The first question which is often asked is seeking forgiveness or what we refer to as Taubah.
Concerning sin, the main thing that Allah wants to see is that you recognise that what you did was wrong. That is very important. Yes we are weak, sometimes we do slip and give into temptation, but in Islam, Taubah means that you repent to Allah for your sin, with the intention that you are sorry and you will not commit it again. If that is your intention, and Allah knows what is in your heart, then Insha’Allah He will forgive you. But if it is just lip-service and you have no intention of stopping, then Allah will know this and why should He accept something which is not heart-felt?
Sometimes our intention is not to do the thing again, but sadly due to are weakness, we slip again. Allah understands that we are weak, the main thing is to keep trying until you overcome the weakness. It is like a baby trying to walk, they fall down, but pick themselves up and try again until they can master it. So this is the beauty of Allah, that He is All-forgiving, Merciful and will overlook are weaknesses, providing we are trying to improve ourselves.
This leads to another question often asked ‘why is there evil?’
The battle between good and evil is best explained in the Holy Books with the story of Adam. On face value, the Holy Books depict Adam as being the first man. In a way, that was true, as literally the word Adam in Arabic means human skin. Therefore, we could look at it that the first man that had human skin was called Adam and until language developed all mankind would have been called Adam. But the Adam that is mentioned in the Holy Books was the Prophet Adam. When mankind started to live in communities, there became the need to know what their purpose of being created was, therefore, Allah raised Adam to be His first Prophet. A closer look at the story of Adam would show that there were many people around at that time. In the Holy Qur’an it relates in Chapter 2 verse 37:
“But Satan caused them both to slip by means of it and drove them out of the state in which they were, and We said, ‘Go forth; some of you are enemies of others and for you there is an abode in the earth and a provision, for a time.’ ”
Who were these enemies of others? Likewise we read in the Holy Bible Genesis 4, verses 16-17:
“And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod east of Eden.. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”
Where did Cain’s wife come from? Who filled the city of Enoch?
So, reading between the lines, we come to the conclusion that there were many people around and Adam was their Prophet. Now according to the Holy Qur’an Iblis refused to submit to Adam (2:35). The Biblical teachings was that Iblis was a fallen angel. Many Muslims also believe this concept that he was a fallen angel. But Iblis could not have been an angel, as Allah has informed us in the Holy Qur’an (66:7) concerning angels that “They disobey not Allah in what He commands them, and do what they are commanded”.
Therefore unlike mankind, angels do not have a free will, they have to obey the commands of Allah. Hence, Iblis could not have been an angel as he refused to submit to Adam! Iblis was a creation of Allah which like man could obey or disobey Allah. According to the Holy Qur’an (7:13-19) “Iblis felt that he was better than man, as he was created from fire whilst man was created from clay.”
The verses continue to relate that Iblis was told to leave for his arrogance and Iblis replied ‘Respite me till the day when they will be raised up…I will assuredly lie in wait for them and Thy straight path, then will I surely come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and from their left, and Thou wilt not find most of them to be grateful.’
God replied, “Get out hence, despised and banished. Whosoever of them shall follow thee, I will surely fill Hell with you all!’
But elsewhere God says (15:43) ‘Surely, thou shall have no power over my servants except such of the erring ones as choose to follow thee.’
This shows that Iblis can only try to influence us, but cannot control us, unless we choose to allow his evil influence to take hold of us.
According to the Islamic teachings, the word ‘Satan’ has a very wide significance and is used about any evil or harmful being or thing, whether a spirit or a human being or an animal or a disease or any other thing. Thus Iblis is a ‘satan’; his comrades and associates are ‘satans’; mischievous men are ‘satans’; injurious animals are ‘satans’ and harmful diseases are ‘satans’.
The Satan that is referred to above (2:37) that caused Adam to slip was not Iblis, as the two names are always given separately whenever the story of Adam is related.
Satan would be referring to an opponent of the Prophet Adam who was one of Adam’s own people, but who beguiled Adam and caused him to be turned out of the garden. The Bible depicts this Satan to be a snake, but certainly, the person was following evil influences.
On this subject another question would then come ‘Did Adam commit a sin?’
First of all we understand that when Adam ate the apple, at that time ‘he forgot’ that he was not meant to eat the apple. In Islam, we believe that we are judged by our intentions not our actions. So in this case, Allah informs us that Adam did not deliberately go against Allah, but he forgot. We are all weak and sometimes we forget, so we understand that Adam did not commit a sin in Allah’s eyes, but of course he did make a mistake with his action of eating the apple.
Now the main lesson we learn from this is that Satan is an open enemy and we should always be on our guard. In fact, whenever a Prophet comes, he has an opponent – his Satan – so the people are given the choice of good and evil. Which one should they follow, the prophet or his opponents?
The real question here is why is this story about Adam mentioned in the Holy Qur’an? Allah didn’t have to mention it, so why did He? Why show that His first Prophet slipped and made this mistake, therefore allowing his Satan to overcome him?
We have to understand that Allah uses the Holy Qur’an to teach us what is right and wrong. We need to know about good and evil and the dangers of allowing evil to overcome us, hence Allah uses this story to help explain the dangers of evil to us.
Again the question comes - Did God create anything evil from the Beginning and if so, can it affect us?
In Sura Falaq (Ch. 113) it states “From the evil of that which He has created” So it seems that God has created evil? But this is not the case. What is evil? The best description I have heard is “evil is the absence of Good, just as darkness is the absence of light”.
Now if we think about it, darkness can only come about when there is no light! Darkness in itself has no power, it cannot generate darkness. It only comes when there is no light, like your shadow. Likewise, and this is important to understand, evil has no power in itself. It cannot possess you or make you do anything against your wishes. Evil only comes about with the absence of Good.
So when Allah states that “He Created Evil” What it means is that Allah created everything good, but when that thing is misused, then it can become bad. As Allah has created everything, so as it is being used for bad, then Allah still alludes it to Himself, as He is the Created. For instance, the Holy Qur’an has been created for good, but if I took the Holy Qur’an and hit someone over the head with it, I have used it for bad, or if I misquote or misconstrue its teachings to justify me doing bad, then as Allah created it, despite it being misused, He will still credit Himself as the Creator.
Allah has given us free will and told us that it is our choice whether to follow the ‘right path’ or not. But we will be judged on what we do in this life. If evil can possess us, then it means that Iblis or a Jinn can make us do something bad – commit a sin. If that was the case, then how can Allah judge us? We have the perfect excuse – it wasn’t me, I was possessed by evil. So this is not the case. Evil cannot possess us - unless we allow it.
Now let us turn to the story of Iblis, first we have to understand why is the story of Iblis in the Holy Qur’an? Why has Allah informed us of a being who openly defies Him? Who apparently openly challenges Allah that he (Iblis) will take men away from the right path? We have to understand that these are stories which Allah is using to give us a lesson, to teach us. What is Allah teaching us with the story of Adam and Iblis? Allah is warning us that what will be the consequence of disobeying Him. And so to help us picture this in our minds, Allah has personified evil in the shape of Iblis or Satan or the Devil etc. Allah is warning us that we have to be constantly on our guard, otherwise we can easily slip from the right path.
Now if we go back to the verse earlier quoted and try to understand this passage, then we can see the real power of Iblis.
“He said (Iblis), ‘now, since Thou hast adjudged me to be erring, I will assuredly lie in wait for them on Thy straight path; then will I surely come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and from their left, and Thou wilt no find most of them to be grateful” God Said “Get out hence, despised and banished. ‘Whosoever of them shall follow thee, I will surely fill Hell with you all”. (Ch.7 verses 18-19)
From these verses we see that the power of Iblis is ‘suggestion’ He will try to lead people away from the right path, but only those who listen to his suggestions will respond. So it is not a question of becoming possessed as we see on TV etc. this is nonsense, but it is the power of suggestion. Nowadays, the biggest Satan is TV. Think about the messages that it is giving out, constantly suggesting to us to improve ourselves, our body and looks, our position and status. It never tells us to run after God, it only tells us to run after the pleasures of the world – a wonderful tool for Satan. But it is up to you whether you listen or not, whether you respond on not. This is why the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) said that ‘his Satan is chained’ that he does not listen to these sort of suggestions, therefore he is in control of himself and not allowing these suggestions to prompt him. This is in fact the biggest Jihad - utmost effort that we face, the battle to overcome these evil suggestions. This is why we are taught to ‘cut at the root’ of a thing before it takes hold of you. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) has said that “if anything pricks your conscience then leave it” that Allah is warning you something is wrong, so step back and investigate and see if it is right or not for you, before you plunge in and it is too late.