Satan and the Wrong Assumptions of Human Beings
Published in April 23, 2018
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Firstly: Satan entraps most human beings within wrong assumptions:
1- Out of arrogance and haughtiness, Satan (or Iblis) refused to obey God's command to prostrate before Adam; God expelled Iblis out of the Upper Realm; Iblis is no longer an angel; he is now Satan the Devil who is bent to misguide and deceive the children of Adam; this is his evil mission: "He said, "Do You see this one whom You have honored more than me? If You reprieve me until the Day of Resurrection, I will bring his descendants under my sway, except for a few."" (17:62). God has told Satan the following: "He said, "Be gone! Whoever of them follows you-Hell is your reward, an ample reward." "And entice whomever of them you can with your voice, and rally against them your cavalry and your infantry, and share with them in wealth and children, and make promises to them." But Satan promises them nothing but delusion." (17:63-64). The false promises and wishful thinking are offered by Satan to human beings to deceive them and make them adopt wrong assumptions (i.e., devilish revelations and tales) while thinking they are among the guided people.
2- Adam and his wife were deceived by Satan and were expelled from the Barsakh Paradise and its pleasures and descended on the physical earth for their disobedience as they ate from the forbidden tree while assuming that Satan was not telling a lie about their attaining immortality; they saw their naked bodies for the first time: "But Satan whispered to them, to reveal to them their nakedness, which was invisible to them. He said, "Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree, lest you become angels, or become immortals." And he swore to them, "I am a sincere advisor to you." So he lured them with deceit. And when they tasted the tree, their nakedness became evident to them, and they began covering themselves with the leaves of the Garden. And their Lord called out to them, "Did I not forbid you from this tree, and say to you that Satan is a sworn enemy to you?"" (7:20-22).
3- Satan and his devils try to misguide, tempt, lure, deceive, and seduce the children of Adam in the same way: false promises and wishes and fabricated tales.
3/1: The children of Adam inherited the dream of immortality and ownership forever of things from their ancestors: Adam and his wife. Sadly, most people (individuals, tribes, governments, and countries) fight one another for possessions and stretches of lands. All of them forget about the inevitable death and about the fact that they will turn into dust buried inside the earth over which they fight and seek to control its areas; no one owns anything forever; we leave all possessions behind when we die. This lust for possessions and stretches of land on earth is the very first test for humanity: "We made what is upon the earth an ornament for it, to test them as to which of them is best in conduct." (18:7).
3/2: The second test is absolute freedom granted by the Lord God to all people to (dis)obey and to (dis)believe; consequently, they are the ones to choose either to follow the Truth in God's Book or to follow devilish, Satanist revelations ascribed falsely to God's religion; such falsehoods and lies are the bases for earthly religions and their clergymen who represent Satan and his devils on earth.
4- The children of Adam become enemies when they struggle for ownership of the earth and its possessions and bounties while they forget death and the Last Day; this is why they are divided into two groups: followers of the Truth and followers of falsehoods. The winners are those who follow Guidance in God's Book and the losers are those who follow devilish, Satanist revelations and deny God's Word. God warns Adam and his wife when they were made to descend into the earth: "We said, "Go down from it, all of you. Yet whenever guidance comes to you from Me, then whoever follows My guidance - they have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve. But as for those who disbelieve and reject Our Verses - these are the inmates of the Fire - wherein they will remain forever."" (2:38-39).
5- Satan has his allies from among the misguided human beings and he makes them the enemies of prophets/messengers; such human allies of Satan receive devilish, Satanist revelations (tales, narratives, myths, and hadiths) and they propagate them as if they were part of God's religion. God allows such lies and falsehoods to exist as a test – this is part of the freedom of all human beings on which their being judged on the Last Day is based. Followers of clergymen believe ins such devilish, Satanist revelations spread by clergymen and they go on sinning while assuming they will enter into Paradise eventually: "Likewise, We have assigned for every prophet an enemy-human and jinn devils-inspiring one another with fancy words in order to deceive. But had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. So leave them to their fabrications. So that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to it, and be content with it, and that they may perpetrate whatever they perpetrate." (6:112-113).
6- Hence, most human beings in all eras take Satan and his devils as their allies instead of making God their Saintly Ally; God says the following about Iblis and his refusal to prostrate before Adam: "We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam." So they bowed down, except for Satan. He was of the jinn, and he defied the command of his Lord. Will you take him and his offspring as allies instead of Me, when they are an enemy to you? Evil is the exchange for the unjust ones." (18:50).
7- Most human beings in all eras are deceived by Satan and his false promises made within arrogance and delusions: ""And I will mislead them, and I will entice them, and I will prompt them to slit the ears of cattle, and I will prompt them to alter the creation of God." Whoever takes Satan as a lord, instead of God, has surely suffered a profound loss. He promises them, and he raises their expectations, but Satan promises them nothing but delusions." (4:119-120).
8- Satan succeeds in misguiding people by making them forget about the Last Day and the inescapable death and to focus on this transient life and its possessions, lusts, enjoyments, and ornaments as if they were immortal on earth: "Every soul will have a taste of death, and you will receive your recompense on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is swayed from the Fire, and admitted to Paradise, has won. The life of this world is merely enjoyment of delusion." (3:185).
9- Thus, those who deify and focus on this transient life disbelieve in God and deny the Last Day or believe in false last-day events fabricated as per their whims and wishes. God warns all human beings directly against the deceit of Satan within this transient life and He reminds them that no soul will help another one on the Last Day: "O people! Be conscious of your Lord, and dread a Day when no parent can avail his child, nor can a child avail his parent, in anything. The promise of God is true. Therefore, do not let this life deceive you, nor let illusions deceive you regarding God." (31:33).
10- Satan will disown his followers and allies on the Last Day: "And Satan will say, when the issue is settled, "God has promised you the promise of truth, and I promised you, but I failed you. I had no authority over you, except that I called you, and you answered me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves. I cannot come to your aid, nor can you come to my aid. I reject your associating with me in the past. The unjust ones will have a torment most painful."" (14:22). God will say the following to Hell-dwellers: "Did I not covenant with you, O Children of Adam, that you shall not worship the Devil? That he is your sworn enemy? And that you shall worship Me? This is a Straight Path. He has misled a great multitude of you. Did you not understand? This is Hell-fire, which you were promised. Burn in it today, because you persistently disbelieved." (36:60-64); God will say the following to the hypocrites after they enter into Hell: "...you cheated your souls, and waited, and doubted, and became deluded by wishful thinking, until the command of God arrived; and arrogance deceived you regarding God." (57:14).
11- God says the following about disbelievers in general: "...The disbelievers are in nothing but delusion." (67:20).
Secondly: Satan makes his followers assume that they are guided:
1- Satan is the one who causes misguided people to hold such wrong assumptions; they are misguided because they follow the devils and take them as allies/supporters instead of making God as their Only Ally; they assume wrongly that they are guided. People are divided into two groups: the guided ones and the misguided ones: "Some He has guided, and some have deserved misguidance. They have adopted the devils for allies rather than God, and they assume that they are guided." (7:30).
2- Satan and the devils manage to misguide and tempt most human beings by turning them away from the Divine Book; i.e., the Quran. once people are distracted away from God's Guidance/Book, devils control their hearts and minds to make them see the Truth as falsehood and to see falsehoods as the truth, while assuming wrongly that they are guided: " Whoever shuns the remembrance of the Dominant Lord, We assign for him a devil, to be his companion. They hinder them from the Path, though they think they are guided." (43:36-37). Misguided ones cannot see such devils on earth; such devils will be seen on the Last Day after it is too late to regret anything: "Until, when He comes to Us, he will say, "If only there were between me and you the distance of the two Easts." What an evil companion! It will not benefit you on that Day, since you commit injustice. You are partners in the suffering." (43:38-39).
3- God warns all human beings against the deceit of Satan and He says that there is no hope for those whose minds/hearts are totally controlled by Satan to be guided: "Satan is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his allies to be among the Hell-dwellers. Those who disbelieve will suffer a harsh torment, but those who believe and do righteous deeds will have forgiveness and a great reward. What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good? God leads astray whomever is willing to be guided, and He guides whomever wills to be among the misguided ones. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do." (35:6-8).
Thirdly: some of the features of the wrong assumptions of most human beings:
The wrong assumptions of those disbelievers about the Last Day:
Disbelievers forget all about death, though they see people who die and they bury their relatives and loved ones; Satan makes those disbelievers forget about death and the Hereafter; thus, they disbelieve in the Last Day within one of two ways: either to deny that the Last Day will take place or to believe in false last-day events tailored as per their whims and desires so that they go on sinning during their lifetimes while assuming to enter into Paradise; they are convinced by such falsehood because of Satan. This is the verse that shows this wrong stance/attitude: ""And I do not think the Hour is coming. And even if I am returned to my Lord, I will find something better than this in return."" (18:36).
The wrong assumptions of denying the Resurrection:
1- God says the following about those who deny the Resurrection: "Does man think that We will not reassemble his bones? Yes indeed; We are Able to reconstruct his fingertips." (75:3-4); "Does man think that he will be left without purpose? Was he not a drop of ejaculated semen? Then he became a clot. And He created and proportioned? And made of him the two sexes, the male and the female? Is He not Able to revive the dead?" (75:36-40). These verses contain miraculous scientific facts (mentioned in the Quran that was revealed more than 1400 years ago) which entail deep pondering by specialized scientists.
2- This dialogue with them will be made after they enter into Hell: "He will say, "How many years did you remain on earth?" They will say, "We remained a day, or part of a day; but ask those who keep count." He will say, "You remained only for a little while, if you only knew." (23:112-114); all real, monotheistic believers must take heed of this pivotal question and to remember it all the time: "Did you think that We created you in vain, and that to Us you will not be returned?"" (23:115).
The wrong assumptions of fabricating false last-day events:
The devilish, Satanist revelations/narratives/hadiths drive them to fabricate a false last day; they are deceived by Satan's promises and tales of their entering into Paradise within intercession (i.e., human intercessors/mediators among prophets and non-prophets; as if God would change His decrees) after leading a sinful life. Such assumption is very insulting to God; they will be surprised by what they will find on the Last Day when the Dominant Lord will make enter into Hell, unlike their wrong anticipation of intercessors who will 'save' sinners from Hell: "If those who did wrong owned everything on earth, and the like of it with it, they would redeem themselves with it from the terrible suffering on the Day of Resurrection. But there will appear to them from God what they never anticipated." (39:47). For more details about the myth of intercessors, we refer readers to our book in English titled "Intercession between Islam and the Muhammadans", found on this link: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=119).
The wrong assumptions of those who are seduced by this transient life:
1- Within their struggles and conflicts over the possessions of this transient world, such sinful disbelievers who are seduced and tempted by life's ornaments assume wrongly that they are excellent winners and no harm would ever occur to them at all; they assume as if they were invincible and they do not realize that their fate is Hell: "Let not the disbelievers assume that they are ahead. They will not escape." (8:59); "Never think that those who disbelieve can escape on earth. Their place is the Fire; a miserable destination." (24:57).
2- Those deluded and seduced ones who cling to the transient world's possessions and deny the Hereafter cannot realize the fact that they are born to be tested in life with adversity/prosperity to see if they will be believers or not; their bounties drive them to commit more sins and to forget about death; after their very short existence on earth, without faith and repentance, they will die and dwell for eternity Hell: "Those who disbelieve should not assume that We respite them for their own good. In fact, We only respite them so that they may increase in sinfulness. A humiliating torment awaits them." (3:178); "Do they assume that, in furnishing them with wealth and children. We race to give them the good things? In fact, they have no idea." (23:55-56).
3- Among them are those who hoard and amass immense wealth while assuming wrongly that they would be immortal in this transient life; they as if they would never die! God promises such sinful disbelievers of eternity in Hell in case the never repent before they die: "Woe to every slanderer backbiter. Who gathers wealth and counts it over. Thinking that his wealth has made him immortal. By no means. He will be thrown into the Crusher. And what will make you realize what the Crusher is? God's kindled Fire. That laps to the hearts. It closes in on them. In extended columns." (104:1-9).
4- Among them are those who are stingy and never spend for charity for God's sake, while assuming wrongly that they are benefiting themselves; they rarely think of their fate in Hell when such hoarded money will turn into a tool of torment for them: "Those who withhold what God has given them of his bounty should not assume that is good for them. In fact, it is bad for them. They will be encircled by their hoardings on the Day of Resurrection. To God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, and God is well acquainted with what you do." (3:180).
The wrong assumptions of disobedient sinners:
1- Most sinners commit their sins while assuming wrongly that God is not seeing them: "Does he not know that God sees?" (96:14). Even some of the sinful companions/contemporaries of Muhammad framed an innocent person to hide their crime, as they feared people and sought to hide from them and never feared God though no one can hide from Him: "They hide from the people, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them, as they plot by night with words He does not approve. God comprehends what they do." (4:108).
2- Those disobedient sinners insult the Lord God by denying His Omniscience; they forget that angels record all their deeds and words. Their wrong assumption is refuted here: "Or do they think that We cannot hear their secrets and their conspiracies? Yes indeed, Our messengers are by them, writing down." (43:80).
3- Satan's deceit increases in the case of disobedient ones who assume they were among the pious believers; their wrong assumption does not allow them to repent, correct their faith, and change their stance. God says in the Quran: "Do those who perpetrate the evil deeds assume that We will regard them as equal to those who believe and do righteous deeds, whether in their life or their death? Evil is their judgment!" (45:21).
The wrong assumptions of those who think that it is easy to enter into Paradise:
Some companions/contemporaries of Muhammad fell into this trap of this a fatal error; they thought that monotheistic faith alone (i.e., without performing many good deeds, striving for God's sake, and passing many tests successfully within patience) would be enough to earn Paradise: "Or do you expect to enter Paradise before the example of those who came before you had reached you? Adversity and hardship had afflicted them, and they were so shaken up, that the Messenger and those who believed with him said, "When is God's victory?" Indeed, God's victory is near." (2:214); "Or do you expect to enter Paradise, before God has distinguished those among you who strive, and before He has distinguished the steadfast?" (3:142).
The wrong assumptions of those who think that they are immune from adversities, ordeals, and tests:
1- It is very wrong to assume that God loves those who enjoy prosperity and humiliates those afflicted with adversity: "As for man, whenever his Lord tests him, and honors him, and prospers him, he says, "My Lord has honored me." But whenever He tests him, and restricts his livelihood for him, he says, "My Lord has humiliated me."" (89:15-16). Another grave error is to assume that by worshiping God, one may be spared from being tested with adversity; those who hold such assumption are disbelievers and losers: "And among the people is he who worships God on edge. When something good comes his way, he is content with it. But when an ordeal strikes him, he makes a turnaround. He loses this world and the next. That is the obvious loss." (22:11).
2- Their assumptions are wrong because during one's lifetime, one and one's faith/belief must be tested (by God) within the fates of adversity/prosperity ordeals, calamities, and so on. God addresses the following directly to all humanity: "We have tested those before them. God will surely know the truthful, and He will surely know the liars." (29:2).
3- Some companions/contemporaries of Muhammad fell into this trap of wrong assumptions: "Or do you think that you will be left alone, without God identifying which of you will strive, and take no supporters apart from God, His Messenger, and the believers? God is well Aware of what you do." (9:16).
Lastly: the wrong assumptions of those 'religious' Muhammadans who think that they are doing very good deeds in their lives:
1- Arabs during Muhammad's lifetime worshiped allies/saints who are dead human beings who served God; they sanctified and deified their tombs/mausoleums and worshiped at them (i.e., offering prayers to them and slaughtered sacrificial animals); such polytheists assumed wrongly that they were doing very good deeds in their lives. God describes them as disbelievers and polytheists: "Do those who disbelieve think that they can take My servants for allies instead of Me? We have prepared Hell as the dwelling for the disbelievers." (18:102); God has commanded Muhammad to announce the following about them: "Say, "Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in their works?" "Those whose efforts in this world are misguided, while they assume that they are doing well."" (18:103-105). This is a general rule that applies to many generations of polytheists in all eras until the end of days.
2- The Quranic verses 18:103-105 apply for sure to the Shiite, Sufi, and Sunnite Muhammadans.
3- How many 'holy' mausoleums are worshiped by the Muhammadans? How many saints/allies, dead or alive, worshiped by the Muhammadans? How many Muhammadans perform pilgrimage to worship at such abominations?