Does Satan fear Allah?

[Hassan A]

Salam brother Joseph and all other members on this forum. I hope you all are doing well and I hope Allah has been good to you all. I have a question which I would like brother Joseph Islam (and all the other members on this forum) opinion.

In one of your articles in which you addressed the term Kafir / Kufr you made the following statement:

'Kufr' (disbelief) has little to do with disbelief in God. Even Satan was termed a 'disbeliever' (wakana mina'l KAFIREEN 2:34) yet he clearly believed in and feared God.:

"Indeed I am clear of you, indeed I see what you do not see, INDEED I FEAR GOD; and God is severe in requiting (evil)" [Quran 8:48]
 
"Like the example of Satan when he says to man: "Disbelieve", but when he disbelieves, he [Satan] says: "Indeed, I am clear of you. INDEED I FEAR GOD, the Lord of the worlds" [Quran 59:16][1]

This, therefore, lead me to asking the following question:

If Satan fears Allah (as shown in the aforementioned verses) then why do you believe he disobeyed Allah when he was instructed to bow down to Adam? Why does he "persist" in his evil ways and is "hell-bent" on mislead men? Surely if he fears Allah and is cognizant of the fact that Allah is sever in punishment then one would expect that he would cease his ways, correct? So why hasn't he?

Thanks in advance to all for there humble answers.

[1] http://quransmessage.com/articles/understanding%20kufr%20FM3.htm

[munir rana]

Salam

Brother Hassan A

I thought it was arrogance/proud which blinded/clouded his mind, so that satan failed to obey the instruction. (7:12, 2:34). Sometimes knowing the result of crime and 99 percent possibilty of being caught red handed we do wrong. Our anger/greed/lust etc overpower our mind.

But I think you want to know something else/more.

Waiting for response from Brother Joseph's reply also.

7:12 He said: "I am better than he: You did create me from fire, and him from clay. (God) said: "Get thee down from this: it is not for thee to be arrogant here: get out, for you are of the meanest (of creatures). (part)
2:34  Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject faith


Regards.

[Joseph Islam]

If Satan fears Allah (as shown in the aforementioned verses) then why do you believe he disobeyed Allah when he was instructed to bow down to Adam? Why does he "persist" in his evil ways and is "hell-bent" on mislead men? Surely if he fears Allah and is cognizant of the fact that Allah is sever in punishment then one would expect that he would cease his ways, correct? So why hasn't he?

[1] http://quransmessage.com/articles/understanding%20kufr%20FM3.htm

Wa alaikum assalam brother Hassan A

In the article that you have cited, I shared what led Satan to disobey God. His pride (2:34). His state of 'kufr' was entered into when he disobeyed God once the truth had been clearly manifested to him. His punishment was sealed at this stage.

Arguably, there would be no further punishment for the specific reason for leading mankind astray. This is because Satan asked for leave from God to mislead men. [1] God could have denied the request, but He didn't. He allowed it in His wisdom. In other words, God allowed Satan to lead humans astray as part of a wider plan / test and in His infinite wisdom.

015:036
"(Iblis) said: "O my Lord! give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are raised."

015.037-38
"(God) said: "Respite is granted you. Till the Day of the Time appointed."
 
007:015
"(God) said: "Be thou among those who have respite."

However, God allowed for guidance to continue. Those that followed the guidance and remained God-fearing would remain protected (2:38). Those that rejected it, would fall astray and subject to dire punishment (2:39). Good / Truth vs Evil / Falsehood. Again, even before Satan disobeyed His command, God knew that he would fall from grace. Maybe this was also part of the wider plan [2]. God knows best.

I hope this helps, God willing
Joseph


RELATED ARTICLE:

[1] SATAN'S GUILE - DARK FORCES OF EVIL
http://quransmessage.com/articles/satans%20guile%20FM3.htm
[2] WE WILL BE TESTED
http://quransmessage.com/articles/tests%20FM3.htm

[Nura]

Salam everyone

I believe the ability to obey or disobey God comes with free will. Those created and endowed with free will ( humans, jinns etc) technically always had the option/ability to disobey God. Knowing this God created creations with free will.

We do not know whether this was the first time Iblis chose to disobey God. But maybe it was the one time Iblis chose to disobey God concerning us, humans and since this is about us we are informed about it. Maybe Iblis and other creatures or other jinns did disobey God even before this incident. We don't know. Also, at the end of the day we will be punished for disobeying God, we won't be forgiven just because satan vowed to mislead us. We will be punished for using our free will to disobey. This I believe proves that it all comes down to free will and how we excersise it. Our free will and ability to obey or disobey is the test designed for us. Satan is a powerful enemy but we can defeat him if we excersise our free will and just obey God. Iblis will not be able to mislead true believers.

The  incident mentioned in Quran there Iblis refused to follow orders because of his pride and his unfounded assertion that he was better than humans. He was asked to give justification for his actions and a chance to repent but He refused. Not only that He vowed to mislead us. All this has a purpose but we don't know what!

I believe he disobeyed because he had the ability to disobey and his justification for doing so was his pride. He keeps on doing it also because he wants to prove that he was right about us, that we are a bunch of ungrateful and transgressing creatures. This he does out of pride and his need to be correct and prove his point to God. He is able to do all this because he is granted respite. Why is he granted respite? The exact reason is only known to God. But this can in the end help us find out who among us , creatures with free will, is the most noble and nearest to God.

God loves those who repent, Iblis did not repent, as far as we know, far from repenting, he is hellbent on proving his point out of sheer arrogance. This is why he does what he does. Moreover, his fate as the one fallen from grace has been sealed, he has nothing to lose but a lot of things to prove ( atleast according to him). A normal humble creature with free will would have repented and asked for forgiveness but satan is haughty and arrogant. Plus, there is a window of opportunity or a specific amount of time till which u can repent. Even for humans, we can ask for forgivenss till a specific time, before our death and before our hearts are sealed and our fates are sealed. Maybe satan has run out of his God decided amount of time allotted to him to repent. Maybe Iblis' heart has been sealed and his fate has been decided. Just the way some of our hearts are sealed and we are not guided.  These decisions are taken by God out of His infinite wisdom. He knows our souls better than us. So Iblis will keep on misleading till the day He meets his punishment like the rest of us. The day all creatures with free-will will get to know his/ her position in God's heart and His kingdom.

[Hassan A]

Salaam all,

Apologies for the late response, and much thanks to brother Joseph Islam and sisters Nura and Munir Rana for their great input on this topic.

God bless you all and may He continue to increase you all in knowledge (and wisdom) of his scripture(s).
Peace.