Trial

We made a covenant with Adam, but he forgot and showed himself lacking in steadfastness. And when We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ they all prostrated themselves except Satan, who refused.

‘Adam,’ We said, ‘Satan is an enemy to you and to your wife. Let him not turn you both out of Paradise and plunge you into affliction’.

(The Quran 20:115-117)

A strong will is extremely essential to the carrying out of God’s commands. If a person readily comes under the influence of irrelevant matters, he will certainly stray from the path of God. In order to adhere to the path of God, knowing God’s commandment alone is not sufficient; determination too is necessary to withstand all those negative influences which go against God’s will. When God commanded the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam, they did so immediately. But Satan did not prostrate himself. What was the reason behind this difference in behaviour? The reason was that the angels took this matter as pertaining to God. On the contrary, Satan took this matter as pertaining to man. When an issue is treated as a matter of God’s will, there is only one possible way for His creatures to conduct themselves, and that is to obey God.

But when an issue has to be taken up between man and man, the first reaction will be to gauge whether the opposite party is the stronger or the weaker. If the stronger, he will be given his due, but if the weaker, all too often his wishes will be ignored, even if there is every moral justification for his plea being acceded to, or a pledge to him fulfilled.

The story of Adam and Satan is repeatedly enacted in daily living. Everyone confronts this situation in his life’s dealings. When one comes across a person to whom something is owed, whether in the form of some material thing or of an expression of some truth, one stands once again on the same trial ground as prevailed in the case of the first man. On such occasions, when a man surrenders before the truth, it is as if he submits to God, and when he does not accept the truth, it is as if he has followed in the footsteps of Satan.