ON SATAN AND HIS PUNISHMENT

Allâh says: “If you turn away”, in other words, if you turn away from the obedience of Allâh and His Messenger , “then surely Allâh does not like the unbelievers.” In other words, He does not forgive them and does not accept their repentance as He did not accept the repentance of Satan because of his unbelief and his haughtiness. But He turned in repentance to Âdam and accepted his repentance because he confessed to committing the sin, expressed remorse over its commitment, and reproached himself. All this despite the fact that what he did was not really a sin because the Prophets are protected from sin, according to the correct opinion, they do not commit acts of disobedience ever – not before prophet-hood nor after it. Rather it looks and appears like a sin. It is for this reason that he and his wife, Hawwâ , said: “O our Sustainer! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall certainly be among the losers.”[43] He thus expressed remorse, hastened towards repentance and was not despondent of the mercy of Allâh . Allâh says: “Do not despair of the mercy of Allâh.” [44]

As for Satan, he did not confess to his sins, he did not express any remorse over them, he did not reproach himself and he did not hasten towards repentance. Instead, he felt satisfied with the mercy of Allâh and was haughty. So the person who is like Satan will not have his repentance accepted. As for he who is like Âdam , Allâh will accept his repentance. This is because when the origin of disobedience is desire, its forgiveness can be hoped for. But when the origin of disobedience is haughtiness, its forgiveness cannot be hoped for. The origin of Âdam’s disobedience was desire while that of Satan was haughtiness.

It is related that Satan came to Mûsâ and said to him: “You are the one whom Allâh chose for His message and spoke to you?” Mûsâ replied: “Yes. So what do you want and who are you?” Satan replied: “O Mûsâ! Say to your Sustainer that one of His creation has asked Him for repentance.” So Allâh inspired to Mûsâ saying to him: “Say to him that I have accepted what he has asked. But order him, O Mûsâ, to prostrate to the grave of Âdam. If he prostrates to his grave, I will accept his repentance and forgive him his sins.” Mûsâ informed Satan thereof but he became angry, displayed his haughtiness and said: “O Mûsâ! I did not prostrate before him in Paradise, how can I prostrate before him when he is dead?”

It is related that the punishment will be made very severe on Satan when he is in the Hell-fire. He will be asked: “How did you find the punishment of Allâh?” He will reply: “The severest that it can ever be.” It will be said to him: “Âdam is in the gardens of Paradise. Prostrate before him and seek forgiveness so that you may be forgiven.” But he will refuse to do so. The punishment will be increased upon him 70 000 times more than what all the other inmates of the Hell-fire are experiencing. It is stated in a Tradition that Allâh will remove Satan from the Hell-fire every 100 000 years. He will bring Âdam before him and order Satan to prostrate before him. He will refuse and will be returned to the Hell-fire.

My beloved brothers, if you want to save yourself from Satan then hold on fast to the Master [Allâh ] and seek refuge in Him. On the day of resurrection, a chair of fire will be placed and Satan, may he be cursed, will sit on it. All the other devils and unbelievers will gather around him. He will speak like the braying of a donkey and say to them: “O people of the fire! How did you find what your Sustainer had promised you.” They will reply: “We found it to be true.” He will then say: “Today is a day in which I am despondent of mercy.” Allâh will then order the angles to strike him and his followers with hammers of fire. They would then fall into Hell for forty years and will never hear the order to come out of it forever. We seek refuge in Allâh from it. It is mentioned that Satan will be brought forward on the day of resurrection and he will be ordered to sit on a chair of fire with a necklace of curse around his neck. Allâh will order the zabâniyah (angels appointed to fling the damned into Hell) to drag him out from that chair and to fling him into Hell-fire. They will go and grab him in order to fling him but they will not be able to do so. Allâh will then order Jibra’îl together with 80 000 angels to do that but they will not be able to do so. Allâh will then order Isrâfîl and then ‘Izrâ’îl - each of them with 80 000 angels but they will not be able to do so. Allâh will then say to all of them: “Even if several times the angels which I have created got together in order to fling him into Hell, they will not be able to do so as long as the necklace of curse is around his neck.”

It is related that Satan’s name in the lowest heaven was al-‘Âbid – the one who worships [Allâh ]. In the second heaven his name was az-Zâhid – the one who is an ascetic. In the third heaven his name was al-‘Ârif – the one who has recognized [Allâh ]. In the fourth heaven his name was al-Walîyy – the one who is a friend [of Allâh ]. In the fifth heaven his name was at-Taqîyy – the one who fears [Allâh ]. In the sixth heaven his name was al-Khâzin – the one who is a treasurer. In the seventh heaven his name was‘Azâzîl. In the al-Lauh al-Mahfûz (the Preserved Tablet) his name was Iblîs. All along, he was unmindful of his final destiny. Allâh ordered him to prostrate before Âdam . He replied: “Are You giving him superiority over me whereas I am better than him? You created me from fire while You created him from soil.” Allâh replied: “I do whatever I will.” Satan considered himself to be superior and therefore turned his back to Âdam out of pride and haughtiness. He remained standing stubbornly while the angels prostrated. When they raised their heads and saw that he did not prostrate while they were in prostration, they fell into prostration a second time in order to express their gratitude to Allâh . Satan remained disinterested in them, not intending to follow them nor remorseful over his refusal. And so, Allâh distorted his beautiful appearance to that like a pig. His head was like that of a camel, his chest like the hump of a camel, his face was between these two like that of a monkey, his eyes were split vertically along the length of his face, his nostrils were open like the cup of a cupper, his lips were like that of an ox, his teeth were sticking out like those of a pig, his beard had seven strands of hair. Allâh then expelled him from Paradise, in fact from the skies, in fact from the earth to the islands. He therefore only enters earth very stealthily. Allâh cursed him till the day of recompense because he became of the unbelievers. Now look at him: he had a beautiful appearance, four wings, abundant knowledge, engaged in abundant worship [of Allâh ], the peacock of the angels and the greatest one among them, the leader of the archangels, and various other accolades. But none of these availed him in any way whatsoever. In this is an admonition and a reminder.

It is stated in a Tradition that when Satan became deluded, Jibra’îl and Mîkâ’îl began crying. Allâh asked them: “Why are you crying?” They replied: “O our Sustainer! We do not feel safe from Your delusion.” Allâh replied: “This is how you should always be. Do not feel safe from My delusion.”

It is related that Satan said: “O my Sustainer! You expelled me from Paradise because of Âdam. I cannot overpower him unless You give me power over him.” Allâh said: “I give you power over him, i.e. over his progeny because the Prophets are protected [by Allâh ].” Satan said: “Give me more power.” Allâh said: “Every time a child is born from Âdam’s progeny, two from your progeny will be born.” Satan said: “Give me more power.” Allâh said: “Their chests will be your abodes. You can flow through them as blood flows through the body.” Satan said: “Give me more power.” Allâh said: “You may take help against them from your aides who are either riders or walkers. You may cause them to earn and spend their wealth in unlawful ways. You may induce them to get children through unlawful means, e.g. intercourse during menstrual periods. You may urge them towards polytheism by naming their children with names like ‘Abd al-‘Uzzâ [name of an idol], you can lead them astray by causing them to follow deviant religions, undertaking despicable occupations, doing reprehensible deeds, by making false promises to them such as having hopes in the intercession of gods and relying on the honour and nobility of forefathers, and by delaying repentance through long hopes.” All this was said to him like a threat, e.g. when you say to a person: “Do whatever you like [I am not bothered, for you will see the consequences thereof].

On hearing the above conversation, Âdam said: “O my Sustainer! You have given him such power over me that I cannot repulse him except through Your help.” Allâh said: “If any child is born from your progeny, I will appoint angels to safeguard him.” Âdam said: “Give me more.” Allâh said: “The reward of good deeds will be multiplied ten-fold.” Âdam said: “Give me more.” Allâh said: “I will not remove from your progeny the ability to repent as long as their souls remain in their bodies.” Âdam said: “Give me more.” Allâh said: “I will forgive them openly.” Âdam said: “You have given me enough.”

Satan said: “O my Sustainer! You appointed Messengers among the progeny of Âdam and revealed Books to them. So who are my messengers?” Allâh said: “The fortune tellers.” Satan said: “And what are my books?” Allâh said: “Tattoos.” Satan said: “What is my Hadîth?” Allâh said: “Lies.” Satan said: “What is my Qur’ân?” Allâh said: “Poetry.” Satan said: “Who is mymu’adhdhin (one who calls towards prayer)?” Allâh said: “Flutes (musical instruments).” Satan said: “What is my musjid?” Allâh said: “The market places.” Satan said: “What is my house?” Allâh said: “The toilet.” Satan said: “What is my food?” Allâh said: “The food on which My name is not taken.” Satan said: “What is my drink?” Allâh said: “Intoxicating drinks.” Satan said: “What are my snares [and traps]?” Allâh said: “Women.”