The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between CE 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.

Translated from Arabic and commentary by
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Say, [Prophet], ‘I am only a warner. There is no god but God, the One, the All-Powerful, Lord of the heavens and earth and everything between them, the Almighty, the Most Forgiving.’ Say, ‘This is momentous news, yet you ignore it. I had no knowledge of the Exalted Assembly when they argued [against the creation of man]: it has only been revealed to me that I am a plain warner.’ (38: 65-70)

Your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am about to create a human being out of clay; and when I have formed him fully and breathed My spirit into him, prostrate yourselves before him.’ Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together, but not Satan, who was too proud. He became one of those who deny the truth. (38: 71-74)

It is stated in the Quran that Satan had become man’s enemy from the very first day. He dissuaded Adam’s progeny from adopting the right path by his glib and deceitful talk. Man should therefore be wary of Satan and try to save himself from his evil designs.

Satan pursues man at all times and, surreptitiously entering his thoughts, manages to misguide him. Man must save himself from Satan and his promptings.

God said, ‘Satan, what prevented you from prostrating yourself to what I created with My own Hands? Were you overcome by arrogance, or are you of those who think [only] of themselves as exalted?’ Satan replied, ‘I am better than him. You created me from fire, but You created him from clay.’ ‘Begone! You are accursed: My curse will remain upon you till the Day of Judgement!’

But Satan said, ‘My Lord, grant me respite until the Day of Resurrection,’ so He said, ‘You are granted respite till the Appointed Day.’ He said, ‘By Your Honour, I will lead all of them astray.’ (38: 75-82)

God made man a creature of exalted stature and, as a token thereof, He ordered the angels and the jinn to prostrate themselves before him. When Satan (Iblis) did not bow before Adam, he became the eternally cursed one. But this incident was not only serious from the viewpoint of Satan; it was of the utmost importance for Adam himself.

By refusing to bow down before Adam, Satan forever became the enemy of the entire human race. This event foreboded that man’s journey through life would not be an easy one and would be full of serious impediments. Man would have to strive to keep himself on the right path and resist the inducements and promptings of Satan to reach his destination safely.

Satan’s evil scheming stands between man and Paradise. Only one who keeps himself safe from Satan’s machinations will enter the everlasting gardens of Paradise; those who fail to tear down the barrier of Satan’s treachery, will be deprived of Paradise.

In the present world of trial, Satan has been given every opportunity to misguide man. But Satan can do so only till Doomsday arrives. When the Day of Judgement tears apart the veil of falsehood, everything will become plain and clear. Thereafter, there will neither be anybody who can deceive nor anybody who can be deceived.

(Satan continued) ‘Except for those among them who are Your chosen servants.’ God said, ‘This is the truth—I speak only the truth—I will fill up Hell with you and every one of them who follows you.’

Say, ‘I do not ask you for any recompense for this, nor am I a man of false pretentions: this is simply an admonition to humankind, you shall before long know its truth.’ (38: 83-88)

The chosen (mukhlas) subject of God is one who is free of mental perversion. While Satan has no practical power over man, he misguides human beings by supplying plausible justification for their wrong deeds; presenting untruth as Truth; enshrouding baseless facts in beautiful words; raising unnecessary issues in straightforward matters and raising doubts. However, only those who harbour complexes will be deceived by this beautification of Satan (taz’in). Those who retain their sincerity and are wise enough to objectively analyze situation will immediately detect Satan’s machinations. Such people are never misled by Satan’s ruses.

One basic virtue of a preacher is that he does not demand any remuneration from his hearers. Another is that he does not raise any material issues between them and himself. The call of the Quran is the call of the Hereafter. Therefore, if a man, on the one hand, gives the call of the Hereafter and of the Quran and, on the other, runs a campaign for material gain, then he figures as an insincere person. And who will pay attention to the pleadings of a person who has proved himself to be insincere?

Similarly, a preacher does not make statements concocted by himself. He simply passes on whatever he has received from God. Masruq Tabi‘i (a contemporary of the Prophet’s Companions) recounts a saying of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud who said,

‘O people! One who knows should talk, and one who does not know should simply say that God knows better. He will seem wise if he states that God knows better (with regard to things which he does not know), because God said to his Prophet,

‘Say, no reward do I ask of you for this, nor am I a pretender.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. IV, p. 44).

Similarly, it is also required of the preacher of truth to present his call in the shape of well-meaning advice. His discourse should be that of a well-wisher and should not be in the nature of debate or polemics.

It should be remembered that difficult
circumstances are never here to stay.