EPIC Masjid, Imam Nadeem Bashir, Why Shaitan Hates Son of Adam

Opening Praise and Quranic Recitation

الحمد لله، الحمد لله على ذاته، عظيم الصفات، السميع السميع، الكبير الشأن، جليل القدر، الوافي الذكر، المطاع الأمر، الجليل البرهان، عظيم الاسم، وافر الإمر، وسرهم من كثير الغفران، جميل الثناء، الجزيل العطاء، المجيب الدعاء، عميم الإحسان، سريع الحساب، الشديد العقاب، الأمر، العذاب العزيز.

ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له بالخلق والأمر، ونشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله.

أما بعد، فقد قال الله تبارك وتعالى في القرآن المجيد والفرقان الحميد، بعد أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم، بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم:

صدق الله العظيم.

Respected brothers and sisters in Islam, before I go any further, please come forward — schools are off today and we have, alhamdulillah, a lot of people coming to the masjid today for Saturday Jumu'ah, so please come forward.

The Goals We Pursue — and the Enemy We Face

Each one of us has ambitions and we have goals. In order to achieve those goals, to reach those goals and to achieve our ambitions, we leave our homes every day and we inch closer to that every single day. We give our full time and our full dedication to that. And while we are trying to achieve our goals, there are always going to be obstacles — whether they are physical obstacles, whether they are psychological challenges, there are going to be challenges and obstacles.

A Muslim, a believer — he or she has an added responsibility which is their primary responsibility: to serve Allah and to fulfill the orders of Allah the way it was demonstrated by Rasulullah ﷺ. And Allah tells us that if you were to bring your life onto the life of Rasulullah ﷺ:

"You have indeed attained the true success." He says فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا — a success that no other success can measure up to. So this is something that we have to do.

But as we all know — what are we trying to get from all this? We fulfill the orders of Allah, we follow the lifestyle of Rasulullah ﷺ — in return for what? So that we can attain Jannah. So that we can attain success in this life and in the hereafter. But the bigger the prize, the bigger the challenge. What we are chasing after is Jannah — and what does Allah cover Jannah with? With challenges.

And who is it — what is that thing — that is trying to deviate us and mislead us? We not only have a challenge, we not only have something that can distract us, but we have a common enemy within all of us — and that is Shaytan.

Know Your Enemy

If you remember in my last khutbah, I concluded with a saying of a Chinese warrior by the name of Sun Tzu. He said: if you know your enemy and you know how he will attack and you know his plans, then out of 100 battles you will be victorious in every single battle. But if you know only your enemy and you don't know his plan, you don't know his strategy, you will fail in one battle and you will succeed in one battle. And if you don't even know who your true enemy is and you never even take the time to study that opponent of yours, you will fail in every single battle.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Shaytan, we have failed for the most part. We have failed in our battles with Shaytan. When it comes to the matters of Allah and Shaytan, most of us unfortunately take the road of Shaytan, we take the path of Shaytan.

So this is something that we need to understand — it is not only sufficient to know that we have a problem; we have to study about that problem. If, God forbid, a physician told us one day that you have been diagnosed with cancer — may Allah protect all of us, our brothers and sisters. And I also say that there are people in our community who have been diagnosed with cancer — may Allah give them shifa'. There is a youngster in our community, Zahra Khan — may Allah give her shifa' from her illness. But if, God forbid, a physician were to walk in one day and say: "Sir, ma'am, you have been diagnosed with cancer, or you are headed down a path that will lead you to cancer" — what would we do? Would we just sit there and say, "OK, good to know, thank you, FYI"?

What would we do? We would say: tell me what I need to do in order to fight off this cancer. If I am headed toward it, what do I need to do to distance myself from it? And if I have already been diagnosed, what is my next step? We take action right away. We learn what is the problem and we learn how to fight the problem.

Ask a person who is in law enforcement and is trying to catch a thief who has struck many times in the past — what will they do? They will study his previous crimes, they will study the profile of that person, they will learn what he can do in the future and how he can strike again. Even in sports — I know the youngsters may not fully relate to this — but when one football team is about to play another football team, they study film. They study everything. If they know that the secondary is weak on that football team, they know they have to pass the ball. If they know the linebackers or the defensive linemen are weak, they know they are going to run the ball that week. They are studying their opponent.

We need to learn how to fight off Shaytan. We need to learn the tricks of Shaytan, the strategy of Shaytan, how he attacks, how he deceives. We need to learn. But before we even get to that — the true question is: why is Shaytan so much against us? Why does he hate us? Why does Allah say in the Qur'an that he is constantly sitting there, waiting for our hearts to be devoid of the remembrance of Allah, so he can attack us? Why does he treat us like we are some prey that he is ready to attack at any moment?

The Restaurant Analogy: Why Shaytan Despises the Children of Adam

Let me give you an example. Imagine you went to a restaurant and you ate only one dish — only one thing. You came back home and you went to the doctor. You had a stomachache, you were vomiting, you were not feeling well, you had a fever. The doctor says you have been food poisoned. Now you know what is the very first thing that comes to our mind: "I went to that restaurant — I am never going back to that restaurant." And not only because you ate only one dish and you can criticize that one dish — but what we do is we make a general decision against the entire chain of restaurants. That restaurant — I will never go to it. And even if we are on the highway and we see that same restaurant, we make that disgusted face, because we experienced something that was negative.

Imagine the same thing happened to Shaytan. Shaytan was disgraced — has been disgraced till today, is disgraced, will be disgraced till the Day of Judgment — and because of whom? Because of Adam (alayhi salam). So not only is he against Adam (alayhi salam), but he has taken a vow that anyone who comes from Adam (alayhi salam) will also be his enemy. "I am not going to let them go." And we see this in the Qur'an — Allah talks about this.

The History of Angels and Jinn

Today in my khutbah I want to briefly touch upon the story of Adam (alayhi salam) and Shaytan — the encounter they had. But before I get to that, let me briefly tell you about the history of angels and jinn, just to help us understand the story of Adam (alayhi salam) and Iblis.

Allah created the angels. Their responsibility is to serve Allah and to carry out His orders. There are four main Mala'ikah who carry out the orders of Allah: Jibreel, Mika'il, Israfil, and Azra'il. They have very specific instructions and responsibilities which they fulfill. And Allah created within them only the element of obligation — not free will — which means the only thing they do is worship Allah. Allah also decided that the abode and the place where the angels reside is Jannah.

Then later on, Allah created the jinn. Allah mentions in Surah Al-Hijr that He created the jinn from a smokeless fire. They are invisible — they cannot be seen. Allah created within the jinn not only the element of obligation but another element: free will — or free choice — which means there is a test. You can do right or you can do wrong. You have responsibilities — that is the test. Allah also decided that the jinn would reside on the face of the earth. But when the jinn were on the face of the earth, they caused and spread corruption. That is why, when Allah said to the mala'ikah: "I am going to create the human being and I am going to send him on the face of the earth" — what did the angels say? "You created the jinn and they caused corruption. You are going to create the human being and they may cause corruption also."

Now, before this, out of all the jinn, there was a jinn called Iblis — a very devout worshipper. Allah gave him such a high position that he would not stay on the face of the earth but would be in the company of the angels.

The Creation of Adam and the Command to Prostrate

When Allah created Adam (alayhi salam), we know what happened:

Allah taught Adam (alayhi salam) the names of all things, then told the angels: "I know something — there is something in my knowledge which does not exist in your knowledge." Then, when Adam (alayhi salam) mentioned the names, the angels had immediate respect for him. Then Allah instructed all the angels:

"Make sujood to Adam" — everyone made sujood to Adam (alayhi salam), except for Iblis.

Now, someone may first ask: in the Qur'an there is an ayah where Allah says Shaytan was from the jinn, yet Allah ordered the mala'ikah — so why is Shaytan held accountable for this? Because at that time, Shaytan was in the midst of the angels. When Allah orders the angels, the order applies to him also — the command applies to him. And he refused.

Allah then said to him: "Why did you stay away and why did you deny making sujood to something that I have created with My own hands?" He said: "I am better than this person — You created me from fire and You created him from dirt."

The VP Analogy: Understanding Shaytan's Jealousy

A lot of us may not understand why Shaytan is making such a big deal out of this. But there is a big deal here. Let me give you an example we can understand.

Imagine you are a freshman. You give your years to college and university and you graduate. You go and you work for a company. In that company you are at the lowest level. But you work hard — you are dedicated every single day. You are there on time, you are the first to come, you are the last to leave, you always take care of your responsibilities before the deadline approaches. What happens? The boss says: "You know what, you do a great job — you deserve a promotion." So this person is promoted. He goes from being a regular employee to a manager, then to a regional manager, to a district manager — and he keeps climbing the ranks. Then what happens? He reaches such a position that he is now the VP of the company. One day he was at the very bottom — hitting rock bottom — and now he is in the position of VP.

Now imagine: the only person above him is the boss. One day the boss comes in with a young, freshly graduated person who has an MBA. He puts him in the office of this VP and tells the VP: "You know what, why don't you do one thing for me — go downstairs and get this guy a cup of coffee." Now this VP is thinking to himself: "This youngster — who is he in front of me? I have given so much of my life to this company. I worked hard to reach this position. And now he is telling me to go get a cup of coffee for this person?"

This is exactly what happened to Adam (alayhi salam) and Shaytan. Shaytan is thinking to himself: "Who is this new guy on the block? He has just come now. And after I have done so much — after I have worshipped Allah so much, after I have dedicated my time to the worship and service of Allah — now Allah is telling me to make sujood to this human being who has just arrived?" This is exactly what is happening to Shaytan. Shaytan is jealous. It has been hurting Shaytan since that day — and that is why he said: "Absolutely, I will not."

In the next part of the khutbah, there are some important points that we can learn from the story of Adam (alayhi salam) and Iblis, and inshallah I will address that in the next part of the khutbah.

بَارَكَ اللَّهُ لَنَا وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْعَظِيمِ، وَنَفَعَنَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِالْآيَاتِ وَالذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيمِ، أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Part of the Khutbah

الحمد لله، ونستعينه ونستغفره، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا، من يهده الله فلا مضل له، ومن يضلل فلا هادي له، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، ونشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله. أما بعد.

Respected brothers and sisters, we see in the story of Adam (alayhi salam) and Iblis — Allah tells the mala'ikah to make sujood, everyone makes sujood except for Iblis.

Lessons from the Story of Adam and Iblis

Lesson One: The Nature of True Obedience

The very first thing that we learn from all this is that the nature of the mala'ikah was that they worship Allah. And when there is a person who sincerely devotes themselves to Allah, they don't look at the command that has been given to them — they obey it right away. The nature of a true believer is that he or she does not question the order of Allah. We never say "this order of Allah does not make sense to me — why do I have to do it?" We never question Allah.

I don't remember exactly who the khatib was, but several weeks ago there was a khatib here who talked about a story about a king who had a servant and he had his own children. He liked his servant more and gave him preference over his own children. When his children asked their father — who was the king — "Why do you like this person more than you like us?" he demonstrated before them the answer. One time they went to a forest, and he sent his own kids to get something. His kids said: "Why do we have to do it? We don't see anything there." When he instructed the servant, the servant — without even questioning the order of the king — did it right away. The king then turned to his kids and said: "That is why I prefer this person over you. Because when I order this person, he does not ask 'why do I have to do it?' — he does it without questioning."

The nature of a believer is that — as we see with the mala'ikah — they never said: "We are created from light and he is created from tin and from dirt — why do we have to make sujood?" They did as Allah ordered them to do. That's the very first thing we learn.

Lesson Two: Never Be Arrogant About Your Sins

The second thing that we learn is: look at the disobedience of Shaytan. Here is something that you cannot take very lightly. One thing is that you refuse to do your homework, or someone refuses to follow the law. But what if your boss came to your office and said "I want you to do this right now" and you flatly said to their face: "Get lost." Imagine you said that to your boss — the next day you would be on career websites sending your resume throughout the entire world.

Look at the disobedience of Shaytan: first of all he disrespected Allah, and then at the same time he disobeyed Allah. Unfortunately, when it comes to our own situation — when we look at our own lives — there are a lot of sins that we commit which we take very lightly.

There was a companion of Rasulullah ﷺ who used to say: there will come a time in the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ when they commit sins and they take them very lightly — and if we were to commit those same sins during the era of Rasulullah ﷺ, we would fear that the wrath of Allah would come upon us.

So one thing is to disobey — but then what did Shaytan do after that? He was arrogant about it. He tried to justify it. And this happens a lot with youngsters also. A lot of times youngsters try to fit into a group of friends, and what they will do is even the most foolish things in order to fit in — just to be part of the clique or part of the gang. So many people not only commit sins, but we see in the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ:

There is a person that Allah dislikes very much — and that is the person who commits mujahara. Mujahara means that not only do you commit a sin, but then you are arrogant about the sin. A youngster commits a sin and what do they do? They go on Facebook: "I did this, I did that." On Twitter — and then so many likes, "you did a great job," "lol," "omg" — and then there is fuel added under that sin.

We need to understand: if we commit a sin, we are not supposed to be arrogant about it. We commit a sin, we should ask for the forgiveness of Allah, keep that sin a secret, and let us stay at that. But what we see with Shaytan is that not only was he arrogant about it, but he committed something wrong and was arrogant about it.

The Contrast: Shaytan's Arrogance vs. Adam's Repentance

Later on — Adam (alayhi salam): when Allah ordered Adam (alayhi salam) and Hawwa (alayhi salam) not to come close to the tree, what did they do? Shaytan came, he attacked them, he persuaded them to eat from the tree — and they ate from it. Adam (alayhi salam) realized his mistake right away. Allah talks about this in the Qur'an — and Allah sent Adam (alayhi salam) to this earth. And what did he do after he made a mistake? He repented to Allah.

This is what we need to understand — this is something very important that we need to learn from the story of Adam and Iblis: both of them committed wrong. Both of them did something which was wrong. Both of them had a position higher than the angels. Both of them were in Jannah. One committed wrong and was arrogant about it. One committed wrong and repented to Allah about it.

We commit sins — none of us are perfect. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4251; classified as Hasan by al-Albani)

Each one of you commits sins — no one is perfect — but the best of those who commit sins are those who repent, who have regret and sincere and genuine sorrow over the sin that they have committed.

There is a saying — I'm sure you've heard it — the one who commits the crime and then is boastful about it, who tries to justify the crime: this is exactly what Shaytan did, and this is exactly why Shaytan was destroyed, why Shaytan has been disgraced till the Day of Judgment. And that is why we need to learn from this.

Lesson Three: Never Demean Others — Kibr is Rejected

The last thing we learn from what Shaytan did was kibr — arrogance. He compared himself to Adam, demeaning him. Demeaning others is something that is not accepted before Allah. You can be proud of what Allah has given each one of us — individually or collectively — but if we begin to demean others and disrespect others, this is what is called arrogance: kibr. This is not accepted by Allah.

Four Lessons to Take Away

To cap off, there are four things that we learn from the story of Adam (alayhi salam) and Iblis:

Number one: How he disrespected Allah — and how we need to stay away from disobedience. And even if we do disobey Allah, how we need to be sorry about it, how we need to show our grief about it.

Number two: A true believer never questions Allah — they do as they are commanded to do.

Number three: Never demean anyone else.

Number four: When you do make a mistake, instead of being arrogant about it, ask for the forgiveness of Allah.

Conclusion and Looking Ahead

Respected brothers and sisters, this story has been mentioned in the Qur'an — the story of Adam (alayhi salam) and Iblis — in several different places. Why? To help us understand what Shaytan did wrong. Now that we have understood who Shaytan is and why he hates us, inshallah in the upcoming khutbahs we will be taking one thing at a time.

In the last khutbah we talked about getting to know your enemy. Today we learned about who Shaytan is, why he attacks us, and why he has taken a promise to misguide the entire mankind. Inshallah in the next khutbahs we will be talking about what are his special tactics and how he attacks the Iman of a person.

May Allah give all of us the ability to act upon what He has said in the Qur'an.