The Devil and the Cosmic Order

(This article is translated to English version by Lanny Octavia and edited by Jonathan Zilberg, previously published in Indonesian on 1/11/2004)

Every Ramadan, we hear hadits about the opening of the gates of heaven and the closing of the gates of hell, as well as about the “fettered” devil. The liberal ulama explain these hadits in a number of ways in order that they may be perceived as reasonable. Instead of interpreting these hadits literally, they tend to approach them as metaphors regarding the opportunity for doing good deeds during the month of fasting and the spiritual rewards for carrying out such deeds. But if the devil is really fettered during Ramadan, according to the textual interpretation, how can we explain the bad deeds people commit during Ramadan? Isn’t the devil the source of all sin?

Taufik al-Hakim, an Egyptian author, wrote a short story about al-Syahîd (the martyr) which is an extreme story about the shackling of the devil. Therein, he wrote about a devil who wants to repent. In order to do so, it visits various religious institutions in order to find guidance. It goes to Rome to visit the pope in the Vatican, to Jerusalem to visit Israel’s highest Rabi, and to Cairo to visit Sheikh al-Azhar of Egypt.

The devil expects that these religious figures will accept his repentance but none of them do for how can they believe that the devil will really repent having been destined to be evil. Moreover, if they accepted the devil’s repentance, wouldn’t it annul and change the content of the holy book since the devil is a major character in it? And even if his repentance was accepted, the consequences would be profound since not only would it change the holy book’s content but the whole cosmic order as well. If the devil repented, where would the temptation for bad deeds come from? Wouldn’t humans turn into angels – and become naturally obedient and never rebellious?

Al-Hakim’s story is a result of his provocative imagination. Perhaps his message is that we should observe everything in the world as functional – both good and evil. The temptation to commit evil will never disappear. What really matters in the end is that we learn to overcome temptation and this is at the core of fasting: self control or imsâk.

Therefore, people whoattempt to eliminate temptation during Ramadan by “sweeping” pubs and other places for entertainment should reflect upon their actions. Such actions do not illustrate the power of our faith and a triumph over the devil. [Novriantoni]