Shaytan the Enemy Part 1
Section 6 of 24 · Faraid in Islam · Ustadh Mahmud Kurkcu
Why Allah Sent Him: The Purpose of Trial
Why, then, did Allah send Shayṭān? Allah says:
وَمَا كَانَ لَهُۥ عَلَيْهِم مِّن سُلْطَـٰنٍ إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِمَّنْ هُوَ مِنْهَا فِى شَكٍّ ۗ وَرَبُّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفِيظٌ
“He did not have any power over them, but for the reason that We should recognize the one who believes in the Hereafter as distinct from the one who is in doubt about it; and your Lord is Watchful over every thing.” (34:21)
He had no authority over them, except that Allah would know who believes in the next life and who is in doubt of it; and one's Lord watches over all things. In other words, Shayṭān was sent to sort out who truly believes and who merely gives himself over to this world and to Shayṭān's own teaching. Allah is in control, but a challenge has been given: because a person is the best of creation, Jannah is not given free — it is not entered merely by pronouncing lā ilāha illā Llāh easily. There is a great challenge in it. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says that a believer is besieged by enemies on every side: Shayṭān is one; the hypocrites are another; the disbelievers another; an envious fellow Muslim another; the nafs another; this world another; and one's own desires another — challenges on every side, through which a person must make his way to enter Jannah.
When Jibrīl was sent by Allah to go and look at Jannah, newly created, he went and looked, and it was, subḥānAllāh, so beautiful. He then came out and looked around it, and found it surrounded entirely with difficulties and hardships — not at all easy to enter. He said: my Lord, Jannah is so beautiful that anyone who knew of it would die to enter it, literally — yet it is so difficult, so many traps and hard things lie around it, that great effort is needed to reach it. Then he was told to go and see Jahannam, newly created. He looked at it and thought: if people knew what this is, they would avoid it at all costs. But when he came back he said, subḥānAllāh, this place is surrounded by every temptation — easy things, beautiful things, attractive things that people would leap at. It is a trick, a test set by Allah. What is the very purpose of this creation? Allah says:
ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْغَفُورُ
“the One who created death and life, so that He may test you as to which of you is better in his deeds. And He is the All-Mighty, the Most-Forgiving,” (67:2)
Death and life were created to test which of you is best in deeds — obedience and disobedience to Allah. That is the very purpose of creation: a trial, nothing else. Shayṭān is simply another part of that trial.