Page 110 - Communication and Argument in the Qur'an

108 COMMUNICATION AND ARGUMENT IN THE QUR’AN

But they wanted to know why Adam (as) had been creat-
ed, and so Allah explained it to them. After that, all of the
angels sought Allah’s mercy, repented, and obeyed Allah’s
command - all except for satan, who resisted and started
an argument with Allah (Allah is surely beyond that). At the
conclusion of the above verses, Allah says:
We said to the angels: “Prostrate to Adam!” and they
prostrated, with the exception of Diabolis. He refused.
He was arrogant and was one of the unbelievers.
(Surat al-Baqara: 34)
Although Allah explained to him why He created Adam
(as), satan refused to prostrate before Adam. Elsewhere in
the Qur’an, satan’s “way of thinking” after his disobedi-
ence is described:
We created you, formed you, and then said to the
angels: “Prostrate before Adam.” And they prostrated,
except for Diabolis. He was not among those who
prostrated. He (Allah) said: “What prevented you from
prostrating when I commanded you to?” He (Diabolis)
replied: “I am better than him. You created me from
fire, and You created him from clay.” (Surat al-A‘raf:
11-12)
We can see that satan’s presumption to argue with
Allah made him arrogant. He thought he was superior to
Adam (as) and that it would be humiliating for him to pros-
trate before him. His pride could not let him do it, and he
argued with Allah. So, his arrogance was the point from
which the first-ever argument began.
This shows the difference between satan and the other