn Kasir, 1/133.

Iblis, the Ancestor of the Jinn and the Satans

Several opinions have been put forward about who the ancestor of the jinn and the satans was. As it was mentioned before, it was stated that “Jann” mentioned in the surahs (chapter of the Holy Qur'an) ar-Rahman and al-Hijr, was the name of the being who was the ancestor of the jinn, and Iblis was also from his descendants. People having this opinion stated that in terms of the jinn and the satans, Iblis was at the status of Noah (peace be upon him) as regards to the humans. Namely, as all people were destroyed after the Deluge of Noah except his generation and he virtually became the second ancestor of the human beings, mainly according to some narrations from Israeli sources, because of their extreme disobedience, when the jinn were killed by the armies of angels, Iblis, who had not rebelled yet, became the second ancestor of the jinn and the subsequent jinn came into existence from his generation.
However, it is not the commonly accepted opinion. As we have indicated briefly while mentioning the meanings of those names, as we take the related ayahs (verses) of the Qur’an and the hadiths (sayings or traditions of the Prophet Muhammad)as a base, the opinion that Iblis is the ancestor of the jinn and the satans is more acceptable. Therefore, we named the heading as “Iblis, the Anchestor of the Jinn and the Satans” and we will discuss the subject from that point of view. In addition, so to speak, we will follow a chronological order while we discuss the subject.   

A) THE CREATION OF IBLIS

In two places in the Noble Qur’an, it is stated that Iblis was created from fire(1).  When he was commanded to prostrate before Adam (peace be upon him), he indicated his essence, namely the thing he was created from and said “You did create me from fire, and him from clay.” (the Qur’an, The Heights (Al-Aráf); 12 (7: 12) and Sad; 76 (38: 76)) as the reason of why he had not prostrated before Adam. Those words, which Almighty Allah narrates us as the words of Satan, inform us about the creation of Iblis. 
In two places in the Qur’an, it is stated that “Jann” was created from fire. The ayah “And he created the jinns from maarij of fire” (Qur’an, The Most Beneficient (Ar-Rahman); 15 (55:15)) informs that the creation is from “maarij”. Maarij means both fire mixed with smoke and smokeless-pure fire. However, the fact that ayah also mentions the word fire indicates that is smokeless-pure fire. Thus, it is comprehended that Jann was created from pure- unadulterated fire (2). According to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that expression means “the most beautiful and the pure fire.” According to Mujahid, it is the yellow-greenish flame rising when a fire is candled(3). Alusi explains it as “the smokeless pure flame”(4). If it is noticed, all of those signify almost the same meaning. 

“As Almighty Allah stated that He had created human from dry clay, that is, pure, juicy mud. He also stated that Jann had been created from pure fire. If it is asked how the word maarij can be said to have the meaning “mixed” although it also has the meaning “pure”, the answer is as follows: “When the fire is strong, its flames rise and mix with each other to the upmost level and they become one-piece just like well mixed mud whose pieces are blended with each other in a favorable and harmonic way and can not be distinguished from each other. That situation can also be observed in a well flamed oven. If some woods are thrown into the fire, it ignites them immediately. In the same way, the “maarij” that the jinns have been created from is a fire whose parts have been mixed with each other and have become one piece and the smoke of that fire, flame and parts burning on the ground cannot be distinguished from each other.”(5)

In the second ayah about this subject, Almighty Allah states the creation of the two kinds of beings and He says: “We created man from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape. And the jinn We created before, from the fire of samum.” (the Qur’an, The Rocky Tract (Al-Hijr); 26,27 (15: 26,27)). As it is comprehended from the ayah, Jann was created before the human beings (6). If the creation of the human beings is considered to be the last ring in the creation of the universe, Jann has been created as the penultimate ring (7). 

About “the samum fire” mentioned in the ayah, some said, “It is the flame of the fire.” And some others said, “It is the simoom which is hot at the perishing degree”(8). With the help of the previous ayah, that is understood to be a kind of fire. However, since it penetrates through the pores of the skin of the body, it is called as “samum”. The wind penetrating into human is also called as “simoom” because of that (9). In a relation, it is declared: “Samum is the smokeless fire and the stars are also created from that fire” (10) and it shows that “the samum fire” and the “maarij of the fire” mentioned in the previous ayah are the same. According to it, one of those words telling the same thing declares that fire is a pure and smokeless fire and the other declares that it is burning and parching. Alusi points to it while he is explaining the “samum fire” as “the supremely fervent fire”(11). In some hadiths, it is informed that the fire Jann was created from is much hotter than the fires we know. According to a hadith Abu Dawud at-Tawalisi relates from Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him), “The fires (we see in the world) are seventy degrees lighter than the fire Jann has been created from.”(12)

Putting a new approach forward about our subject in his book, Ahmad Khulusi states that the “samum fire” in the ayah may be rays and he puts the following ideas forward: “In the Noble Qur’an, taking the level of the comprehension of the time it was revealed into consideration, it was not explained as “We created jinn from such and such rays”; but by an allusive expression, it was described as “the smokeless fire” and “the fire penetrating through the most subtle pores” and it was left to the comprehension of the people and their sciences to come to a level that they will cover that subject.”(13)  

In the last two ayahs, the subject was the creation of Jann and in the first two ayahs, it was the creation of Iblis. It was discussed whether Iblis and Jann were the same. As it was mentioned before, while Hasan Basri said “Jann is Iblis, who is the ancestor of the jinns”, Mujahid said “He is the ancestor of the jinn, but he is not Iblis.” Some others say, “Jann is the name of a kind including all of the jinn.”(14) According to it, as the word human is a name including all of the humans and their ancestor Hazrat Adam, Jann is also an appellative name including all of the jinn and their ancestor, Iblis. Actually, if it is noticed, in the last ayah, as the creation of man from clay and the creation of Jann from fire are explained as if two kinds of beings are mentioned.       

Like Hasan Basri, Tabari is of the opinion that Iblis is the ancestor of the jinn and Jann here refers to Iblis.(15) Some important commentators such as Muqatil, Qatada and Ata are also of the same opinion. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) is also of the same opinion and the relation coming from him “Jann is the ancestor of the jinn”(16) does not put a different opinion forward; it shows that Jann is Iblis at the same time. With a different opinion, although some persons say “Jinn are a different kind from satans”, as it is seen, the true opinion most of the scholars accept is that satans are of the same kind with jinn and the unbelieving jinn are called as satans(17).
We can adduce some hadiths as proofs for the sameness of Iblis and Jann: In a relation coming from Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “The angels were created from light, Jann was created from the flame of fire and Adam was created from the thing that was told you (in the Qur’an)”(18). In the hadith Ibn Marduya related from our mother Hazrat Aisha, it was told “Allah created the angels from the light of the Throne; Jann from the flame of fire; and Adam from the thing told you (in the Qur’an).”(19) In the hadiths like that, as Adam, the ancestor of the humans, was substituted instead of “human”, then Iblis, who was the ancestor of that kind and who was mentioned with his clear name in the previous ayahs, can be used instead of “Jann”(20). Actually, in the Qur’an where Hazrat Adam is mentioned, Iblis is mentioned just beside him as the kind opponent to him. The situation is the same also in the hadiths. However, as it is seen, it happens sometimes by the name Iblis, sometimes by the name Jann and sometimes by the attribute satan.
Those explanations discussing the creation of those two kinds in a comparative way also seem to be interesting: “In terms of the jinn, Jann is like Adam in respect to the humans. As the former of our kind was created from “salsal”, namely, from  pure, dry clay and the ones coming after him were created from his offspring; the first jinn was created from fire, and his descendants coming after him were created from “maarij”, namely from pure fire.”(21)
B) THE FIRST REBELLION OF IBLIS AGAINST ALLAH

Iblis, who had been created before man, as it can be comprehended from the ayahs, began to live in the heavens and in Paradise with the angels and he must have been charged with some orders which did not injure his pride. Some relations coming from Israeli sources also support it. Just then, when Almighty Allah informed the angels about the creation of Adam and the important authority he would bestow him, as we have explained widely in the section of the angels, we can not know what kind of an attitude Iblis, who was probably near them, displayed when the angels asked the reason of it with the purpose of understanding the wisdom of it because, the related ayahs do not mention about it. Perhaps with the angels, the same questioning was also the same for Iblis. There was not any problem in respect to Iblis in that point. If there had been, he would have rebelled just at that time. 

When Almighty Allah created Adam (peace be upon him) and fashioned him, He commanded His angels to prostrate before him (Qur’an, The Heights (Al-Aráf); 11 (7: 11)). That command also included Iblis who had been created before and who was with the angels. Iblis was aware of it. All angels obeyed Allah’s command and prostrated before Adam. However, Iblis did not obey Allah’s command and he rebelled. Almighty Allah reminds it and He states: “And when We said unto the angels: Fall down prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate all save Iblis,”(theQur’an, The Journey By Night (Al-Isra); 61 (17: 61)) “He refused“ (the Qur’an, Ta-Ha); 116 (20: 116)). 

The rebellion of Iblis is repeated and emphasized in seven parts in the Noble Qur’an because it is a very important event in the history of the created things and for the human beings: 

The verses “Behold thy Lord said to the angels: I am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud molded into shape; when I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of my spirit, fall you down in obeisance unto him. So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together: Not so Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.” (the Qur’an, The Rocky Tract (Al-Hijr); 28-31 (15: 28-31); Sa’d; 71-74 (38: 71-74)) show that Almighty Allah told the command of prostration before the creation of Adam (peace be upon him).  Therefore, it was not an instantaneous command that the addressees did not have the chance to think about. It shows that the rebellion of Iblis was not a sudden action but a minutely aforethought action.

“And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever.” (Qur’an, The Cow (Al-Baqara); 34 (2: 34); Sa’d; 74 (38: 74)), namely, he was one of those whose rebellion and unbelief in the future have been known in Allah’s pre-eternal knowledge or he was from that unbelieving nation that had lived on the earth before the creation of Adam and had been destroyed since they had plotted mischief on the earth.”(22). According to another strong commentary, “Although he had not been an unbeliever before, he became from the unbelievers by getting proud and not prostrating.”(23) Thus, according to most of the scholars, he was the first one who rebelled against Allah and showed unbelief, namely, who acted ungratefully (24) because, his rebellion by disobeying Allah’s command and his becoming haughty and arrogant before Allah was infidelity(25).

Was Iblis an angel?

Was Iblis one of the angels, namely, was his disobedience to that command directed to the angels regarded as a rebellion due to the fact that he was an angel? It is one of the subjects on which different opinions have been put forward by the Islamic scholars.

The related ayahs show that all the angels were commanded to prostrate; all of them obeyed and only Iblis did not obey and he was “exceptional” from the ones who obeyed the command. If we consider the clear meaning of the ayahs, Iblis should be regarded as an angel regarding that “exception” as “continuous exception” with the technical expression(26). That is, for example, if you say “Humans are serious sinners except the prophets…”, you emphasize that the prophets are also inclusive of humans but they are at a different rank. Thus, in that way, if the things excepted and the things not excepted are from the same kind, it is called “continuous exception”. According to it, when you say “The angels prostrated except Iblis..”, at the first glance, it means “So, Iblis was from the angels”. 

In the Surah Kahf, Almighty Allah says “And (remember) when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Ibis. He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command…” (the Qur’an, The Cave (Al-Kahf); 50 (18: 50)) and shows that such a meaning is wrong; again by the technical expression, the exception here is “separated exception”, namely, the thing excepted and the things not excepted are two different kinds of beings. For example, it is from the kind of the exception in the sentence “The villagers came but their donkeys did not come.”

Likewise, in that verse, it is stated that Iblis broke the command of Allah. In other verses about the angels, it is informed that the angels never break Allah’s commands. Besides, the last sentence of the verse already indicates the source of his disobedience against Allah’s command.    

Islamic scholars have made several explanations about that subject and they have interpreted the ayahs differently since some of the words have different meanings at the same time: While some of them stated that Iblis was the ancestor of the jinn kind, some others stated that “He was an angel but he became an unbeliever by rebelling Allah”, “A man becoming an unbeliever does not get out of the nature of being a human; similarly, Satan did not get out of the angel nature which was made of fire.”(27) 

According to a relation coming from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), “Iblis was from a clan of the angels. It was a clan that was called as jinn and was created from the burning fire. The name of Iblis was “Haris” then and he was one of the guards of Parasadise. The angels except that clan were created from light.” Again, according to another relation from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), “The name of Iblis was “Azazil” and he used to live on the earth. He was one of the strongest of the angels in terms of knowledge and intelligence.”(28)

The first residents of the earth were the jinn. The jinn stirred up trouble on earth and they shed blood. Almighty Allah sent Iblis in the leadership of an army from the angels against them. Iblis defeated that unruly beings with his army and exiled them to the islands and foots of the hills. Iblis and his army consisting of the angels settled down on the developed and productive places of the earth (29). After performing that action, he became proud of himself by thinking “I succeeded something that nobody has succeeded before.” Certainly, Almighty Allah was aware of his pride. However, the angels with him did not know about it.  

When Almighty Allah told the angels that he would make a caliph on the earth, they asked “Will you make a being who will make mischief and shed blood there as before the jinns did? We were sent against them before because of that.” Almighty Allah said “I know what you do not know.” Namely, He said “I know that arrogance and the proud existing in the heart of Iblis which you do not know.” Then, Almighty Allah ordered the dust of Adam to be brought. The dust was brought and Allah created Adam… Adam waited for forty nights as a lifeless statue thrown to a place. Iblis approached his lifeless statue several times, he kicked it with his foot and produced sound from him; he blew inside him as if puffing inside a reed; he entered inside him from his mouth and came out from his back; he was entered inside him from his back and came out from his mouth. He said to that dry clay “You are nothing. If I pester you, I bring to ruin you. If you pester me, I will not listen you”…(30)

In a relation reported by Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them), it is stated “Iblis was charged of the management of the first heaven and the earth and he belonged to a clan of the angels called jinn. That clan was named as “jinn” since they were charged of guarding Paradise. For this reason, Iblis was one of the guards of Paradise.”(31)

In those relations, it is expressed that Iblis is from the jinn and jinn are a kind of the angels. Although those relations solve the problem of the apparent contradiction between the expression “He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command” which was shown as the rebellion reason of Iblis and his being an addressee of the prostration command directed to the angels, they do not seem to be strong enough since they strain the related ayahs very much.

We want to introduce the different explanations and the result from the point view of Fakhruddin Razi:

“In that ayah, Almighty Allah said that Iblis was from the jinn. The scholars have three explanations about the issue:

1) Iblis was from the angels. His being from the angels is not contradictory to his being from the jinn at the same time… because a clan from the angels was called as jinn… moreover, the jinn were called so since they could not be seen by eye. Angels cannot be seen, either. Consequently, they also belonged to the jinn class. Moreover, Iblis was from the guards of Paradise and for this reason, he was related to Paradise (Jannah) and it was said “He was from the jinn.” Furthermore, according to a relation, he was from the clan of the angels called “Jinanees” who used to mold the adornments of the persons deserving of heaven since their creations.

2) According to the second explanation about that subject, Iblis was from the jinn satans created from fire and he was the first ancestor of them.
3) According to the third opinion, he was from the angels but he was transformed into a satan. The main thing pointing out that Iblis was not from the angels was the fact that Almighty Allah stated that Iblis had offspring by stating the following in that ayah, namely, at the end of the 50th ayah of surah al Kahf: “Will you choose him and his offspring for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you?” However, offspring and generation, namely, having offspring by procreation is out of question for the angels. So, Iblis can not be from the angels.”(32) Having that opinion, Ibn Zayd states, “As Adam (peace be upon him) is the ancestor of the humans, Iblis is the ancestor of the jinn”(33) However, no living things are mentioned as the ancestor of the angels. If they had procreation, they also would have an ancestor like the humans and the jinn. So, Allah creates them directly, not in the way of procreation and springing up.        

Again, people claiming that Iblis is not from the angels adduce the following proofs: In the Qur’an, Almighty Allah states that He has created Iblis from fire; but He does not inform us from what He has created the angels. Moreover, in the Qur’an, there is no information relating to Iblis that he has been created from the substance that the angels have been created from. Besides, it is also stated that Iblis is from the jinn. Therefore, it is not right to say that it is permissible to relate Iblis to something except Almighty Allah relates him to.”(34) 

Tabari objects to those evidences and he says: “Those evidences arise from the weakness of the knowledge of their owners. It cannot be denied that Almighty Allah might have created some of the different kinds of the angels from light, some of them from fire and some of them from anything He wishes. Actually, there is no information about what the angels have been created from and stating what Iblis has been created from does not show that he is not from the angels. In the same way, it is not an obstacle for the possibility that Iblis might be from an angel kind that Almighty Allah has created from fire. Likewise, the existence of the offspring of Iblis does not necessitate that he is not from the angels. When Almighty Allah willed him to commit sin, He gave him a sense of pleasure and a feeling of appetite which did not exist in the angels. Also, Almighty Allah’s informing that Iblis is from the jinn is not an obstacle for him to be an angel. Not only Iblis but also the angels are called so since they cannot be seen by humans and every invisible thing is called as “jinn.”(35)

As it is seen, Tabari is of the opinion that although Iblis was an angel actually, he became a satan since he did not obey the command of Allah. However, Ibn Kathir is not of the same opinion. He explains his being the addressee of the command of “prostrate before Adam” with the angels although he is not from the angels as follows: “When Almighty Allah commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, Iblis was regarded to be inclusive in that command. Although he was not of their kind, he was like them and he was performing their deeds. Because of that, Iblis was also regarded as the addressee of that command directed to the angels. And he was condemned since he did not obey that command.(36)

Like Tabari, Alusi also lists the evidences of the ones telling that Iblis is not from the angels and replies them, and he agrees with Tabari. According to his determinations, some scholars state that “Iblis is from a kind called jinn which is different from the angels” by putting forward the ayah “He was of the jinn” (Qur’an, The Cave (Al-Kahf); 50 (18: 50)); and that Iblis is arrogant in contrast to the angels, who are not arrogant and that Iblis is created from fire unlike angels, who are created from light as it is stated in the hadith.

In that point, Alusi says: “All of the scholars of the sahabis (companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)) and the next generation succeeding them stated that Iblis was from the angels by putting forward “the exception” part showing that Iblis did not obey that command in the verses telling the angels to prostrate before Adam, was the separate exception.”(37) I do not know how Alusi reached such a result. If it was so, the opinion that Iblis was from the angels would be accepted by the following generations of the ummah (community) without any objection.

Alusi, seeming to accept the opinion that Iblis was from the angels, responds to the counter evidences as follows: the fact that Iblis becomes haughty although the angels are not haughty is not an obstacle for Iblis to be from the angels. It is either because there are some which are not innocent among the angels, or Almighty Allah has taken the angelic attributes away from Iblis and has given him the devilish attributes. According to it, Iblis rebelled after he had taken the devilish attributes … The fact that Iblis has been created from fire in contrast to the angels, who have been created from light is not an obstacle to that situation, either. Because, fire and light are the same in essence… Still, Almighty Allah knows the truth.”(38)

Considering the subject of the creation of the living things from a different point of view, some Sufis discuss the creation of the angels and Iblis, too. However, it is quite different to determine the trustworthy, reliable sources of those interpretations.(39)

Both kinds of narrations have reached us form the predecessors about the subject whether Iblis is from the angels or from the jinn. Similar interpretations were mentioned before; the following is a relation coming from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him):

“There was a clan of the angels called jinn. Iblis used to belong to that clan and he used to go and return between the heaven and the earth previously. When he rebelled, Allah became angry with him and He transformed him into a satan and He cursed him. If he had not been from the angels, he would not have been commanded to prostrate.” 

Sa’id b. Musayyab, from the next generation of the Sahabis, states: “Iblis used to be the head of the angels of the lowest heaven previously.” According to Qatada, Iblis took the name of “jinn” having the meaning “hiding the obedience”, namely, “not performing” since he turned away from obeying Almighty Allah and hid the obedience. Another scholar of the next generation of the sahabis, Hasan Basri, states: “Iblis has never been from the angels even for a moment”(40) ”because, he was created from fire and the angels were created from light. The angels never refrain from worshipping Allah, they never become haughty, and they never get tired and never rebel. However, Iblis is not so. He rebelled and became haughty. The angels are not from the jinn. However, Iblis is from the jinn. The angels are the messengers of Allah but Iblis is not so… When Iblis was commanded to prostrate with the angels, Allah excluded him. The name of Iblis used to be something else. However, when he rebelled against Allah, Allah called him with that name. He used to be a believer and used to worship in the heavens till he rebelled against Allah. When he rebelled, he was brought down to the earth.”(41) 

As it is seen, both of the opinions take place at the predecessors. The correctness of the relations about that event is not precise, either. Calling out attentions to that, Ibn Kathir states, “A lot of relations have come from the predecessors, namely, from the sahabis and their next generation about the first times of Iblis. Most of them are the relations coming from Israeli sources narrated to attract people’s attentions.”(42) That information Alusi narrates has almost the same situation: “There used to be jinn before Iblis, too. However, they were destroyed and only Iblis remained from them. Therefore, the jinn and the satans of our age are his descendants. According to it, the status of Iblis among the jinn is like the status of Noah (peace be upon him) among the humans.”(43)     

As it will be seen from our explanations from the beginning, both sides have evidences and counter defenses. However, the opinion that Iblis is not an angel but a different kind predominates (44) and it is more compatible with the verses and the clear meanings of the hadiths(45). One of the most important evidences of that issue as Razi also calls our attentions are (46) the 40th and 41st ayahs of the surah Saba’. In those ayahs, it is informed that, in the Day of Judgment, in response to the question of Almighty Allah about the unbelievers “Did those worship you?”, the angels will answer, “Glory to You, our (tie) is with You as Protector, not with them. Nay, but they worshipped the Jinn.” That clear expression shows that the angels and the jinns are two different kinds.
Lastly, it is necessary to answer the following question briefly:

Question: The word “Kana” is used in the meaning of “it was, it became” in the Quran. Although the expression “Kane min al kafirin” is translated as “He became from the unbelievers” in Baqarah 34, the expression “kane min al jinn” is translated as “He was from the jinns”. However, if it were translated as “He became from the jinns”, a meaning that Iblis used to be an angel previously, but when he revolted against Allah’s command, he was overthrown from being an angel and became a jinn would be understood. Why was such a translation made, then?

Answer: The exception in the ayah “Fe sajadu illa Iblis= They all prostrated except Iblis”, -as it was explained before- is not continuous but separated. In the separated/ discrete exception, the exception is not from the kind of the one it was excepted from. For example, in the sentence “Jaal qawmu illa baqarah= the entire of the community came except a cow”, the word cow is exceptional from the community but is not from their kind. So, from that verse, -in terms of grammar- there is no obligation to say that satan is from the angels.     

The fact that the translation of kana is sometimes as “it was” and sometimes as “it became” is because of a rule of the Turkish language besides the wide meaning of the word. The word can be understood as “it became later” besides it can be understood as ”it has been like that all along.”

For that reason, even if it is translated as “he was of the jinn”, it is wrong to get the meaning “Iblis used to be an angel formerly but when he disobeyed Allah’s command, he was overthrown from being an angel and he was made join to the jinn”. Because, the terms jinn and angel do not express a rank, an attribute or a character – gained later- but express a generation and a kind -existing naturally-. Whatever its form, attribute, obedience or disobedience of it be, neither of the angels can become a jinn and neither of the jinns can become an angel.  Which of the prophets, who obey Allah as much as the angels, has become an angel? Or, many pharaohs have passed by and which of them has been involved in the jinn kind? The surah an-Nas’ separating the human satans and the jinn satans from each other has shed easiness and light to comprehend the subject.

However, the terms “unbelief-belief” are not attributes rising from the kind but are attributes gained afterwards. Therefore, the expression “kana min al kafirin” expressing the unbelief gained later should be translated as “he became from the unbelievers.” 

Footnotes:

(1) Razi, 19/117.

(2) Razi, 21/88.

(3) Tabari, 27/74; Ibn Kathir, 6/487.

(4) Alusi, 14/34.

(5) Razi, 21/88.

(6) Alusi, 14/34; Razi, 14/92; Ibn Qutayba, al-Ma’arif, p.8..

(7) Tabari, 14/21.

(8) Tabari, 14/21; Ibn Kathir, 4/160; Alusi, 14/34.

(9) Alusi, 14/34; Elmalili, 5/3059.

(10) Alusi, 14/34.

(11) Alusi, 14/34.

(12) Ibn Kathir, 4/160. Elmalili, 5/3059.

(13) Hulusi, Ahmad, p.22.

(14), Alusi, 27/105.

(15) Tabari, 14/21.

(16) Razi, 14/92.

(17) Razi, 14/92; Alusi, 14/35.

(18) Muslim, zuhd, 61(4/2294).

(19) Ibn Kathir, 3/149.

(20) Razi, 19/117.

(21) Razi, 21/88.

(22) Alusi, 1/231.

(23) Alusi, 23/225.

(24) Razi, 2/385.

(25) Tabari, 23/119.

(26) Alusi, 8/87.

(27) Behiy, p.150.

(28) Tabari, 1/178.

(29) Ibn Qutayba, al-Ma’arif, p.8.

(30) Tabari, 1/158.

(31) Tabari, 1/178.

(32) Razi, 15/200.

(33) Tabari, 1/179-180.

(34) Tabari, 1/180.

(35) Tabari, 1/180-181.

(36) Ibn Kathir, 1/133.

(37) Alusi, 1/229.

(38) Alusi, 1/230.

(39) Alusi, 1/230-231.

(40) Tabari, 15/169-170.

(41) Razi, 10/299-300.

(42) Ibn Kathir, 4/397.

(43) Alusi, 15/292.

(44) Razi, 2/337-342.

(45) Ibn Hazm, 4/34.

(46) Razi, 2/338.

It is a known fact that Satan is the enemy of humans, he pledged to deceive humans, and he will take so many of those who do not believe with him to the hell. What he can do to deceive and where he can hit humans are announced in Quran.

Some of his characteristics, in other words, his deceits and tricks, his delusions and intrigues are listed below.

1. Liar and Pledger

One of the most significant characteristics of Satan is Lying. Anyhow, he would not deceive anyone in any other way. The lie that he told to Adam and Eve is announced in Quran as:

And he swore to them: "Truly, I am for you a sincere adviser." Thus he led them on by delusion; and when they tasted the tree, their private parts (and all the apparently shameful, evil impulses in their creation) were revealed to them, and both began to cover themselves with leaves from the Garden. And their Lord called out to them: "Did I not prohibit you from that tree, and did I not say to you that Satan is a manifest enemy to you?" They said (straightaway): "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and do not have mercy on us, we will surely be among those who have lost!" He said: "Go down, (all of you,) (and henceforth you will live a life,) some of you being the enemies of the others. There shall be for you on the earth a habitation and provision until an appointed time." (Al-Araf Surah, 7:21-24)

Satan has always been trying to deceive humans, from the first lie he told (to Eve). Considering this, one should always assess the accuracy of whatever he is going to do according to religious teachings and measurements.

2. No authority to impose anything

As it is clearly announced in the following verse, "My servants – you shall have no authority over any of them, unless it be such as follow you being rebellious (against Me, as you are)," (Al-Hijr, 15:42) he has no authority over humans.

As it is explained in the verse, Satan cannot force a human to do his will. However, God is always close and helpful to you. In fact, a related verse announces as, And yet, he had no authority over them (to compel them to do anything), except in that (by testing humankind through him) We distinguish those who truly believe in the Hereafter from those who are in doubt concerning it. Your Lord keeps watch and record of all things. (Saba Surah, 34:21) In this verse, it is signified the importance of the wisdom of time that is granted to Satan as to distinguish those who believe in the Hereafter from those who do not.

3. Hypocrite

Doubtless to say, hypocrisy is an attribute of Satan. Self-love, to make people love you, to do things for the sake of other people, to show-off while praying, or to pray for worldly benefits are the attributes of Satan or followers of him.

O you who believe! Render not vain your almsgiving by putting (the receiver) under an obligation and taunting – like him who spends his wealth to show off to people and be praised by them, and believes not in God and the Last Day. The parable of his spending is that of a rock on which there is soil; a heavy rain falls upon it, and leaves it barren. They have no power (control) over what they have earned. God guides not such disbelieving people (to attain their goals). (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:264)

4. Satan offers truth as fallacious, and fallacious as truth

We see that Quran explains such words, phrases, and philosophical interpretations, which delude humans into blasphemy and disbelief by stopping humans to follow Gods way as satanic.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:
The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah, the Exalted, hates the eloquent one among men who moves his tongue round (among his teeth), as cattle do. (Book 41, Number 4987)

Holy Quran, on this matter orders as:
And thus it is that (as a dimension of human earthly life taking place according to Our eternal Will embracing human free will, and according to the wisdom in sending the Religion) We have set against every Prophet a hostile opposition from among the satans of humankind and jinn, whispering and suggesting to one another specious words, by way of delusion. Yet had your Lord willed (and compelled everybody to behave in the way He wills), they would not do it. So leave them alone with what they have been fabricating. And the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter incline towards it (their deluding speech) and take pleasure in it, and they continue perpetrating the evils that they have long been perpetrating. (Al-Anam Surah, 6:112, 113)

5. His enemy is Humanity

Satan is eternal enemy of humans. By making mention of this expression in so many verses of Quran and similar phrases such as, Do not follow in the footsteps of Satan, Do not fall for him, do not follow him, indeed he is a manifest enemy to you. (2:168, 208-209; 12:5; 36:60-64; 6:142; 17:53; 35:6; 43:62) humans are warned.

And again, in some of the verses by emphasizing Satans being a sneaky mischief-maker, humans are warned not to be fooled by him, and also are advised to be kind and speak beautifully (meaning politely and pleasantly) to other people with the manner and morality of Quran; Quran which has the most beautiful words of all.

6. Bad Company

In the following verses, it announced that Satan is the confidants of disbelievers.

We have made satans the confidants and fellow-criminals of those who do not believe.(Al-Araf Surah, 7:27) Whereas their brothers (the brothers of the satans in the form of human beings) – satans draw them deeper into error and do not give over relax in their efforts. (Al-Araf Surah, 7:202)

7. Intimate friend of those who keep away from Quran

Whoever willfully ignores the remembrance of the All-Merciful (and lives as if He did not exist always watching him), We assign to him a devil, who becomes his closest comrade. Such devils certainly bar them from the way (of truth). Yet they think (in themselves) that they are rightly guided. But in the end, when such a one comes to Us (on Judgment Day), he says (to his comrade): "Ah, would that between me and you were the distance of the two easts. How evil a comrade!" (Az-Zukhruf Surah, 43:36-38)


8. Sees you from everywhere and tries to deceive you

In Quran, it is mentioned that Satan can see humans from where they do not see him and deceit them by sneaking where they do not expect. The intention of this is to warn humans to be more careful and not to leave doors open to Satan. He sneaks up and tries to hit every one at our weakest points (vulnerable spot). This matter is explained in Quran as:

Children of Adam! Never let Satan seduce you (and cause you to fail in similar trials) as he caused your (ancestral) parents to be driven out of the Garden, pulling off from them their garment and revealing to them their private parts (and the carnal impulses ingrained in them). He sees you, he and his host (see you), from where you do not see them. We have made satans the confidants and fellow-criminals of those who do not believe. (Al-Araf Surah, 7:27)

Delusion is a hidden voice. The word “waswas” which is an infinitive verb, is also a name of Satan; which means that the Satan is “the source of delusion.” However, delusion, according to its widely accepted meaning in the public, is the name for all nonsense, evil and vile memories and thoughts which are instilled in one’s heart by the lower-self or by Satan.

Both the delusions caused by one’s lower-self and delusions caused by Satan are mentioned in the Quran separately:

The verse which is translated as “It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.” (Qaf, 50:16) indicates to the delusions by one’s lower-self and many other verses which mean “Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them” (al-A’raf, 7:20; Taha, 20:120) indicates the delusions by Satan.

The expression of “delusions caused by one’s lower-self” includes hidden feelings, decisions, apprehensions, memories that one says and thinks to himself or feels inside and other similar subconscious situations. They are so hidden and silent that even the angels fail to know some of them. Only Allah knows them. Delusions by one’s lower-self are more hidden compared to the delusions caused by Satan. It makes them stronger in a way. For this reason, one’s lower-self is a more dangerous enemy to him than Satan. Maybe, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) indicated this fact when he said: “Your biggest enemy is your lower-self.” (Kashfu’l-Khafa, 1, 143).

Lower-self and Satan try to stop human souls from progressing on the way of Truth by giving delusions to them. They try to make people give up good deeds by deceiving their minds and reasoning and to degrade them by making them addicted to mortal delights and waywardness.

The place where delusion appears first is the heart. It passes over to the other organs through the heart. For this reason, the first symptom of delusion is felt in the heart. Of course, this symptom manifests itself in form of either acceptance or refusal. If the delusions instilled are not accepted in the heart, they disguise themselves in the form of immoral images in one’s mind. One, whose imagination is occupied with those images, starts to give in his heart to them unconsciously after a while. It is just what Satan wants. As a matter of fact, Satan approaches his desired goal a few steps closer this way.

However, delusions which are not accepted in the heart cannot cause any harm. As a matter of fact, they have gone no further than imagination, and rationally, imagination is not an operation. It is quite easy to understand when delusion is not accepted in the heart. If the heart grieves and fears because of having delusions, it means that delusion is not accepted in the heart. Otherwise, it means that delusion is accepted. If delusion is not accepted in the heart, its harm is restricted to the thought that it is harmful; it cannot cause any other harm. Moreover, the rate of one’s heart’s reaction to delusion is in direct proportion to the strength of the faith in his heart. Yes, heart shows reaction to delusions in direct proportion to the strength of faith. Sometimes, because of ignorance, one thinks this reaction of the heart means to accept delusions. And sometimes one prefers to ignore the truth in order to escape from delusions. However, this situation does not mean accepting delusions at all. It is just a reaction. And this reaction actually indicates the strength and firmness of his faith. This is also why the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said “It is the very self of faith” when describing this state and situation. (Muslim, Faith 211; Musnad, 2/456; 6/106).

Sometimes there may not be any relationships between the delusions in the heart and the images/thoughts occurring in the mind. Many external or internal causes may have an effect on imagination. Imagination is the most and the fastest affected one of all senses. For this reason, the images are strongly related with the causes which affect imagination at that moment. As this situation is not known by most of the people, they conclude that their hearts have deteriorated and their souls degraded because of those abominable images and thoughts. And this conclusion leads them to the trap of Satan.

If there is a relationship or contact between the meanings in the heart, as we have mentioned above, and the meanings in the mind, which are affected by any cause, one should not become anxious and nervous. As a matter of fact, the blessed meanings that are close to obnoxious and disgusting meanings cannot be harmed by them; and contact (between them) does not accepting the disgusting meanings. Moreover, controversy between two things which results in distance between them outside, results in closeness between them in imagination. Mentioning one of the two opposite things, results in recalling the other. Just like night recalls day; white recalls black; and good recalls bad… This kind of recalling is called the association of ideas. And the association of ideas is mostly non-intentional and thus one cannot be held responsible for it. If one’s mind becomes addicted to such situations, what he should do is to give up pondering over it and ignore it because delusion strengthens and causes a disease in the mind as long as it is attached importance and pondered. Yes, there is nothing to worry about because, the effect is not in the heart but only in imagination.

If delusion is about issues related to faith, one must know that it is only in imagination and it has got nothing to do with judgments approved and accepted by the mind and the heart. Imagining and dreaming of unbelief or thinking of heedlessness is not unbelief and heedlessness themselves. And there are so many things which we think of yet do not approve or accept. As a matter of fact, possibility can never cause harm to the truth.

Moreover, there is a kind of delusion which stems from searching the best way of worshipping and best deeds; and people who are addicted to this kind of delusion are even unaware of the fact that they quit the good and appropriate ways while trying to do the best and the most appropriate. One must adopt the hadith “Religion is easiness; whoever makes it difficult loses in the end” (Bukhari, Faith 29; Nasai, Faith 28; Musnad, 4/422; 5/350-351) as his motto and live accordingly, which is probably the best precaution against Satan who wants to trap people through it.

Moreover, there is no enforcement in religion… In Islam, people are judged according to what it is seen in the surface. We are not responsible for searching and examining its hidden side. In such situations, we must remember that Satan is in ambush for a weak moment of ours and he is ready to attack any time

We have dwelled upon delusion, which is a weapon of Satan’s against human beings so far. Now, let us summarize the issue under a few headings:

1) Delusion is an indication of strong faith.

First of all, I should state that delusion is not something to be frightened of at all because if one has got delusion, it indicates that s/he is faithful. One of the Honorable Companions came to the Prophet and said: “O the Messenger of Allah, I am addicted to delusion.” He (pbuh) said to him: “There is nothing to worry about; it is just the very self of faith.” (Muslim, Faith 211; Musnad, 2/456; 6/106). Knowing that there is a treasure of faith, worship, prayers and religious service in you, Satan buccaneers and attacks you all the time. Buccaneering is, maybe, history now but for Satan, it has started with Adam and it will continue till the end of time.

Satan does not waste his time with hard and empty hearts and he does not cause delusions to such people who do not have any treasures. Just as buccaneers always attack ships or islands which have got treasures, so too does Satan attack the hearts which have got the treasure of faith inside.

A believer who has fallen into delusions should think to himself “Satan has lost in all fronts; for this reason, he now wants to occupy me with delusions and doubts related to faith and Islam and wants to take my treasure away. However, – inshaallah – he will not be able to take anything away from me. These are his last attempts. Just like an outlaw beggar that comes to my door and keeps asking for something for a few days gives up and goes away in the end, so will he go away, understanding that he will not be able to take anything from me. And, even if he does not leave, the doors are locked. The fortress which protects me is so strong and with the help of Allah, he cannot damage it anyway,.”

2) Delusion does not belong to the heart.

As heart is disturbed by the presence of delusion, delusion cannot belong to the heart because if it belonged to the heart, the heart would not be disturbed and worried by it. And actually Satan would not exert himself with such a heart.

The heart is disturbed and worried by delusion because the heart and its owner are not pleased with delusion and because there is not a relationship between the heart and delusion in terms of meaning and true nature. We can understand it also from the fact that the body temperature increases as a result of antibodies fighting against unfamiliar microbes entering the body and the disorders caused on the physiological structure by those microbes. Similarly, one shows reaction to delusions. His temperature increases; he frowns and has a headache, loses his appetite and so on. Our spiritual structure, our potential faith produces antibodies against delusions and thoughts, which do not belong to us and are sent to our hearts by Satan; and eventually our temperature increases and our heart aches. If our body does not show any reaction and gives into it just like a goat that sees a boa snake, it means we are undone, like nonresistance caused by AIDS. If our heart and faith does not resist delusion, then, there will not be delusion; nor will our temperature increase! It means calling out to Satan, saying “Come, do whatever you want to me!”. And it is already what Satan wants.

3) A heart that is exposed to delusions resembles a fountain polluted by evil people.

We can also evaluate the issue from another point of view: Imagine a water spring so pure, so clean and so bright that it resembles the water of Zamzam with its taste and the healing power it offers; a spring from Kawthar, which is known by everyone and the holiness of which has been agreed by whole world… Then an evil person comes and pours paint, dust, and litters on the spring. When you see that, you cry out “Oh no! My spring is polluted and destroyed!” However, it is not like that. Running water will sweep away all the dirtiness and will keep its purity. If your heart, your faith is shiny and pure like water, dust, litter and all kinds of dirtiness poured onto it will fail to pollute it. All that dirtiness will go away in the course of time and your spring, which never accepts dirtiness, will always stay clean. That is to say, this dirtiness and pollution does not stem from the spring itself… Yes, that is how we should think about a heart which is exposed to delusion.

4) One is not responsible for delusions which he thinks unwillingly and does not put into practice.

As it is already known; free-will and consciousness are essential for holding one responsible for his deeds. Animals and human beings that are mentally retarded are not held responsible for what they do. In this sense, we are not responsible for delusions because they are out of our control and we do not invite them by opening the doors of our heart and mind in person to them.

Generally, one’s self-control comes up against delusions and it cannot resist them as they are intruders. Moreover, one can be exposed to some memories, images and thoughts caused by what he sees, hears and reads, out of his control. As this situation of human beings is a part of his disposition, it is usually impossible to escape it.

5) Delusion resembles a net which does not prevent one from progressing.

Delusion is harmless when it is recognized with its exclusive inconsistency. As a matter of fact, the Quran points out to the weakness of Satan’s tricks by saying “feeble in deed is the cunning of Satan” (an-Nisa, 4:76). Yes, Satan has got tricks; yet they are inconsistent and thus ineffective. For instance, you want to pass between two walls. However, you see that a spider has netted and blocked your way. Now, would you give up and turn back or would you go on? Can the net prevent you from going on your way or not? Of course, you would not consider it an obstacle and continue going on your way as if the net did not exist at all.

The Prophet (pbuh) states that Satan cannot force anyone into sinning by getting hold of their hands and pulling them towards heedlessness, unbelief and sins. What Satan does is just adorning evil deeds and making them look attractive to people. It is only Allah who creates both good and evil, and who leads people either to heedlessness or to righteousness. Satan’s delusions resemble a palace adorned with colorful foams, which impresses and attracts people at first sight. There are deep holes, the depth of which is up to hundreds of kilometers, under that attractive palace for those who are taken in by its attractiveness…

To sum up, delusions are harmless when one is aware of the fact that they are temporary. Actually, delusion is as weak as a feather which flies away and blown off. And delusion resembles clouds which gather together at times and then disappear away; however neither rain nor winds follow them… In other words, it resembles air hole always felt in by the passengers in a plane; which is not worth crying and wailing.

6) Delusions cannot harm at all if they are not dwelled on and regarded as problems.

Delusion is not harmful when you recognize that it will not mix with your thoughts and taint your feelings. Indeed, delusion is nothing but a weak trace which will appear a while and then will fade away in the mirror of imagination, and a blemish and a reflection which cannot taint and pollute. If things which cross our mind and imagination are positive, they enlighten the mind and thoughts to some extent; however, if they are negative delusions, they can never harm, affect or taint mind, thoughts and hearts. According to the approach of Badiuzzaman; Satan cannot be harmful inside or outside; an image of a snake reflected on a mirror cannot bite your hand or any dirtiness reflected on a mirror cannot dirty your hand; a fire burning in the reflection of a mirror cannot burn your hand.

Yes, delusion cannot be harmful at all on condition that we do not dwell on it, do not occupy our minds with it with curiosity, do not accept it and do not let it grow bigger and ignore it and do not make it turn into a problem for us. Then, we must underestimate it and say: “With the permission of Allah, I will get over it.”

7) Delusion harms a person when he thinks it is harmful.

Delusion can be harmful, even if to a little extent, when one behaves contrarily to what we have explained so far. Yes, when one does not know that delusion is harmful and thinks it is harmful, it can be harmful. That is to say, it can be overestimated when one dwells on it and questions curiously. The more one dwells on it, the larger the delusion grows and it becomes large enough to swallow us in the end. There are millions of bees in a beehive, yet you pass by it without noticing it and they do not attack you. What we should do with delusion is no different from it.

Satan places a scene of images which looks weak and temporary into our hearts. If we find it attractive and are involved with it, that short scene becomes a long movie which lasts for hours in the cinema theater of our imagination before we even realize it. Especially, lustful scenes which get bodies under influence, especially for young people when they are alone… Yes, one takes it and turns it into an adventurous movie. However, what belongs to Satan is that short scene in the beginning. Then, we should not be caught by that first trait, we should not be trapped by him and not be involved with it so that Satan will not deceive us and make the delusions come true and so that we will not be the victim of such a short scene.

8) Sensitive and aggressive souls should not be depressed by attaching importance to delusions caused by Satan.

 Delusion can turn into a more dangerous disease and even a natural faculty in sensitive and aggressive souls. Such a person becomes nervous and anxious because of the fear that it will be harmful. He ponders it and makes it deepen in his heart and thoughts and attributes the cause of delusion to himself; and eventually it becomes a natural faculty of his. And it is an expression of total defeat and submission to Satan. Such a person accepts defeat by saying “I am undone” and makes the control panel ready for Satan’s use and even leaves it to Satan. Imagine a commander; he sees a metal shining on the front right and thinks the enemy will attack from that side. He clears the right wing of his army by sending the soldiers to the front right front. And then, he sees leaves of trees fluttering in the mountains at the front left and thinks the enemy will attack from that side too. Then he clears the left wing of his army by sending the soldiers to that side. Eventually, the center of the army becomes defenseless, ready and appropriate for the enemy attack. Indeed, this behavior shows that the commander does not know war tactics and does not recognize his enemy very well. All of this clearly shows us that although Satan’s delusion is not important at all, people make it grow larger and get themselves into trouble with it. Yes, we should be careful and should not let it grow in our imagination and mind by giving it too much importance.

9) One should get out of the magnetic field of delusion and escape its psychological influence with the help of worshipping.

It is essential to do things which will save you from the magnetic field of delusion. As it is stated in the hadith, when one has got a delusion, for instance, when one is angry with something, he should sit down if he is standing, he should stand up if he is sitting. Or, he should clear the mist, the fog inside him by performing two rakats of prayer and by making some changes in his inner world. Yes, one should definitely do something and call out his self-control, which will save him out of that air pocket into which he has fallen unwillingly or of that strong vacuum which has caught him like a strong electrical current. On the way back from a military expedition, the Prophet could not wake up because of tiredness and missed the Morning Prayer for only once. Then he warned by saying: “Leave this place at once; apparently Satan has established his sovereignty here.” (Muslim, Masajid 309; Abu Dawud, Salat 11; Tirmidhi, Tafsir as-surah 20; Ibni Maja, Salat 10; Muwatta, Salat 25). Yes, one should always be alert against the magnetic field of Satan and if one has entered it unconsciously, he should leave it at once. As heedlessness and carelessness are a means of welcoming Satan and Satanic deeds, invocation, mentioning Allah and connecting with Him are a defense and even a counter-attack against them.

By the way, let us remind the narration of the Prophet about how Satan escapes from the sound of the Call (adhan). It means Satan cannot tolerate the Call and its meaning. In this sense, when Satan attacks us with his delusions, we must strengthen our contact with Allah and His Messenger and indulge ourselves in divine memories so that there will not be any opportunity for Satan. It is stated that recalling the Ascension of the Prophet will send delusions away, especially the ones remembered during prayers, and stop yawning. Although it is not recorded in sunnah, it is worth trying. Maybe spitting three times towards your left side will tear away the foggy veil of delusions. Sometimes challenging Satanic delusions, which encourage one to do evil deeds, by clenching fists and sometimes underestimating them by smiling can be resistance to the magnetic field of Satan.

I remember saying this to a young man: “When you encounter Satan and he wants you to look at haram, think this way: What will I gain if I look? You will look in vain. Even if you go further, it is in vain… Besides, you should not forget the regret and pain you will feel because of your faith. So, a glance which will end in nowhere, pain and darkness is nonsense!” Indeed, while one is trying to persuade himself not to look at it like this, that haram scene will have gone away.

Every delusion, every beautiful scene coming to mind can also be eliminated by thinking that better ones will be gained in the future. At least, they can be restricted. It is stated in many places of the Quran that worldly life is nothing but a game and pass-time and that real life is the unworldly life and real home is the land of afterlife. (Aal-i Imran, 3/185; al-Ankabut, 29/64). And in such situations, we should say, in spite of all beauties of the world, “Give it to those who want them, what I need is You” and get away from those unreasonable dreams. Is Satan trying to prevent you from your service and showing around the right way just as he does to other people by making the boiling hotness of summer months and to get you to seaside or to the cool shades of recreation spots? Then, remind him that the fire of Hell is much hotter than summer. Then, I guess the delusion which he wants to put into your heart will stop.

Again, I think it would help eliminating Satan’s delusions of heedlessness and lethargy which he instills in us to think to ourselves, “While the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), his Companions and saintly people following them are waiting for us, why should I act so heedlessly here and there?”

10) Delusions such as “Have I missed something?” in prayers and ablution should not be attached importance, either.

One should not pay attention to delusions which make us think, “Have I missed something or have I done something wrong in my prayer and ablution?”. If this kind of delusion happens to someone for the first time, that prayer or ablution can be performed again. However, if it happens repeatedly, for instance, if one always doubts whether he has washed his hand or not in every ablution, he should go on with it accepting he has washed it. And if he is addicted to delusions about how many rakats of prayer he has performed, he should continue with his prayer thinking his prayer is exact.

11) One should face what delusions suggest him.

It is necessary to go on the reverse way of delusion ignoring it. I think it is more appropriate to ignore it, even though what we do might be wrong, by saying, “It should be appropriate for one of the madhabs anyway” in terms of benefit. In such situations, what is essential is to send delusions away and defeat Satan.

Delusion has got benefits, too. As we have explained before, delusion resembles a hairspring of a clock or watch which can lead lots of people, especially those who have got sensitive dispositions, to advance in righteousness until the end of time. As long as one’s heart is set on alarm for delusions, his heart will always work and make him advance, just like a hairspring because he continues to pass tests and to strive until death with the help of it. Yes, it is delusion which makes a true believer with firm faith, good deeds and controlled lower-self to experience such “Major Jihad” and earns him thawabs (rewards) as if he were a veteran.

On the other hand, delusions keep one alert and attentive all the time. A believer may fall into one of Satan’s traps because of the lethargy and comfort caused by the feeling of accomplishment and having a command of the issue. He should always be alert like a soldier in order not to fall into the traps. Just as one prays Allah to recover from illness, so too should he pray Him to recover from delusions. By doing so, he saves himself from it and becomes resistant. He enters into a fortress which does not let sins in and thus he is saved. However, he should not overestimate delusion and make it harmful…

Quran clearly explains how Adam (peace be upon him) was created out of clay and was given spirit in order to become a living soul. Likewise, it is also emphasized that Satan was from Jinn. This matter is explained in the Quran as follows:

(Remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "I am creating a mortal out of clay (to set him on the earth as vicegerent).When I have fashioned him fully and breathed into Him out of My Spirit, then fall down prostrating before him (as a sign of respect for him and his superiority)." So the angels prostrated, all of them together, But Iblis did not (in defiance of Gods explicit order to him); he grew arrogant and displayed himself as an unbeliever. (God) said: "O Iblis! What prevents you from prostrating before the being whom I have created with My two Hands? Are you too proud (to bow down before any created being in defiance of My command), or are you (of those who think themselves) so high in honor (that they cannot be ordered to prostrate before anyone)?" (Iblis) answered: "I am better than him. You have created me from fire and him You have created from clay." (God) said: "Then get you down out of it; surely You are one eternally rejected (from My Mercy). And My curse is on you until the Day of Judgment." (Saad Surah, 38:71-78)

Satan was proud and considered himself superior since he was created from fire. Whenever fire touches something, it can burn and melt it. Such solid matters, water, sand, and earth stifle the fire. The difference, which is seen as superiority, actually brought him to desolation. The basis of superiority at the throne of God is first submission to Him. Iblis, just because he abstained from submission and saw himself superior expelled from the mercy, and called as Satan. Satans bragging about his creation, which he thinks that, is imperishable caused him to be expelled from the presence of the divine and also from the Paradise as an unbeliever.

In Quran, it is announced that Jinn are created from fire.

And the jinn We had created before, from smokeless, scorching fire penetrating through the skin. (Al-Hijr Surah, 15:27)

And He has created the jinn from a smokeless (fusing flame of) fire. (Ar-Rahman Surah, 55:15)

Some Islamic scholars think that the word Jann which reads in the Surah Ar-Rahman means Iblis (Satan)- the father of Jinn. In contrast with this idea, Hamdi Yazir explained it, Likewise, humans creation out of clay in the beginning does not mean Adam (pbuh) was the only one who was created from it but the whole human race, Jann is used as a species of Jinn. Since, Satan is a Jinn; we can claim that he is created from smokeless, pure, and scorching fire. Above-mentioned verses clearly support the idea.

Bursali Ismail Hakki, interprets the verse, Satan was of the Jinn as he was created from fire, he was not of the angels. And also he claims that Satan was the exception of angels by showing the verse, And (recall) when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam!" and they all prostrated, but Iblis did not... (Al- Kahf Surah, 18:50) Since is he not of the angels but Jinn, how come that he is the exception of angels? can be asked as a question. His explanation is, Because he was ordered to prostrate with angels. Just like in the example, except such woman, they (men) all went out.

According to this view, the intention of the sentence, He was of the Jinn, Satan was the first Jinn assigned likewise Adam was the first man created. (4)

The Jinn that is called Iblis, refused compliance with Gods orders. He abstained from obeying God. However, we know that angels never rebel against God, and do whatever He commands. (5) Humans and Jinn, being aware of their responsibility to worship, they will be rewarded or punished according to their deeds.

Therefore, Satan cannot be an angel.

Sources:
(1) Sâd, 38:71-78; Araf, 7:12.
(2) Hak Dini, IV, 20.
(3) Hak Dini, VII, 369.

The Satan is a kind of spiritual being that has no ability for goodness and constantly does evil. We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind. (Al-Hijr Surah, 15:27) The original name of Iblis (The Satan) was Azazeel. He has the names of Iblis and the Satan after he rejected to prostrate to Adam (PBUH) and did this deed just out of proud.

The greatest impediment before mans spiritual progress, in his performing the duty of slavery for Allah (SWT), is the Satan. In the Holy Quran, the Satan is characterized as aduvv-u mubin namely an evident foe. Allah Almighty in a number of verses calls believers to take refuge in Allah (SWT) from the Satan.

The greatest aim of the Satan is to make people irreligious, atheist. If he cannot achieve that, he leads them to polytheism. The Satan is not contented with making them polytheists, makes them ruthless polytheists. Besides, he tries to make him a man of cause who strives on this evil way constantly. This is his final goal. For if a polytheist who is not a man of cause is his slave, those who are strictly motivated on that are his close companions.

The Satan keeps adopting different ways for the believers who choose goodness. When he understands that he cannot do harm to the faith of a believer, he tries to tackle with his prayers this time and wishes him to be a believer who does not pray as stated. If he cannot achieve that again, he wants him to be contended with farz (the worship which is necessarily must be performed) and keep away from sunnah (the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and nafil (worship which is not compulsory; voluntary). If he cannot achieve that either, he wants him to be engaged in personal worship and stand away from telling others anything religious. He instills this idea into believers that everybody is responsible for their actions.

The Satan applies to a number of tricks to swerve them from the right path. Below are some of these tricks and intrigues:

1. Lust and anger: These two are the greatest means for the Satan to be influential on man. That is why the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) announced, The Satan circulates in human body like the blood circulates in the body. Restrict his ways through hunger (fasting). Because it is lust that the Satan is able to approach through. Hunger kills lust.

2. Envy and greed: A greedy person becomes blind to see true and deaf to hear the truth.

3. Desire: The Satan makes man love those, which he desire through hypocricy, and tricks. Then things he aspires after become his god.

4. Hastiness: Man cannot find any occasion for contemplation. The Satan at that moment can induce doubt into him.

5. The fear of poverty: This fear keeps man away from charity and encourages him to pile up his property.

6. Bigotry: One of the gates that the Satan gets to the heart through is to show contempt and make them cherish hatred towards the other Muslims who are not of the same way of belief as himself.

7. Disagreement

8. Suspicion: One of the gates for the Satan is to get into the hearts of people, of whom minds have been narrower because of their ignorance, heedlessness, and committing sins, and is to make them suspicious about the religious matters that they cannot comprehend.

9. To think ill of other people: When someone starts to think ill of somebody, the Satan leads this person to backbiting about him or leads him not to follow his rights. He (the Satan) makes him contemptuous of the other person.

The tricks, scruples, and the influence methods of the Satan certainly do not consist of these we have counted above. They take quite different forms as to persons, eras, and conditions.

In Quran, below are some accounts regarding the Satans rebellion:

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "I am creating a mortal from dried, sounding clay, from molded dark mud.When I have fashioned him in due proportions and breathed into him out of My Spirit, then fall down prostrating before him (as a token of respect for him and his superiority)." So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together, But Iblis did not; he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves. (Al-Hijr Surah, 15: 28-31) (1)

(God) said: "O Iblis! What is the matter with you that you are not among those who have prostrated?" (Iblis) said: "I am not one to prostrate myself before a mortal, whom You have created from dried, sounding clay, from molded dark mud." (God) said: "Then get you down out of it; surely You are one rejected (from My mercy).And cursing is upon you until the Day of Judgment." (Al-Hijr Surah, 15: 32-35) (2)

(Iblis) said: "Then, my Lord, grant me respite till the Day when they will all be raised from the dead!" (God) said: "You are of the ones granted respite"(But) until the Day of the appointed time known (to Me) (i.e. the Last Day)." (Iblis said:) "My Lord! Because You have allowed me to rebel and go astray, I will indeed deck out as appealing to them on the earth (the worldly, material dimension of human existence and the path of error), and I will surely cause them all to rebel and go astray, "Except Your servants from among them, endowed with sincerity in faith and Your worship." (Al-Hijr Surah, 15: 36-40) (3)

(Iblis) continued: "Now that You have allowed me to rebel and go astray, I will surely lie in wait for them on Your Straight Path (to lure them from it).Then I will come upon them from before them and from behind them, and from their right and from their left. And You will not find most of them thankful." (Al-Araf Surah, 7: 16-17)

He (God) said: "Go your way! Whoever of them follows you – surely, Hell will be the recompense of you all, a recompense most ample! "Arouse with your (seductive) voice whomever you can from among them, and rally against them with your cavalry and foot soldiers, and be their partner in their wealth and children, and make promises to them. And Satan promises them nothing but deceit. "But as for My (sincere, devoted) servants – you will have no authority over them." And your Lord suffices as protecting guardian (as One on Whom to rely and to Whom all affairs are referred). (Al-Isra Surah, 17: 63-65)

So We said: "O Adam, surely this is an enemy to you and your wife; so let him not drive the two of you out of the Garden, lest you become distressed. Surely it is provided for you that you shall not go hungry therein nor become naked, "And that you shall not go thirsty therein nor suffer the suns heat." (Ta-Ha Surah, 20: 117-119)

But Satan made an evil suggestion, saying: "O Adam, shall I lead you to the tree of everlasting life and a kingdom that will never decay?" (Ta-Ha Surah, 20: 120)

Then Satan made an evil suggestion to both of them that he might reveal to them their private parts that had remained hidden from them (and waken their carnal impulses), and he said: "Your Lord has forbidden you this tree only lest you should become sovereigns, or lest you should become immortals." And he swore to them: "Truly, I am for you a sincere adviser. Thus he led them on by delusion; and when they tasted the tree, their private parts (and all the apparently shameful, evil impulses in their creation) were revealed to them, and both began to cover themselves with leaves from the Garden. And their Lord called out to them: "Did I not prohibit you from that tree, and did I not say to you that Satan is a manifest enemy to you?" They said (straightaway): "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and do not have mercy on us, we will surely be among those who have lost!" (Al-Araf Surah, 7: 20-23) (4)

But Satan (tempting them to the forbidden tree despite Our forewarning,) caused them both to deflect therefrom and brought them out of the (happy) state in which they were. And We said, "Go down, all of you, (and henceforth you will live a life,) some of you being the enemies of others. There shall be for you on the earth a habitation and provision until an appointed time." (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:36)

He said: "Go down, (all of you,) (and henceforth you will live a life,) some of you being the enemies of the others. There shall be for you on the earth a habitation and provision until an appointed time." He said: "You will live there, and there you will die, and from it you will be brought forth (on the Day of Resurrection)." (Al-Araf Surah, 7: 24-25) (5)

Iblis rebelled, looked, and still is looking for followers to rebel against Allah Almighty. Unfortunately, the first to pay heed to him in this respect were the father and the mother of mankind: Adam and Eve. However, they repented by saying, They said (straightaway): "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and do not have mercy on us, we will surely be among those who have lost! (Al-Araf Surah, 7:23) (6) And Allah (SWT) accepted their repentance. On the other hand, the Satan did not repent out of his pride and will suffer for it both in the world and in the Hereafter.








(1) – Al-Hijr, 15:28–31; Al-Baqarah, 2:34, Al-Isra, 17:61; Al-Kahf, 18:50; Sad, 38:71-74.
(2) – Al-Hijr, 15:32-35; Al-Araf, 7:12-13; Sad, 75-78.
(3) – Al-Hijr,15:36-40; Al-Araf, 7:14-15; Sad, 38:79-82.
(4) – Al-Araf, 7:20-23; Ta-ha, 20:121.
(5) – Al-Araf, 7:24-25; Al-Baqarah, 2:36; Ta-ha, 20:123.
(6) – Ta-ha, 20:124-125; Baqarah, 2:38.

It is mentioned that Satan eats and drinks in the Quranic verses and in Hadiths. Invisible creations, which are made from fire, do not dine as humans, which are created from clay indeed. We cannot know the truth of what they dine on. Nevertheless, there should be some kind of food that they dine on and feeling of taste. For instance, as angels are fond of beautiful fragrances, Jinn are fond of stinky ones.

What does Satan dine on?

Satan eats, drinks, and reproduces through sexual intercourse just like humans. That is to say, yet alongside his evil features, he has humane features too.

Jabir bin 'Abdullah reported God's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When a person enters his house and mentions the name of God at the time of entering it and while eating the food, Satan says (addressing himself: You have no place to spend the night and no evening meal; but when he enters without mentioning the name of God, the Satan says: You have found a place to spend the night, and when he does not mention the name of God while eating food, he (the Satan) says: You have found a place to spend the night and evening meal. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Abdullah through the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording. (Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 5006)

Mentioning the name of God when entering the house, while eating the food keeps Satan away from the house and the dining table is defined in the Hadiths. It is announced that eating without mentioning the name of God would cause to dine with Satan and scantiness.

How does he eat or drink?

In some of the Hadiths, it is reported that Satan eats with his left hand. For this reason, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) ordered us to eat with our right hands, mentioning the name of God, forbids to eat and to drink with left hand. The following hadiths are about eating:

Ibn Omar reported God's Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying: When any one of you intends to eat (meal), he should eat with his right hand. and when he (intends) to drink he should drink with his right hand, for the Satan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand. (Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 5008)

Omar bin Abu Salama reported: I (had the opportunity) one day to dine with Gods Messenger (peace be upon him), and I picked up flesh from around the dish. Thereupon God's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Eat from that which is near to you. (Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 5013)

This question has two aspects. One is the purpose of the creation of Satan and the other is the wisdom of the creation of him. Let us first dwell on the purpose of it briefly. As known, Satan is the same kind as jinns. According to the verse, I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me (51/56), the purpose of the creation of jinns, like that of man, their having faith in Allah, their having advancement in worshipping and knowing Him. Just as there are misbelievers among men who fail the testing, so there are also among jinns who are misbelievers and fail the testing too. Satan is among the second group of jinns. He has been driven away from the divine mercy since he did not prostrate to Adam (PBUH) as Allah (SWT) commanded him to do, and, upon his request, he has been given permission, as a divine wisdom, to go after men to divert them from the right path.

The wisdom of giving Satan such a privilege is not one but many. The most important two are as follows: Allah Almighty is able to test man without the scruples of Satan as well, and again is able to load the duty of Satan onto the human self. Nevertheless, doing the opposite, by agreeing to the Satans heinous wish, which is to misguide people from the right path until the Doomsday, He has increased the torment for Satan in hell billion

Allah created man out of dry mud, jinns out of fire and angels out of light. In the order of the creation angels come first, then jinns and then human beings. The first human being to be created was Adam(PBUH), who was also the first prophet.

When Allah created Adam(PBUH), He ordered the angels to bow down to him. Although all of the angels bowed down, Iblis avoided bowing down. After that the devil requested permission from Allah to continue to act as devil until the day of judgement. When his request was accepted, Iblis continued to lead human beings astray. Although the bowing down of the angels to Adam(PBUH) is a matter of the unseen world, there are some explanations about the course and form of that happening in our interpretation books. According to the explanations of Ebus Suud, Iblis used to live together with the angels and worship like them. When the order to bow down was given Iblis differed from the angels. According to a second point of view there is a type of angels that are born and die; they are called jinns. Iblis was one of them. According to another point of view, the order to bow down was for all of the jinns. However, by mentioning angels, God also addressed jinns. Thus not only angels but also all of the spiritual beings were ordered to bow down.(1)
There are two points of views regarding jinns:
1. All of the spiritual beings are called jinns. Thus angels and devils are included in the notion of jinn. So there is both a general and a special relationship between angels and jinns. All angels are jinns, but all jinns are not angels.
2. Some of the spiritual beings are called jinns. Spiritual beings are divided into three parts:
a. Good ones: Angels.
b. Bad ones: Satans
c. That can be both good and bad: Jinns.

According to the information given in Safvetüt-Tefasir:
1. Iblis is not an angel.
2. Angels are innocent beings; they never disobeyed God, whereas Iblis disobeyed God by not bowing down.
3. Angels were created out of light, Iblis out of fire.
4. Angels are not born or reproduce, whereas Iblis reproduces and multiplies. As it is stated in the Koran, Chapter Al-Kahf: Iblis is of jinns.(2)

According to a report from Ibn Abbas, some interpreters have the view that riotous and seditious human beings and jinns are called devil. There are devils among jinns, and there are also devils among human beings.

As for the form of the angels bowing down to Adam (PBUH); it is obvious that the ordered bowing down was not carried out with the intention of worshipping. To worship other beings than Allah is polytheism. The bowing down of angels to Adam(PBUH) means to accept his caliphate, that is to obey him. Although it means respect to Adam(PBUH), in fact it is a kind of worship to Allah.

As a matter of fact greeting in previous nations was in the form of bowing down on the ground without the intension of worshipping. For instance his brothers bowing down to Joseph(PBUH) actually shows honor and respect.

However, it is also possible to regard their bowing down to Adam(PBUH) in the form of worshipping. In this case, the being to be bowed down to is Allah. Adam(PBUH) functioned as qiblah. Consequently the bowing down was directly to Allah. (3)

On the other hand, by making the angels bow down to Adam(PBUH), Allah showed that the universe bows down to human beings; and by mentioning that Iblis claimed superiority over him, Allah drew attention to the fact that the devil would be such a big obstacle for the material and spiritual development of human beings.

References
1. Tefsir-i Ebu`s-Suûd, 1:87.
2. Safvetü`t-Tefasir, 1:52.
3. Hülasatü`l-Beyan, 1:97.

Shaytan (in Arabic) is an entity analogous to Satan in Christianity. Satan means secret, malicious force, and evil spirit. The name Satan especially has become the name of unseen souls and evil forces. When it is said, Iblis (name given to the primary devil in Islam; Iblis was a Jinn, a creature made of smokeless fire), first individual, who is the forefather of this kind recur to the mind at first. The entity of satan like humans announced to humans with these Quranic verses, When they meet those who believe, they declare (hypocritically), We believe; but when they are alone in secret with their (apparently human) satans (to whom they hasten in need to renew their unbelief and their pledge to them for fear of losing their support), they say: "Assuredly we are with you; we only mock (those others)." (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:14), And thus it is that (as a dimension of human earthly life taking place according to Our eternal Will embracing human free will, and according to the wisdom in sending the Religion) We have set against every Prophet a hostile opposition from among the satans of humankind and jinn, whispering and suggesting to one another specious words, by way of delusion. Yet had your Lord willed (and compelled everybody to behave in the way He wills), they would not do it. So leave them alone with what they have been fabricating. And the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter incline towards it (their deluding speech) and take pleasure in it, and they continue perpetrating the evils that they have long been perpetrating. (Al-Anam Surah, 6:112, 113)

Satan mostly comes to the ones, who think that they are perfect, and he makes their sinful acts alluring to them (Al-Anfal Surah, 8:48); negators and unbelievers, that is to say hypocrites, while disbelieving (in God), he/she says (to humans) as if he/she believes (Al-Hashr Surah, 59:16; Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:24); who eat what is unlawful and impure (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:168); who hope help from him in their wrongful deeds (Al-Anfal Surah, 8:48); who do not seek refuge in God from Satan, soothsayers, fortune tellers, and mediums (Al-Hijr Surah, 15:17, 18); who boldly commit sins and overindulge in lies (Ash-Shuara Surah, 26:21, 22). In addition, he mostly comes to the ones, who worship to the natural entities such as sun, moon, and stars (An-Naml Surah, 27:74); who oppose God and His Messenger, and forget remembrance of God (Who created and nurture him) (Al-Mujadilah Surah, 58:19, 20); who lack in sincerity and faithfulness (Al-Hijr Surah, 15:39, 40); and so many of those who are rebellious, deniers, and disobeyers.

He persuades them to go on their everyday and night deviances, makes them negligence, and stops them to turn from their deviances, and never let them go until they die.

And Satan will say, when the matter is decided: "Surely God promised you something that was bound to come true; I too promised but I failed you. And I had no power over you, except that I appealed to you, and you answered me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves. I cannot respond to your cry for help, nor can you respond to my cry for help. I reject your associating me as a partner with God (in belief or worship) in the past." Surely, for the wrongdoers (who have wronged and ruined themselves by denying God or associating partners with Him) there is a painful punishment. (Ibrahim Surah, 14:22)

The narration regarding the issue is as follows:

Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) appointed me to protect the sadaqa al- fitr, which is the zakah of Ramazan. Somebody came and started to take handfuls of food. I caught the man and said to him,

“By Allah, I will take you to the presence of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).” The man said,  

“I am a needy person; I have children and I need a lot of things.” Thereupon, I let the man.  In the morning, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“O Abu Hurayra! What did your captive do last night?”I said,

“O Messenger of Allah! He said he was needy and that he had children; so, I felt pity for him and let him go.” The Messenger of Allah said,

“He told you a lie; he will come again.”Upon this sentence of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), I understood that he would come again; so, I started to wait for him. The man came again and started to take handfuls of food. Thereupon, I said, 

“I will take you to the presence of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).” The man said,

“Release me; I am really in need. I have children. I will not come again. I felt pity for him and released him. In the morning, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to me, 

“O Abu Hurayra! What did your captive do last night?”I said,

“O Messenger of Allah! He said that he was needy, that he had children and that he would not come again; so, I felt pity for him and let him go.” The Prophet said,

“He definitely told you a lie but he will come again.” I waited for him to come for the third time. Indeed, he came again andstarted to take handfuls of food. I got hold of him again and said,  

“I will take you to the presence of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh); this is your third and last coming. You promise not to come again but you come. This time, he said to me,

“Release me! I will teach you some words that Allah will make useful for you. I said,

“What are those words?” He said,

“When you enter the bed, read ayah al-kursi. If you do so, there will be a guard sent to you by Allah and Satan will not be able to approach you until the morning. Thereupon, I released him. In the morning, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to me, 

What did your captive do last night?”I said,

“O Messenger of Allah! He said he would teach me some words that Allah would make useful for me; therefore, I released him.  The Prophet said,

“What are those words?”He said to me,

“When you enter the bed, read ayah al-kursi, “Allahu la ilaha illa huwa’l-hayyu’l-qayyum…” from beginning to the end;there will always be a guard sent to you by Allah and Satan will never be able to approach you until the morning.” Thereupon, the Prophet said,
“Behold! He is a liar but he told you the truth this time. O Abu Hurayra! Do you know who you were talking to for three nights? I said,

“No, I don’t.” The Messenger of Allah said,

 “He is Satan.”(Bukhari, Wakalah 10, Fadailu’l-Qur’an 10, Bad’u’l-khalq 11)

Bukhari mentioned this hadith in three different places in his Sahih. However, he mentioned it fully as narrated above in Wakalah and summarized in the other two parts. We will point out some issues mentioned in the hadiths.  

We understand from this hadith that sadaqa al-fitr was gathered in a place and then was distributed to the poor. There are many examples in hadiths that Hazrat Prophet was given the knowledge about ghayb (unknown) but in this hadith, the Prophet says what the man did although he did not witness the event and says what he will do.

That Abu Hurayra saw Satan and caught him proves that he takes various shapes.  It is also a clear indication of the blessing and extraordinary state of being subject to the Prophet on Abu Hurayra. Sadaqa al-fitr is the right of the poor and the needy; so, the person who came to Abu Hurayra introduced himself as a poor person.

According to what Bayhaqi narrates, Allah secures the house of a person who reads ayah al-kursi when he enters the bed at night and the house of his neighbor and the houses in his street.(Ali al-Kari, al-Mirqat, IV, 632).

Abu Hurayra knew that the person who came was a liar due to the warning of the Prophet. Therefore, he wanted to catch him and take him to the presence of the messenger of Allah. However, it is understood that Satan’s useful words for man that are also accepted by Allah made Abu Hurayra change his mind. He had the idea that the person regretted what he had done and repented. Therefore, he released the person.

Besides, it was impossible for the person to come again. Since the Messenger of Allah said, “The person who came to Abu Hurayra told the truth”, Abu Hurayra started to read ayah al-kursi every night from then on and to keep Satan away from him until the morning.  

In fact, the news that Satan gives is falsified news because, as the Prophet states it, the characteristic of Satan is telling lies. However, a liar sometimes tells the truth. The Prophet pointed out that aspect.   

As a matter of fact, it is stated in the following verse that Satan cannot harm sincere and purified people:  “(Iblis) said: "Then by Thy power, I will put them all in the wrong― Except Thy Servants amongst them, sincere and purified (by Thy grace)."(Sad, 38/82,83) It is confirmed by Allah in the following verses that that word of Iblis is right “(Allah) said: "Then it is just and fitting― and I say what is just and fitting―That I will certainly fill Hell with thee and those that follow thee--every one."(Sad, 38/84,85)

That is, Satans from jinn and Satanic people can tell truth even though it is very rare. They might have done so as a necessity of their own interest, in order to be protected from a harm or to add a thousand lies to a true statement. Or, Allah might have made them serve good people through their tongue.

However, the most important point to take into consideration is thatthe words of such evil being need to be confirmed by Allah as it is stated in the verseor by His Messenger as it is statedin the hadith. In that case, we will be regarded to have followed the confirmation by Allah and His Messenger. Therefore, it is not appropriate to act in accordance with what those Satans of people and jinn and to follow them based on the truths that they sometimes tell.     

We will understand those issues from the event in this hadith, which is supported by revelation and informed by the Prophet, and we will not change our direction due to some truths that are rarely told by Satanic forces. We will continue walking straight on the path shown to us by the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Prophet.

We understand the following from the hadith mentioned above,
-  Ayah al-kursi has many virtues.

- God Almighty protects a house in which ayah al-kursi is read sincerely at night from the evil of Satan that night.  

- To read ayah al-kursi before sleeping at night is an act that complies with the sunnah.  

- The Prophet had information about the unknown by the permission of Allah.

- The characteristic of Satan and some jinn is telling lies; therefore, it is not appropriate to believe in them.

Satan, just because he is the enemy invisible and where he can come near to you is unknown; taking refuge in God from his delusions and tricks is very important matter for unable beings like us. There is no escape from Satan for humans. If salvation is to ever come to us then examination secret of the man in this life must be abrogated, which is contrary to the creation wisdom. So, Satan bothers humans with endless delusions and tricks throughout their life times.

Messenger of God (peace be upon him) states on this matter as, Every one of you has personal satans.

There are many ways to keep Satan away from you and to weaken him for a believer. Messenger of God (pbuh) states, A man can weaken Satan, as he makes his camel thin in a journey.

The misgivings of Satan can only be dispelled by commemorating God and appealing for His help. In the interpretation of the Surah Al-Falaq, Mujahid says, Satan who is Hannas (to enter a place for giving Waswasa- whispering doubts, misgivings) settles in the hearts. Whenever God is commemorated, he escapes, and turns back when the soul is in negligence. It is almost like the fight of the darkness and the light. Remembrance of God, wards Satan off. And the following verse points out this very truth once again, Satan has subdued them and so caused them to forget remembrance of God. Those are the party of Satan. Be aware: the party of Satan, they are the losers (the self-ruined). (Al-Mujadilah Surah, 58:19)


There are so many Quranic verses about taking refuge in God from Satans harm. Some of those are:
And if a prompting from Satan should cause you hurt (as you carry out your mission or during worship or in your everyday life), seek refuge in God. He is All- Hearing, All-Knowing. (Al-Araf Surah, 7:200)
And say: My Lord! I seek refuge in You from the promptings and provocations of the satans (of the jinn and humankind especially in my relations with people, while I am performing my mission). I seek refuge in You, my Lord, lest they be present with me." (Al-Muminun Surah, 23:97-98)

In these verses, it is pointed out that Satan usually comes near to you and gives waswasa (doubts, misgivings) while in worship so keeps you away from good deeds and impels you to sin.

Especially, when Quran is recited, he casts different doubts into the mind and heart. He even urges you to spell this cannot be the way to recite Quran and dissuades you to give up reciting. We are asked to take refuge in God against the tricks of him:
So when you recite the Quran (as a good, righteous deed), seek refuge in God from Satan rejected (from His Mercy, because of his evil suggestions and whisperings during the recitation). (An-Nahl Surah, 16:98)
Students who seek to receive an education and people who want to worship must seek refuge in God from Satans molestation.
And if a prompting from Satan should stir in you (when carrying out your mission or during worship or in your daily life), seek refuge in God immediately. He is the One Who is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Fussilat Surah, 41:36)

There are no limits and categories of Satans thoughts. He likes to involve in and implicate everything. If he finds something that we have done similar to his, he perceives them as signs and he becomes so delighted, because he has plans on us. When he makes us to sin at the first time, as if he wins a victory, screams delightfully. Once you will step up the first stair, which Satan called you for, climbing the second will be easier.

Taking refuge in God is not only peculiar to the common person; Prophets, holy men took refuge in God from Satan and by supplicating, they rushed to the door of Gods mercy. Anyhow, in the Quran:
Say: "My Lord would not care for you were it not for your prayer. Now that you have denied (His Message), the inescapable punishment will cleave to you." (Al-Furqan Surah, 25:77)
Your Lord has said: "Pray to Me, (and) I will answer you." Those who are too haughty to worship Me will enter Hell abased. (Al-Mumin Surah, 40:60)
To Him alone is made the call of truth and the prayer of truth addressed. Those to whom they invoke and call others (to invoke), apart from Him, cannot answer them in any way – (so that he who invokes them is but) like one who stretches out his hands to water (praying) that it may come to his mouth, but it never comes to it. The prayer of the unbelievers is but destined to go to waste. (Ar-Rad Surah, 13:14)
With above-mentioned verses, believers are invited to supplicate to God and to take refuge in Him. After all, supplicating as, For the sake of God, most humbly and in awe, not loud of voice while in neediness and in abundance is a duty for us and our Rab (Cherisher and Sustainer) requests it from us. For, supplicating is worship (duty) at the same time.

Sources:
Arif Aslan, Şeytan - Cin - Melek, Nesil Yayınları
Merak Ettikleriniz, Mehmet Dikmen - Adem Tatlı, Cihan Yayınları

Shaytan (Satan), who gave up the hope of divine mercy, and completely became alone as a result of assuming self-importance when he was commanded to prostrate for Hazrat Adam (peace be upon him), started to worry about his life. Then he begged Allah as follows: "Give me respite till the day they are raised up."  (Qur’an, al-A'raf, 7/14). What is meant by “till the day they are raised up” is the second blowing of the Sur (the trumpet of the day of Judgement)by the angel Israfel. (Qur’an, Az-Zumar, 39/68) (Qur’an, Al-Mutaffifin, 83/6).
As he knew that after resurrection there will no more be resurrecting, he was thinking that by asking for a respite he would be saved from death. His begging for immortality was answered as "Be you among those who have respite." (Qur’an, Al-Araf, 7/15) with the condition “Till the Day of the Time Appointed." (Qur’an, Al-Hijr, 15/38). What is meant by “Till the Day of the Time Appointed.", is the first blowing of the Sur (Qur’an, An-Naml, 27/87).
With this, he (Shaytan) preferred a life full of abasement and insult to death. And it became the real descent for him.
As it can be understood from the explanations above, as a matter of fact Shaytan did not deny Allah and resurrection after death. He also knew that Hazrat Adam (peace be upon him) will have generations on the earth, that they will live there for a while, that they will die
and that one day they will be resurrected. So then, his blasphemy was not because he denied Allah and lfe after death, but because he did not perform the given command and objected to it. (Yazır, Elmalılı,III, 2135).

- According to what Tabari and Ibn Abid-Dunya report from Ibn Abbas, when Satan was together with the angels, his name was AZAZIL. Then, it became Iblis. (see Ibn Hajar, Fathu’l-Bari,6/339)

One of the names of Satan was al-Harith (الْحَارِثُ). (Ibn Hajar, ibid)

- The information quoted from Tabari in the question is in 1/455 in the copy that we have. The word الْحَارِثُ  is used there.

- The words “Harith” means, the one who sows, cultivates, gains, farms and gardens. This meaning is valid for man.

In addition, “Haris” means the one that lights a fire, ignites, moves the fuel, wood, etc. so that it will catch fire, the one who is very intelligent and the one who inspects everything in his area of interest. (see Sihah, Qamus, Lisan, HRS item)

Those meanings are appropriate for Satan. For, he was created from fire and he causes people to enter fire. He is the one that ignites all fires of mischief and that puts people in various fires of mischief.  

The word “mihras” derived from the same root is used for “tongs”, which is used for stirring fire.

The name “haris” given to Satan indicates his body of fire, intelligence, mischief, that he will put people in fire and that his end will be in fire.

Alcoholic drinks, gambling, and to hope for help from foretelling are considered Satans excrement. Quran states on this matter as follows:

O you who believe! Intoxicants, games of chance, sacrifices to (anything serving the function of) idols (and at places consecrated for offerings to other than God), and (the pagan practice of) divination by arrows (and similar practices) are a loathsome evil of Satans doing; so turn wholly away from it so that you may prosper (in both worlds). Satan only seeks to provoke enmity and hatred among you by means of intoxicants and games of chance, and to bar you from the remembrance of God and from Prayer. So, then, will you abstain? (Al-Maidah Surah, 5:90, 91)

In a hadith narrated by Hazrath Aisha, Messenger of God (pbuh) states, All drinks that intoxicate are unlawful (to drink)." (1) And anything, which is done, while consuming alcohol is prohibited. Anas Bin Malik narrated, Messenger of God cursed ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought. (2)

Companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) took it so seriously that they even considered drinking alcoholic drinks equal to idolatry. Abu Musa, on this matter used to say, "It is all the same to me whether I drink wine or worship this pillar instead of God." (Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3660)

However, just because the complete prohibition of alcohol came with time and progress; and when we know that there were drunken people among the companions even in the time of Uhud and Badr wars; it should not be so harsh on people who have weaknesses for alcohol and they should not be excluded from society. As a matter of fact, once a drunk was brought to the Prophet Muhammad. Some of the companions beat him with their hands, and some with their shoes and some with their garments (twisted in the form of a lash). Messenger of God acted with a different manner and said, "Do not help Satan against your (Muslim) brother." (3) Therefore, he warned his companions how evil intention is to disincline someone from belief, Muslims, and Islam.


(1) Sahih Bukhari,
(2) Tirmidhî,
(3) Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 81, number 772

Satan has lost eternally because of five reasons.
1. For not accepting his sin
2. For not regretting
3. For not condemning his nafs (self) which led him to rebel
4. For not repenting
5. For losing his hope from the Divine Mercy (Ibn-i Hacer, Munehibbat, 73)

Hence, a believer should always accept his sins; regret his mistakes; criticize his nafs (evil-self) and condemn it; often repent and should not lose his hope from Divine Mercy.

After rebelling against Allah, the devil asked for a respite and he was granted respite till the Day of Resurrection. Actually, that wish of him is also a punishment for himself. He made a wish which causes his torment in the Hereafter to increase as he is the cause of all evils perpetrated until the Doomsday. That way, he preferred a life full of shame and abasement to death.

Actually nobody can call Allah Almighty into account for what He does (Al-Anbiyah Surah, 21:23). But we, as human beings, do like “to reassure “our” heart(s)” about it as in any other issues like Abraham (PBUH) once did (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:260). Hence, the following question somehow comes to our mind:



So why has Allah Almighty created the Satan and let him bother us? Isn’t creating the evil also an act of evil?



First, creating the evil is not evil, but doing it is evil because Allah does not create anything for them to be evil. Rather He creates them for them to be good. We turn things into evil, which Allah has created to be good. For instance, the Satan was created from fire, which is also the most striking example for us. The creation of fire is not evil, but touching it is. If man becomes careful, s/he can make use of it. Otherwise, s/he is sure to be harmed by it.



Another example for that is the rain. The rain brings about thousands of fine results, all of which are good. If some people are harmed by the rain because of their imprudence, they cannot say, “The creation of the rain is not good, it is evil.”



Allah Almighty has created the angels who have no capability of sinning and the animals who bear no responsibility for anything. Other than these two creatures, Allah has created human beings who can go further than the angels in doing good, and also be in lower degree than animals in doing evil. At this point, the Satan has been granted a chance to make man progress on the right path, and man has been given an evil-self that leads him into evil.



The world is a field of the Hereafter. Heaven and hell, which are the two destinations of the Hereafter, will be the results of man’s actions in the world. For this reason, man is being tested. People who spend their lives on true faith and with beautiful deeds become worthy of heaven. People who are doing otherwise will go to hell.



If man does not obey his evil-self and the Satan, he progresses spiritually and gets a place higher than an angel’s gets. If not, he finds himself in total misery in the end.



As known, the origin of a diamond and coal is carbon. However, due to the differences of carbons in arrangement we call them separately. Likewise, the origin of man is the same too. All men have been equipped with the same material and spiritual devices. However, because of their being used well or wrong, there has been difference among people. There have emerged diamond-souled and coal-souled people.



Another aspect of the point is that just as man takes the wrong path by obeying the Satan, the Satan also bears responsibility for that thus increases his punishment in hell. In Islam, there is a rule saying, “The one who causes is like the one who does.”



If Allah Almighty had wished, he might not have given the Satan this chance. Then the duty of the Satan would have been overtaken by the evil-commanding souls of men. The outcome would have been the same again. With the opportunity granted to the Satan to lead human beings astray, the Satan will suffer a heavy pain.

The Quranic verse, Assuredly, Satans guile is ever feeble draws our attention to the weakness of Satans deceits and tricks. It is announced in many verses of Quran that Satan has no authority over humans. (Chapters, 14:22; 15:42; 16:99; 17:65; 34:21)

This situation is very important for the responsibilities of humans. If Satan would have such an authority, humans would offer an excuse before God such as, O God, You set Satan to bothering us. He took our will from our hands. He urges us to sin. However, the only thing that Satan does is to give the feeling of apprehension, to show sins and unfavorable things as if they are good. Anyone who fall into this apprehensive state of mind becomes a sinner and anyone who does not fall for (Satans tricks) he/she ascends before God.

The basic strife against Satan is to oppose to his instructions. That is why; this very enemy should be well known. The ones, who cannot distinguish the source of inspiration that comes to their heart; either from Satan or from (another) angel; mostly fall for Satans tricks. Human heart is the battlefield of Angels and Satans inspirations.

The believers, by taking shelter In God, should save themselves from Satans suggestions. And if a prompting from Satan should cause you hurt (as you carry out your mission or during worship or in your everyday life), seek refuge in God. He is All- Hearing, All-Knowing. Those who keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety: when a suggestion from Satan touches them – they are alert and remember God, and then they have clear discernment. (Al-Araf Surah, 7:200, 201) By this way, the believers are under the protection of God. Even if Satan assails them by giving suggestions, they by bringing God to remembrance, regain consciousness and do not fall for Satan. They become free from apprehensions and clearly see the reality.

Man, who was sent down to the earth as vicegerent is superior to jinn in terms of his nature and the characteristics of creation as well as his intelligence, mind, memory, reasoning and worshipping. Some jinn that do not take lessons from a heavenly religion do not accept the superiority of men in terms of character because they take lessons from the satan and are jealous of them.

God Almighty states the following regarding the issue in the Quran: “We have indeed created man in the best of moulds.” ( at-Tin, ), expressing that man is superior not only to jinn but also to all of the beings.

Jinn do not accept the superiority of men and they cause men difficulties, doing their best to make men be in need of them. Those who do not know the nature and the structure off jinn seek help from jinn. The jinn doctors and healers make use of those simple-minded people and their ignorance.

The people who do not know the nature and the structure off jinn sometimes exaggerate and overestimate jinn. That is, they see or show jinn as beings that know everything, that can do everything, that have high talents and that are superior to men. It is completely nonsense. 

Jinn and satans can harm men. However, they cannot harm anyone they like. Satans and jinn harm people who are away from worshipping and who commit a lot of sins.

Jinn and satans penetrate into people through the gaps opened by sins and surround them. It is necessary to close those gaps in order to prevent them from penetrating and be protected from their evil. 

According to the observation of saintly people, the reason why jinn and satans pester believers is that they are open and weak in terms of some spiritual aspects. It is because of the situations like being junub, menstruation, puerperium, being without wudu, presenting inattentive and ignorant behavior in bad manners; psychological disorders and non-physiological frenzies generally catch people during the gaps that we have just mentioned. If jinn and satans have anything to do with those situations – generally they have – definitely, they must have found a way of penetrating into the believer through a sin he has committed. 

Yes, if you are like a castle and if the gates of that castle are open, your eternal enemy will enter you through those gates and they will try to capture the castle of your body. If you do not want to be exposed to such situations, you must avoid sins, lead a careful life; you must never forget that a castle can be conquered from inside...

Evil jinn and satans use all kinds of sins as means. Alcohol, gambling and prostitution are the means that they often use. The people who commit those sins are regarded to have fallen into the trap.

There are various reasons why jinn come to the visible world from the metaphysical world. Either a magnetic event happens in our world, or a vent, corridor forms between the two worlds or a person who has the property of being a medium causes it due to his/her structure knowingly or unknowingly. Otherwise, no jinn can go out of the boundaries of its own world.

Although we are in the same world, it is a reality that there exists a difference of dimension. Jinn cannot go to the physical world from the metaphysical world whenever they want.

When jinn go to the visible world from their own worlds, they cannot pester or affect everybody. However, they can communicate with people who have the property of being a medium or they pester the people who have a vent, opening or disorder in their bodies. They are generally introvert, cowardly, timid, psychologically unbalanced, schizophrenic people or people with a brain disease. 

Jinn cannot go to the visible world to stay there permanently. They have to go back after a certain period of time. A person who is in a coma needs to be awakened after a certain time; a person who dives into water has to come out of water after a certain time; similarly, a jinn has to go back to its own world after a certain time. There is only one possibility for a jinn to stay longer: a jinn has to find a person with the property of being a medium, communicate with him and make use of his/her energy, or it has to enter his/her body and stay there for a period of time, or steal energy from weak and ill bodies, or enter an animal like a fly, insect, etc and save time.

Answer 1:

Let us have a look around us: let mountains, stones, plants, animals, the moon, the sun and stars cross your imagination one by one. All of them are physical beings; yet how different they are from each other!

And then let us think of the realm of rays, gravity and the attraction of the sun which we cannot see. And take notice of the fact that they are all very different from each other, too.

And let us continue with this:
Satan must be different from human beings as much as fire is different from earth. The Jinn must be as different from angels as darkness is different from light.

There are two species of beings which are tested by Allah: Human beings and the jinn.
There are believers and unbelievers amongst both of them. There are both good and evil individuals amongst both of them. Both species have got righteous ones and seditious ones. Here is the evilest member, who rebelled against Allah, of the Jinn: Satan.

Human body was created from earth, and the spirit is being hosted in that body. The jinn, on the other hand, were directly created from fire. Indeed, this difference of creation was the very reason of the first and the greatest test which Satan failed; and he was expelled from the presence of Allah and was cursed because he refused to prostrate before Adam claiming that he was superior to human beings as he was created from fire.

As Satan is from the Jinn species, his lifespan is eventually longer than that of human beings. In addition, this rebellious jinni was given a long lifespan as he wanted and indeed as a punishment, and he was permitted to pester human beings until the Day of Judgment.

Allah can test human beings only through their lower-selves and the worldly life too, without Satan, and give them their deserved bliss or deserved punishment. The fact that Satan is employed in this process is indeed a punishment given to Satan because more is added to his sins with every single person he leads to evil deeds and it causes his punishment to grow so severe that one cannot comprehend. Eventually, he became exposed to the most advanced level of the name of al-Qahhar.

“There are evil spirits from the jinn which do not have physical bodies as certainly as there are evil souls from human beings which have physical bodies yet serve as demons.” (The Flashes, p.82).

You see someone who is trying to instill some false thoughts to people. When talks, he  looks directly in his addressee’s eyes, not at his arms or feet. He tries to get into his souls through his eyes and to instill some ideas in him. If you remove the physical bodies of these two people in your imagination, two different souls will appear. And one of them wants to deceive the other. In this case, it should not seem irrational that Satan tries to pervert human spirit and lead him astray.

We see some people denying the existence of Satan. According to the author of the Nur Collection, it is “the greatest trick of Satan”. The only ground for this denial is that Satan cannot be seen with human eyes.

Now, let us ask that person:
With which organ of yours do you deny the existence of Satan? That is, is it your hands that deny him, or your ears, or your body or your legs?
He will find the question nonsense and will answer “with none of them”. It is my mind which cannot accept his existence.
Then, what does not accept the existence of Satan is that person’s mind. Something invisible is denying the existence of another invisible thing and its evidence is that “it is invisible.”

The mind thinks with words, yet all works of the heart happen without words. One loves a flower or a scent without “words.” He does them without words. However, when he wants to explain that love to others, he uses words.

Satan talks without words to the human heart, which loves, fears and believes without words, and instills some suggestions to it like whispers. That whispering of Satan is called “delusion.” Talking of delusion, I would like to mention some tactics Satan uses to deceive people:

Satan’s first aim is to make people unbelievers. If he fails at it, he steps back and tries to prevent him from worshipping. He struggles to keep Allah’s servants away from this honorable duty. He whispers evils into their hearts and they become disturbed thinking that these evil ideas come from their hearts. This time, Satan starts another trick:

Satan says, “You cannot worship Allah with such a complicated heart (such complicated feelings)”. If one believes this delusion, Satan wins. However, everyone admits that nobody can find the peace, which he could not find in worship, by leaving worship. One who quits worshipping and obeying Allah gradually grows away from divinity. The only solution is continuing worshipping.

In a friends meeting, I was talking with a young friend who was exposed to that trick of Satan’s. He said “Whenever I start performing a prayer, I think of evil things. When I stop praying, they go away.” And he was looking for a solution. First of all, I offered him the following perfect recipe of the author of Nur Collection:

“Those abominable words are not the words of your heart because your heart is affected and grieved by them.” (The Words, p.275).

Then I continued my talk as follows:
If you saw a man slapping his own face and crying, would you not say “Why is this man crying although he is slapping himself in person? Or is there an invisible hand which is making his hand slap on his face?” Your situation resembles it.
According to the recipe of the author of Nur Collection; your crying shows that those words do not belong to your heart. You will see, for instance, when you go to a casino, that those words will stop. That means, the one who says those words is someone who is an enemy of prayer and friend of gambling. And why should Satan give delusions to someone who gambles?... If he does, that person may remember that gambling is haram and it is something which Satan would never favor. Leaving him alone as he is, is the best option for Satan.
Then I read him the following paragraph from Nur Collection:

“And that kind of delusions can neither harm the Divine Truth, nor your heart. Yes, if one looks through a dirty observation port at the Sun and the stars in the sky, or the roses and flowers in Heaven, the dirtiness of the observation port makes neither the beholder nor what is looked at dirty. And it does not cause any evil effects.” (Mesnevi-i Nuriye, 96).

Again, I asked a person in such situation the following question:
Have you ever read an Islamic Catechism book?
“Yes” he replied.
I asked my second question:
Is “delusion” listed amongst the things which invalidate prayers?
He answered my question with surprised smile on his face.
I said: “Then, continue your prayers. Whatever may cross your mind while praying, when you hear the call “Rise up for prayer! Rise up for Salvation!” you should hurry to prayer with the consciousness that Allah is calling you to His presence. Some abominable things may cross your mind at that time. However, whatever they may be, you will have obeyed that order by going to the mosque for the prayer. If you do not perform your prayer because abominable things cross your mind, you will have rebelled and such an excuse cannot save you from being guilty. What matters is following the order and hurrying to perform the prayer. Having the ideal peace in our hearts during prayers is another matter.
An assessment and a consoling statement on the issue from Nur Collection are as follows:

“As distortion and negative currents are at their zenith nowadays, God-consciousness (taqwa) is the most effective weapon against the distortion. One who performs fard worships and does not commit major sins finds salvation. With such major sins, good deeds are sincerely less likely to succeed. And a little amount of good deeds is indeed many under such difficult circumstances.” (Appendix of Kastamonu, 148)

The expression of “nowadays” is explained in the same letter as follows:

“As human beings face a hundred sins in every moment in today’s social life style, of course, they are considered to have performed a hundred good deeds if they are God-conscious and if they tend to refrain from those sins.”

When these two assessments are considered together, a battlefield is animated in our imagination. Bullets are pouring like rain from every corner and we are searching for peace in this violent atmosphere. It is obvious that we cannot find it. However, we are not supposed to join the enemy side just because we cannot find peace.
So, sins resemble bullets. And the social life of this age resembles a battle field. A person who is attacked by hundreds of enemies from every corner can hardly succeed in performing prayers peacefully and sincerely. However, this hardship earns him a special value; keeping guard in wartime and in battlefield and keeping guard in peacetime in towns are not the same. The statement “And a few good deeds are indeed regarded as many under such difficult circumstances” consoles and gives us the good news.

There is some other good news in the same letter: One will have performed hundreds of wajib worships by avoiding hundreds of sins, as avoiding one sin is wajib. People who were not exposed to even one percent of hundred sins could not perform those wajib prayers a few centuries ago. Instead, they advanced in performing good deeds and increased the amount of their nafilah (supererogatory) prayers. However, it is now difficult to perform good deeds. The statement “One who performs fard worships and refrains from major sins finds salvation” is a description of the awe of this age, besides being good news.

Let us deal with our own lower-selves and try to keep them away from Satan instead of wasting our time judging the age. As the ones who succeed in it increase in number, the age will also have to comply with those blissful people.

Alaaddin Başar, Ph.D.

Answer 2:

Delusion is a work of Satan; it is a trouble caused by Satan. It is Satan confusing one’s heart. Satan’s only target is the heart. His only aim is to distort hearts and make them worthless and useless.

Why is the heart Satan’s target board? Let us take the answer from the Quran:

“…know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart.” (1)
“…if any one believes in God, (God) guides his heart (aright).” (2)
“…without doubt in the remembrance of God do hearts find satisfaction.” (3)
“It is He Who sent down Tranquility into the hearts of the Believers, that they may add Faith to their Faith” (4)
“God has endeared the Faith to you, and has made it beautiful in your hearts.” (5)
“Believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts.” (6)

We learn the following features of the heart from the verses which we translated, amongst hundreds of verses about the heart:

1. Allah is close to the heart.
2. Allah guides the heart to righteousness.
3. The heart finds peace in mentioning Allah.
4. Allah gives tranquility and safety to the heart.
5. Allah makes the heart adopt faith.

Yes, the heart is the center of faith, the center of invocation, the center of righteousness, the center of tranquility and peace and the center of our all feelings. And Satan is the enemy of all of those beauties in believers. He does whatever he can and he makes all kinds of tricks, traps and wiles in order to deprive believers of them. Therefore, the only solution is to keep one’s heart away from Satan’s trickeries. Otherwise, when the heart goes astray for once, all of the body and feelings go astray as well. As it is stated in a hadith, “Behold! There is a piece of flesh in the body; when it is right, the whole body is right; when it is distorted, the whole body becomes distorted as well.”

Delusion shows itself in the form of doubts firstly. Satan puts doubts into the hearts first. However, the heart shows reaction right away and resists. Yet if it quits resisting and accepts doubts, it is the first victory of Satan. However, if the heart rejects, they leave a trace, which eventually turns into a taint and blemish in the heart. After a while, disgusting thoughts start to be reflected on the mirror of imagination and some images which are inappropriate for morals are formed. Those images and taints in the heart have already been enough for it to cry out and become disturbed. Finally, it catches the first microbe of the disease and becomes hopeless. One who catches the microbe of delusion thinks he is behaving immorally against his Lord and becomes anxious, trembles and anxiety surrounds his whole body suddenly. All of his feelings have been wounded; the window of the heart has become clouded and images have lost their clearness. He struggles in order to get over this state. However, he feels hollow for a while and eventually escapes from peace to heedlessness since he has not listened to the true voice of his heart, that is, the angelic inspiration in his heart.
Well, the microbe has now covered the whole heart. At that time, he is helpless and hopeless. He searches for a way to salvation and cure. What is the cure to this disease?

And here is the cure:

First cure: The most essential matter in this case is not to give in to anxiety. One suffering from such delusion should not become anxious and worry. Something which causes anxiety and worry must be real. However, thoughts crossing the mind and the heart are nothing but only imagination. Abominable things in imagination are worthless and unimportant. Moreover, they cannot harm humans.

For this reason, neither imagining things which lead to unbelief leads one to belief nor is thinking of something immoral to immorality because imagining and thinking something is not a judgment and decision. One is not responsible for it or it is not an evidence of being evil. However, putting immorality and abominable words into practice is a judgment. As one who imagines unbelief and abominable words has not uttered them really, he is not responsible for it.

Second cure: abominable, ugly words and immoral thoughts in the heart do not come from inside the heart indeed; so they do not belong to the heart. The heart is disturbed by them; it gets bored of and worried about them. As they do not belong to the heart, they are nothing but groundless fears and thoughts. And as they do not come from the heart, they come from Satan and maybe from Satan’s headquarter (lammah) which is near the heart.

The Headquarter of Satan is defined in a hadith as follows:

The hadith in question is narrated by Abdullah bin Mas’ud. The Messenger of Allah said:
“Satan has got a headquarter and angel has got a headquarter in humans. Satan’s headquarter is to encourage evil (unbelief, sin and cruelty) and to deny the truth. Angel’s headquarter is to inspire good and appreciate the truth. Whoever feels the latter one in his heart should know it is from Allah and give thanks to Him. Whoever feels the former one in his heart should know it is from Satan and seek refuge with Allah from it.” (7)
Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) cited the following verse: “The Evil One threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly. God promises you His forgiveness and bounties. And God cares for all and He knows all things.” (8)

The notion of Satanic headquarter mentioned in the hadith is explained as “Satan’s closeness, touching and delusion” while angelic headquarter is explained as “inspiration.”
Lammah is the headquarters, base, center and control rooms of Satan and angel. These two are very close to each other. Satan tries to lead people to deny the truth and invites them to unbelief, rebellion and sins by throwing arrows of delusion into their hearts. And angel counter-attacks in order to stop Satan’s attacks and invites people to good deeds, thawab and truth through inspiration.
So those abominable words in one’s heart and imagination come from the control room of Satan’s.

The fact that Satan’s headquarter and angel’s headquarter are so close to each other in heart resembles the following situation: a mirror has got both a bright face and a matte face. In other words, it is like a good book and a bad book that are next to each other in a bookcase.

In this sense, the fact that the inspiration of angel and the delusion of Satan are close to each other does not harm a person.
So how can one be harmed by delusion?

If one thinks that delusion will harm him, he will be harmed. Therefore, he causes hardship to his own heart and makes it suffer because he mistakes the imagination for reality. He thinks delusion comes from his heart. That is to say; he thinks delusion is harmful, so it becomes delusion. He thinks it is dangerous and it becomes dangerous. This is already what Satan wants and he gets what he wants. What should be done to get over it? As it is stated in the hadith, one should seek refuge with Allah from the evil of Satan’s.

1. al-Anfal, 24.
2. at-Taghabun, 11.
3. ar-Ra’d, 28.
4. al-Fath, 4.
5. al-Hujurat, 7 .
6. al-Anfal, 2.
7. Tirmidhi, Tafsiru'l-Quran, hadith number: 2988
8. al-Baqarah, 268.

There are some incidents that man thinks about, which are Adams (PBUH) having been driven out of Paradise, having been sent to the world, and the Satans having caused that. Some people happen to think about this question: If Satan had not been created would Adam (PBUH) has stayed in Paradise, and would we all have stayed in there too?

Before answering this question, let us pay attention to Allah Almightys dialogue with angels before He created Adam (PBUH). This event is expressed in Surah Al-Baqarah: And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: Wilt Thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not. (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:30)

As is clear from the translation of the verse, Allah Almighty announces that He would let humankind exist on earth before He created Adam (PBUH). That is, He (SWT) announced that humankind would live in the world not in Paradise. That the Satan deceived Adam (PBUH) only became a cause for mans having been sent to the world.

On the other hand, differently from angels, man has been given self-appetites and carnal feelings. In order for the reflections of these feelings to be seen, it was necessary for man to be given responsibilities and be tested so that at the end of this test and experiment, either he acquires a value worthy of Paradise or falls to a position fit for Hell.

Delusion is nothing but instilling. You can end it within your mind. That is to say; when one realizes that he has got delusions, he has to end them; because when we are unaware of delusions we think that we are committing sins and making mistakes. And for this reason, delusions continue to exist by increasing. However, when you realize that this situation does not stem from you, but it is the instilling of Satan and that you are not responsible for it and eventually you are not sinful, delusions will go away by themselves. You should not overrate delusion. Satan’s tricks are weak.

Abu Huraira narrates: Some people from the Companions of the Prophet asked him: “Some of us have got delusions in our minds; we think that it is sin to voice them normally.” The Prophet asked: “Do you really feel such apprehensiveness?” They answered “Yes!” and he said: “This (apprehensiveness) stems from faith (delusion is not harmful).” Muslim, Faith 209 (132); Abu Dawud, Adab 118 (5110).

In another narration, he said: “Praise be to Allah who turns Satan’s tricks into delusions.”

Another narration which Muslim narrated from Ibnu Mas’ud is as follows:
They said: “O Messenger of Allah! Some of us hear such inner-voices that they would rather be burnt until they turn into coal or thrown down to earth from the sky than saying them. (Can these delusions harm us?)” The Prophet answered: “No, this apprehensiveness of yours is the sign of true belief.”

Please click on the link given below;

What is Delusion (waswasah)? Could You Inform Us of its Reasons?

Could you give detailed information about delusion? How can I get rid of it?

Soul (nafs) is a sensitive receiver of Satans delusions. In the hadith, it was indicated that there is a station in human heart for both the delusions of Satan and inspirations of angels.(1)

The following is stated in the Quran, Verily Satan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his adherents, that they may become Companions of the Blazing Fire. (Sura al-Fatır, 6). Satans animosity towards humans begins with Adam. Satan was rejected from the Divine mercy since he had not prostrated to Adam. He became an enemy of Adam and his lineage because of this. He asked for Allahs permission to be an obstacle for them in the way going to Allah. Almighty Allah has given him that permission for testing humans and for manifestation of the abilities in their true nature. Satan says:

"Because thou hast thrown me out (of the Way), lo! I will lie in wait for them on Thy Straight Way: 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)." (al- Araf, 16–17)

Satan goes to great lengths and gives all kinds of delusions to people to have a control on them.(2) He catches some from his feeling of fear. He deceives some by useless fancies. He shows himself to some people as if he has nothing but good intentions. He causes some people to go astray by means of their appetites and some of them by means of their heedlessness The following is expressed in the hadith, He flows in human body like the blood flowing in mans veins. (3) Castles are conquered through their weak points. Satan tries to conquer man by using mans weaknesses.

People taken with Satans delusions and following him become servants and slaves of Satan instead of being servants of Allah. They become his staff by performing what he tells them.(4) Almighty Allah warns man as follows: Do not follow the footsteps of the Satan, for he is to you an avowed enemy. For he commands you what is evil and shameful, and that ye should say of Allah that of which ye have no knowledge. (al-Baqara,168–169)

Sources:
1-Tirmizi, Tafsir, 2/35
2-See Baydawi, I, 576
3-Bukhari, Bad'ul-halk, 11; Abu Dawud, Sawm, 78; Ibn Majah, Siyam, 65
4-Yazir, I, 584

Satan was given the permission to commit sins just as man was. If they had not been given that permission, then, there would not have been any testing.
Satan was dismissed from the presence of Allah and damned when he did not prostrate to Adam. Then, Satan asked the following from Allah:
"O my Lord! Give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are raised."
(Allah) said: "Respite is granted thee― Till the Day of the Time Appointed."
(Iblis) said: "O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong― Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by thy grace)." (al-Hijr,  36-40)
We want to attract your attention to some issues about the desire of Satan:
- The reason why Satan was given that permission and respite is due to testing. If Satan had not pestered people, the rank of the people would have been stable like those of the angels; they would not have been able to develop. However, man, who is tested through Satan can fall down to the lowest levels and rise to the highest levels. 
- Satan only tries to delude human beings, he tries to persuade them into committing sins; he cannot force them to do anything. If he had had a power like that, man would not have been responsible for what he had done. 
- Satan presents evil like something good just like the poison being served in golden bowls or inside honey. For instance, he says to a young man, “You are too young to fulfill the commands of the religion. Live every moment of your life. Travel and play!”
He says to the person who tries to get up for the morning prayer: “It is too cold now. You are a bit ill. You can perform the prayer later.”
He says to the people who work for Allah: “Are you going to save the nation? Although you have so many troubles yourselves, you are trying to solve the problems of the nation; take it easy…”
-Although Iblis is so deceitful and tricky, it cannot do anything to the mukhlas (purified or having been given sincerity) slaves of Allah. He cannot make them go astray. He will even cause them to elevate their ranks.

Indication of loving Allah (SWT) is obeying His orders.

As the Satan did not obey Allah, He does not love Him.

As a matter of fact, in the Qur’an, the following is stated, “Say: ‘If ye do love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’" (Surah Aal-e-Imran, 3/31)

The verse includes this certain following comparison:

 “If you love Allah (SWT), you shall follow Prophet Muhammad (SWT). If not, it means you do not love Him”

The opposite is as follows: “I love Allah, However I do not obey His orders, I do not love what He loves. It means that I do not love the ones who love Him and who show His way and His prophets” that is, “I love nothing but myself; and I do not want to follow the way of tawhid*”.

* (The Divine Unity, unity in its most profound sense. Allah is One in His Essence and His Attibutes and His Acts. The whole universe and what it contains is One unified event which in itself has no lasting reality. Allah is the Real, Al-Haqq. Although Allah is indivivisible and beyond conception, Tawheed can be viewed from four distinct perspectives: I. Tawheed Al-Rububiyah - Unity of Lordship. To percieve that there is only one Lord, the Master and Creator of the Universe, Who oversees and orders it in every moment, and that He is Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala. II. Tawheed al-uluhiyah - Unity of Worship. To realize that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah "Wahdahu la Shareeka’lah ("Alone without partner"). III. Tawheed al-Asma wa Sifaat - Unity of names and Attributes of Allah Ta’ala. To comprehend that: None can qualify or name Allah except as He or Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, have named or qualified Him. None can be named or qualified with the Names or the Attributes that belong only to Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala. For example, none may be called "Al-Muhyee" ("the Giver of Life") except Allah subhana wa Taa’ala Himself. We Must accept all the Ayat and Ahadeeth (Sahi) regarding the Attributes of Allah without altering their meaning in any way whatsoever. For a full list of the Attributes of Allah Ta’ala: IV. Tawheed all-Itabaa- Unity in following the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. To believe in and recite the words "Ashadu anna Muhammadar-Rasoolullah" ("I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah") and to follow the way of the Prophet Muhammad, as much as one is able, in life and worship. It is only by following the way of Islam tha the true nature of Tawhid becomes apparent. Another name for Suratul Ikhlas.

Satans are a species of spiritual creatures that have no capacity for good and that perpetrate only evil. The chief of satans, Iblis was created from Nar-i Samum, that is, from smokeless, scorching fire (Hijr Surah, 27). The original name of the Devil was Azazil. After abstaining from prostrating before Adam, peace be upon him, and after rebelling against this command of God out of arrogance, he took the names Iblis and Satan.

All the efforts and works of satans are aimed at misleading people out of faith, causing them to sin and to indulge in unbelief. The greatest obstacle to the spiritual development of humanity, to their fulfilling the duty of being a servant to God is Satan. In the Glorious Quran, Satan is described as aduww-u mubin (an open enemy). Believers must always seek refuge in God from his evils.

Similarly, in many verses in the Glorious Quran, God Almighty invites believers to seek refuge in God from Satan. Actually, Satan does not possess power on his own. And his devices of apprehension and trickery are weak, too. However, as the works he does are of the kind of destruction and harm, he attains great results with small tricks and devices and thus causes great damage. Therefore, he is seen as powerful and is even accepted as a deity by the adherents of some heretic sects and beliefs. In fact, how difficult it is to construct a building; and how easy it is to demolish it. For a human being to live, a great many of conditions must coexist. However, even though all the other conditions exist, this person faces death because of cutting off a part of body or of not inhaling for a few minutes. All the works that Satan does or the ones he makes them done are of the kind of damage as in the example. Therefore, although his power and tricks are actually rather weak, as he causes great harm and damage, Muslims always seek refuge in God from the evils of Satan.

As the carnal soul, such feelings as lust and anger of humans are also receptive to every trick and evil advice of Satan; sometimes a small trick or device of his quickly sways man and casts him into great spiritual disasters and harms.

This is why the evils of Satan are made seen great to believers and why they are repeatedly admonished so as not to get deceived. Otherwise, satans do not have any power in universe in terms of creation and work and they do not have any interference in the property of God.

WAR BETWEEN ANGEL AND SATAN ON HEART

Angels stir the superior feelings in humans and inspires in them goodness. On the other hand, satans incite inferior feelings in humans and thus leads them to perpetrate evils incessantly.
In a Hadiths by Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be onto him, this point is emphasized this way:

Pressure and inspiration comes to the human hearth from two sources. One is from the angel; he says the good and confirms the truth. Whoever finds this in his heart let him know that this is from God; and let him thank God Almighty. The other inspiration comes from Satan; he incites evils, rejects the truth, and prevents human from the good. Whoever finds this in his heart let him seek refuge in God from the evils of Satan. (Ibn Mas'ud)

Whoever wants to spiritually rise and develop must silence the inferior and evil desires Satan inspires in him and must fight against him.

Satan is a kind of creature that cannot do good deeds and that only commits evil. 'It was created from nar as-samum, that is, smokeless and scorching fire. (al-Hijr, 27) The real name of Iblis was Azazil. He was given the names “Iblis” and “Satan” after he rejected to prostrate Hazrat Adam (pbuh) and became conceited and rebelled due to the order of prostration.

All of the activities and efforts of Satans aim at making people exit belief, making them committing sins and making them unbelievers. The greatest obstacle in the spiritual development of humanity and in fulfilling the duty of worshipping is Satan.  Satan is described as “aduww mubin” (enemy avowed ) in the Quran. God Almighty asked people to take shelter in Allah from Satan in many verses in the Quran. 

As a matter of fact, Satan has no power on his own. His delusions and tricks are weak. However, what he does involves destruction and breaking down; so he causes great harms with delusion and deception. Therefore, he appears strong. To construct a building is difficult but to demolish it is very easy. What Satan does and makes others do are related to destruction. Muslim always takes shelter in Allah from Satan because it causes great destructions despite his weak power and delusions.  

The soul of man and his feelings like lust and wrath are always receptive to all kinds of delusions and suggestions of Satan; therefore, a small delusion and trick of Satan affects man quickly and leads him to great spiritual disasters and harms. That is why the evil of Satan is presented as something big to believers and they are repeatedly warned against being deceived by him.  In fact, Satan has no power in terms of inventing and doing things and intervening in the sovereignty of Allah.

Satan resorts to many tricks to deviate man. The most important ones of those tricks are as follows:

1. Lust and fury: They are the greatest means of Satan to influence man. Therefore, the following is stated in a hadith: “Satan enters the body of man like the blood circulates in the body. Narrow his ways through hunger (fasting)” because the greatest means of Satan’s entrance to human body is lust. Hunger weakens lust.

2. Jealousy and ambition: An ambitious person becomes too blind to see the truth too deaf to hear the truth.

3. Greed: Satan makes a person love the things that he is greedy about so much that the thing he is greedy about becomes his god.  

4. Haste:  Man cannot have the opportunity to think when he is in a hurry. Satan can make him get delusions at that time. 

5. Stinginess and fear of poverty: This fear prevents man form charities and makes him pile goods.

6. One of the doors that Satan penetrates into the heart is the fanaticism of denomination and school in the service of the religion. Thus, Satan makes a person feel hatred against and despise those who are not in the same denomination and school as he is. It is a very dangerous state. It causes the destruction of both sinners and righteous people. It is a bad trait to despise people and to try to find their mistakes. However, Satan makes a person regard those bad traits as good under the disguise of serving the religion. That person thinks that he is working to serve the religion and feels happy. However, he is in the trap of Satan.

7. Another means that Satan uses to deceive people is keep them busy with the disagreements among denominations and schools, and the rumors about them. 

8. Another door that Satan penetrates into the heart is making some people whose minds narrow due to their ignorance and committing sins constantly think about issues of belief that they will not be able to understand and making them have doubts about the religion. 

9. Having bad (negative) thoughts about others: If a person starts to have negative thoughts about somebody, Satan causes that person to backbite him or Satan does not make that person show respect to his rights and makes that person despise him. 

The ones we have mentioned do not include all of the tricks and delusions of Satan. They vary depending on people, periods and conditions.

Satan has lost eternally because of five reasons.
1. For not accepting his sin
2. For not regretting
3. For not condemning his nafs (self) which led him to rebel
4. For not repenting
5. For losing his hope from the Divine Mercy (Ibn-i Hacer, Munehibbat, 73)

Hence, a believer should always accept his sins; regret his mistakes; criticize his nafs (evil-self) and condemn it; often repent and should not lose his hope from Divine Mercy.

Arif Arslan

Editor's Recommended Reading Section

The Satan

We are not regarded to have committed sins due to evil things in our imagination. However, we believe that we should be careful because these willingly imagined thoughts can cause us to waste our blessing of imagination and can lead us to make various mistakes. At least, it is a waste of time and imagination.

We are not responsible for the images which we unwillingly think of and which come to our minds. Responsibility is in question for willing actual deeds. In other words, people are held responsible for the deeds which they choose to do at their own will. Nevertheless, the will is not in question on evil thoughts that come to the mind. That is, you have not decided to think of evil things and have committed them. For this reason, you are not held responsible for them. It is best to ignore them considering as delusions of satan.

Satan can impose his delusions to people’s hearts from the place called “sign of devil” next to the heart. The proof that these words and thoughts implied are not the products of the heart is the heart’s becoming nervous due to them. For example, even if a person observes the beauty of the sky through a dirty telescope, the dirt does not smear on neither the observer nor the observed. So, such words and thoughts are those of satan and they do not harm us. The real damage is to trying to get rid of it in vain or becoming afraid, thinking that it is dangerous.

Please click on the links given below;

How can we get rid of delusion (waswasa)?

What is Delusion (waswasa)? Could You Inform Us of its Reasons?

First of all, it is necessary to believe that it is possible to comprehend the existence and oneness of Allah in real sense with the equipments that He has given to us such as reasoning and revelations that support these equipments. The belief of billions of people throughout human history is a proof of this truth.

Even in this materialistic age, the belief of billions of people in Allah (SWT) depending on divine religions shows that the test of humanity is very equitable. Even the belief of people who are not in the category of divine religions in the existence of an infinite power in any way and their worshipping a void God though it is false, shows that it is an undeniable proof that the nature of human contains a belief in Allah.

It is clear that humans are creatures that think and have a free will. The testing of such an equipped living creature shows that those equipments are given for this test. As man who has a capacity for easily distinguishing the profit-loss, good-evil, architect-architecture, art-artist, building-builder, and author-book, it is necessary to accept that he also has a capacity for thinking that this palace of universe has a builder; this book of universe has an author, this art of creation has an artist. That is why Imam Maturidi said; “even if prophets had not been sent, people would have been responsible for knowing the existence of Allah (SWT) with their minds”. However, along with the mind, lots of human mechanisms such as the nature of man, his conscience and feelings; weakness-poverty, fear-love are a kind of windows which are open to Allah, He sends prophets with miracles and also books as a guidance by not limiting only to those natural guide mechanisms.

Despite these visible truths, there is no doubt that it is Satan’s trap of showing us issues whose nature we do not know like comparing them with Satan or closed doors whose keys we do not have.

Is it not better to mind our own business instead of trying to learn all of the secrets of the test with our small mind? Is it not an easy thing to consider the capacity of our mind and free will and trying to make our heart and reason accept that Allah (SWT) is a just creator who never oppresses and that the present test is just?

If Allah had not aimed to distinguish between people who use their mind and those who do not, who listen to their conscience and those who do not and between the good and the bad, to carry out a test with an equitable purpose like rewarding those who were hardworking and passed the test and punishing those who were lazy and failed it, why would He have given that test. Who could have opposed Him if He had sent everybody to Hell without giving any tests?

According to the narration from Ibn Hajar, Satan lost the test eternally because of five reasons.

1. For not accepting his sin

2. For not regretting

3. For not condemning his nafs (self) which led him to rebellion

4. For not repenting

5. For giving up hope from the Divine Mercy (Ibn Hajar, Munabbihat, 73)

Hence, a believer should always admit his sins, regret his mistakes, criticize his nafs (evil-self) and condemn it; often repent and should not give up hope from Divine Mercy.

The following is stated in a narration: The Prophet said,

"Do not enter upon the women whose husbands are absent; for, indeed Satan flows through one of you as the blood flows.” We said,

“And you?”

He said, “And me, but Allah helped me over him (he surrendered), so I am safe.” (Tirmidhi, Rada 17, 1172).

EXPLANATION:

1. In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah advises us not to enter upon the women whose husbands are away. 
2. Satan’s flowing in the body like blood can have two meanings:
     a) Satan may really have been given the power to flow in the body of man. In that case, no metaphor is in question in hadith. 
     b) This expression may be a metaphor. It may represent the abundance of the delusions caused by Satan. 
3. Sufyan ath-Thawri opposes the issue of Satan’s becoming a Muslim and says, "Satan cannot be a Muslim." In that case, it is appropriate to pronounce the verb اَسْلَمَ not as “aslama” (in the past form) اَسْلَمُ but as “aslamu” (in the present form). It will mean "I was kept safe from him."

Ibn Abbas narrates:

"The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Satan waits perching on the heart of man. When man mentions Allah, he keeps down; when man is heedless, he causes delusions." (Bukhari, Tafsir, Qul audhu birabbinnas 1)

The origin of this narration in Bukhari is a bit different. Bukhari gives the narration without its chain and includes the word waswas as a definition:

"Al-Waswas: When man is born, Satan snuggles into him; When man mentions Allah, he leaves; if Allah is not mentioned, he settles in man’s heart."

Said Ibn Mansur reports this hadith with some additions that make it more understandable:

"When man is born, Satan perches on his heart. If he thinks and mentions the name of Allah, Satan keeps down; if man is heedless, he causes delusions."

Ibn Marduya reports a different version of the hadith from Ibn Abbas:

"Al-Waswas is Satan. When a child is born, Satan is on his heart. Waswas treats him as he wishes. However, when that person mentions Allah, Satan keeps down; when man is heedless, Satan perches on his heart and causes delusions."

Said Ibn Mansur reports a similar hadith from Urwa Ibn Ruwayn:

"Hz. Isa asked his Lord to show him Satan’s place in man. Allah showed it to him. Satan’s head was like a snake and his head was on the fruit of the heart. When the person mentioned Allah, Satan retreated and kept down; when he stopped mentioning Allah, Satan returned and spoke."

THE MEANING OF THE CHAPTER OF AN-NAS:

"Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Mankind, The King (or Ruler) of Mankind, The god (or judge) of Mankind,- From the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil), who withdraws (after his whisper),- (The same) who whispers into the hearts of Mankind,- Among Jinns and among men. "

The Prophet (pbuh) ordered Ibn Umar as follows:  

"O Ibn Umar! Take care of your religion! Take care of your religion! It is your flesh and blood. Be careful about from whom you take your religion. Take it from those who are upright and do not take it from those who have swerved."

As it is seen in the hadith above, blood is likened to the religion. When this meaning is considered, Satan’s flowing in man’s blood vessels is metaphorical; it is understood that Satan causes delusions in man all the time to make him go astray.  

(Prof. Dr. İbrahim Canan, Kütüb-ü Sitte Translation and Expalnation)

The following narration is included in Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi's book called Shajaratul-Kawn with the heading Satan’s Tricks but no reference is given about the narration:

Muadh b. Jabal reports from Ibn Abbas:

“One day, were together with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). We were in the house of one of Ansar. We formed a congregation.  

We heard a voice from the outside:

“O the ones inside! Would you allow me to enter?  I have business with you.”

Thereupon, everybody started to look at the face of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He was the master there and everywhere. He was going to give permission.

The Messenger of Allah realized the situation and said to us,

« Do you recognize the owner of this voice?»

We said,

“Allah and his Messenger know best.”

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“It is Satan the Accursed. May Allah damn him!”

On hearing that Hz. Umar said,

“O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to kill him.”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did not allow him and said,

«O Umar! Do you not know that he has permission to live up to a certain time? Do not think of killing him.» Then, he said,

«Open the door and admit him, as he did not come on his own but on Allah's orders. Try to understand what he will say. Listen carefully to what he tells you.»

The narrator narrates what happened after that as follows:

“They opened the door and he appeared in front of us as an old man, cross-eyed and scant of beard, with only six or seven long hairs hanging from his chin. He had a very big head, crossed eyes close to the top of his head, high on his forehead. His head was like a big elephant’s head. He had big thick hanging lips like those of a water buffalo. Then, he saluted as follows:

“O Muhammad! Peace be upon you! O congregation of Muslims! Peace be upon you!"

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) answered his salutation as follows:

«O Accursed! Salutations belong to Allah.»

Then, he said to Satan,

«I heard you are here on business. What is it?»

Satan said,

“I did not wish to come here, I was obliged to.”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked,

«What is that obligation?»

“An angel came from your Lord, who has honor and dignity, and said:

“Allah most high orders you to go to Muhammad, but you will go to him in humility and abasement, and be submissive and tractable. You will tell him how you seduce and mislead Sons of Adam. You are going to answer all his questions truthfully, without a single lie." Then, Allah said,

“If you tell even one lie, I will turn you into ashes and blow you away in the wind. I will humiliate you before your enemies.”

"O Muhammad! That is it. I have come to you upon that command. Ask me whatever you wish. If I do not answer your questions correctly, my enemies will make fun of me. There is nothing more difficult than being humiliated by my enemies."

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked,
«Since you will tell the truth, tell me: Who do you hate most among people?»

Satan answered:

“You O Muhammad! There is no one in the whole creation that I hate more than you. Who can be like you?”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked,

« Whom else do you detest, besides me?»

Satan answered:

“The young one who gave up his pleasures for Allah's sake.”

After that, the conversation continued in the form of questions and answers. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked and Satan answered:

«Who else do you not like?»

“A patient scholar who avoids doubtful things.“

« Then?»

“A patient poor person who neither asks from others the things he needs nor complains.”

«How do you know that poor person is patient?»

“O Muhammad! He does not tell about his need to any people. If a person tells somebody about his need three days on end, Allah will not regard him as a patient person. The affair of patient people is not like that. To sum up, I understand his patience from his state, and attitudes and not complaining. ”

«Then whom?»

“A rich person that thanks Allah.”

«How do you understand that he thanks Allah?»

“When I see him gaining money legitimately and spending on appropriate things, I know that he is a rich person that thanks Allah."

Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) changed the topic and asked a different question:

«What happens to you when my ummah performs prayers?»

“O Muhammad! I shake and tremble as if stricken with malaria.”

«O Accursed! Why do you become like that?»

«What happens to you when they fast?»

“I have my hands and feet tied until they break their fast.”

«What happens to you when they perform hajj?»

“I lose my wits, I go mad.”

«What happens to you when they recite the Quran?»

“I melt, like lead turning to hot liquid in the fire.”

«What happens to you when they give sadaqah?»

“ I become terrible then. I am torn to pieces as if the generous donor took a chainsaw and sawed me into two pieces.”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked the reason:

«O Abu Burra! Why are you torn into two pieces with a saw?»

Thereupon, Satan said, “I will tell you."

"There are four nice things in sadaqah:
1) Allah gives the blessing of abundance to the wealth of the person who gives sadaqah.   
2) He makes people love that person who gives sadaqah.
3) Allah makes the sadaqah he gives a shield between him and Hell.
4) Allah drives away distress and troubles from him."

Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked the devil questions about his Companions:

«What do you say about Abu Bakr?»

Iblis gave the following answer:

“He did not obey me even before Islam. How will he obey me now?”

« What do you say about Umar ibn Khattab?»

“I swear by Allah I ran away whenever I saw him.”

« What do you say about Uthman b. Affan?»

“I am ashamed in front of him. Even the angels of ar-Rahman are ashamed in front of him.”

« What do you say about Ali b. Abu Talib?»

“Oh if I could just be safe from him, if he would just let me be. I would let him be but he will not leave me alone.”

After asking the questions above and after the answers of Satan, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

«Praise be to Allah who has blessed my people with such felicity and cursed you with such negativity until that appointed time!»

When the accursed heard that statement of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), he said,

“Alas for you! Alas! What felicity for you people? How can you feel there is safety for them as long as I exist? I enter their very veins, their very flesh, and they cannot even suspect, let alone see or feel me. I swear by Allah who has given me time until Doomsday that I will seduce them all. The intelligent and simple minded, the learned as well as the ignorant, the devout and the sinner. None will be safe from me except the true servants of Allah."

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked,

«Who are the true, sincere servants of Allah, according to you?»

“O Muhammad! Do you not know that whoever loves his money and his property is not a sincere slave of Allah? Whenever I see someone who does not love his money and his property, and does not like being praised, I know he is a sincere slave. I run away from him I need many servants and I have many servants. I am not alone.

"A person who loves wealth and being praised, and is adherent to worldly desires is the one that obeys me the most."

"Do you not know that love of wealth is the biggest sin? O Muhammad! Do you not know that love of being a leader is among the biggest sins? ”

“O Muhammad! Do you not know that I have 70,000 children? I assigned each of them to different posts. Each of my 70,000 children has 70,000 Satans serving under him. I sent some of them to scholars, some of them to young people, some of them to sheikhs and some of them to old women."

" There are almost no differences of opinion between your young people and us. We get on well with them. Children play happily with my children."

"I sent some of my devils to devout and pious people. They transform them from one state into another. They take them from one hill to another. Then, those people try to curse reasons. Thus, I remove their sincerity. They worship without sincerity but they are not aware of it. ”

After that Iblis started to tell the story of a priest that he deceived:

“O Muhammad! Do you not know that Barsisi, the priest, worshipped Allah for seventy years sincerely? As a result of his worshipping, he was given such a state that ill people recovered when he prayed for them. I always followed him. He committed fornication and killed a person. Then, he became an unbeliever. Allah tells the state of such a person as follows in His book:

«(Their allies deceived them), like the Evil One, when he says to man, "Deny Allah": but when (man) denies Allah, (the Evil One) says, "I am free of thee: I do fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.»

After that, Iblis mentioned some bad traits. He narrated how he benefitted from each of them:  

TELLING LIES

"O Muhammad! Do you not know that lying is from me and I am the first liar? Whoever lies is my best friend; whoever swears to the truth of his lie is my beloved. O Muhammad! Do you not know that I swore by Allah and lied to Adam and Eve? I said, «Surely I am a sincere advisor to you. . .» I do it because perjury is the entertainment of my heart."

BACKBITING – TALE-BEARING

"As for backbiting and tale-bearing, they are my fruits and festival."

SWEARING ON NIKAH (MARRIAGE)

“If a person swears on divorce, even if just once and even if it is on something true, he might be a sinner. If he utters the word divorce, his wife will be haram for him until the truth becomes clear. When they go to bed together, their children to be born up to the Day of Judgment will be illegitimate. They all will go to Hell because of that word of divorce uttered by the man.   

PRAYER

“O Muhammad! As for those who postpone their prayers, let me tell you about them. When a person wants to get up for prayer, I hold him and give him delusions. I will say,  

“There is still time. You are busy. Take care of your business now. You can perform the prayer later." Thus, he performs the prayer after its determined time. Therefore, his prayer is thrown in his face. If that person overcomes me, I send him a human Satan. Thus, he will prevent that person from performing it on time. If he overcomes me, I try to deceive him in prayer. When he is in prayer, I say to him, “Look to the right… look to the left…" When he does so, I caress his face and kiss his forehead. Then, I say to him, “You have done something terrible.” Thus, I disturb his peace in the heart.” 

"You know, O Muhammad, that Allah will not accept the prayer of a person who looks to the right and left a lot in prayer. He throws it in his face."

"If I am defeated by him, I go to him when he performs a prayer alone. I order him to perform it fast. He starts to perform it fast like a hen picking at grain."

" If I still do not succeed, I go to him in the congregational prayer. I put a bridle on his head. I pull and lift his head from prostration and ruku’ before the imam. I make him go to sajdah and ruku’ before the imam."  

“Thus, Allah will transform his head into the head of a donkey on the Day of Judgment because of it. If he overcomes me in it, I will order him to crack his fingers in prayer. Thus, he will be among those who glorify me.”

It is necessary to put some water constantly into the mouth of a person who is in deathbed since his mouth will go dry. For, at the time of death, Satan approaches with a glass of water. 

Islamic scholars say that it is sunnah to utter kalima at-tawhid near a person who is in deathbed. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Say, 'Lailaha illallah' near the Muslims who are in deathbed."

The following is stated in another hadith:

“A person whose last word before death is 'Lailaha illallah' goes to Paradise."

It is good to recite the Quran near a dead person. The Messenger of Allah stated the following regarding the issue:

"The chapter of Yasin is the heart of the Quran. If a person reads it with the intention of Allah and the hereafter, Allah will forgive him. Read it for your dead people."

(see Prof. Dr. Süleyman TOPRAK, Ölümden Sonraki Hayat)

One of the incidents that man thinks about is Adam’s (PBUH) having been driven out of Paradise, having been sent to the world, and Satan's having caused that. The following question comes to the mind of some people:

- If Satan had not been created, would Adam (PBUH) have stayed in Paradise, and would we all have stayed there too?

Before answering this question, let us pay attention to Allah Almighty's dialogue with angels before He created Adam (PBUH). This event is expressed in Surah Al-Baqarah:

“Behold thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said "Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not.” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:30)

As is clear from the translation of the verse, Allah Almighty announces that He would create humankind on earth before He created Adam (PBUH). That is, He (SWT) announced that humankind would live in the world not in Paradise. That Satan deceived Adam (PBUH) only became a cause for man's having been sent to the world.

On the other hand, unlike angels, man has been given self-appetites and carnal feelings. For the reflections of these feelings to be seen, it was necessary for man to be given responsibilities and be tested so that at the end of this test and experiment, he would either become worthy of Paradise or deserve Hell.

Yes, Satan underwent testing and failed. He did not repent because of his mistake. Everything is related to qadar but it is necessary to understand qadar truly. Qadar does not force anybody to do or not to do a certain thing.

Satan screamed when he was damned and was driven away from divine mercy, when he was pushed and sent down from the rank where he was, when the Prophet (pbuh) was born and when the Quran was sent down. (Suhayli, Rawdul-Unuf, II/149; Ibn Sayyid, Uyunul-Athar, II/27; Abul-Fida, al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya, II/266-267)

(M. Asım Köksal, İslam Tarihi)

- The existence of Satan is a part of the test human beings have to take. It is indispensable. For, man needs the power of angels that will help his mind, which is an important guide for man to follow the positive or negative way in the test; similarly, he needs the existence of devils that will help the desires of his soul that tends to deviate him from the right path.

Therefore, one side of the heart is home for angels and the other for devils. When man distinguishes between the good and the bad, and the right and the wrong, and he uses his free will, he is exposed to the advice of the angels and the suggestions of Satan. If he is lucky, he listens to the orders of revelation, suggestions of good sense and the advice of the angel; and, he makes his preference accordingly. However, if he is unlucky – God forbid - , he is affected by the desires of his soul and delusions of Satan; and he makes the preference that is against him.

- This is the real duty of Satan but he makes use of any opportunity since he is the enemy of man. Since his job is suggestions, he does not have to make an extra effort and spend extra energy. It is a fact that is seen clearly that even some people in the world take pains and work very hard to harm their enemies.

“Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said: "Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood - for a time." Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.” It is indicated in the verse above (al-Baqara, 2/36-37) that human beings and devils will remain in the world until the Day of Judgment and that their enmity will continue.

It means devils will live until the Day of Judgment just like human beings.

- The reason why Iblis (the ancestor of devils/satans) will live until the Day of Judgment unlike Hz. Adam is explained as follows: in the Quran:

“(Allah) said: ‘What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?’ He said: ‘I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay.’ (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).’ He said: ‘Give me respite till the day they are raised up.’ (Allah) said: ‘Be thou among those who have respite.’ He said: ‘Because thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on thy straight way: 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).’” (al-Araf, 7/12-17) According to what is understood from the verses above, the reason why Satan is so hostile to man is that he was dismissed from divine presence due to those creatures, whom he despised. He thinks that he was damned in the world and was led to the rebellion that condemned him to Hell because of human beings; therefore, he decided to make – so to speak- a lot of sacrifices for this enmity.

- It seems that the continuation of Satan and his species, which Allah regarded as part of the test and the desire of Satan to undertake this duty willingly for the sake of enmity corresponded. Allah gives a test in accordance with His wisdom. Satan tries to make man fail in this test.

- According to the view of Islamic scholars, the conceit, obstinacy and enmity settled in Satan’s thought is so big that he has no time to find the truth or to work in order to return to it.

- However, as it is mentioned in the verse above, the wisdom behind Allah’s saying, “Be thou among those who have respite” not “I gave you respite” when Satan asked for respite is as follows:

If Allah had said, “I gave you respite”, it would have meant a positive response to Satan’s wish. It is not in question for Allah to give a positive response, which means valuing him, to Satan, whom He dismissed from His presence. With the expression “Be thou among those who have respite”that is preferredand Satan being among those who have respite (like the four archangels and the carriers of the Throne) it is indicated that Satan is one of those who were given respite with the pre-eternal decree, before he committed that crime and that he was not given respite due to his wish. (Ibn Ashur, the interpretation of verse 15 of al-Araf)

In fact, ”no one can question Allah for His acts’’( al-Anbiya 21/23). However, as a necessity of being humans, “we want to be satisfied” (al-Baqara, 2/260) like Abraham (pbuh) in this issue, as it always happens. That is why these questions come to our mind unintentionally.

- Why did Allah create devil and evil things and set them on us then? Is it not bad to create what is bad and is it not evil to create what is evil?

We should state immediately that it is not evil to crate evil. It is evil to commit evil deeds. For, Allah does not create things so that they will be bad but so that they will be good. We transform what Allah creates as good into evil. For instance, Satan was created from fire and fire is the best example regarding this issue.  It is not evil to create fire but it is evil to touch it.  If man controls fire, he will benefit from it.  Otherwise, he will be harmed.

Another example is rain. There are thousands of results of rain. All of them are nice. If some people are harmed by rain due to imprudence, they cannot say, "the creation of rain is not God’s mercy" ; they cannot decree that ‘’it is evil’’.

Allah created angels that cannot commit sins and animals that have no liability. Other than these two beings, Allah created man who can be so perfect as to be better than angels but who can also be so bad as to be worse than animals.  At this point, Allah gave a chance to devil to improve man and gave man an evil-commanding soul.

The world is field of the hereafter. Heaven and Hell, which are two destinations of the hereafter, will be fruits of people’s beliefs and deeds. Therefore, man is subjected to a kind of test. The people that spend their lives on faith and doing righteous deeds by doing all their work on the right way, become worthy of Heaven. The people that follow the contrary way become the people of Hell.

If man does not obey his soul and does not heed Satan, he advances spiritually and can reach a degree higher than that of angels. If he does the opposite, he can fall down to a level lower than that of animals.

As it is known, the base of diamond and coal is carbon. However, they are different from each other because of the difference of array. Likewise, the base of people is the same. All of them have been equipped with  the same material and spiritual devices. However, differences occur among people because of using them rightly or wrongly; in the community, people with a coal spirit appear along with people with a diamond spirit.

Another aspect of the issue is that man is harmed when he obeys Satan but Satan is also held responsible in accordance with the rule "the one who has causes something is like the one who does it", his torment Hell will increase. The opportunity that devil wants to deviate people from their paths will be a trouble for him and the same amount of the torture of the people that he deviated will be inflicted on him too.

If Allah had wished, he might not have given this chance to Satan. In that case, human soul would have undertaken his task; and the result would not have changed. Satan will incur a lot of loss with the opportunity given to him to deviate people. So to speak, he was punished for his insolence like that.

Satans were not created as satans.Afterwards, they used their wills in the wrong way and became satans. Satan is of the species of jinn. The Quran clearly states that Hz. Adam was created out of clay, that he was given spirit and that he was made a living being. Similarly, it is stated that Satan (Iblis) is of jinn. The issue is narrated as follows in the Quran:

"Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: 'I am about to create man from clay: When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him.' So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together; Not so Iblis: he was haughty, and became one of those who reject Faith. (Allah) said: 'O Iblis! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with My hands? Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?' (Iblis) said: 'I am better than he: Thou createdst me from fire, and him Thou createdst from clay.'" (1)

Is "being created from fire", which Satan regarded as a reason of superiority and a drawback to prostration, a reason of superiority? It is disputable. For, it is not easy for fire to contact other beings. It cannot make use of them a lot. It burns and melts them. Water and solid matters like sand and soil extinguish it. Therefore, this difference, which is basically seen as a reason of superiority, pushed Satan to loneliness throughout his life. Allah was definitely conscious of it and would give the ones He wished superior characteristics. In His eye, the basic principle for superiority was obedience to Him. Since Satan avoided it and regarded himself as superior, his claims of superiority were of not good and caused him to be dismissed from mercy and called "Satan". Maybe, he was superior with his previous rank because there is nothing better than being in Paradise and near Allah Almighty all the time. However, the disobedience of Satan and regarding being created from fire as an imperishable superiority since fire could burn clay and feeling proud because of it prevented this and caused him to be expelled from divine presence and Paradise as an unbeliever. It should be added that the unbelief of Iblis is not because of denying Allah but because of "denying and arguing the order and responsibility and the necessity of the deed." (2)

However, according to Satan, being created from fire was a reason of superioritybecause fire could burn clay. Those who follow Satan are usually in pursuit of this power: To reject others, to be powerful all the time and to satisfy themselves by exerting it on others.

It is stated in the Quran that jinn were also created from fire:

"And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind." (al-Hijr, 15/27);

"And He created Jinn from fire free of smoke." (ar-Rahman, 55/15)

Some scholars accept that what is meant by "Jaann" that is, "father of Jinn" in the chapter of ar-Rahman is Iblis, the father of jinn, while other scholars say it is not Iblis but father of jinn. Yazır says that he does not hold the same view and states the following:

"The whole human species was created from salsal (hard red clay); so, what is meant by man is not only Adam but the whole human species; similarly, what is meant by Jaann is the species of jinn."(3)

Then, we can say, "Since Iblis, that is, Satan, is of jinn, he was also created from fire, from smokeless and scorching fire."

Bursalı İsmail Hakkı interprets the verse "He was one of the Jinn" as "He was originally a jinn created from fire. He was not of angels." He says the following verse includes a "joined exception":

"Behold! We said to the angels 'Bow down to Adam': They bowed down except Iblis." (al-Kahf, 18/50)

The rule explains joined exception as 'both the main noun and the excepted noun representing the same kind'. In the verse, Iblis was excepted from the angels. He made the following explanation in the form of a footnote to answer a probable question like the following: "Since Iblis is not an angel and is a jinni, how can he be excepted from angels?"

Bursalı writes: "For, Iblis was ordered to prostrate together with them. Then, he was excepted like one of them was excepted just like the following example: "All of them left except such and such a woman." The person excepted here is a woman among men. According to a view, what is meant by the sentence "He was one of the Jinn", is the indication that he is the first jinni. Jinn come from him. Similarly, Hz. Adam is of human beings because Hz. Adam is the first human being. (4)

According to another view, there was another species that Allah created before Adam and sent to the world. The name of this species was jinn. They shed blood and angels fought against them.

Baghawi writes the following: His name in Assyrian is Azazil and in Arabic Harith. When he rebelled, his name and shape was changed; he was called Iblis. For, he lost his hope of mercy. (at-Tahrim, 66/6)

This jinni called Iblis "disobeyed his Lord's order." He avoided obeying Allah. In fact, we know that, "Angels do not disobey Allah's orders; they do whatever He orders." (5) Besides, human beings and jinn have the responsibility of servitude; therefore, they will be punished or rewarded for what they do through their will. However, angels are not like that. They do not have any responsibility regarding the issue; therefore, they do not have will and they are protected from making mistakes.

Characteristics of Satan:

1.He tells lies and vows.
2. He has no power of sanction.
3. He is hypocritical.
4. He makes use of literature and philosophy.
5. He is the sliest enemy of man.
6. He is a bad friend.
7. He is the closest friend of those who are away from the Quran.
8. He sees man from everywhere and tries to deceive him.

Was Iblis one of the Angels?

Whether Iblis was an angel or jinni is a debatable issue. However, it is not such a complicated issue. For, Iblis is one of jinn because he was created from the material that jinn were created. The special name of the first satan that met Hz. Adam is Iblis. He is also one of the jinn and was created from the fire from which the jinn were created. Satan is the name given the type of them that seduce and misguide people; that is, the name of a different type of that species.  

The view that Iblis is one of the angels or is their "teacher" or "leader" emerges from Christianity, not from Islam. The concept of angel is clearer in Christianity compared to Judaism but it is not very clear. For, According to Christianity, Iblis was the leader of the angels and he rebelled against Allah with the angels under his command; then, they were all dismissed. The following statement in Matthew Bible seems to confirm it:

"(On the Day of Judgment) Then he (the king) will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" (Matthew, 25:41)

This issue is so clearly explained in the Quran that there is no doubt about it:

"Behold! We said to the angels 'Bow down to Adam': They bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinn, and he broke the Command of his Lord. Will ye then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies to you! Evil would be the exchange for the wrongdoers!" (al-Kahf, 18/50)

The phrase "Kana min'al-jinni (He was one of the Jinn)" in the verse is clear. The topic is prostration and the rebel is Iblis. His rejecting prostration is expressed in the previous verses.

The prostration mentioned here is not the prostration meaning worshipping but meaning greeting and respect showing appreciation of the person to be greeted and the one who made him valuable. This prostration was legitimate during the time of the previous nations but it was later abolished. (6) When Hz. Yusuf's mother, father and brothers found him in Egypt, they greeted him like that.   

Footnotes:

(1) Sad, 38:71-76; al-A'raf, 7:11,12;
(2) Hak Dini, IV/20.
(3) ibid, VII/369.
(4) Mukhtasar Ruhu 'l-Bayan, V/122.
(5) ibid, V/123.
(6) ibid, V/122.

Satan did not prostrate based on his own will, not with the force of Allah. Satan is from jinn and jinn are also beings that are tested like human beings. When the order to prostrate Hz. Adam was given, he became haughty and disobeyed this order of Allah; thus, he became an unbeliever.

The Quran states clearly that Hz. Adam was created from clay and that he was given spirit; then, he became a living being.

“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I am about to create man from clay: When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him.’ So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together: Not so Iblis: he was haughty, and became one of those who reject Faith. (Allah) said: ‘O Iblis! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with my hands? Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?’ (Iblis) said: ‘I am better than he: thou createdst me from fire, and him thou createdst from clay.’”(1)

Similarly, it is emphasized that Satan is from jinn. This issue is narrated as follows in the Quran:

Satan regarded being created from fire as a reason for being superior. When fire touches other things, it burns and melts them. Water and hard substances like sand and soil extinguish it. This difference, which seems to be a reason for being superior, drove Satan into lifelong loneliness. The main principle for superiority in the eye of Allah was obedience to Him. Since Iblis avoided it and regarded himself superior, he was dismissed from mercy and was called “Satan”. Regarding the fact that fire burns soil and being created from fire a means of superiority and hence becoming conceited caused Satan to be dismissed from divine presence as an unbeliever.

It is stated in the Quran that jinn were created from fire:

“And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind.” (al-Hijr, 15/27)

“And He created Jinn from fire free of smoke.” (ar-Rahman, 55/15)

Some scholars say what is meant by the word “jaann” in the chapter of ar-Rahman is Iblis, is the father of jinn. Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır does not hold the same view and states the following:

"The whole human species was created from salsal (hard red clay); so, what is meant by man is not only Adam but the whole human species; similarly, what is meant by Jaann is the species of jinn."(3)

Then, we can say since Iblis, that is, Satan, is of jinn, he was also created from fire, from smokeless and scorching fire. Besides, the verses mentioned above indicate this clearly.

Bursalı İsmail Hakkı interprets the verse "He was one of the Jinn" as "He was originally a jinn created from fire. He was not of angels."

He says that Iblis is excepted from jinn in the following verse:

"Behold! We said to the angels 'Bow down to Adam': They bowed down except Iblis." (al-Kahf, 18/50)

He made the following explanation as an answer to a probable question like the following: "Since Iblis is not an angel and is a jinni, how can he be excepted from angels?" For, Iblis was ordered to prostrate together with them. Then, he was excepted like one of them was excepted just like the following example: "All of them left except such and such a woman." The person excepted here is a woman among men. According to a view, what is meant by the sentence "He was one of the Jinn", is the indication that he is the first jinni. Similarly, Hz. Adam is of human beings because Hz. Adam is the first human being. (4)

This jinni called Iblis "disobeyed his Lord's order." He avoided obeying Allah. In fact, we know that, "Angels do not disobey Allah's orders; they do whatever He orders." (5) Besides, human beings and jinn have the responsibility of servitude; therefore, they will be punished or rewarded for what they do through their will. However, angels are not like that. They are protected from making mistakes; they cannot want to commit evil.

In that case, Satan cannot be from angels.

Footnotes:

(1) see Sad, 38/71-78; al-A’raf, 7/12.
(2) see Hak Dini, IV /20.
(3) see ibid, VII/369.
(4) see Muhtasar Ruhu’l-Beyan, V/122.
(5) see ibid, V/123.

Repenting to Allah in the face of Satan’s deceptions

Repentance means to give up sins. They say, “To err is human.” That is, man is a being that makes mistakes and is deceived. There are no infallible people except prophets. Even prophets can make “zallas”, which means “not to be exactly right, to make a mistake in ijtihad”. However, since they are infallible, they receive inspiration and correct their zallas.  

Since we are not prophets, we will definitely make mistakes and commit sins. However, we are the slaves of our Lord, who is Ghafur (the Forgiver) and Rahim (the All-Merciful).

Allah is the one that accepts repentance and that shows mercy. He is so merciful that He does not abandon His slave when he abandons Him once. When His slave repents and does not insist like Iblis did, He will forgive him once, twice, three times, endless times; He will not say, “That is enough” because He is Rahim, very merciful.

To regret also means to repent. However, to regret is not enough; it is necessary to clean the sins through repentance. When a person who remembers his sins sheds tears by regretting, there will be a serious operation of cleanliness in his inner world.

A saint who lives piously states the following: “The eyes that become junub by looking at haram will make ghusl with tears.”

It is essential to be serious about the repentance and to keep one’s promise to Allah. An approach like “We repent a hundred thousand times and drink wine again” is a sign of spiritual unfortunateness.

A sin is like a stain and repentance is like detergent. A person who repents of his sin sincerely is like a person who has not committed a sin.

Even if a person has committed a lot of sins like mountains, they will not occupy a place like a sand grain in Allah’s sea of mercy. A person who knows this will not give up hope of Allah’s mercy. 

To be away from Satan’s magnetic field

A magnet will attract things like pins. This attraction is also related with distance; attraction increases as objects approach the magnet and decreases as they move away from it. Something similar is in question related to sins. As man approaches sins, he is captured by them; it is easier to be protected from them as he moves away from them. A person who goes to a public beach to swim is not under the same conditions as a person who swims in a secluded place in terms of sins. 

Nowadays, some newspapers and televisions, illegitimate places of entertainment like barrooms and pubs, and some internet websites function virtually like media organs and centers of Satan. They lead people to sins all the time and send people to the places that are contrary to their purpose of creation. If a person who has a weakness for television stays in a room where there is a television set, his test gets harder; he will spend his time committing sins or at least wasting his time.    

Hekimoğlu İsmail states the following:

“The migration of today’s Muslim is going to a room without a TV set from a room with a TV set.”

Stoning Satan all the time

Deeds of worship include so many symbolic meanings. The worship of hajj in particular is full of so many symbols. For instance, the Kaaba is called “Baytullah”, that is, “Allah’s house”. A person who is a guest in the house of a notable person is entertained by the host; similarly, those who go to the Kaaba for hajj and umrah receive many boons from the Lord of the realms. 

To turn toward the Kaaba actually means to turn toward Allah. The Kaaba is the qiblah of the body. The qiblah of the spirit is Allah.

Waqfa in Arafat is an example of the Gathering Place.

To stone Satan in hajj aims to remember that “aduww mubin”, avowed enemy.  Satan is not there with its material body.

It is narrated that a saint saw Satan in his dream and wanted to hit him with his staff.

Satan said,

“I am not afraid of the staff. I am afraid of the rays of the sun of knowledge rising from the heart of the saint.”

Satan is not afraid of the stones thrown in Mina. However, he is disturbed when his delusions are not heeded.

It is understood that a person who opposes Satan stones him. From this point of view, we can say that stoning Satan continues throughout one’s life.

Not to be alone

Man is a being that tends to commit sins. When he is alone, in particular, Satan makes use of the opportunity and becomes his friend with his delusions. For instance, when a young man is alone at home, he can watch pornographic videos that he cannot watch when his parents are at home or access the websites that he should not access. In fact, when he is with others, he cannot do it. Thus, being alone makes man exposed to dangers spiritually; being together with others ensures self-control and people help one another to protect one another.

The Prophet (pbuh) tells us the following:

“Adhere to the congregation, beware of separation; for, indeed Satan is with one, and he is away from two.” (Tirmidhi, Fitan,  7)

However, being together with people of evil characteristics does not mean “being in congregation”. Being together with such people causes innocent and naïve people to resemble them. Therefore, it is necessary for a person to be careful about whom he is together with. As the Prophet (pbuh) puts it,

“A man is upon the religion of his friend; so, let one of you look at whom he befriends.” (Tirmidhi, Zuhd,  45)

Take care of your eyes

The Quran asks believing men and women to keep their eyes away from haram and to lead a chaste life in the following verses:

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms...” (an-Nur, 24/30-31)

One should not say, ”What is the harm of looking at haram?”. For, such a look harms one’s spirituality a lot and opens the door to fornication. A person who cannot control his eyes finds it difficult to control his private parts. It is obvious that many single and even married people have illegitimate sexual intercourses due to looking at haram.

- It is obvious that today it is more important to protect the eyes. For, obscenity and immodesty have become so widespread unprecedentedly; they have invaded everywhere through magazines, newspapers, television and internet. It is very difficult for a person who does not protect his eyes from haram to remain chaste.   

- The verse addresses men first regarding the issue because men are exposed to the biggest test regarding the issue, not women.

The following is stated in a sacred hadith:

“Looking at non-mahram women with lust is one of the poisonous arrows of Satan. If a person abandons it out of my fear, I will reward him for that with the perfection of belief, the sweetness of which he will feel in his heart.”

The Prophet (pbuh) states that the biggest fitnah for men is women. (see Bukhari, Nikah, 17) If it is considered that half naked women are used even in the commercials of car tires, the severity and gravity of the issue will be understood. 

The Prophet (pbuh) addressed Hz. Ali as follows:

“O Ali! Do not give a second look because while you are not to blame for the first, you have no right to the second.” (Abu Dawud, Nikah, 43)

A man will see non-mahram women on the way willingly or unwillingly. There is no problem for the first look. However, it is haram, not appropriate, to look at them for the second time.

The following is stated in another hadith:

“If a Muslim sees the beauties of a woman and keeps his eyes away from her by fearing Allah, Allah will give him the reward of worshipping. That person will find the sweetness of worshipping in his heart.” (Ahmad b. Hanbal, V, 24)

- Believers are addressed by the hadiths and verses. Unbelievers are not very sensitive about chaste in general. Belief leaves a controller in the heart; it reminds man by saying, “You cannot look at haram.”

- When the verse says, “they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty”, it starts with the eyes. For, the way to remain chaste depends upon controlling one’s eyes. A person who does not control his eyes will have an illegitimate sexual intercourse one day. For, looking is the harbinger of fornication.

- Looking at haram is expressed “the fornication of the eye” in a hadith as follows:

“Verily Allah has fixed the very portion of fornication which a man will indulge in, and which he of necessity must commit. The fornication of the eye is the lustful look, and the fornication of the tongue is the licentious speech, the heart desires and yearns, which the parts may or may not put into effect.” (Muslim, Qadar, 20)

- After women are ordered to guard their chaste they are addressed as follows: “they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms.” This reminds them of some of their responsibilities. Man should not look at non-mahram women but women should avoid looking attractive. Therefore, they need to cover their bodies except for the parts that can be displayed like the hands and face properly. For instance, they should not find it sufficient to cover their heads slightly; they need to wear their headscarves in a way that will cover their necks and bosoms.     

Not to be alone with a non-mahram person

The religion of Islam prohibits man from both looking at a non-mahram woman and being alone with her. The Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

“Anyone of you who believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment should not remain alone with a non-mahram woman. For, the third one will be Satan if they do so.” (Bukhari, Nikah,  111, 112)

It is a grim reality that remaining alone like that has increased nowadays. Consequently, the sin of fornication, which is among major sins, has become widespread.

The concept sadduz-zarai’ exists in the Islamic law. It means prohibition of the ways leading to harams. For instance, both fornication and the things leading to fornication are forbidden. Alcohol is haram; and the production and trade of alcohol are also haram.

There are duties for all of us for a chaster and cleaner community:

- Instead of co-ed schools, there should be girls’ schools and boys’ schools; at least, the families should have the right to choose between a single sex school and mixed school. We had schools like that in our country but they were transformed into co-ed schools. There are single sex schools almost everywhere in the world and they are successful schools. It was wrong to close down those schools and they should be opened again.  

- The importance of chaste should be told at schools and in the family.

- Measures should be taken at workplaces to prevent a man from being alone with a non-mahram woman. For instance some bosses remain alone with their secretaries. This togetherness may cause the boss to divorce his wife and marry his secretary.

- Those who are engaged are not regarded as married people; they are non-mahram. When they remain alone in the period of engagement, fornication may take place. Having a religious marriage in order to eliminate this drawback does not settle the issue fully. For, what is essential in marriage is to announce it. Presidency of Religious Affairs states that religious marriage should be done after the official marriage. If people do not care about it, young people who are thought to be engaged may live like married people and come to the official marriage with a baby. Or, the girl may be harmed when the boy gives up marrying.  

Be careful about what you eat

A person who eats haram food becomes a sinner.

It is narrated that when Abu Hanifa’s father was young, he was making wudu from the water of a stream; he saw an apple dragged by the water and bit a piece from the apple. Then, he thought that it would not be halal for him. He walked up the stream and found an apple tree whose branches were over the stream. He found the owner of the tree and asked him to forgive him for the apple he ate. The owner said, “Work for me for a year and I will think about it then.” At the end of the year, the man said to him, “I have a daughter who is blind, lame, deaf and dumb. I want to marry you off to her. I will forgive you then.” Abu Hanifa’s father accepted it. However, when he saw the girl, he was astonished. She was very beautiful and she was healthy.

The owner of the apple tree explained it as follows:

“My daughter is blind because she has not looked at haram things.
She is lame because she has not been to any bad places.
She is deaf because she has not heard any inappropriate words.
She is dumb because she has not uttered any unnecessary words. May Allah make her blessed for you!”

Abu Hanifa was born out of such a marriage.

Halal food is very important in the maturation of spiritual life. There will be no or very little spiritual life in the families eating haram food. A child is innocent and the responsibility of haram food lies on the family but the child will be affected from such a haram environment – in one way or another. Therefore, parents should try to eat halal food and give their children halal food as much as possible.

Taking refuge

Istiadha (taking refuge) means to say “Audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim”, that is, “I take refuge in Allah from the evil of accursed Satan” while starting something or on any occasion. 

Obedience to the order “Hasten ye then (at once) to Allah!” exists in istiadha. (adh-Dhariyat, 51/50)

There is no limit for Allah’s perfection and mercy and for the mistakes and needs of a slave. Thus, taking refuge in Allah and praying Him are among the most important duties of worshipping.

The following order is given in another verse:

“If a suggestion from Satan assail thy (mind), seek refuge with Allah; for He heareth and knoweth (all things).” (al-A’raf, 7/200)

It is very important that Allah mentions Himself as Sami’-Alim, that is, “the Hearer of All, the Knower of All”. For, if the person in whom you take refuge does not hear you or knows your state, he cannot help you.

Allah is closer to man from his jugular vein. What he has in his heart is not a secret for Allah.

Allah states the following in another verse regarding the issue:

“When thou dost read the Qur´an, seek Allah´s protection from Satan the rejected one.” (an-Nahl, 16/98)

For, a person who wants to read the Quran will do one of the best deeds. The Quran is the origin and essence of the religion. Man’s tongue and heart are dirtied by mistakes like backbiting. Therefore, it will be appropriate for him to clean his tongue. Satan does not like good things like reading the Quran; therefore, he will try to prevent man from understanding the Quran and acting in accordance with it; he will try to prevent man from meditating on it.

When we study hadith books, we see that the Prophet (pbuh) takes refuge in Allah from many things that will trouble and distress man, that will harm him and that will humiliate him in the world and the hereafter. His taking refuge from Hell, the fitnah of the grave, the evil of everything and every living being, the evil of the soul, poverty and debt, laziness, unbelief, low ethics, bad deeds and desires, grief, becoming very old, fire and flood are among them. 

Istiadha is uttered before basmala. We say, “Audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim” first and Bismillahirrahmanirrahim after that. For, elimination of something bad comes before attaining something good. 

The things that we take refuge from when we say “Audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim” are related to one of the following three things:

1. Issues related to creed.
2. Issues related to deeds.
3. Things like illnesses and misfortunes that will harm our bodies.

We take refuge in Allah from having wrong beliefs, the states that can harm our belief, committing sins and harams in the things that we do and from the visible and invisible misfortunes and disasters.

When we take refuge in Allah by saying “Audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim”, we do not say from which direction we take refuge, which means from all directions. That is we take refuge in Allah from all of the states that can come from Satan.

When we say “Audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim”, it is necessary to say it also through the heart along with the tongue.  

Those who know Allah take refuge from seeing anyone other than Allah and the realm of multitude being a veil for them.

The prayers of protection from Satan

Allah, who informs us about Satan, teaches us through what prayers we can be protected from him:

1. The Chapter of al-Falaq

The chapters of al-Falaq and an-Nas, which are the last two chapters of the Quran, are called “Muawwizatayn”. That is, one can take refuge in Allah with those two chapters and they are like protective armor for man.

According to some narrations, a Jew applied magic on the Prophet and Allah Almighty sent down those two chapters as cure for the Prophet and the ummah.

“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn
From the mischief of created things;
From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
From the mischief of those who practice secret arts;
And from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy.” (al-Falaq, 113/1-5)

We want to attract attention to some points related to that chapter.

- Good things and beauty are essential in the realm but there is also a little evil. One wisdom behind this evil is istiadha, that is, taking refuge in Allah. Good things lead man to thanking Allah and evil things lead man to taking refuge in Allah.

- There is a subtle point in taking refuge in “the Lord of the dawn” from the evil things that are mentioned in that chapter: The Being that eliminates the darkness of the night and that brings the luminous morning can definitely save those who take refuge in Him from the darkness of evil and lead them to the brightness of good things. 

- When it is dark at night, so many groups of evil people are engaged in evil deeds. Those who have darkened spirits prefer dark nights for their dark deeds. It is necessary to take refuge in “the Lord of the dawn” from their dark deeds and mischievous plans. 

- The biggest weapon of Satan and his companions is women. Today, women are used unprecedentedly in obscene publications, illegitimate songs and many other things, hypnotizing and fascinating men by agitating their sensitive points. The phrase “those who practice secret arts” is related to magicians but it also indicates evil women used like that.

We definitely exclude the fortunate women who live purely and with chastity that fits women and who bring up the believing generations of the future. For, “Paradise is under the feet of mothers.” (Ajluni, I, 335)

- Hasad (envy/jealousy) means not to want someone who has something good to have it, to want that person to lose it and to regard himself fit for it. Many bad things happen due to envy. The first bad deeds in the sky and on earth were committed due to envy. Iblis did not prostrate before Adam in the sky due to envy and Cane (Qabil) killed his brother Abel (Habil) on earth due to envy.

- The inclusion of the phrase “as (when) he practices envy” while taking refuge in Allah from the evil of the envious one indicates that the envious one harms himself when he does not act in accordance with envy.

2. The Chapter of an-Nas

“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Mankind, The King (or Ruler) of Mankind, The god (or judge) of Mankind,- From the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil), who withdraws (after his whisper),- (The same) who whispers into the hearts of Mankind,- Among Jinn and among men.” (an-Nas, 114/1-6)

We want to mention some subtleties related to that chapter:

- In the previous chapter, we take refuge in Allah with the title “the Lord of the dawn” from the evil of “created things, the darkness and those who practice secret arts”; in this chapter, we take refuge in “the Lord and Cherisher, the King and the deity of Mankind” from the evil of the devils of jinn and men.

That is, taking refuge from three things with one name of Allah is in question in the previous chapter. In this chapter, taking refuge from one thing with three names of Allah is in question. This shows how big is their evil and how much it is necessary to take refuge in Allah from them. As a matter of fact, the Prophet prayed as follows:

“O Allah! Do not leave me to my soul even for a blink.” (Ahmed b. Hanbel, V, 42)

For, the soul is always in the form of a sensitive receiver for the suggestions of Satan.

- People with evil spirits act like Satan. They make suggestions to people to make them deviate from the right path and indulge in sins. Devils of jinn do the same thing by blowing without being seen. The only difference between them is body; their nature is almost the same. 

Those who do not appreciate the boon of humanity granted by Allah cease to be human and are transformed into devilish animals. When such a person becomes, say, an elementary school teacher, he injects his ideas of denial into the naïve minds. He declares war against spirituality and wants to bring up people with evil minds like himself through questions that seem to be coherent but that are actually based on puns like “Why is Allah invisible if He exists? Why does nobody come from Hell if it exists?”

- Satan is the sly enemy in ambush; he always looks for opportunities; he makes people indulge in the mud of sins but he makes people think that the mud is musk. He leads them to the quagmire of aberration and says to them, “You are on the true path.” As it is stated in the hadith, “Satan circulates in the human mind as blood circulates in it” (Bukhari, Bad’ul-Khalq, 11) That is, he circulates in all blood vessels and tries to defeat man.

3. The prayer taught to the Prophet (pbuh)

Satan suggests bad deeds to man all the time. However, he does not have the power to force man to do things. He only tries to deceive him and make him go astray through delusions and tricks. If a person says, “Audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim”, when such a delusion comes, Satan cannot harm him. And that person gains great thawabs since he does not obey Satan.  

Satan cannot pester angels. Therefore, the rank of angels is constant. Man can go down endlessly as he obeys Satan and go up endlessly as he disobeys him. The duty of Satan is to cause delusions; the duty of man is not to be deceived by that delusion and to take refuge in Allah. The following is stated in a verse:

“If a suggestion from Satan assail thy (mind), seek refuge with Allah; for He heareth and knoweth (all things).” (al-A’raf, 7/200)

Somebody asked a saint, “Satan gives me a lot of delusions. What should I do?”

He said, “What would you do if dogs barked at you while passing by a house?”

The man said, “I would pick a stone and throw at them.” Thereupon, he gave the following significant answer:

“I would not do so. I would call the owner of the house. When he ordered the dogs, they would go back to their place and keep quiet. When delusions come to you, take refuge in Allah. They cannot harm you then.”

Allah Almighty teaches His Messenger the following prayer regarding the issue:

“And say "O my Lord! I seek refuge with Thee from the suggestions of the Evil Ones. And I seek refuge with Thee O my Lord! lest they should come near me.” (al-Mu’minun,  23/97-98)

The word translated as “suggestions” is “hamazat” in the verse. The phrase “to spur a horse” is derived from the same root. When a horse is spurred, it runs faster; similarly, “hamazat” of Satan make man run wildly in the valleys of sins.

The word “hamazat” is a plural word indicating that Satan uses various delusions.

If man takes refuge in Allah when those delusions come, it is like reining back the horse and stopping it whenever one wants. 

Satan wants to be near man because he wants to interfere when man performs prayers, reads the Quran, eats, drinks, etc. For instance, when a person eats and drinks without uttering Allah’s name, Satan accompanies him, shares his sustenance, and harms the blessing.

It is very important to be away from Satan when one is about to die. For, the throes of death are the most important moments of one’s life. Satan wants to remove man’s belief with a final move. A person who continues saying the prayer above is saved from the accompaniment and delusions of Satan.

Satan is sincere in his cause. He is the eternal enemy of man since he was dismissed from divine mercy because of man. He tries to make man go astray by using all kinds of delusions. For instance, he embellishes bad deeds and causes man to see them as nice deeds. When a person is not deceived by it, Satan tries to prevent him from doing good deeds. If he cannot manage it, he tries to decrease his good deeds. If he cannot manage it, he tries to make man feel conceited and says to him, “There is nobody like you, etc.”.  If a person overcomes this delusion, Satan does not give up. He says, “You have won this time but I will definitely entrap you one day.” Then, he lays in ambush.

4. Some examples of istiadha (taking refuge)

 1. Hz. Nuh states the following:

“O my Lord! I do seek refuge with Thee, lest I ask Thee for that of which I have no knowledge. And unless thou forgive me and have Mercy on me, I should indeed be lost.” (Hud, 11/47)

Hz. Nuh is one of the greatest prophets. He told his nation about Allah for a long time but they did not believe him. Then, they were punished by the deluge. One of the sons of Hz. Nuh was among those who were drowned in the deluge. When the waters started to rise, Hz. Nuh addressed his son as follows with the compassion of a prophet and a father: “O my son! Embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers!” However, his son said, “I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water.” He did not embark the ship. Meanwhile, the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the flood.

Hz. Nuh said, “O my Lord! Surely my son is of my family! And Thy promise is true, and Thou art the justest of Judges.”

Allah said, “O Nuh! He is not of thy family: For his conduct is unrighteous. So ask not of Me that of which thou hast no knowledge! I give thee counsel, lest thou act like the ignorant.”

Hz. Nuh said, “O my Lord! I do seek refuge with Thee, lest I ask Thee for that of which I have no knowledge. And unless thou forgive me and have Mercy on me, I should indeed be lost.” (Hud, 11/42-47)

 2. Hz. Musa said:

“…I take refuge in Allah from being ignorant...” (al-Baqara, 2/67)

Even scholars can be deceived by Satan but ignorant people are more vulnerable. Ignorance is like darkness; knowledge is like luminous light. The duty of man is to turn toward the light by taking refuge in Allah from all kinds of darkness.  

 3. Hz. Yusuf was thrown into a well by his brothers when he was a small child because of jealousy. He was saved by the people of a caravan passing by and was sold as a slave in Egypt. Zulaykha, the wife of the king of Egypt, bought him; she regarded him as her son first but when he became a young man, her attitude toward him changed. One day, when there was nobody else in the house, she closed all doors and called Yusuf to come to her, with all of her attraction. Hz. Yusuf said, “I take refuge in Allah” and started to run away. (Yusuf, 12/23)

Afterwards, when Hz. Yusuf had to choose between going to prison and doing what Zulaykha wanted, he prayed Allah as follows:

“O my Lord! The prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me: Unless Thou turn away their snare from me, I should (in my youthful folly) feel inclined towards them and join the ranks of the ignorant.” (Yusuf, 12/33)

Prison is not something that is desired under normal conditions. However, if disobedience to Allah is in question instead of prison, prison is preferred. For, “One cannot obey a person if disobedience to Allah is in question.” (Ibn Majah, Jihad, 40)

Throughout history, many people entered prison or were put in dungeon due to oppression and slandering like Hz. Yusuf. Those fortunate people continued to serve their religion there and changed prison to “a school of Yu­su­f”.

Repetition of sacred words in the struggle against Satan

Man has to be careful about what he eats for his material life; otherwise, he will be weakened and a simple microbe can overcome him. However, when the body is strong, microbes cannot harm him.

Similarly, man has to take spiritual food for his spiritual life; otherwise, he will be weak spiritually. He cannot resist Satan’s wishes and a small delusion can overcome him. However, if he is careful about his spiritual food, Satan and his armies of delusions cannot harm him if Allah does not allow them.

Remembering Allah is the basic food of the heart. The Quran states it as follows:

“For without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.” (Ra’d, 13/28)

Some comprehensive words of dhikr (mentioning Allah) are as follows:

“Subhanallahi wal-hamdulillahi wa la ilaha illallahu wal­la­hu akbar wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. (Glory be to Allah; praise be to Allah, there is no god but Allah; Allah is the greatest. There is no power other than Allah)”

When each of them is evaluated from an aspect, they are blows that hit Satan.

It will be useful to evaluate them briefly one by one:

Subhanallah: This word expresses wonder and admiration. Satan wants to keep man away from meditation. However, a person who repeats this sacred word and meditates on its meaning does not look at the realm and the incidents superficially. He regards the beings and incidents like a book and gets rid of laziness.

Alhamdulillah: This words expresses praising Allah’s art and thanking Him for His boons. Satan wants to prevent man from appreciating divine art and thanking deeply by feeling His boons. Those who say this word continuously see the perfection of divine art instead of seeing and liking themselves; they notice the endless boons coming in that perfection and thank Allah.

La ilaha illallah: This phrase expresses Allah’s oneness. Satan wants to suffocate man in multiplicity. Those who repeat this blessed phrase and meditate on it remember Allah. They feel the meaning of the following verse deep in their hearts:   “And He is with you wheresoever ye may be.” (al-Hadid, 57/4)

Allahu akbar: This word expresses the greatness of Allah. He is the real great one. He has power over everything. Nothing is difficult and heavy for Him. Whatever He wishes takes place; whatever He does not wish does not take place. A person who repeats this word gets rid of the delusions of Satan like “Can Allah revive people again?” Besides, he is saved from regarding other beings as big and feeling despised in front of them.

La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah: This phrase expresses that man cannot get rid of negative things on his own and that he cannot do positive things on his own. Satan tells man the opposite; he says, “You can do anything if you wish.” Man gets rid of liking himself thanks to this phrase and attains the reality of trust in Allah.

- Satan became conceited and proud first. As a being that was created out of fire, he could not accept to prostrate before Hz. Adam, who was created out of dust. It is understood that the conceit and pride of Satan prevented him from thinking about the result of this disobedience. 

There are millions of evidences showing that it can happen like that.

As a matter of fact, millions of people believe in Allah but they still commit sins because some feelings overwhelm them and they prevent the mind from thinking about the consequences. This fact is underlined in the following verse: “Those who love the life of this world more than the Hereafter...” (Ibrahim, 14/3)

That is, most people believe in the existence of an eternal paradise and hell but they prefer the ephemeral and temporary worldly life to the hereafter. They virtually forsake Paradise for some temporary pleasure of the world; they overlook the trouble of Hell so that they will not confront any trouble in the world.

“Man is a creature of haste.” (al-Anbiya, 21/37) As it is understood from the verse, some feelings of man are addicted to immediate pleasures.

- Everybody has the feeling of thinking of his own interest.

The form of satisfying this feeling develops based on the spiritual faculties of man.

For instance, if somebody aims eternal pleasures and if he thinks that the way to attain those pleasures is through abandoning the pleasures of this world, he will definitely abandon them. For, according to the belief of that person, the real place of pleasure is the hereafter.  

Similarly, the only aim of some people who want to succeed in the hereafter and to live a life accordingly is to be saved from Hell. Those people who regard being saved from hellfire as the greatest interest have no time to think about life in Paradise as it is valid for life in the world. For, they concentrate on being saved from punishment; they cannot think about an interest and pleasure greater than that.    

On the other hand, it is inevitable for a person who aims an immediate pleasure and payment even if it is ephemeral to be interested in the worldly life and to ignore the hereafter.

For, according to the thought of this person, the greatest worldly interest is worldly pleasures and desires.These pleasures are variable. According to some people, theft is the greatest pleasure while murder, being drunk and cheating is the greatest pleasure according to others. Satan becomes very happy when he deceives people. This sensual and demonic pleasure prevents him from being interested in life in the hereafter, which is regarded as something to be given later. 

As it is known, a person’s feelings, thoughts and mental activities concentrate on an issue based on his degree of concentration on it.

For instance, some people concentrate on their sheikh so much that they see him everywhere and think of him everywhere. They become "fana fish-sheikh" (disappear in their sheikh). We know that the concepts "fana fir-rasul" and "fana fillah" are used similarly.

Likewise, Satan is so busy withdoing evil deeds, deceiving man, producing delusions, deviating man and setting traps that all of his mental facultieshave become fana fish-sharr.

His deep occupation with doing evil to sons of Hz. Adam, who is his pre-eternal enemy, prevents him from thinking of his own state.

In addition, Satan harmed his essence with his own will; therefore, he has lost his ability to repent and to believe, like a spoiled seed that cannot be a tree and coal that cannot be transformed into diamond.

This state does not show that the will of Satan is weak; it shows that Satan uses his will in the wrong way.

It means the will has not been produced in the wrong way; it has been used in the wrong way.

The same thing is valid for human beings. A saint who ascended the level of “Fana fillah” will not think of anything but Allah; Satan, who has become “fana fil-ghurur” (a master of deceiving others), will not be busy with anything else.  

That the word “Gharur=the one who deceives a lot” is used in the Quran shows that he has immersed in it and that he has no time to think about other things.

This is the reason why the people who are the slaves of their evil-commanding souls prefer the way of deviation. That is, the soul likes to serve the evil-commanding soul, which is addicted to immediate pleasures. The owner of this soul follows Layla; therefore, he starts to take pleasure from deviation, which is a hard way, like Majnun.   

Satan is a Majnun of his own way; he does not think of anything else but to act in accordance with his way.

“Satan lost the test eternally because of five reasons:

1. For not accepting his sin,

2. For not regretting,

3. For not condemning his nafs (self) which led him to rebellion,

4. For not repenting,

5. For giving up hope of Divine Mercy.” (Ibn Hajar, Munabbihat, 73.)

Some people know Allah's torture but they commit sins and continue committing sins throughout their lives. From this viewpoint, knowing that something is bad and harmful does not mean that it will definitely be abandoned.

However, some people, especially believers, understand their mistakes and repent. Nevertheless, Satan did not do so due to his conceitedness. Hence, a believer should always admit his sins, regret his mistakes; criticize his nafs (evil commanding soul) and condemn it; often repent and should not give up hope of Divine Mercy.

Satan watches man and tries to lead him to bad deeds. Satan has no power of sanction on man. Satan can know man’s thoughts but it is not always possible. He can know them within the boundaries imposed by Allah. Therefore, it is not possible for Satan to know everything that man has in his heart and mind.

The following is stated in a hadith: Satan circulates in the human being as blood circulates in the body. (Bukhari, Itikaf 11-12) In that case, it is possible for Satan to know some of our thoughts, which are not very secret – which are not regarded as unknown. As a matter of fact, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, shows the mechanism of soul as the inner agent of Satan describes powers of anger and animal appetites as “both receivers and transmitters of Satan's whisperings”. (see Lem'alar, On Üçüncü Lem'a, Beşinci İşaret).

Satan’s suggesting different things to different man and capturing man through his weaknesses shows that he knows the inner world of man very well.

Besides, Satan has a small place called “lummah ash-shaytaniyya (satanic center)” near the heart. He sends wrong thoughts to the hearts of people from there. This shows that he is closely related to man’s inner world. Furthermore, there is important information in resources that he will confuse man at the time of death. However, there are certain faculties and deep mechanisms in man that Satan cannot reach. The secrets and mysteries of man are among them.

Answer 1 and 2:

The translation of the verse in the question is as follows:

“Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject Faith Fight in the cause of Evil: So fight ye against the friends of Satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan.” (an-Nisa, 4/76)

We will try to explain the issue in a few items:

a) The topic of the verse is war. The believers are encouraged to fight against the deniers. 

When the believers are encouraged to fight, it is emphasized in order to indicate the weakness of the spiritual power of the deniers that the views of Satan, to whom they are attached, his traps they fall into and his tricks are very weak. For, the effect of a view and suggestion is directly proportionate to the benefit it will provide man.  

The view that the believers are encouraged promises a reward (Paradise) and a penalty (Hell); if they fight, they will enter Paradise, if they do not fight, they will go to Hell. 

On the other hand, the suggestions of Satan to his followers are very weak. For, there is neither Paradise nor Hell in his suggestions. The hatred and enmity they nurture against the believers, the loyalty they show to their wrong religion are only the products of a temporary desire.

From this point of view, it is clear that the tricks of Satan are really weak. (cf. Tabari, Razi, Maraghi, the relevant place)

b) Believers support the truth; deniers support the falsehood.

Based on the principle “The truth is superior”, the believers who support the truth are superior in terms of the ending since they will attain the reward of Paradise - even if they are sometimes defeated in the world.   

Allah helps believers and Satan helps unbelievers.

Satan’s help is weak because it is based on some delusions and imagination.

Allah’s help is strong because it is the truth itself.

This help of Allah is indicated in the following verse, which is two verses before the verse stating that the cunning of Satan is feeble: “Let those fight in the cause of Allah Who sell the life of this world for the hereafter. To him who fighteth in the cause of Allah,- whether he is slain or gets victory - Soon shall We give him a reward of great (value).” (an-Nisa, 4/74)

c) If the harms of something are fewer than its benefits, it is regarded as good; if the harms are more, it is regarded as bad.

What is good is essentially strong and what is bad is weak. This fact is emphasized in the verse “Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished.” From this point of view,

The believers who are followers of Rahman will always be beneficial in war or a struggle related to any religious issue. There may be some worldly losses but they are compensated with eternal benefits; in conclusion, they will be beneficial.

The deniers who are followers of Satan will always lose. They may seem to be beneficial in the world from time to time but the penalties in the hereafter will reduce them to nothing.

Thus, if the believers undergo any losses, it is the lesser evil. If the deniers obtain some temporary benefits, it is the greater evil - since it will bring about eternal losses.

d) Since it is emphasized that the tricks of Satan are feeble, it is indicated that they do not reflect the truth. For, a small fact is enough to eliminate a lot of lies. The following statements express it in a nice way: “A lie never lives to be old.” “The powerful is not right but the right is powerful.”

That is the reason for the weakness of Satan, who is not based on the truth, and his followers.

However, “that tricks of Satan are feeble” does not mean that nobody will be deceived by them but that “nobody should be deceived by them”.

Answer 3:

Yes, satans can exchange information among themselves. It is possible to understand it from the following hadith:

“Iblis places his throne upon water and sends his groups to do evil deeds. The closest to him are those who tempt people to commit the most grievous of sins (fitnah). They come to him to tell him about what they did. One of them says, ‘I did such-and-such.’ However, Iblis tells him, ‘You have done nothing.’ Another one comes and says, ‘I did not leave a man until I caused him to leave his wife and divorce her.’ Iblis becomes very pleased and calls him close to his throne and says to him, ‘How good you are!’” (Muslim, Munafiqun 67; Musnad, 3/314)

Answer 4:

It is possible for more than one satan to be involved with one man. However, not everything that is possible takes place. Evidence is necessary. “If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of (Allah) Most Gracious, We appoint for him an evil one, to be an intimate companion to him.” (az-Zukhruf, 43/36) What is understood from the apparent meaning of the verse above is that one satan is involved with one man.

We have checked many tafsir resources but have not been able to find any other information.

This question has two aspects. One is the purpose of the creation of Satan and the other is the wisdom behind the creation of him. Let us first dwell on the purpose of it briefly:

As is known, Satan is the same sort as jinn.

“I have only created Jinn and men, that they may serve Me” (adh-Dhariyat, 51/56)

According to the verse above, the purpose of the creation of jinn, like that of man, is to have faith in Allah, to advance in worshipping and knowing Him. Just as there are misbelievers among men who fail the testing, so too are there also among jinn who are misbelievers and fail the testing. Satan is among the second group of jinn. He was driven away from the divine mercy since he did not prostrate before Adam (PBUH) as Allah (SWT) ordered him to do, and, upon his request, he was given permission, as a divine wisdom, to go after men to divert them from the right path.

The wisdom behind giving Satan such a privilege is not one but many. The most important two of them are as follows: Allah Almighty is able to test man without the scruples of Satan as well, and is able to load the duty of Satan onto the human soul. However, doing the opposite, by agreeing to the Satan’s heinous wish, which is to misguide people from the right path till Doomsday, He increased the torment for Satan in hell billionfold.

“The one who causes something is like the one who does it”

According to the hadith above, the sins committed by men by obeying the scruples of Satan are divided into two between man and Satan and thus Satan’s torment is increasing more and more.

Another wisdom is that if believers pass this testing, which includes Satan and their own souls, they will attain places loftier than those of angels. If the quality of ordering the evil had not been given to human soul and if Satan did not scruple them, their humanity levels would be fixed like angels.

There are certain times when bathing is not considered appropriate in terms of good manners because they are the times when the devils disperse. However, it is not a sin to take a bath at those times, and you should take a bath when you need to. Other times should be preferred if possible. However, those who take a bath at those times do not lose their minds.

BATHROOM MANNERS

1- We should clean our teeth with miswak (Islamic toothbrush) before we bathe.

2- We should take a bath with nice thoughts like being clean when we pray in the presence of Allah.

3- We should enter the bathroom stepping first with the left foot.

4- When entering, we should say “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, I seek refuge in Allah from all kinds of dirt and the evil of the banished devil.” (Bukhari, Wudu', 9, Daawat, 14; Muslim, Hayd, 122, 123)

5- We should close the door so that nobody sees inside the bathroom.

6- When bathing especially in a public bathing place, we should cover our private parts and wear a loincloth.

7- We should first wash our right and left shoulders.

8- We should not waste the water.

9- When we feel hot water on our skins, we should think of Hell and compare the hellfire with this hotness of water.

10- We should not talk while bathing; we should not recite verses of the Quran or sing religious songs .

11- We should not enter the bathroom towards the evening and between the evening prayer and night prayer.

12- We should not pour water on us while standing but while sitting.

13- We should not urinate or defecate in the place of bathing. Our Prophet warns us about it as follows:

“One of you should not urinate in the place where he bathes. If he does, he should not make wudu (ablution) in that place. Most of the delusions come from it.” (Tirmidhi, Taharah 17; Nasai, Taharah 6)

14- Those who use the bathroom should wash and clean the bathroom. There should not be any unpleasant sight in the bathroom. All the remains of soap, hair, and dirty water should be removed. The dirty clothes should not be hung and should not be left as dirty.

15- Everybody should have their own loincloths and use them.

16- Before bathing if one has long hair and mustache, he should trim and cut them.

17- It is mustahab (recommended) to pluck and shave the hair of your armpits once in maximum forty days

18- It is sunnah to remove the pubic hair once in maximum forty days.

19- It is sunnah to have kohl three times on the right eye, two times on the left eye, and to begin from the right one.

20- We should bury or burn the nails and hair we cut by wrapping them in something.

- We can learn about such issues only from the Quran and hadiths. Whether Satan knew the day of resurrection is not something that we can understand with our minds. It means that we can only learn from the Quran that Satan has such knowledge. Since the Quran gives that information, we understand that Satan knew it.

- In this regard, the following may be asked: Where did Satan get this information?

We could not find the answer to it clearly in the verses and hadiths. However, we can say that Iblis learned that information from Allah.

As a matter of fact, Allah states the following: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” (al-Baqara, 2/30). Being a vicegerent means being in a responsible position. It shows that the world is a place of testing. Since there will be a result of the testing, there must be a resurrection day. It is possible for an intelligent being like Satan to understand it from this sign.

- Besides, the expulsion of Adam’s family from Paradise due to the sin committed by them shows that every crime has a punishment. It means resurrection. We can say that Iblis, who took an active role in this incident himself, drew a conclusion from it.

- However, the angels knew - thanks to Allah’s informing them - that the world was ephemeral, that it would be destroyed one day and that there would be a resurrection. Iblis may have learned this information from the angels with whom he lived for a while.

- In addition, Iblis certainly knew that Allah was everlasting. He also knew that Allah, who was everlasting, would have an everlasting place because it is unthinkable for him not to know the realities called the principles of belief in the period when he lived with the angels. That he addressed Adam as follows while giving him delusions shows that he had knowledge regarding the issue:   

“O Adam! shall I lead thee to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?” (Taha, 20/120)

Satan is a kind of spiritual being that has no ability to do good deeds and does nothing but evil. He was created in accordance with the secret of testing and so that man would reach a level worthy of Paradise as a result of his struggle with Satan in the world.

Satan asked permission from Allah to lead people astray with his delusions, and Allah gave him permission due to the secret of testing.

Satan declared that if he saw that people were on the straight path, he would intervene and prevent them from being grateful, would show them their sins as nice things and lead them astray, fill them with delusions, approach them from the front, back, right and left, and that he would cause Hell to be filled with people. “He (Satan) said: ‘Because thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on thy straight way.’” (al-A’raf, 16)

Satan has many tricks and delusions to lead people astray. He uses tactics according to the state of a person. He tries to lead them astray by saying, ‘You are very young; enjoy yourself, have fun’ to some people, ‘Nothing happens if you sin only once’ to others and ‘Do it; Allah will forgive you’ to some others.

He addresses those who go astray with his delusions and fall into the quagmire of sins as follows: “Allah will not forgive you since you have committed so many sins.” Thus, he destroys their hopes and can lead them to denial.

Satan sometimes instills the thought “I wish this or that was not a sin” in man’s mind; then, that person gets used to sin and likes them; he starts to say that this or that is not a sin. Eventually, Satan can cause him to deny the existence of Hell, which is the place of punishment for sinners and can lead him to exit his religion.

Therefore, the Qur’an often mentions Satan’s tricks, stating that he is an obvious enemy.

Satan made good use of the time and permission he took to mislead people. The Quran informs us that he has achieved his goal as follows:

“But he did lead astray a great multitude of you. Did ye not, then, understand?” (Yasin, 62)

Satan’s methods and tactics of leading people away from the true path:

1. He inculcates irreligion and atheism into man first. If he fails to do it,
2. he will try to make man associate partners with Allah. If it does not happen,
3. he tries to make man believe in bid’ahs. If it does not happen,
4. he tries to make man commit major sins. If it does not happen,
5. he tries to make man commit minor sins. If he fails to do it,
6. he tries to make man be engaged in unnecessary things. If it does not work,
7. he suggests man the least thawab he can get and the least sadaqah he will give.

He becomes successful in his effort in terms of many people but he cannot do anything to the friends of Allah with the help of Allah.

Allah warns man against the tricks of Satan, states that his tricks are weak and shows the ways of protection from him. We can summarize the ways of protection from Satan as follows:

1. To take refuge in Allah frequently through istiadha, that is, by saying “audhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim”.

2. Satan states the following after getting permission from Allah: “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).” (al-Araf, 17)

Allah makes Satan forget up and down here. What is up is supplication and what is down is prostration. In other words, man can get away from Satan with supplication and prostration because he is in contact with Allah in both cases.

3. Man can be protected from Satan through knowledge and intellect. The Quran always invites man to use his intellect., All of Satan’s tricks will disappear through knowledge and reasoning. What Satan does is gift of the gab, decoration, and instant things. For example, fury is from Satan. When man thinks about the result of fury through his mind, his fury will fade away.

4. A good environment and making good friends also keep people away from Satan.

5. In addition, Allah created an angel of inspiration in every human being against the delusions of Satan. That angel inspires man to show him the right way against the delusions of Satan. Sometimes a person notices it inside him; he hears an inside voice whether he should do something or not. That voice belongs to the angel of inspiration.

- One of the most remarkable points in the narrations regarding the issue is that the person known as Ibn Sayyad gave information about unseen/unknown things when he was a child and it was said that he even claimed to be a prophet.

According to what is understood from some narrations attributed to Abdullah b. Umar, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to show that Ibn Sayyad’s claim to inform about the unseen/unknown was unfounded; therefore, he had verse 10 of the chapter of ad-Dukhan in his mind and asked Ibn Sayyad to know it. Ibn Sayyad could know only the first part of the word “dukhan” and could say only dukh.

Thereupon, the Prophet stated that the soothsayers whom Satan had taught could know only a part of a whole, could not go further and that they would not be able to attain the knowledge of the unseen/unknown, which Allah revealed to His prophets. (Nawawi, Sharhu Muslim, 18/48-49)

“By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right; Truly he succeeds that purifies it. And he fails that corrupts it” (ash-Shams, 91/7-10)

It is emphasized in the verses above that a source of inspiration exists in the nature of all human beings. If that inspiration comes from an angel, it is called inspiration; if it comes from Satan, it is called delusion. They are related to man’s inner realm.

- The hadith below is like an interpretation of the verses above:

According to a narration from Abdullah b. Masud, the Prophet (pbuh) said,

“Indeed, Satan has an effect on the son of Adam, and the angel also has an effect. As for Satan, it is by threatening evil repercussions and rejecting the truth. As for the effect of the angel, it is by his promise of a good end and believing in the truth. Whoever finds that, let him know that it is from Allah, and let him praise Allah for it. Whoever finds the other, let him seek refuge with Allah from Satan (the outcast).” Then, he recited the following verse:

‘The Evil one threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly.’ (al-Baqara, 2/268).” (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 3)

- According to a sound narration, when the Prophet (pbuh) was in i’tikaf one night, his wife Safiyya visited him; the Prophet accompanied him to her house when she left. Two people who passed by greeted them. However, the Prophet (pbuh) called out to them and said, “This is my wife Safiyya.” They said, “Fasubhanallah!” meaning “How can we doubt you?” Thereupon, the Prophet (pbuh) said,  

“Satan definitely circulates in the human being as blood circulates in the body, and I was afraid lest Satan should insert an evil thought in your minds.” (Bukhari, I’tikaf, 11)

- It is understood from the hadith and the explanations above that Satan and jinn can circulate like blood in the human body and give man some delusions and suggestions. They can know some feelings and thoughts of human beings to the extent that Allah allows them.

The unbelieving jinn are called devils and there are many of them. Allah knows the number of devils.

There are devils that haunt every human being. There is a hadith regarding the issue:

“My devil has surrendered to me.” (Tirmidhi, Rada 17; Musnad, III / 309)

Devils are a type of spiritual beings that have no ability to do good and only do evil. “And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind.” (al-Hicr, 15/27) The original name of Iblis was Azazil. After he opposed the command of God Almighty to prostrate to Adam and rebelled against this prostration command with conceit, he was named “Iblis” and “Satan”.

The greatest obstacle to humanity’s spiritual progress and fulfillment of its duty of servitude to Allah is Satan. In the Holy Quran, Satan (the devil) is described as “aduwwun mubin / a clear enemy” for human beings. God Almighty invites the believers to seek refuge in Allah from Satan in many verses of the Holy Quran. Satan’s greatest goal is to make people irreligious, to make them atheists. If he fails to do it, he leads them to polytheism. Satan is not satisfied with making people polytheists; he makes them cruel polytheists and miserable. Not only that, Satan tries to make him a man of his cause, working day and night on behalf of polytheism. That is his ultimate goal. A polytheist without a cause is Satan’s slave and those who accept polytheism as a cause are his companions.

Satan changes his tactics related to the believers who choose the truth, the right and the good, and frustrate all his schemes. When he understands that he cannot touch the believer’s faith, he tries to deal with his worship; he wants him to be a believer without worship. If he fails to achieve it, he wants him to be content with the fard deeds and not to approach sunnahs and nafilahs. If this also fails, he wants him to be busy only with his personal worship and not to tell others anything about the religion. And he advises the believer as follows: “Every man for himself.”

Satan uses many tricks to lead people astray. Some of those tricks and schemes are as follows:

1. Lust and anger: They are Satan’s greatest ways of influencing people. That is why the following is stated in a hadith:

“Satan enters the human body like blood flows through the body. Narrow his paths with hunger (fasting).”

For the greatest way of Satan’s penetration into human beings is lust. Fasting breaks the lust.

2. Envy and greed: A greedy person becomes blind and deaf to the truth.

3. Desire: Satan makes people love the things they desire with various show-offs and tricks. So much so that it is as if what man desires becomes his deity.

4. Haste: Man has no time to think when he is in a hurry. Satan can give him delusions at that time.

5. Fear of poverty: This fear prevents man from charity and invites him to accumulate wealth.

6. Bigotry: One of the doors through which Satan penetrates the heart is to harbor hatred and contempt for Muslims who are not of one’s own sect.

7. Disagreement

8. Doubt: One of the doors through which Satan penetrates the heart is to make some people, who are narrowminded due to their ignorance and heedlessness or their immersion in sins, doubt about issues of belief that they cannot comprehend.

9. Having bad thoughts: When a person begins to think badly of a person, Satan encourages him to backbite that person. Or Satan does not allow him to respect that person’s rights. Satan makes him look at him as if insulting him. Doubtlessly, they are not the only tricks and schemes of Satan and his ways of penetrating people. They take many different forms according to people, times and conditions.

Does Satan have the power of coercion over human beings?

The Quranic verse “feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan” draws attention to the weakness of Satan’s tricks and traps (an-Nisa, 4/76). Many other verses also state that Satan has no power over people. (e.g. Ibrahim, 14/22; al-Hijr, 15/42; an-Nahl, 16/99; al-Isra, 17/65; Saba, 34/21) If Satan had such power, people would say, “O Lord! You allowed Satan to haunt us. He took away our will. He forced us to commit those sins...” They would make excuses before Allah. However, what Satan does is only to give delusions, to make bad things and sins look good. If a person wishes, he can obey that delusion and become a sinner; if he does not obey, he can earn a degree in the sight of Allah.

The essence of the fight against Satan is opposition to his directives. Therefore, it is necessary to know this enemy well. Those who cannot distinguish whether the inspiration that comes to their heart comes from Satan or from the angel are often deceived by Satan’s delusions. The human heart is a battlefield of angelic and Satanic inspirations. In this battle, the believers should seek refuge in Allah and get rid of Satan’s delusions:

“If a suggestion from Satan assail thy (mind), seek refuge with Allah. for He heareth and knoweth (all things). Those who fear Allah, when a thought of evil from Satan assaults them, bring Allah to remembrance, when lo! they see (aright).” (al-A’raf, 7/200-201)

Thus, the believers are under the protection of Allah. Even if Satan gives them delusions, they immediately come to their senses by remembering Allah and His punishment, and they are not deceived by Satan. They get rid of the delusions and see the truth.  

The word “aslama” mentioned in the hadith above means both that he was compelled to surrender and that he became a Muslim. Therefore, if it is accepted to mean “he became a Muslim”, it can be understood that he will enter Paradise. However, hadith scholars accept that word to mean “he submitted and surrendered” because the essence of Satan is corrupted; it is out of the question for him to become a Muslim. (Tirmidhi, Rada 17; I. Jawzi, Talbisu Iblis p. 34)

First of all, we should state that the deniers are under the influence of the devils. The devil cannot haunt anyone other than such people with bad characters and intentions. In other words, those who are haunted by the devils are their own denials; they pull the devils like lightning rods.

Anyone who puts his hand into the fire will certainly burn his hand; the body of the one who enters the sewer pit will definitely smell bad; he who drinks poison will definitely get sick...

Allah’s sending the devils against the deniers has been interpreted in two ways:

a) What is meant by it is that Allah does not protect the unbelievers against the devils because they persist in denial and rebellion.

Satan has no power of enforcement or coercion. As a matter of fact, the meaning of a verse is as follows:

And Satan will say when the matter is decided: “It was Allah Who gave you a promise of Truth: I too promised, but I failed in my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you but ye listened to me: then reproach not me, but reproach your own souls. I cannot listen to your cries, nor can ye listen to mine. I reject your former act in associating me with Allah. For wrong-doers there must be a grievous penalty.” (Ibrahim, 14/22)

b) What is meant by it is Allah’s sending the devils against the unbelievers.

If the unbelievers stubbornly and persistently continue their denial and enmity toward Allah and the Prophet, Allah will send the devils against them. The devils cause delusions in them and make evil look good. In conclusion, they do all kinds of evil; so, they go to hell. The following verses in the chapter of az-Zukhruf support this interpretation:

If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of (Allah) Most Gracious, We appoint for him an evil one, to be an intimate companion to him. Such (evil ones) really hinder them from the Path, but they think that they are being guided aright! At length, when (such a one) comes to Us, he says (to his evil companion): “Would that between me and thee were the distance of East and West!” Ah! evil is the companion (indeed)! When ye have done wrong, it will avail you nothing, that Day, that ye shall be partners in Punishment! Canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or give direction to the blind or to such as (wander) in manifest error? (az-Zukhruf, 43/36-40)

To state it briefly, it is the denial of the person that causes the devil to haunt him. These denials attract the devil like a magnet. So, the person himself is responsible for it.

That is to say, the reason why Satan haunts the unbeliever is his denial.

The original home of man is Paradise. Therefore, the first man was created in Paradise. Although Adam was in Paradise, Allah did not create them to remain in Paradise in that state; He created them for a higher purpose: to reproduce and to be a means of testing. For this reason, He allowed them to make that mistake.

Allah created the angels who are incapable of sinning and the animals who are not held responsible at all.

In addition to those two beings, He created man who is both perfect enough to surpass the angels and evil enough to be inferior to the animals who have no intellect. Satan was created to reveal what characteristics man has.

For example, gold and copper are boiled in fire to separate them from their mixed state; similarly, Allah created Satan from fire to separate the good and bad qualities of man, to understand the good-natured Abu Bakr (ra) and the evil-natured Abu Jahl.

Besides, the seeds in the barn need to be thrown into the ground to become trees. On the surface, the subsoil is dark and boring. However, the way to become a tree is to go there. Even if a seed stays in the barn for thousands of years, it cannot become a tree.

Thus, Allah sent our father, the Prophet Adam, who was in the barn of Paradise, to the field of the world. He made Adam sit in the fire of Satan to make him to return to Paradise as a tree. He buried him in the soil of worship. Thus, he returned to Paradise as a tree. Our situation is like that too.

One of the things that occupies and exhausts the minds of human beings is the expulsion of Prophet Adam from Paradise and his being sent to earth because of Satan. Some people ask:

“If it had not been for Satan, would the Prophet Adam have remained in Paradise and would we have been there?”

In explaining this issue, let us pay attention to the conversation of God Almighty with the angels before He created Adam: The incident is narrated as follows in the chapter of al-Baqara:

“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I will create a vicegerent on earth.’ They said: ‘Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?’ He said: ‘I know what ye know not.’” (al-Baqara, 2/30)

As it is seen in the verse above, God Almighty states that He will create human beings on earth even before creating Adam. In other words, He informs us that people will not live in Paradise, but on earth. Satan’s deception of Adam was only a reason why man was sent to earth.

On the other hand, unlike the angels, man has been given ego and sensual feelings. For the effects of those feelings to be seen, it was necessary to send man to the world, to give him some responsibilities and to subject him to a test. At the end of this test and experience, man would either be worthy of Paradise, or he would become worthy of hell.

There is not much information in the Quran and sound hadiths about Satan’s entry into Paradise and his approaching Adam and Eve (Hawwa).

Hasan Basri said: “Satan managed to convey delusion from earth to the sky or Paradise with a power given to him by Allah Almighty.”

Some tafsir scholars state the following: “Adam and Eve would sometimes come close to the gate of Paradise, and Satan would watch from outside and approach them; and that is how the delusion occurred.”

Since Satan’s expulsion from Paradise would not prevent him from delivering his delusion from the outside, we can conclude that there would be no contradiction in this matter. Allah made Adam hear the devil’s evil delusion as a necessity of the test.

It is also very important to consider in what sense the words in the Quran are used. Considering the innocence of the prophets, it is clear that this was certainly not a conscious rebellion.

As a matter of fact, it is mentioned in the previous verses where the incident is narrated that Adam (as) forgot this promise:

“We had already, beforehand, taken the covenant of Adam, but he forgot: and We found on his part no firm resolve.” (Taha, 20/115)

Thus, this behavior of Adam was not a conscious act of disobeying Allah’s command. Therefore, it is possible to understand the verse not as rebellion as we understand it but as follows:

“In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced.” (Taha, 20/121)

Prophets Do Not Commit Sins

Sins are divided into two categories as major and minor. The main major sins are as follows:  

Murder, fornication, drinking alcohol, disobeying one’s parents, gambling, bearing false witness, and following bid’ahs that harm the religion. 1

None of the prophets committed any major sins either before or after their prophethood.

However, some prophets committed some mistakes that are called “zalla” (wrongdoing), which is not the way we know it, through error, forgetting or abandoning the better. 2 An example of zalla is the Prophet Adam’s eating the fruit of the forbidden tree while he was in Paradise. By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam did not commit a sin in the sense we know, but he abandoned what was better. As a result, they were deprived of the blessings of Paradise because of this mistake. The fact that there is no concept of sin and thawab in Paradise means that this sin has a different form than what we know.

One of the blessings of Paradise is that there is no need to “go to the toilet” there. 3 Since there were no leftovers of what was eaten and drunk in Paradise, Adam and Eve did not answer the call of nature in Paradise. Their private parts were hidden from them by clothes or a light. 4 Since eating the fruits of the forbidden tree would cause their private parts to open and cause them to do things that would cause pain, such as urination and defecation, Allah forbade them to eat from that tree. 5 As a matter of fact, as soon as they ate the fruits of the forbidden tree, their private parts, which they had never seen before, opened up. Since it was not appropriate for them to open, they began to cover their private parts with leaves. 6

We should not forget the share of qadar in the expulsion of Adam from Paradise due to eating the fruit of the forbidden tree because the realization of the wisdom and purpose of God Almighty’s creation of man became possible only after Adam and Eve descended from Paradise to the earth.

Abul-Hasan ash-Shazali states the following about Adam’s zalla:

“What a wise sin it was since it caused repentance to be legitimized for people who will come until the Day of Judgment. “7

Footnotes:

1. Barla Lahikası, p. 179.
2. Muvazzah ilm-i Kelâm, p.184; Fıkh-ı Ekber Şerhi, p.154; Risale-i Hamidiye, p. 491.
3. Muslim, Jannah: 15.
4. Tefsîr-i Kebir, 14:49; Hak Dini Kur’ân Dili, 3:2140.
5. Hülasatül-Beyan ,2:4748.
6. Al-A’raf, 22.
7. Risale-i Hamidiye, p. 611.

LUMMA ASH-SHAYTANIYYA (Satanic Center in the Heart)

Police station belonging to Satan.
Hideout of the bandits of the palace of the heart.
Center of whispers.

“Everyone has experienced in himself the inner faculty situated in a corner of the heart which is the means to diabolical suggestions and temptations and is a satanic tongue that speaks at the promptings of the surmising faculty and the corrupted power of imagination, which becomes like a small Satan and acts contrary to its owner’s will and opposed to his desires – these are certain evidences of the existence of great satans in the world.”

As the Prophet (pbuh) puts it, “There are two lummas (centers) in man’s heart. One of them is for the inspiration of angels and the other is for the suggestions of Satan.” Satan uses the part belonging to him as a police station.

When Satan was expelled from Paradise because he did not prostrate before Adam, he begged Allah as follows:

"(Iblis) said: "O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong,- "Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace).” (al-Hijr, 15/39-40)

Soul and Satan are two very important obstacles in man’s spiritual development. The soul works from inside and Satan from outside to destroy our world and hereafter. The soul has many harmful qualities like pride, conceit and egoism. Satan knows these mines, which are suitable to process, very well and processes them. It knows the weakness of the soul and captures them.   

The soul is the representative of Satan inside us. It is the local collaborator of Satan. It is a student of Satan if it is not trained. A person who obeys the bad desires of his soul will go astray indulge in sins, obeys Satan’s commands and becomes a slave of Satan.

Rope breaks off at its weakest point; a castle is conquered through its weakest place. Similarly, Satan benefits from the weaknesses of the soul in the body to conquer it. The Quran attracts attention to some weaknesses of the soul with the following verse:

“Fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they covet: Women and sons; Heaped-up hoards of gold and silver; horses branded (for blood and excellence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land…” (Aal- i Imran, 3/14)

That is, man is very fond of them due to his nature. He spends his life struggling to obtain them. Man’s hardest tests are through them.  

Along with the weaknesses mentioned in the verse above, the soul has so many other weaknesses like laziness, having a hearty appetite, liking praise, acting conceitedly, unnecessary fury, having blind feelings, addiction, heedlessness, ignorance, desires and being fond of pleasures. Those weaknesses are processed by Satan like a mine.

Satan tries to deceive everyone, but he might not be able to seduce everyone. 

For example, if you have an enemy, he might want to do you any evil deed. However, can he do whatever evil he wants? definitely not.

- The greatest example of the temptation and deviation of Satan is that he will make things that will cause the wrath of Allah and lead a person to Hell.

- The size of the evils depends on the severity of the crime. The severity of the crime is measured by the weight of the penalty. According to the Quran, no crime and evil is greater than atheism, deism and being non-Muslim. Satan deceives such people so much that he destroys their eternal life.

The life of those who do not go to grave with belief is ruined. And there is no greater evil than that because “many of those who commit a crime and enter the grave with belief will go to Paradise after they suffer their punishment even if they go to hell first. However, there is no one who goes to Paradise from those who go to the grave as unbelievers.” It is the main and indisputable principle of the religion of Islam. 

So, the pompous and elaborated expressions in the question originates from not knowing the true criterion of the crimes committed in the test in the world.

- In addition, most of the non-Muslims, who are said to be “very good, very nice” are people who are manipulated and deceived by Satan in many ways:

a) They lose their eternal lives and deserve eternal hell because they do not believe in the last revelation, the Quran, which contains all the nice aspects of heavenly religions such as Islam.

This issue alone is the greatest evil for a person.

b) The vast majority of non-Muslims does not commit crimes because they fear the existing laws of their countries not because they love and respect Allah.

In this case, there is a two-fold deception of Satan.

The first one: Despite the desire to commit a crime, such a person avoids it because of fearing the administration; he acts as if he avoids committing crimes due to a nice ethical virtue coming from inside him; thus, he acts hypocritically.

The second one: He disregards the commands and prohibitions of Allah, who is the Creator, and commits crimes in a way that nobody sees. This means falling into the abasement of a psychological atmosphere that damages his personality. Anyone who is not afraid of Allah is afraid of anything other than Allah and is manipulated by Satan. A person who fears Allah is not afraid of anyone else in real terms.  

c) Because genuine Muslims took refuge in Allah from the evil of Satan; most of them are protected by Allah's permission from unbelief and shirk, and they can maintain their belief, which is the only coin of the realm in the eternal life.

- Those who do not seek refuge in Allah from the evil of Satan like Muslims are manipulated and deceived by Satan by falling into unbelief and shirk by not believing in the Quran, which is clear like the sun, and the religion of Islam.

However, the most important prerequisite for taking refuge in Allah is sincerity.

Although a person is a Muslim, it is inevitable that he will be deceived by Satan when he loses his sincerity.

As a matter of fact, this truth is narrated in the Quran through the case of devils as follows:

“(Iblis) said: ‘Then, by Thy power, I will put them all in the wrong,- Except Thy Servants amongst them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace).’ (Allah) said: ‘Then it is just and fitting- and I say what is just and fitting-That I will certainly fill Hell with thee and those that follow thee,- every one.’” (Sad, 38/82-85)

- Thus, it is not possible to reach anywhere by having blinders on, having prejudices and ignoring the truths. A person who closes his eyes makes it dark only for himself. He who tries to extinguish the sun by blowing will propagate ignorance.

Let us talk a little more about the beings that are not within the scope of senses; for example, Satan.

A verse of the Quran states the following: "Man's greatest enemy is Satan." If so, I must get to know him well.

Who is he? Why is he hostile toward me? I have a lot of questions in my mind; I want to ask you.

…

Satan is an invisible enemy. One of his names is Iblis. The Quran states the following: “He (Iblis) was one of the jinn.” (al-Kahf, 18/50) He became an unbeliever due to the issue of prostrating before the Prophet Adam.  

When our Lord gave the command to prostrate, all angels prostrated immediately. Iblis acted conceitedly. He said,

“You created him from clay and me from fire; I am superior to him; I will not prostrate.”

He adopted a "materialistic" attitude based on the "matter" used in creation. He made the evaluation according to matter. In a way, he become the first materialist philosopher.

Instead of doing what he was commanded to do, he resorted to reasoning. However, "fire" could not be superior to the command of his Lord.

He is regarded as the father of the disease of racism as he makes a classification in the form of being created from clay and being created from fire, regarding one as superior to the other.

The test in Paradise is like a model of the great test in the world. You can find the seeds of the epidemic evils here in the test there.

Iblis assumed the role of "evil person" based on his own free will. Evil pervaded his whole being so much that there was no room for good.

He could not think of anything but making people sin. He was determined to do it until the end of the world. He rebelled against his Lord and made threats.

He determined his goal: to keep people away from the path of guidance. Making worship seem difficult and sins easy; cheating, tricks, deception, mischief.

Thus, a difficult test began for human beings.

Iblis deceived our father Adam and mother Hawwa (Eve); he made them eat the fruit of the forbidden tree in Paradise. Therefore, they were exiled to the world.

The Prophet Adam and his wife took some words from their Lord and repented with them; and Allah forgave them.

Then, devils increased in the world; so did humans. The test in Paradise continued in the world.

Allah promised punishment to those who follow Satan, and Paradise to those who do good deeds. He informed His servants about it through messengers and books.

One of the most important tricks of Satan is to convince people that he does not exist.

Some deniers say, "There is no Satan; we decide and do whatever we do."

This trick is also seen in secret organizations, lodges and clubs that are under the command of Satan.

This tactic allows devilish humans to camouflage themselves and work more comfortably.

After all, who would think of taking precautions against a danger whose existence people do not believe.

Satan is evil; it is all right. It misleads people; that is all right, too. We see only evil from any viewpoint you look at. Allah could not have allowed Satan to influence man. For example, He could have eliminated Satan. Why did He not do it?

…

He could definitely have eliminated Satan if it had been in accordance with His wisdom. He is the one with infinite power. He may just as well eliminate a creature that He created out of nothing.

However, Satan was necessary for the world of testing to be established. He would have a role. Satan undertook this role knowingly and willingly.

Iblis is evil; he is bad, but he is conducive to many good deeds.

Every obedience to Iblis is descent; every disobedience to him is ascent. He who escapes from Satan runs toward Rahman (All-Merciful).

Every creation of our Lord is good; some are good in themselves and some are good in terms of their results.

Iblis is one of the creatures. It is in the second part. Satan is a tool for human progress just like the fertilizer that contributes to the development of plants.

However, some people make it bad for themselves. It is a disease that comes from the heedlessness of the soul.

For example, the sun was created for many benefits, but its light is among the causes of skin cancer.

A person who lies naked for a long time under the sun and falls ill cannot say, “The creation of the sun is bad.”

If a person whose house burns says, “Creation of fire is evil; it is bad!”, he is wrong.

If a person acts carelessly and makes the fire created for many benefits evil for himself, it is his own fault.

Similarly, sending Satan to the earth is for the benefit of man as it is a test.

A fool who makes Satan evil for himself by obeying his orders has no right to blame anyone but himself.

Yes, there are evils originating from Satan, but they are few compared to the good ones.

It is a greater evil to abandon great benefits lest little evil deeds should occur.

For example, if a person does not read the Quran because his eyes get tired, it will be a great evil. It is bad for the eyes to get tired, but it is of no significance compared to the thawabs of reading the Quran.

Since Satan declared his unbelief openly, it would be an appropriate approach to regard him as an unbeliever.  

"Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the Evil Ones; and the Evil One is to his Lord (himself) ungrateful." (al-Isra, 17/27),

"The blasphemers were the evil ones." (al-Baqara, 2/102)

This attribute (unbelief) of Satan is emphasized in the verses above.

However, when Satan tries to deceive people, he does not avoid two-facedness.

"Satan makes them promises, and creates in them false desires; but Satan´s promises are nothing but deception." (an-Nisa, 4/120)

The verse above and the attribute of "khannas" in the chapter of an-Nas indicate this two-facedness. From this viewpoint, we do not doubt about his hypocrisy.

There is not much information about Satan’s entering Paradise and approaching Hz. Adam and Hz Hawwa (Eve) in the Quran and sound hadiths.

Hasan Basri says,

“Satan managed to send delusions from the earth to the sky or to Paradise with the power Allah gave him.”

According to this meaning, it can be said that the concept snake is a simile for vital power that is poisonous like a snake for man and that a real snake is not understood.

Some tafsir scholars state the following:

“Adam and Hawwa sometimes approached the gate of Paradise and Satan watched them from outside; he approached them and caused delusion.”

Satan’s being expelled from Paradise will not prevent him from sending delusions; therefore, we can conclude that there is no contradiction regarding the issue. Allah made Hz. Adam hear the delusion of Satan as a necessity of testing.

Resources:

- Hamdi Yazır, Hak Dini Kur'an Dili,

- Diyanet İslam Ansiklopedisi.