· Why did Allah, the Omniscient, create satan, earthly desires and Hell?
· How do satan, earthly desires and Hell bestow depth on a person?
· What is the wisdom behind the creation of difficulties?
As revealed in verse 30 of Surat al-Baqara, “When your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am putting a successive authority on the earth,’ they said, ‘Why put on it one who will cause corruption on it and shed blood when we glorify You with praise and proclaim Your purity?’ He said, ‘I know what you do not know’,” Allah created conscious entities, human beings, even though angels were already in existence This is because Allah loves human beings according to their piety, who harbor a fervent love and fear of Him, who know and praise His might, who love and appreciate His creations, who know and are content with all the beauties He creates and who delight in all these things, more than He does the angels. The reason why Allah loves human beings more than the angels is that angels simply obey Allah’s commands, while human beings strive against satan and earthly desires and believe in the mysteries without seeing Him. It is because of these traits that separate man from the angels that our Lord addresses our Prophet (saas) as “beloved,” thus indicating the love He feels for the Messengers and devout believers. Rasulullah (saas) notes this love that Allah feels for His servants in a hadith, "ALLAH said: "I have created you from My own light, and other things from your light." (Îmân Ahmed, Musnad IV-127; Hâkim, Mustadrak II-600/4175; Ibni Hibban, Al- Ihsân XIV-312/6404; Ajlûnî, Keshfu' al-Hâfâ I-265/827).
“Who could have a better faith than someone who submits himself completely to Allah and is a good-doer, and follows the religion of Abraham, a man of pure natural belief? Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.” (Surat an-Nisa, 125)
In verse 125 of Surat an-Nisa’, our Lord expresses His love of those who have faith by speaking of the Prophet Abraham (pbuh) as an “intimate friend.”
Our Lord Created Satan, Earthly Desires and Hell for Human Beings to Compare
Allah loves all fine things, including virtuous people, pleasant views and delightful scenes and places. And He wants human beings to delight in them, too. For example, He has sent down the verses of the Qur’an with a delightful, melodious and magnificent harmony. Had He wished, He could have sent them down without that harmony. Had He wished, He could have created man in Paradise, without creating the Earth and Hell at all. But if human beings had been created directly in Paradise, they could never have known the deficiencies of this world and the torments of Hell, and could never have compared them and attained the fervor, depth and submission desired by Allah. As revealed in verses of the Qur’an, Allah created the Prophet Adam (pbuh) and his wife in Paradise. Despite being a prophet, Adam (pbuh) fell into error because he knew nowhere else other than Paradise. Indeed, verses reveal that the sorrow the prophet Adam (pbuh) felt when he descended to earth stemmed from his comparing this world with that of Paradise. This regret is described as follows in verses:
“But satan made them slip up by means of it, expelling them from where they were. We said, ‘Go down from here as enemies to each other! You will have residence on the earth and enjoyment for a time.’
Then Adam received some words from his Lord and He turned towards him. He is the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful.” (Surat al-Baqara, 36- 37)
The beauty of anything can only be appreciated in comparison with what is unpleasant and ugly, and virtue can only be appreciated when compared with vice. One can compare the glorious variety and beauty of life by putting good and bad, attractive and ugly side by side and thus come to appreciate all the blessings one possesses. Otherwise, one cannot give thanks for or appreciate the value of one’s blessings, and one would not wish to strive against one’s earthly desires in order to attain the infinite delights of Paradise. One can only appreciate delights in this world and enjoy Paradise in the Hereafter by making comparisons. But in that event, by Allah’s will, Paradise and all of its delights become a true blessing.
Striving against Satan and His Supporters Bestows a Feeling of Fervor and Depth
In the verse “Mankind! Eat what is good and lawful on the earth. And do not follow in the footsteps of satan. He truly is an outright enemy to you” (Surat al-Baqara, 168) Allah reveals that satan is the enemy of man and commands man to strive against him. Had our Lord not created satan, there would be no struggle between him and his supporters and Muslims, and no preaching of the word. Having a profound faith, waging an intellectual struggle to bring about the glorious reign of Islam, intending to be a follower of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh), being a strong and honorable believer and intellectually annihilating superstition and the way of the dajjal all bring great joy and fervor to devout believers.
Indeed Allah in the past created Pharaoh against the Prophet Moses (pbuh), Nimrod against the Prophet Abraham (pbuh), pagans and hypocrites such as Abu Lahab and Abu Jahil against our Prophet (saas) and the dajjal against Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh), so that believers can enjoy beauty and zeal. Allah sends the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) back to earth for there to be beauty and so Muslims can delight in it, and makes Hazrat KHidhir (pbuh) instrumental in many events.
Allah gives Muslims the impression that the innocent are suffering for the test. They appear to be suffering and dying. But they do not suffer at all. Our Lord says this of martyred Muslims, “They are alive and well provided for in the very presence of their Lord,”(Surat al-‘Imran, 169) thus making their condition in His Presence perfectly clear. But by creating troubles and martyrdom in this way, Allah increases Muslims’ feelings of zeal and eliminates apathy and monotony.
Striving against Earthly Desires and the Difficulties One Encounters Bestow Depth on a Person
Striving against satan and earthly desires allow one to reflect very deeply. Allah loves a servant who thanks Him deeply, finds him very beautiful, and at the end of his life in this world He will reward the believer with the eternal life of Paradise.
One who fails to see the marvels and details that Allah creates in this world will also fail to see them in Paradise. Someone who acts in the light of earthly desires, who gives in to troubles and fails to strive against them can take no pleasure fromPparadise if Allah places him there. The glorious life of Paradise and all its delights will mean nothing to him because he has not striven to earn Paradise, has made no comparison between deficiencies and beauties and has acquired no spiritual depth. But in the face of satan, Hell, and earthly desires one acquires a glorious depth and never forgets one’s struggle for all time. One’s endeavors in the face of these tests created by Allah give one a profound mind and soul. That is when Paradise becomes delightful for the believer. As commanded in verses:
“O self at rest and at peace, return to your Lord, well-pleasing and well-pleased! Enter among My slaves!
Enter My Garden.(Surat al-Fajr, 27- 30)
Mr. Adnan Oktar Describes How Allah Will Not Give One a Greater Burden Than One Can Bear
I am 55, for example. I cannot remember any burdens I could not bear. I entered a mental asylum. They put me in there with the worst madmen. But I thought of that verse and was really not troubled at all. Allah, Allah. I was really very comfortable. They put me in the lunatics’ ward in prison, and I was quite comfortable. The people put on that ward had all killed people. They were walking around in front of me. We became friends and talked. The colonel in charge of the prison said, “I sent him there on purpose.” . My ward was full of them, not just one or two such people. “They became so they would not hurt a fly. They became full of love alongside Adnan Hodja,” he said. You can ask him, the colonel is still alive. “I sent him there on purpose. They became so they would not hurt a fly, really pleasant-natured,” he said. He tells everyone that. You can ask him, the prison colonel. Bayrampaşa Prison, he was known as the colonel at the time, though he is retired now. Ask him. These things are part of the test. It is Almighty Allah Who made them so mild and gentle. These people fight at the drop of a hat in prison, anything could have happened, but nothing did. The inmates broke down the door where I was and did all kinds of things to each other. They killed seven people during my time there, the mental patients. But nothing happened to me, alhamdulillah, and I was not even uneasy. I was perfectly comfortable. I had a little tape machine I took in there. I played Ceddin Deden and Turkish military music. I made a chin-up bar, and the inmates saw me and started making them, too. There were iron bars there, and I covered one with nylon and made a chin-up bar. So Allah makes even difficult conditions bearable. One characteristic of mine is that I enjoy boiled meat. There is a herd of sheep in the mental hospital there, and they kill them every day. They boil them up fresh, and the bones just melt away. I had my own bowl, and they would ladle that meat into it. The mental hospital also made great bread, huge great loaves. We ate it like soldiers. Then everyone started doing chin-ups. The inmates there thought I was a doctor. They were amazed at my being there because they were all there for murder. Most were unaware what was happening, they would fight one another and shout and scream and were unable to take care of their natural functions. But I was perfectly comfortable under those conditions. But my mother’s face was getting blanched when she came to visit me. Her face was normally red but became white during the visits. She regarded them as a danger, but they were really inoffensive. They would not harm anyone. But someone who did not know that, that would be really alarmed. When the doctors and nurses came into the ward, they fainted because of the terrifying atmosphere there. You can look it up in books. People could not even bear the sight of it. They would faint within 10 minutes. But nothing happened to me, alhamdulillah. I was quite comfortable. Why?. This was a test. You had to be brave. I had always experienced difficult situations ever since I was a child. And they strengthened and hardened me. Otherwise, who knows what might have become of me? These difficulties are also the reason why I am so zealous and full of love. (from Mr. Adnan Oktar's interview broadcast on A9 TV on 4 September, 2011)
One can only enjoy a physical or spiritual blessing to the maximum if one has “profound intelligence and faith.” Being a true believer means being a “thinking person.” One looks at all matters by thinking deeply and using one’s mind and conscience, at all times. And one works to deserve every beauty and blessing. And in return for the believer’s endeavors, Allah bestows deep joys on him throughout his life. Loving, being loved, being friends and confidants, feeling trust and mutual respect are some of the delights created by Allah for people, and the life of this world is filled with an endless succession of delights so that people can enjoy all blessings. The depth that comes from this fervor and emotion that Allah creates in the soul for believers is incomparably greater than the technical pleasures other people draw from their blessings.
Allah has left the door of blessings open to all those who so desire. There are matchless blessings in this world for all those who ask, who seek the infinite mercy of Allah and make proper use of their consciences. And in the Hereafter, Allah will bestow infinite delights incomparable greater than those in this world on His servants. The delight from the blessings of Paradise, the excitement and happiness, will far surpass all human understanding.
