Dr. Rashad Khalifa
Satan wanted to be a god beside God, so God created Adam to expose him and created us to show we can worship Him alone without partners.1
After the feud, God's creatures fell into four groups: angels upheld His authority, animals rebelled then repented, jinns agreed with Satan, and humans failed to take a firm stand.1, 2
Billions of years ago Satan, a high-ranking creature, thought his God-given powers made him fit to be a god besides God, but only God has the qualifications and ability to be a god.1, 2
The angels expected God to banish the undecided creatures, but God in His mercy gave us a chance to denounce our mistake because He knew some deserved redemption.1, 2
The original sin was not Adam eating from the forbidden tree but our failure to uphold God's absolute authority during the Great Feud.1
We are in this world because we committed a horrendous crime, and this life is our chance to redeem ourselves, denounce that crime, and rejoin God's kingdom.1
After our original sin, God gave us a chance to denounce our crime and accept His absolute authority, but we chose to see a demonstration of Satan's competence as a god.1
Predestination is a fact from God's point of view but not from ours, since we remain totally free to side with God's absolute authority or with Satan's polytheistic views.1
The Quran speaks of two deaths: the first came when we failed to make a stand with God's absolute authority and lasted until our birth, and the second ends our life in this world.1
The righteous die only once, the death we already experienced as a consequence of the great feud, and God spares them the retribution of Hell.1, 2
Satan believed his God-given powers qualified him to function as an independent god.1
The misery, disease, accidents, and war in Satan's dominion show that Satan is incompetent.1
After giving the rebels sufficient chances, God exiled the hard core rebels to Earth to give them yet another chance to redeem themselves.1
Animals, trees, the sun, moon, and stars, and deformed and retarded children are repentant rebels who perform a submissive role in this world and are redeemed back to God's kingdom.1, 2, 3
Billions of years ago Satan, a high ranking creature, imagined he could run a dominion as a god besides God, an idea born of ego, which is arrogance augmented by ignorance.1, 2
Humans are the half of the hard core rebels who were less convinced of Satan's view, and the ego is what stands between most of us and redemption, which is why killing the ego is commanded.1, 2
Most of the creatures who sided with Satan accepted God's offer to submit, while a tiny minority of about 150 billion creatures refused.1
The dispute in the Heavenly Community proves that God's creatures have freedom of choice, and that freedom is God's gift to His creatures.1, 2
Believers should not be swept along with the crowd as they were in the heavenly society, nor measure their worship against a world oblivious to God.1, 2, 3, 4
We are in this world because we failed to take a firm stand for God's absolute authority in the heavenly society, and we are here to denounce that and return to God.1, 2, 3
Humans were given a second chance in this world so that those who end up in Hell cannot claim they were not given another chance; all excuses are being nullified.1, 2, 3, 4
There were degrees of conviction at the time of Satan's blasphemy, from jinns who completely agreed with Satan, to most humans who were wishy washy, to some who were swept with the crowd.1, 2, 3
When Satan's blasphemy occurred billions of years ago, some of us were swept along with the crowd, God knew this, and so we deserved the chance to come here to be redeemed.1, 2, 3
Our job in this world is to redeem ourselves, and our rank on returning depends on how much we develop our souls.1, 2, 3
Adam existed before his clay body was created; God originally created Adam, every human, and every other creature, and all were well until the great feud.1, 2, 3
Before the great feud all creatures lived in God's kingdom and all was well; then Satan's idea split them, with the vast majority upholding God's absolute authority and a small minority siding with Satan.1, 2, 3, 4
God made Satan a dominion and constituents to expose his claim; those who agreed with Satan became his constituents and the earth became his dominion.1
The feud in the high society is a crucial event in the history of the universe, and the Quran calls it awesome news that people are unaware of.1, 2, 3
When the angels suggested putting all the rebels in hell, God said He knows what they do not know and gave the rebellious minority another chance to submit.1, 2, 3, 4
The whole purpose of our creation is to show the angels that we, without seeing God, will worship God alone without partners.1, 2, 3
When Satan blasphemed billions of years ago there were degrees of conviction among us; some were swept by the crowd and deserve a chance at redemption, and God grants them the true message.1, 2, 3
We are in this world because we committed a gross crime billions of years ago, and God, out of mercy, gave us a chance to redeem ourselves by denouncing idol worship.1, 2, 3, 4
Humans were created to work hard to redeem themselves from the ancient crime of not taking a firm stand with God's absolute authority.1, 2, 3
We come into this world unaware of the incident in the high society and receive two messages: God alone from God, and God plus others from Satan.1, 2, 3
Humans are the most egotistic of God's creatures, and the ego is what exiles us from God's kingdom.1, 2, 3, 4
Humans are rebels banished from God's kingdom, this world is a halfway house, and its pleasures are like provisions given to prisoners of war, ridiculous compared to the Hereafter.1, 2, 3, 4
The whole idea of our existence is to show that God needs no partner, by worshiping God alone without idolizing Muhammad, Jesus, Mary, saints, or anyone.1, 2, 3
Satan, though incompetent as a god, is a master deceiver who has dedicated his existence to misleading as many people as possible and keeping them confused about the truth.1, 2, 3
We exist to worship God alone, because Satan wanted to be a god with God, and humans must prove that God can be worshiped alone without any prophet beside Him.1, 2, 3, 4
Humans are in this life because before creation they failed to take a firm stand for God when Satan claimed he could be a god, unlike the angels.1, 2, 3, 4
Out of His mercy and forgiveness God gave humans a second chance to redeem themselves instead of sending them straight to hell.1, 2, 3
Out of mercy God gave the creatures who sided with Satan a second chance, because He knew some of them truly believed in His absolute authority deep in their hearts.1, 2, 3