# Why does God Allow the Devil? - Did God and the Devil Have a Bet? - Towards Eternity

- Language: en
- Published: 2026-08-26
- Canonical: https://blog.towardseternity.com/en/blog/why-does-god-allow-the-devil-did-god-and-the-devil-have-a-bet-towards-eternity
- Source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-rDWkxEaAQ
- Channel: Towards Eternity

This is the cleaned transcript of the source video. The speech is unaltered.

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Is there a rational proof of the devil? If Allah forbid sin, why does he allow the devil to lead people to them? Isn't there a contradiction here? You both say the devil was created from fire and that he will go to hell. How will fire harm fire? Is there a bet between Allah and the devil? How are you going to explain this? We prepared questions about the devil that people are most curious about, that are most frequently asked and that are equally difficult. If you're ready, let's begin. Can the devil be something that evil people invented to throw all the blame on him? Is there a rational proof of the devil? If Islam is the truth, then something that Islam is talking about is also true.

In other words, something that proves Islam also proves the existence of the devil. But apart from that, when you look at yourself and the things around you, you can clearly understand the existence of the devil. For example, imagine that there is a very cute 4-year-old boy. You look at him, he is innocent. he has no crimes, he doesn't harm anyone. But when you look at the same person again 20 years later, he might turn into a completely harmful person to the people around him. He can become someone who deceives people, who lies or who turns people against each other by slander or backbiting. You say, “Is that boy and this guy the same person?” You cannot associate those two.

So for this child to become like this, there must be someone in the background who leads him into committing sins. Someone who will make the sins look attractive, who will try to convince that person. There must be a devil in the background. So, how will he deceive from the inside? For example, he will say: “They're not giving you the money you deserve, so this does not count as bribery or theft.” He'll always try to make you believe in seemingly logical arguments like this. There has to be someone like that, and you know what's interesting about this? A person might be immersed in sins despite believing in the existence of hell.

Normally, a person who believes in hell should not be doing any sins. That means there's someone in the background who deceives and tries to make committing sins feel normal. With many logical conclusions like this, the existence of the devil can be clearly understood. It is said that both the devil and the nafs invite people to sin. What's the difference between them? How can I understand the difference? There is no concept of logic in the nafs (the lower self). And the devil is like the mentor of the nafs. In other words, the nafs inclines, It wants to do things, It has animal desires but the devil's role is to show the logical size of those things to the person and tries to deceive him.

Let me try to explain this with an example. If you ask any Muslim who drinks alcohol, he actually doesn't want to do it. He feels a sense of guilt. Wanting to drink alcohol is basically the desire of the nafs. The nafs makes the person want alcohol. And the person says: “But this is a sin. I shouldn't do it.” But then the devil comes into play, tries to make it seem logical and convince him. He says things like, “You need alcohol right now. It's good for your psychology. You have to get away from your problems for a while” etc. Can anyone do something they don't want to do? If they can do it, then there must be someone who deceives, there must be a devil. Who's actually messing with me?

If Allah forbid sin, why does He allow the devil to lead people to them? Isn't there a contradiction here? In essence, mankind has already been given the opportunity to reject what the devil says. Human beings have a will. The devil never fully takes control of the person's will and drags him to sins. This shouldn't be misunderstood. But apart from this, there is a principle that says: "Something is either beautiful in and of itself or beautiful in terms of its consequences." The devil’s suggestions to us and his inviting us to sins seems to be evil at face value, but in fact, as a result, it's not evil. How? Let me give you an example. A teacher basically teaches lessons.

Then he makes an exam. And in the exam, under each question, he puts the right choice along with the wrong choices. If he only puts the right choice, he won't be able to understand in any way who has actually studied or if they are good students or not. Because of this, he also puts the wrong choices so that the quality of the student who picks the right choices can be revealed. What Allah does here is actually similar. In other words, He allows the devil to invite His servants to sins but when the servants do not listen to the devil despite the temptation of the sin, when they choose what is good and do good deeds, then their ranks are elevated. They show their true qualities.

For example, when you look at angels, there is no such thing. whatever the ranks of the angels are, they always stay that way. Why? Because the devil doesn't mess with them but as human beings, when we do not follow the devil, we rise to higher ranks than most of the angels. Think of the exact opposite possibility. On the one hand, there are people who will rise to very high ranks and earn paradise and on the other hand, there are people who will miss the opportunity of being successful in the test. Do you think Allah would cancel the concept of being tested for the sake of the people in the second group? He wouldn't.

So, the fact that the devil messes with people and the creation of such a thing as sin, are all actually good things in the end. Wouldn't it be better for man if he had been created directly as an angel without going through any tests, without any struggle with the devil, and without the possibility of hell at all? Asking such a question is probably asking it because he thinks he will fail the test. But if someone is careful about his acts of worship, if he is doing well in his test, he won't ask such a question. For example, who gets happy when an exam is canceled? The ones who didn't study for the exam, right?

I mean, if a person has studied very well for the exam and thinks he will get good grades, he wouldn't want it to be canceled. And if it's canceled, he would be upset, not happy. Just like this, if Allah canceled this test because of the people who would waste the opportunity of being successful in it, that would be unfair to the good people. The owner of the property can do whatever he wants with this property. I mean, Allah has already created angels as beings who don't commit any sins. Therefore, what is expected from human beings should be different. Is there a bet between Allah and the devil? How are you going to explain this?

As I understand your asking about the following issue, the devil says to Allah: "Give me some time. I will lead mankind astray until the Day of Judgment." In response, Allah says: You won't be able to lead My sincere servants astray, the ones that have ikhlas. Now there's this basic mistake in this question. Who is the devil that Allah will take him on and bet against him? Can He destroy him if He wants? He can. Can he throw him straight to hell? He can, but he doesn't. What does He do instead? He makes the devil serve the human beings to whom he refused to prostrate. How does he make him serve them?

Think of it this way: When you asked the question: "Why does Allah allow the devil to lead people astray?" What did we say when we answered that? We said "The devil actually serves for the spiritual elevation of man", right? Incredible people have come out as a result of this: Ulemaa, awliyah, pious people who stay away from sins and become close to Allah. We said "Millions of great servants have emerged," right? What is the reason behind all this? The devil messing with them. Allah doesn't punish the devil directly. What does He do instead? He makes the devil serve the human beings to whom he refused to prostrate and through him, He raises many great servants from mankind.

On the surface, the devil thinks he is doing what he wants. But on the contrary, Allah led him into such a trap that the devil doesn’t even realize it. As far as we know, the devil believes in Allah. If he believes, how is it that he does not obey the command to prostrate to Prophet Adam? The devil was actually a wise jinn who worshipped Allah before this prostration issue, but there is this one detail: If a person is not careful while worshiping or improving himself in terms of knowledge, his knowledge or worship can lead to his arrogance. That's what the devil has too. I mean, he's got some serious arrogance. Allah actually reveals the devil’s arrogance, when he refuses to prostrate there.

His arrogance is so inflated that he also tries to justify himself. When you look at it, what he did is the first example of racism. In fact, don't we see similar cases today? I mean does the devil believe in Allah? He does. Do we? As Muslims, we do. Allah commands the devil to prostrate, and he commands us to prostrate too, He commands us to make salah. The devil says: "You created me from fire, You created him from dirt." And we say: "I don't have time, I don't have this or that..." or "I'm not available." They're both excuses. In other words, the person who asks this question can understand this issue better if he looks at Muslims who don’t make salah. Isn’t prostration to Allah alone?

Why does Allah want Prophet Adam (pbuh) to be prostrated to? This prostration shouldn’t be perceived as an act of worship. Since it’s Allah who has given the command, obeying His command is already worshipping Allah. For example, we are currently turning to the Kaaba as our qibla, right? When we prostrate, do we prostrate to the Kaaba? No. What does Allah do? He directs us all to one place, unites us in one place and accepts the prostration we make towards there as done to Him. Just like this, Allah asks all the angels to prostrate to Prophet Adam (pbuh). Why?

He will entrust human beings with a high mission: Mentioned in the 30th verse of Surah al-Baqara, man has the mission of being a khalifa (a successor on the earth). Since man has been appointed to such a supreme task, we can also think of the prostration here as a sign of respect, a declaration of allegiance. In other words, this counts as worshipping Allah because His command is fulfilled. You both say the devil was created from fire and that he will go to hell? How will fire harm fire? Now being created from fire is one thing, being fire is another thing. For example, human beings were created from dirt, right? But is he dirt? He's not. So when I throw dirt at you, can I hurt you?

Yes, I can. The devil was created from fire, but he is not fire. So, there is nothing that prevents the devil from going to hell and suffering. Apart from this, burning with fire is not the only punishment in hell. So the devil will get that punishment anyway, You can relax. It’s the devil who is trying to deceive us, okay. Then who deceived the devil? His pride and ego. We said at the beginning, "The devil has gone too far in arrogance." You know, when people's ego gets too inflated, some normal behaviors start to feel abnormal to them. Because of his arrogance, the command of prostration seems extreme to the devil. It does not sound normal, and he refuses.

So there's no need for someone to deceive him. He refuses to prostrate because it is too much for his ego. Let's imagine that the devil regrets what he did and wants to stop, can he repent? I mean, can he be forgiven and go to heaven? The answer may change depending on who you mean when you say “the devil”. I mean if you're referring to the head of the business, the actual devil, there's no such thing for him because it is said in the Qur'an that he will go to hell. Besides, the decision he has made has darkened his soul so much that it is no longer possible for him to get on the right path. Imagine that he went into a room, locked the door, broke the key and threw it away.

He has done something like this, there's no going back for him. But when you say “devil” you mean the other devils, namely the jinns who do not believe, repenting is possible for them. There have been some ulemaa who have witnessed such things. These are all the questions for now. Is there any final thing you want to say? What we are dealing with is the devil who has as much experience as the history of mankind. So far, he has been able to deceive many people more or less whether they were scholars or geniuses. Therefore, it is necessary to take refuge in Allah from him.

It is very interesting that Allah says at the end of the 76th verse of Surah an-Nisa: "Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak." Do you know why? Because the devil only encourages you, directs you, does not take away your will. In addition, human beings are given a weapon called repentance. The devil may have kept you in sins for a very long time. But everything can end with just one repentance or asking for forgiveness, everything can be wiped clean. The devil can lead a man on his path for 40 years. But when the man repents, everything gets erased. We have such a weapon in our hands.

In addition, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi says in Risale-i Nur: "Asking for forgiveness and repentance cuts off the inclination to evil." What does that mean? In other words, Allah has given us very powerful means to protect ourselves from the devil. When we hold on to these things and try to recognize and learn about his traps, we are protected from him by the permission of Allah.