Why was Satan Created?

Why was Satan Created?

Dear Brother / Sister,

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.

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