The ILL Seed

Azazeel was a Jinn who was so high in worship that due to his diligent worship, his ranks had been raised by Allah SWT and he used to sit with the angels. The question arises that “HOW COULD SOMEONE WITH SUCH A PIOUS AND OBEDIENT BACKGROUND REFUSE TO ALLAH AND THAT TOO DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIM?“

Allah tells us in the Quran that when he (Iblees) was asked to explain himself as to why did he refuse to do sajda to Adam AS, the first thing he said was “I AM BETTER THAN HIM”. And the logic he gave for it was that “you made me from fire and you made him from dirt” (which is a very dumb logic by the way). Then he went on further BLAMING ALLAH SWT saying that “since you have led me astray, now I would sit on your straight path and then attack them from front, behind, right and left and You will not find most of them grateful.” 

The question arises WHY WOULD HE BELIEVE THAT HE IS BETTER THAN ADAM AS?  That is because this stems from a belief, which is “I DESERVE THIS THING AND I’M NOT GETTING IT”. How come I should prostrate to someone who is not worthy of this, I deserve this instead. 

But it doesn’t end here! It only begins! 

Please analyze! 

He did not focus on what Allah had already blessed him with – The fact that no other Jinn had the honor of being amongst the angels. Instead of focusing on the favors of Allah and being grateful, he focused on what he didn’t have and had a desire to have it, therefore being ungrateful. And this my friends is the SEED! 

Please understand this! This INGRATITUDE – focusing primarily on and having a strong desire to have what you don’t have is the root cause of all of this! 

So here are the key takeaways from the above story. 

• When you focus on things that you don’t have and desire them strongly instead of focusing on what you have and being content with them, you become UNGRATEFUL which is the SEED through which stems the belief that I deserve and I’m not getting it which then gives rise to all kinds of diseases of the heart like jealousy, resentment, having ill feelings towards others, etc.
• Where as if you Focus on what you already have and become content with it, then you become grateful which is the seed through which comes the belief that I don’t  deserve anything and I have already been given so much that I am so much indebted to my creator which then gives rise to HEALTHY ATTITUDES LIKE SERVING ALLAH AND HIS CREATION, AND A SOUND HEART WHICH BEARS FRUITS LIKE IMAN, PURITY, LOVE FOR ALLAH AND HIS CREATION ETC. 

That is why at the end, in above ayah, he said “ وَلاَ تَجِدُ اَكْثَرَهُمْ شٰكِرِيْنَ” “You will not find most of them grateful”. He knew that this ingratitude is the seed and if this seed is watered it would raise all sorts of heart diseases which is his prime goal because once the heart is corrupted, then everything else gets corrupted as Allah said in the Quran, “its not the eyes but the hearts in the chests that are blind” 

Bottom line – Focus on what you have and be content with it and know that YOU DON’T DESERVE ANY OF THIS that you have. This is the key to a peaceful life. May Allah instill true اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه in us. Ameen.