Page 18 - Satan: The Sworn Enemy of Mankind

SATAN: THE SWORN ENEMY OF MANKIND

created being would rebel against the command of its Creator, by
claiming the substance from which it was created to be superior to
another, though also created by the same Creator. However, the ex-
treme envy Iblis felt towards man, as well as the false sense of his
own superiority, prevented him from perceiving that fact, causing
him to rebel against Allah's command, for having insisted on a mere
physical difference. Iblis' errant notions can be further discerned
from other portions of the Qur'an, where he is referred to as regard-
ing himself special and superior:
He said, "I will not bow before a human being whom You
have created out of dried clay formed from putrid black
mud." (Surat al-Hijr, 33)
Iblis does not deny that Allah created him. That is not the cause
of his rebellion. On the contrary, he himself admits that it was Allah
Who had created him. However, by insisting instead, "I am imbued
with greater potential than a human being; you created me from fire
and him from mud," he is afflicted, clearly, with pride. There is ab-
solutely nothing logical in his rebellious stance before Allah.
Another verse which reveals Iblis' defective logic reads as fol-
lows:
When We said to the angels, "Bow before Adam!" they all
bowed, except Iblis. He said "What! Am I to prostrate to
one You have created out of clay?" (Surat al-Isra´, 61)
The last verse clearly shows Iblis' impudence and delusion. The
elevation of the Prophet Adam (as)'s status, by which Iblis consid-
ered himself slighted, because of not wanting to humble himself be-
fore any other, led him to this terrible jealousy. Thus he became
disobedient towards Allah:
He said, "Iblis, what prevented you prostrating to what I
created with My own Hands? Were you overcome by arro-

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