Conceit Opens Way for Man’s Fall
The story of Satan refusing to obey God and prostrate before Adam (AS) is a known story that has important points to remember.
God says in verse 11 of Surah Al-A’raf: “We created and shaped you, then told the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam. All the angels obeyed except Satan who did not.”
God commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam (AS) for Him not to prostrate to Adam (AS). However, Satan’s conceit and his haste in Kufr prevented him from correctly understanding what God had said and that led him to disobey God and thus he was deprived of God’s favor.
Vanity and self-conceit are among the strongest traps set by Satan that can lead man astray and set the ground for his fall. One who has this characteristic in him will make mistakes in analyzing situation and moves toward destruction.
In verse 34 of Surah Al-A’raf, God says: “All people can only live for an appointed time. When their term ends, they will not remain (alive) even for a single hour, nor will they die before the appointed time.”
According to this verse, no people are there forever, as human societies have a certain time to live just as every person has an appointed time and when that time comes, he dies.
So the rules governing the life and death of individuals also govern the life and deaths of societies and nations. What leads societies and nations towards their deaths includes deviation from the path of the truth and justice, moving toward oppression and injustice and placing too much importance on worldly desires and luxuries.
God says in verse 51 of Surah Al-A’raf: “On that Day We will neglect those who were deceived by the worldly life and who treated their religion as a useless game, because they had forgotten such a day and rejected Our revelations.”
