Page 36 - The Courage of the Faithful

THE COURAGE OF THE FA I T H F U L

The fact that he knew he had committed a great wrong, he was
a w a re that he would be sentenced to Hell for having been bold
enough to show such insolence. This demonstrates the depths of
Satan's depravity. There f o re, Satan tries to bring people under his
influence, to debase them to the same level of depravity and false
courage. Allah warns people about falling under Satan's influence in

a number of verses:
You who believe! Do not follow in the footsteps of Satan.
Anyone who follows in Satan's footsteps should know
that he commands indecency and wrongdoing. Were it not
for Allah's favor to you and His mercy, not one of you
would ever have been purified. But Allah purifies who-
ever He wills. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat

a n - N u r, 21)
O humanity! Eat what is good and lawful on the Earth. And
do not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He truly is an out -
right enemy to you.
He only commands you to do evil and indecent acts and to
say about Allah what you do not know. (Surat al-Baqara,
168-169)
One of the primary causes of Satan's depravity is his conceit.
Satan tries to make people conceited too, to pervert them so that

they can be like him. Basically, false courage is the result of a per-
son's having fallen victim to pride.
This conceit may take many different forms. Like Satan, among
those who follow him, there are those who are aware of the exis-
tence of Allah, but do not abide by religious morality. Others may
reject the existence of Allah, in spite of the myriad of evidence

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