Creation

Now we already know a bit about the angels,

God's message bearers,

that there are different kinds, and some of them we call archangels,

and some of the archangels even have their own names,

like Jibril, who we have already heard of.

But also mentioned in the Qur'an alongside Jibril is Mika'il,

and there are others with their own names, such as Israfil and Izra'il.

But as well as the angels, we also know that there is another completely different kind of being to humans,

those beings we call the Jinn, that the Qur'an tells us are made of some kind of smokeless fire,

and like angels they can take shape, but usually remain invisible.

And there was even one angel that was created by God to be different to all the others,

given the choice to disobey God, and in doing so to become not an angel, but a Jinn.

That creature was known as Iblis,

who challenged God

and who now tries to get humans to do the same.

And in English we call this creature Satan,

or the Devil

but muslims usually prefer to use the Arabic name Shaitan.

And it is said that Shaitan whispers in our ears,

trying to tempt us away from what is right and good

and lead us in the direction of what is bad for us.

That whisper is what we hear inside our heads

telling us that doing what is bad for us

will feel better than doing what is good for us.

That whisper is what we call temptation.

And temptation doesn't have to come just from inside our heads.

Humans can also tempt each other to act like Iblis and challenge God.

But that's just another part of the complicated process of

deciding what is good and what is bad,

and knowing how to choose good by ignoring temptation,

ignoring the whisperings of Shaitan.

And humans have been wrestling with Shaitan in their heads

from the time that they were tempted in the Garden until now,

and ever will be until the end of time.

Humankind,

both male and female,

equally sharing the responsibility

to understand and recognise what it means to be good,

and struggling against all temptations to be bad.

And the male and the female are equal because one was not created from the other,

nor was one created before the other,

for Qur'an tells us that the first humans,

Adam and Eve,

were created from one soul.

And one did not tempt the other to disobey God,

for both were tempted and both disobeyed,

and both fell from the Garden

to live out the rest of their lives on earth.

And since that time,

the family of humankind has spread around the earth,

needing to struggle against temptation

if they are to get back to the Garden.

How important it is to resist temptation

when the result of going astray

can do such damage in our lives.