Satanism has often been depicted as a strange movement among psychologically disturbed youth who are marginalized and alienated from their families and friends. But to reduce satanism to such a simple basic denominator phenomenon and not to make the public familiar with the violent side of this perverse religion is a grave omission. Contrary to much that has been written and said about it, satanism has deep roots and rests on a dark philosophy. It has designs upon the future of the world, and its dark church with its thousands of members, together with its publications, make it one of the most dangerous organizations in the 21st century. First, it must be said that among satanists, there are differences of practice and points of view. These differences have sometimes made it difficult to determine what satanists actually believe. For example, some assume that it was satan who created the Earth, and that they must therefore obey his will (the Yazidis are included in this group). Others view satan only as a personified symbol by which they can divinize their own desires. Of course, these differences of philosophy do nothing to mitigate the perversity of satanist philosophy in general. Even if satanists are not united in one single organization, their basic beliefs are essentially the same—which beliefs can be summarized as follows: Most satanists associate satan with such values as pride, independence, individuality, knowledge, achievement, thinking for oneself, and exploring unknown and forbidden realms. 1We can see that the basic starting point of this perverse movement is the acceptance of satan and all his qualities as a guide, or model of how to live in the world. In later chapters, we will consider the basic foundation and building blocks of satanism and look briefly at the history of this half-religion, half-movement that is gaining adherents every day from all around the world. To begin with, in order to understand satanism better, we will first examine relevant verses in the Qur'an that deal with satan and the mindset he represents. To begin dealing with the subject of satanists, we must first realize that a great many of them are atheists and materialists; that is, they believe that only matter exists. It is vital to keep this preconception of theirs in mind when investigating the satanists' way of thinking. Many satanists entirely reject the existence of Allah and the otherworldly reality of angels and jinns mentioned in the Qur'an. Therefore, they do not even believe in satan as an actual being. For them, he is merely a symbol of hostility toward any kind of organized religion.
In every word they speak, satanists praise satan; they ask help from him and claim to obey his every command. They believe that their clan leader is especially close to satan and that he communicates with him and receives commands from him. Newly initiated satanists feel a close attachment to their leader; they believe he can speak to satan and therefore, obey his commands to the letter. For this reason, in recent years we frequently hear of satanists who have committed murder, and who defend themselves by claiming that they had received a command from satan; and many who committed suicide left a note saying that satan had ordered them to kill themselves. This unbalanced relationship between human beings and satan is described at length in the Qur'an. Allah has warned people with the verse, "What they call on is an arrogant satan” (Surat an-Nisa', 117). In many verses of the Qur'an, Allah clearly states that satan is the enemy of mankind. Did I not make a contract with you, tribe of Adam, not to worship satan, who truly is an outright enemy to you? (Surah Ya Sin, 60)In another verse, Prophet Abraham (pbuh) gives his father the following advice: In these verses the dangerous idea of worshipping satan is made clear. In all their writings and speeches, satanists talk about worshipping satan, to make pacts and contracts with him and to fulfill his wishes. But Allah has a severe warning for those who deny Him, instead taking satan as their deity and who live according to satan's incitements. Allah reveals the end that awaits satan and those who obey him—the eternal pangs of Hell: Satan's Characteristics In the Qur'an, Allah reveals the various characteristics of satan and his followers. We are told that satan has been trying to cause every human being since Adam (pbuh) to stray from Allah's path. The word satan is derived from a word meaning "the far thing”in Arabic. The Arabic roots of the word also imply the meaning of "being on fire with hatred” and worthless. Diabolis (or Iblis) is the leader of all the satans and of the satanic activities. The word Iblis means "to be peevish despairing of any good or happiness,” "to be desperate and miserably sorry.” 2 After Allah created Adam (pbuh), He commanded the angels to prostrate themselves before him. All the angels obeyed except Diabolis. And as a result of his disobedience, he was driven from Allah's presence. The disobedience of Diabolis is related in the Qur'an in these verses: Your Lord said to the angels, "I am going to create a human being out of clay. When I have formed him and breathed My Spirit into him, fall down in prostration to him!” So the angels prostrated all of them together, except for Diabolis who was arrogant and was one of the unbelievers. He said, "Diabolis, what prevented you prostrating to what I created with My own Hands? Were you overcome by arrogance or are you one of the exalted?” (Surah Sâd, 71-75) We are told in other verses that the basic reason for the rebellion of Diabolis was his pride and arrogance, which made him see a mere human being as inferior to himself. The 76th verse of Surah Sâd— He [satan]) said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire, but You created him from clay”—shows how ungrateful and insolent he was. Allah created the whole universe including human beings, angels, jinns and satan. He creates what He wills in the shape and form He chooses. And every created being is bound to give profound respect to our Lord. To disobey and refuse to serve the One Who created us from nothing would be inane ungratefulness. But Diabolis behaved heedlessly. He was driven from Paradise because of his disobedience. He views human beings as his greatest enemy; he tries to divert all people from the true path, having obtained a period of time from Allah in which to bring trouble upon human beings. This is revealed in the following verses of the Qur'an: For thousands of years now, satan has been working to achieve his goal. He will continue his stealthy activities until the Day of Judgment, when the life of this universe will come to an end. Throughout human history, he has approached everyone, without exception, to draw them into evil. He makes no distinction among those he misleads. He tries to draw people of every age, status, culture and race into his way. He wants to bring everyone of different social groups, rich and poor, under his influence. In order to understand the scope of satan's activities and his influence on human beings, we must realize that he understands human beings very well; he knows our cultures, ideologies and our points of view. He is particularly well acquainted with the desires and weaknesses of humans. He is, therefore, able to plan and set snares. He wants to bring everyone without exception, under his influence—even those who live in the farthest corners of the world. But most people are unaware of the true extent of this danger. They live their lives without thinking that satan can prompt them into doing evil and later, lead them to Hell. They do not realize the influence that satan wields over them or what kind of end he is drawing them to. One of the major reasons for their nonchalance is that few people know satan very well. One of the most common errors people make about him is assuming that satan is a power wholly independent of Allah and that he is engaged in a struggle with Him. (Surely Allah is beyond that!) This is also one of the satanists' greatest errors: thinking that satan is a separate power; and so they regard his rebellion and disobedience as an example for them to follow. When they in turn rebel against order and virtue, they believe that they are supporting satan in his own struggle. In fact, satan is a creation of Allah and subordinate to Him. His rebellion against Allah was predetermined in his destiny by Allah. Moreover, satan does believe in Allah and fear Him deeply. He knows that the time until the Day of Judgment has beenallotted to him, and that in the Hereafter he will pay the penalty for his deeds. This is revealed in the Qur'an: They are like satan when he says to a human being, "Disbelieve,” and then when he disbelieves, says, "I wash my hands of you. Truly I fear Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.” (Surat al-Hashr, 16)Satan has obtained no benefit from his disobedience; on the contrary, he has attained eternal loss. He has been exiled from Paradise and drawn into the pangs of Hell. Now his chief goal is to drag as many humans as he can along with him to suffer those same pangs. This is the essence of his struggle—against human beings and human goodness. As we can see in the Qur'an, even while persuading people toward rebellion, error and alienation from Allah, satan remains very well aware of the truth. And when Judgment Day comes, he will abandon his followers. It will then become obvious to them that his promises were all lies. Satan's plans and the traps he set to mislead those under his spell will then end in huge disappointment for them all. Allah reveals in the Qur'an: One day, satanists, like all others who are deceived by satan's promptings into adopting evil ways, will certainly understand their error. But what is vital is that they understand this while they are still in this world, as soon as it is told to them. Their leader, satan, will never defend them and will always leave them abandoned. Certainly, to believe his lies and to think that his promptings are valid is nothing but inane nonsense. Satanists are Deceived by Satan Satan is humanity's greatest enemy, because his goal is to alienate people on Earth from believing in Allah and to prevent them from living according to the Qur'an. Allah reveals that satan sees people at all times (Surat al-A‘raf, 27), whispering insidiously in their hearts (Surat an-Nas, 4-5), and intimidating them (Surah Al‘Imran, 175). He lies in ambush for them on Allah's straight path (Surat al-A‘raf, 16). But people who do not recognize the characteristics of satan as described in the Qur'an cannot recognize the influence he exerts on human beings. And for this reason, they listen to satan's intimations, follow his promptings, and believe what he says. One of the main reasons why people remain unaware of satan's influence is because he appears to them in various guises. Satan may appear as a counselor, guiding people towards what is good for them. And, because he knows human weaknesses and suggestibility all too well, he can take advantage of these shortcomings to forge a temporary friendship with individuals. He does not allow people to understand his real intentions. Rather, he tries to make them believe that he wants to help and want what is best for them, that he wants to rescue them from awkward situations and bring them to a better place. He intimates all these things in order to bring people over to his side. His chief claim, however, is that salvation will come only when they obey him. It was this sly falsehood that caused Adam (pbuh) to be taken in and expelled out from Paradise. Satan came to him and his wife as a friend and swore that he was giving them good advice. The following is revealed in the Qur'an: Satan deceived Adam (pbuh) and his wife and had them expelled from Paradise. This is one of the main indications of how sly and false this enemy is, whom human beings are confronted with throughout their lives. It was Diabolis, the greatest of the satans, who suggested to Adam (pbuh) that he was advising him; satans in human form do the same to other people today. (These kinds of satans either take the form of a human being, or are humans directly inspired by satan. In the Qur'an, Allah speaks of the existence of satans that are human and satans that are jinns in the company of Diabolis.) One example of this is Pharaoh, who said the following to his people in an attempt to prevent them from following the path of Allah: These suggestions are quite similar to those made by satanists. They are human satans who deceive people with similar ruses in order to draw them into satan's darkness. Satanists present satanism as a system wherein a person can do anything he wants, in which he can have strength, banish his worries, avoid his responsibilities and give free rein to his selfish impulses. Satanists seek to mislead him, just as their leader does. They appear to want what is good for an individual but their intimations are all elaborate lies. When anyone first falls under this deception, he immediately discovers that living as a satanist does not offer freedom but increasing dependence; and that unlimited evil is turning him into a fiend. This avenue that he took to what he thought was personal salvation will draw him into a morass.
The following is a verse in which these tactics are fully described: People must be very careful of this enemy. And only one who has perfectly submitted to Allah and praises Him constantly will have the necessary awareness to exercise this kind of care. Such a person will immediately detect the source of satan's intimations and remove them from his mind. If he does not do so, he will think that they are his own thoughts and he will submit his will to the satan. In the Qur'an, Allah reveals the state of a person who obeys the intimations of satan and acts together with him according to his commands: But we must conform ourselves to what Allah tells us we must do: Again, Allah tells us the end of an individual who responds to satan's call: So far, we have seen the various methods that satan uses to deceive human beings and alienate them from the revelation of Allah. But one should never forget that Allah created satan and all his various wiles. Allah created satan and his cunning wiles as part of a mechanism by which He determines those who were faithful, and tests and trains them in this Earthly life. Allah has commissioned satan to use the test of this Earthly life to try to divert people from the true path. These commands are mentioned in Surat al-Isra' as follows: In a later verse, Allah tells satan: Notice that satan has no influence over people with faith. It is mentioned which kind of people satan may affect:
Why Do People Become Satanists? This recent proliferation of satanism and the frequent reports in the press of satanist murders and suicides makes the public ask this question. Articles dealing with why people become satanists always posit economic distress or lack of communication within their family, as if to excuse or even legitimize the choice of satanism and other such perversions. But none of these explanations is truly valid.As pointed out earlier, one of the chief reasons why people turn to satanism is their espousal of materialism, atheism and the Darwinist view. There are those who harbor hostility to the Divine religions that lead others to what is good and wholesome; and such people variously express their hostility by openly displaying their satanistic resentments. Satan has taken them under his influence with his suggestions that satanism is a mystical and exciting adventure. In the Qur'an, Allah tells us; By suggesting that satanism is a practical and attractive alternative, satan draws people into a dark world that will ultimately lead them to Hell:
Those who knowingly choose satanism are eager to lead others along the same path. We are told in the Qur'an that only those who have rejected Allah's verses can be friends of satan: The second group who choose satanism is composed of the ignorant, the uneducated and the troubled who are often the topic of newspaper articles and television talk shows. These troubled individuals become satanists to clear a place for themselves in society, to make friends and satisfy their obsessions, to forget their failures and problems and to draw attention to themselves. These young people become dis-attached and deceived by satan into thinking that in this way they will earn the respect of others. The basic problem with each of these groups is that they are not familiar with Allah's religion, nor with the moral teachings of the Qur'an. They do not know why the universe is created and their part in it; and so they lead empty lives based on a lie. But Allah has created the world as a test that everyone must go through. Everyone is responsible for leading his or her life in a way of which Allah approves: This is the purpose of human creation. Throughout history, Allah has revealed the purpose of His creation, the proper ways of worship, and the moral behavior that pleases Him by means of true religions. He sent down the Qur'an as a guide for His servants who believe in Him; in this book He reveals that human beings were created in perfection and for a purpose: While human beings live in this world, it is essential that they act with the knowledge that in light of the eternal life, this Earthly life is very short. Every person living in this world will surely die and will give an account to Allah, Who subjects everyone to various tests throughout their lives: A person's behavior in this world will determine where he will spend eternity. Those individuals who follow perverse ways, acting according to satan's commands, and despise moral behavior, wrongly think that they are free to do all manner of evil. But they are greatly deceived. They ignore this fact, however, and act with careless disregard for any real purpose they have in this life. They loiter from day to day, caught up in satan's intimations, and unaware that he is leading them toward the pangs of Hell. We are told in the Qur'an about such people who make satan their friend:
Allah is Forgiving and Merciful Up to this point, we have seen how satan diverts people away from the true path and how the perverse doctrine called satanism has gained many followers. These people, caught up in satanism out of ignorance or deceived by satan's wiles, must be brought to realize that Allah is merciful and forgiving and that He accepts the repentance of His servants.
In the following verses, the happy end awaiting those who regret their transgressions, repent of them sincerely, and submit themselves to Allah is mentioned:
How to Avoid Satan's Influence Satan can exert a powerful influence over a person, eventually dominating every moment of that person's life. But this state is not inescapable: The important thing is for a person to know how he can free himself. No matter how pervasive satan's influence may be, it is very easy to escape from it, as we are told in the Qur'an. Allah shows in the Qur'an many ways to neutralize satan's influence:To fear Allah, to consider His verses and sincerely welcome His guidance is a key against satanic influence. Allah says that He "will give discrimination and erase bad actions” from those who fear Him (Surat al-Anfal, 29). It must never be forgotten that one can discern negative influences simply by listening to one's conscience. Anyone who is sincere and listens to his conscience can easily extract himself from satan's influence. Your conscience is an unerring guide and a great blessing from Allah to every human being. To those who sincerely believe and trust in Allah, He announces that satan's snares will be foiled and have no power over His faithful servants: Allah tells us in the Qur'an that in order to escape satan's influence, all we need to do is to be sincere, form our ideas according to the Qur'an and take refuge in Allah whenever satan's whisperings are heard. And none of these steps is difficult. It is certain that satan cannot do harm to any of Allah's pure-hearted servants who believe in Him. Allah is the guardian of all who believe in Him; His mercy will always protect believers and show them the Way that pleases Him. To dispel the influence of satan, it is very important for a person to keep some additionally important things in mind. For example: Remember that everyone will die one day. Everything has been determined by destiny to work out in the best possible way. This life is only a temporary place of testing, and One must always consider -and trust in- Allah's absolute, eternal existence. Knowing these truths and holding them in one's awareness brings great joy and contentment. The blessings of faith cannot be compared with any other good. In this world, satan has strewn all kinds of riches and things of material value with the intent of enticing people; but he has not succeeded. The greatest proof is that most of the people derive no happiness or contentment from the things they possess. Against the joy, liveliness and wisdom that comes from faith, satan has no recourse at all. | ||||||||
Advocates of Satan in the Qur'an
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