Satan’s objective in this world is to try to make people believe in falsehood. There are different degrees of falsehood, but the biggest falsehood of all is that of idol worship.
22:62 It is a fact that GOD is the Truth, while the setting up of any idols beside Him constitutes a falsehood, and that GOD is the Most High, the Supreme.
Usually, when individuals think of idol worship, they consider people who prostrate or call upon entities besides God, and while this is a form of idol worship this doesn’t cover the whole spectrum of what constitutes idol worship. According to the verses of the Quran, the most simple form of idol worship is to believe that anything independent of God has the power to harm or benefit a person.
10:106 “You shall not worship beside GOD what possesses no power to benefit you or harm you. If you do, you will be a transgressor.” If GOD touches you with a hardship, none can relieve it except He. And when He blesses you, no force can prevent His grace. He bestows it upon whomever He chooses from among His servants. He is the Forgiver, Most Merciful.
So this shows that only God has the power to harm or benefit a person. The second we think some other entity can harm of benefit us and counter what God has willed then we are setting up an idol next to God. Even the messenger’s themselves acknolwedged that they themselves have no power and all power is in God’s hand.
10:49 Say, “ I possess no power to harm myself, or benefit myself; only what GOD wills takes place.” Each community has a predetermined life span. Once their interim comes to an end, they cannot delay it by one hour, nor advance it.
An example of this form of idol worship can be observed in the dialogue between the two people and their garden in Sura 18.
18:32 Cite for them the example of two men: we gave one of them two gardens of grapes, surrounded by date palms, and placed other crops between them. 18:33 Both gardens produced their crops on time, and generously, for we caused a river to run through them. 18:34 Once, after harvesting, he boastfully told his friend: “I am far more prosperous than you, and I command more respect from the people.” 18:35 When he entered his garden, he wronged his soul by saying, “I do not think that this will ever end. 18:36 “Moreover, I think this is it; I do not think that the Hour (the Hereafter) will ever come to pass. Even if I am returned to my Lord, I will (be clever enough to) possess an even better one over there.” 18:37 His friend said to him, as he debated with him, “Have you disbelieved in the One who created you from dust, then from a tiny drop, then perfected you into a man? 18:38 “As for me, GOD is my Lord, and I will never set up any other god besides my Lord. 18:39 “When you entered your garden, you should have said, ‘This is what GOD has given me (Mã Shã Allãh). No one possesses power except GOD (Lã Quwwata Ellã Bellãh).’ You may see that I possess less money and less children than you. 18:40 “My Lord may grant me better than your garden. He may send a violent storm from the sky that wipes out your garden, leaving it completely barren. 18:41 “Or, its water may sink deeper, out of your reach.”
18:42 Indeed, his crops were wiped out, and he ended up sorrowful, lamenting what he had spent on it in vain, as his property lay barren. He finally said, “ I wish I never set up my property as a god beside my Lord.”
This individual believed that what gave him respect, power, and prestige was his gardens and neglected to realize that all power belongs to God alone. By thinking that his garden was benefiting him independent of God he was setting up his property as a god beside God. That just as easily as God provided him with his gardens He can just as easily take it away, and that is exactly what God did in order to teach him this valuable lesson.
Contradictory Sources
Another way that idol worship can manifest is by accepting any other information over the information directly provided by God.
6:121 Do not eat from that upon which the name of GOD has not been mentioned, for it is an abomination. The devils inspire their allies to argue with you; if you obey them, you will be idol worshipers.
The only reason that someone would do such a thing is that they think this other source has the power to harm or benefit them and therefore is more worthy of being followed. Either they think this other information is more trustworthy or that if they go against this other source then some entity other than God can harm them. An example of the latter can be seen in the following verses when Abraham debated with his people.
6:79 “I have devoted myself absolutely to the One who initiated the heavens and the earth; I will never be an idol worshiper.” 6:80 His people argued with him. He said, “Do you argue with me about GOD, after He has guided me? I have no fear of the idols you set up. Nothing can happen to me, unless my Lord wills it. My Lord’s knowledge encompasses all things. Would you not take heed? 6:81 “Why should I fear your idols? It is you who should be afraid, since you worship instead of GOD idols that are utterly powerless to help you. Which side is more deserving of security, if you know?” 6:82 Those who believe, and do not pollute their belief with idol worship, have deserved the perfect security, and they are truly guided.
But the reasons someone may choose to follow a contradictory source other than what God has revealed could also happen not becuae of fear or intimidation but because the case being made may sound alluring and tantilizing. An example of this can be seen between the dialoge between the devil and Adam in Paradise.
7:20 The devil whispered to them, in order to reveal their bodies, which were invisible to them. He said, “Your Lord did not forbid you from this tree, except to prevent you from becoming angels, and from attaining eternal existence.” 7:21 He swore to them, “I am giving you good advice.” 7:22 He thus duped them with lies. As soon as they tasted the tree, their bodies became visible to them, and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise. Their Lord called upon them: “Did I not enjoin you from that tree, and warn you that the devil is your most ardent enemy?”
Satan’s Purpose
God allowed Satan the ability to entice people with lies. The reason that God allowed Satan such powers is that it is through Satan’s lies and deceptions that we can be refined, to prove that we stand with God on all fronts. This is because the purpose of this life is to have our claims of believing in God tested.
29:2 Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe,” without being put to the test? 29:3 We have tested those before them, for GOD must distinguish those who are truthful, and He must expose the liars.
The Quran cites the example of truth versus falsehood through the metaphore of foam and refinement.
13:17 He sends down water from the sky, causing the valleys to overflow, then the rapids produce abundant foam. Similarly, when they use fire to refine metals for their jewelry or equipment, foam is produced. GOD thus cites analogies for the truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it goes to waste, while that which benefits the people stays close to the ground. GOD thus cites the analogies.
The foam is the representation of falsehood and it is the byproduct that is produced when items are purified. When we are purified through the attempts made upon us by the devil, either through tantilizing promises or fear and intimidation, if we are succsful it will purify our souls and allow us redemption back into God’s kingdom.
Satan’s Objective
Satan’s objective in this world is not just to lead a single person astray, but to try to lead all of society astray.
7:17 “I will come to them from before them, and from behind them, and from their right, and from their left, and You will find that most of them are unappreciative.”
He does this through manipulation and deception, just like we saw in the example of Adam and Eve in Paradise. In addition, he can mobilize individuals who have bought into lies for his agenda.
17:64 “ You may entice them with your voice, and mobilize all your forces and all your men against them, and share in their money and children, and promise them. Anything the devil promises is no more than an illusion. 17:65 “As for My servants, you have no power over them.” Your Lord suffices as an advocate.
Once someone accepts the lies from Satan, they become his pawn to do his bidding.
7:179 We have committed to Hell multitudes of jinns and humans. They have minds with which they do not understand, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear. They are like animals; no, they are far worse—they are totally unaware.
In the following verse, Satan explicitly states how he is going to go about carrying out his strategy.
4:119 “I will mislead them, I will entice them, I will command them to (forbid the eating of certain meats by) marking the ears of livestock, and I will command them to distort the creation of GOD.” Anyone who accepts the devil as a lord, instead of GOD, has incurred a profound loss.
The expression translated as “ and I will command them to distort the creation of GOD.” can be understood in any number of ways and is oftentimes abused to condemn all kinds of things, but for the sake of this article I will hopefully resort to an interpretation that everyone can generally agree with.
One of the names of God is the Truth. Everything that God creates therefore is founded in truth. This is becuase the falsehood has no foundation and is incapable of standing on its own. Therefore any distortion in God’s creation would constitute falsehood.
34:49 Say, “The truth has come; while falsehood can neither initiate anything, nor repeat it.”
35:41 GOD is the One who holds the heavens and the earth, lest they vanish. If anyone else is to hold them, they will most certainly vanish. He is Clement, Forgiving.
14:24 Do you not see that GOD has cited the example of the good word as a good tree whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches are high in the sky? 14:25 It produces its crop every season, as designed by its Lord. GOD thus cites the examples for the people, that they may take heed. 14:26 And the example of the bad word is that of a bad tree chopped at the soil level; it has no roots to keep it standing. 14:27 GOD strengthens those who believe with the proven word, in this life and in the Hereafter. And GOD sends the transgressors astray. Everything is in accordance with GOD’s will.
Satan and Society
Society dies when trust in society is lost. Trust is lost through the spread and promotion of falsehood. Today Satan has infiltrated virtually every institution from politics, media, corporations (Big Tech, Big Pharma, Hollywood), science, and academia.
Turn on any mainsteam pundit and you will be inundated with lies.
Gender is a social construct
Sex is a social construct
The term female needs to be replaced with terms like “birthing people”
Men menstruate
Men give birth
Men who identify as a woman and are still sexually attracted to women should be allowed to use women’s bathrooms, shelters, locker rooms, and prisons
Teachers should be able to indoctrinate children with LGTBQ propaganda
School administrators and not parents know what is best for the well-being of children
Children should be able to decide for themselves to mutilate their genitals or take puberty blockers without the parent’s consent
That any difference in outcome is because of racism
Math is racist
Science is racist
Babies are racist
All cops are racist
George Floyd was a saint
If you don’t support BLM you are racist
That BLM spending millions to buy homes isn’t corruption
Kyle Rittenhouse was the aggressor
That everyone and everything is racist
That the color of your skin alone determines whether someone is the oppressor or oppressed
The Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation
The Biden election was the most honest election in history
Joe Biden is not compromised by his shady business dealings
That Joe Biden is cognitivaely fit to be president
If you didn’t lock down during COVID you were responsible for killing grandma, that is unless you are out in the street protesting racism
Kids weren’t being negatively impacted developmentally or mentally by the lockdowns or mask-wearing
Masks requirements are for public health and not social control
COVID did not come out of a lab in Wuhan
Killing babies is woman empowerment
Free speech is for tyrants
In the past, the objective of the news was to report the facts, today the objective of the news is to try to manipulate you to believe in blatant falsehood.
They tell us to follow “the science” but they only want to follow the scientist they want to listen to. Additionally, oftentimes scientists have their own motivations that are at odds with the truth. We see this with global alarmism, COVID 19, and the claims of systematic racism.
Overtone window
The Overton window is the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. It is also known as the window of discourse.
Religious Falsehood
These infiltratoins into the mainstream would not have been possible wihtout he the severe dismantling of any integrity in the religious insitutions.
23:71 Indeed, if the truth conformed to their wishes, there would be chaos in the heavens and the earth; everything in them would be corrupted. We have given them their proof, but they are disregarding their proof.