Don’t let your ego get in the way of obeying Allah
Surat al-A’raf is a Makki surah, which is untypically lengthy, with 206 verses. It opens with the story of Iblis and Adam – a story that Allah has repeated many times in the Quran.
Don’t put your ego first
Allah commands the angels and Iblis to prostrate; the angels obey, but Iblis refuses, thinking he is better than Adam, who does not deserve to be prostrated to.
Allah could have crushed Iblis then and there, but He didn’t. He left him alone for a reason. We have plenty of people today who are the offspring of Iblis. They appear on our screens on a daily basis. Part of why Iblis was not killed was so we would see his offspring.
The core of the story is about following Allah’s commands. If Allah tells you to prostrate, there is no choice. Iblis put his ego before his obedience to Allah, which led to his downfall. We see the same pattern repeat throughout history: any civilisation that beahaves with arrogance, ulitmately falls. The consequence of putting his ego first, means that Iblis will be thrown in Hellfire.
Allah has all the power
We might ask why Allah even allowed this story to appear on the pages of the Quran. He could have hidden the fact that Iblis disagreed with him and challenged him – why give a platform to His opponent?
Allah is the most powerful; He is not afraid of anything. He has the upper hand, and all the evidence and proof of it. What Shaytan comes up with is all fabricated and baseless.
Take responsibility for your actions
The story of Adam and Eve in the Quran presents the true account of what happened. Unlike the narrative in the Torah and the Bible, it was not Eve who tempted Adam to disobey Allah. Their departure from Jannah was not solely her fault. They were both tested and both equally accountable for their choices.
The Quran tells us what actually happened. Allah specifically uses the dual form to talk about how Shaytan whispered to both of them and tempted them both. This shows us the importance of personal responsibility. Each was responsible for their own actions. Either of them could have blamed Shaytan for whispering to them, but they didn’t. And afterwards they both repent individually, and Allah accepted their repentance.
Don’t overstep the limits
Some people say the tree in the story was a fig tree, or an apple tree, or other types. There is no authenticity to any of these, and really it doesn’t matter what variety of tree it was. The point is not to do things Allah has prohibited. That’s all. Anyone who crosses Allah’s boundaries will bear consequences of their actions. We ask Allah to make us obedient to Him.
Disobedience means falling down like Iblis.
When you disobey Allah, you fall down. The remedy for disobedience is to obey.
And the remedy to arrogance is humility. And we get this remedy from our salah, if it’s performed properly.
Salah puts you in a position of humility
Iblis’ biggest sin was refusing to prostrate. Now, Allah has made prostration the basis of our salah.
Every day, we put our heads on the floor a total of 34 times if we do just the fard salah, (64 if we include the Sunnah). This is a position of humility – the opposite of the ego. Allah is teaching us to keep our egos in check and show obedience to Him. In this way, sujud is a physical gesture of our commitment to obey Allah.
Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 7th Ramadan 2025. Transcribed by H Khan.
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