Be a sincere servant of Allah
Allah Almighty commanded Iblis to prostrate to Adam (peace be upon him) but he refused. The first sin was arrogance. Although the worst sin is to believe Allah Almighty has partners, Iblis did not commit shirk; it was arrogance which lead to Iblis being expelled from paradise.
The details of the story are based on the first rejection of Allah’s command.
Allah Almighty says,
O Satan, what kept you from being among those who prostrated themselves? Al-Hijr:32
He said,
I am not about to prostrate myself before a human being, whom You created from clay, from moulded mud. Al-Hjir:33
He said,
I am better than he; You created me from fire, and You created him from clay. Saad:76
Who was he to classify himself as better than Adam? We are sometimes like that. We look down at others and consider ourselves as better class or better people.
Shaytan then promised to lure people to hell, trap them and trick them, except for those whom he could not entice. He said,
My Lord, since You have lured me away, I will glamorise for them on earth, and I will lure them all away.” Al-Hijr:39
Except for Your sincere servants among them. Al-Hijr:40
Over My servants you have no authority, except for the sinners who follow you. AL-Hijr:42
We ask Allah Almighty to make us from this category- the sincere servants. And Allah confirmed that he has no control over ‘My servants’, except those who choose to follow him.
We belong to Allah and it’s an honour and a responsibility to be Allah’s servant. Allah has given us the guidance and we have to pick which path we travel on.
Don’t say Shaytan has power over me. If you choose to listen to him, you will be controlled by him.
A scholar recently said that his mother used to say whoever is standing in front of a door will be given the key of that door. If it is the key of rahma or tawakkal or love, or sins or Shaytan – it’s your choice. Whether you choose the door of jannah and mercy and obedience or the door of Jahannam.
We ask Allah to make our vision clear. This is right time to clear the vision and choose the right path.
Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.
