What is the wisdom behind the creation of Satan? Is it not the fault of Satan?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

9.1.3-Is it not the fault of Satan?

Another question regarding the issue is as follows: “Allah created devils (Satan) and sent them upon us. That is why we commit sins, and some people exit the religion. For this reason, people will go to Hell. We cannot control our will because of devils. But for devils, we would be able to do more good deeds.1

How does Allah’s mercy and beauty allow this ugliness and horrific misfortune?”

1) It is a fact that most people deviate from the true path because of devils and become people of Hell. However, what is valuable is quality, not quantity. For example, if a farmer has 100 walnuts and buries them in the ground, and if 90 out of 100 walnuts decay, but ten of them become trees, there will be two results:

The first one: The farmer lost 90 walnuts; and his loss is the price of the walnuts.

The second one: Now he has ten walnut trees; his profit from 10 walnut trees will definitely eliminate the loss of his remaining walnuts.

Similarly, God Almighty created the soul, devils, evil and bad deeds; He tests people with them. Thus, even if the majority goes bad like the walnuts decaying under the ground, some people believe. The gain obtained from them is very large and ultimately covers the damage done by others. Are one hundred coins of one cent or one piece of gold coin more valuable? A person who loses 100 cents but earns a piece of gold coin is not at a loss. Allah’s mercy, wisdom and justice allows the existence of Satan and evil because of this mystery.2

2) Man needs action to advance and ascend spiritually, this action is possible through struggle; and struggle is possible through the existence of devils, evil and harmful things. From this point of view, devils and evil things are conducive to great good deeds. They cause some people to rise in perfection and goodness. Thus, their abilities develop.

A wrestler needs action, struggle and an opponent to gain power and skill. He is prepared well so as not to be defeated by his opponent; he looks for ways to prevent him from losing points. Satan is like an opponent that we struggle and fight. Without the soul, the devil and evil things, there will be no struggle; progress will stops, and the degrees of people will remain constant like those of angels. That is one of the wisdom behind the creation of devils and harmful things.

Thus, Satan was created so that we would fight with him and ascend spiritually; he was not created so that we would obey his command and be controlled by him. Therefore, the following is stated in the Quran:

“Follow not the footsteps of the evil one.”3

The enemy exists so that we will fight them not obey them. The following example will clarify the issue too:

Grades are given to assess the achievement of students. Suppose that the highest point is ten and the lowest point is one and the students who get at least 5 points in a test pass and those who get lower points fail. The points from one to four are seemingly against the students. A student may even think, “But for 1, 2, 3 and 4, I would not have failed”. However, the existence of these grades does not aim to make students fail. They exist to make the students work, struggle against laziness and get high points. Thus, those low points are like devils; they cause the students to work and struggle.

On the other hand, if there were no low points, there would not be high points either.In that case, it is not possible to test, to try and hence to ascend. What is the point of a test and trial in which everyone will get good marks and those who are successful and unsuccessful are not discriminated. That is against the secret of testing. All of those points should be taken into consideration related to the creation of devils, evil and harmful things.

1.az-Zumar, 39/7. Due to relevance to the issue,see Taftazani, Sharhul-Aqaid, p. 190, 192, 203, 221, 227, 235.
2.Nursi, B. S. Lem’alar. Envar Neşriyat, Istanbul, 1996, p. 71.
3.al-Baqara, 168, 208; al-An’am, 142; an-Nur, 21.

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