Araf 13-18

Araf 13-18

13- HE (ALLAH) SAID: “GET DOWN FROM THERE, YOU ARE NOT TO BE ARROGANT THEREIN, GET OUT, YOU WILL BE AMONG THE HUMILIATED”.

14- HE (IBLIS) SAID: “LET ME BE REPRIEVED UNTIL THE DAY THEY ARE TO BE RESURRECTED”.

15- HE (ALLAH) SAID: “YOU ARE AMONG THE REPRIEVED”.

16- HE (IBLIS) SAID: “BECAUSE YOU TEMPTED ME, I WILL SIT DOWN FOR THEM ON YOUR STRAIGHT PATH”

17- “THEN I WILL GET AT THEM FROM BEFORE THEM, FROM BEHIND THEM, FROM THEIR RIGHT AND FROM THEIR LEFT, AND YOU WILL NOT FIND MOST OF THEM TO BE THANKFUL”.

18- HE (ALLAH) SAID: “GET OUT OF IT, DESPISED AND REJECTED, AS FOR THOSE OF THEM WHO FOLLOW YOU, I WILL FILL THE HILL-FIRE UP WITH ALL OF YOU”.

Sins are not the same in all situations and time, just as a good deed is not the same at all times and situations.  Arrogance is a very serious sin, and to be arrogant at times and places where we should be humble is even worse, and the worst is to be arrogant before Allah the Highest, which is what Iblis did.

Allah’s messenger prayer and peace upon him said: “Does not enter the Paradise, he who has as much as a grain of mustard of arrogance in his heart”.

Arrogance is not liking to dress nicely, or live comfortably, but arrogance is to feel better than others for whatever reason, such as wealth, health, authority, etc.

Iblis believed that he was better than Adam because he was made of fire while Adam was made of clay.  Iblis presumed that fire was superior to clay; therefore he was superior to Adam which was his great sin.  We see this arrogance in our lives in very similar forms at the present.  The fair skinned feels superior to the dark skinned, the citizens of one country feel superior to the citizens of another, the wealthy feel superior to the poor and the healthy superior to the sick, etc, although only piety marks the difference between one person and another in Allah’s estimate and our piety is only known to Allah the Highest.

Allah the Highest is very Merciful and very Forgiving.  Iblis asked not to be punished immediately, but to be reprieved, and Allah the Highest granted him a long reprieve, until the day of the human beings resurrection, which he was granted. Instead of repenting and asking for forgiveness, he vowed to sin even more.  Iblis vowed to lead Adam and Eve and their descendants astray every time they try to follow Allah’s Straight Path and to do that in every possible way.  In doing that he”

1. Went into direct confrontation with Allah the Highest, his Creator.
2. He vowed to get himself and his descendants into more sin, by gaining as much sin as those who follow him, as Allah’s messenger, prayer and peace upon him, told us.
3. Iblis vowed that most of us humans will not be thankful.  For man to be thankful, man has to acknowledge the bounty Allah the Highest has given him/her, not to use it in sinning, and in giving the poor their dues in Zakah, as well as to have a thankful heart.

Allah’s messenger, prayer and peace upon him, was often heard, by day and by night to say this Dawa:  ”Allah, I beg you to guard me from the front and from behind, from my right and from my left, from above and from underneath”.  (A: 2; 25 & D: Adab & Ma: Doaa & N: Estiaza)

Allah the Highest promised that the Hell-Fire will be the destiny of Iblis and those who follow him.  This promise stands now as it did the day it was made.

The Hell-Fire is the place of punishment for both mankind and jinn, which proves that they are not superior to mankind.  They are told the right from the wrong, they have freedom to choose the right or the wrong, and they are punished when they do not believe and when they err.

It is also interesting that the jinn, who are made of fire are punished by the fire.  Their nature being made from fire does not give them superiority over mankind or protection from Allah’s punishment.