Satan’s aspects which leads one to stand against Allah

Pride and haughtiness

Pride is a bad psychological state and it is one of the Satan’s aspects which leads one to stand against Allah, resist His orders, behave as superior to other people, make little of the others’ right and scorn the others.

Being pride before Allah is the thing that has prevented the Satan from prostrating himself before Adam and therefore he deserved the eternal curse and was driven out of the sanctum of the angels to be under the eternal torment on the Day of Resurrection.

A proud one, whether his pride is before Allah, the prophets, the Qur'an, the infallible imams or the other people, just imitates the Satan and so he will be cursed and driven away from the mercy of Allah.

As Iblis has been lowered from his exalted rank because of his pride as the Qur'an has stated, a proud man also is lowered from the human rank and Adamic position to the lowest of the low.

The Qur'an announces that the proud deserve a painful punishment on the Day of Resurrection;

“…and as for those, who disdain and are proud, He will chastise them with a painful chastisement and they shall not find for themselves besides Allah a guardian or a helper.” Qur'an, 4:173

The Qur'an sees also that the proud are out of the sanctum of the love, mercy and care of Allah and this group of people are disliked and hated by Allah the Almighty;

“…surely He does not love the proud.” Qur'an, 16:23

On the Day of Resurrection the proud will be ordered to enter into Hell with meanness, insult and severe blame;

“Enter the gates of hell to abide therein, evil then is the abode of the proud.” Qur'an, 40:76

The Prophet (s) has said, ‘Avoid pride because one is still being proud until Allah will say: write the name of this slave of Mine among the tyrants!’[1]

Imam Ali (s) has said, ‘Beware of pride because it is the greatest of sins, the meanest of defects and it is the ornament of Iblis!’[2]

He has also said, ‘I wonder at the son of Adam! His beginning is a sperm, his end is carrion and he grows between the two; he is a container of excrement and then he becomes proud!’[3]

The Prophet (s) addresses the all by saying, ‘Beware of pride for pride has made Iblis not prostrate himself before Adam!’

Summary

We have discussed in the previous pages some of the bad morals and not all of them. In fact what we have mentioned is some examples of those vices that sometimes make man lose this life and suffer in the afterlife.

If man’s inward is polluted with the other part of vices, he will be changed into the worst of beasts and he will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection with this animal morals. These vices are; imitating the foreigners, keeping on ignorance, corruption in generation and corruption in economics, heresy, pride, laziness and weakness, thieving, murdering, prohibited imitation, suspecting the others, scrupling, meanness and lowness, causing sedition, talebearing, polytheism, wide expectations, recklessly hastiness, hard-heartedness, stubbornness, vain arguing, singing, disagreement and separation, hatred, bad fanaticism, greediness, spying on the defects of people, stinginess, adultery, envy, being undutiful to one’s parents, wife, children and other people...etc.

If we want to discuss all these subjects in details by the help of the Qur’anic verses and noble traditions, we will need to write several books and volumes. These items must be understood in full by reviewing the interpretations of the Qur'an and the famous books of Hadith and ethics.

In this chapter we try to review in a hurry the previous subjects and matters to end our research with them.

In one of the chapters of this book we have talked about the material and moral blessings which Allah has granted to man and then the ground has been prepared for man to make use of these Divine blessings and gifts in the way of obedience and worship. We have seen that sins, crimes and disobediences are the results of using these Divine blessings and gifts in ways other than what Allah has created them for. Using these blessings in a way other than what Allah has determined leads man towards deviation and then he goes away from his Merciful Creator.

In another place, we have discussed the fact of repentance and turning to Allah and said that repentance and turning to Allah are to put the Divine blessings and gifts in their actual ways as Allah has determined. In other words, repentance is regretting on the one hand and repairing what has been destroyed before on the other hand and on a third hand to turn towards the future and to walk in the way of reforming oneself and the others.

In another place, we have referred to the fact that whatever man was polluted with sins he was just like a sick man where all the doors of cure and recovery were available near Allah and they all were open to that sick man so he should not despair and neglect his state. He should know and believe that Allah accepts repentance from His people and His great power and mercy include the state of the repentant sinful easily and save him from what he has been in and all his sins whatever great they are can be forgiven and covered by Allah. But a repentant sinful must pay all the rights of the others back to them and must pay all the legal dues mentioned in the Qur'an to their deservers. He must perform his missed obligations, repair his previous bad deeds and shortcomings and determine sincerely to give up sins and disobediences forever.

In an important part of this book, we have referred to the Qur’anic verses and noble traditions concerning the matter of repentance and showed in a special part the stories of the repentant persons especially that some of these stories have not been heard by people. And at the end of this book we have discussed the way of reforming the repentant with the help of the Qur’anic verses and the traditions of the Prophet (s) and the infallible imams (s) under forty titles of moral and Qur’anic concepts.

I think that the persons, who have involved in sins and disobediences, should read this book themselves or the preachers and speechers of Friday Prayer may show to the attendants of their meetings the summaries of the subjects mentioned in this book that they may be useful to the listeners and specially the sinful ones who want to repent and turn to Allah.

One, who is responsible for guiding people and instructing them, should not despair of his task or slacken in his duty. A preacher must be like the prophets and the saints who have been as kind fathers to the deviate people. They have treated them with kindness and love and considered them as their children. They have guided them to the path of good and benevolence and explained to them the Divine verdicts of lawful and unlawful things, human ideals and good manners in a sphere full of love, peace and respect. In this way they have armed themselves with patience and perseverance until they have carried out their aims.

The leader of the knowers, guardian of the lovers and commander of the believers Imam Ali (s) has confirmed to the guides, the preachers and (the spiritual doctors) not to despair of curing their patients.

The most important factor of attracting the Divine mercy in this life and in the afterlife is to love people, to treat the sinful kindly and mercifully and to bear pains and tiredness in order to attract them to the fort of repentance.

It has been narrated that once a man said to the Prophet (s), ‘I like my Lord to have mercy on me.’ The Prophet (s) said to him, ‘Have mercy on yourself and have mercy on the people of Allah and then Allah will have mercy on you!’[4]

From among the creatures of Allah there are the sinful persons who have been involved because of several reasons into sins and disobediences and they should not be driven away or treated rudely and harshly. One should treat them as if they were sick. The sick person, who asks us to cure him, really deserves to be treated kindly and leniently. We have to invite him and if he does not come, then we should go to him, talk to him with utmost kindness and leniency and show to him the dangerous effects of sins in this life and in the afterlife and that the mercy and care of Allah have not stopped for even a moment throughout his life. We remind him of that and encourage him that Allah may help him to repent and return to the path of the truth. Being patient and perseverant to guide a sinful person and to make him repent and turn to Allah is better than all the other deeds and its reward will be more than the reward of all the other good deeds.

Ameerul Mo'mineen (s) has said, ‘Once the messenger of Allah (s) sent me to Yemen and said to me, ‘O Ali, do not fight anyone until you invite him to believe. By Allah, if Allah guides a man at your hand, it will be better to you than all what the sun has shone and set on and you will be his guardian, O Ali.’[5]