Satan was (Azazil) the father of genies, and in his material life he lived thousands of years, before the creation of Adam, and he was righteous, then he died and God admitted his soul (or spirit) to Paradise in heaven, and made him a chief of the angels on account of his righteousness and obedience.
Then when Azazil saw himself in such position, he conceived the self-conceit and over-pride so he saw himself loftier than other angels in Paradise, while God dislikes such trait of his servants; because the loftiness and pride is exclusively for God alone: He is the God, the Creator, the Almighty and the Lord of everything in the universe.
Now, if God tells Azazil: Go out of Paradise, Azazil will say: Why do you drive me out of heaven, O Lord; I haven't done any bad thing!
Therefore, God made a trial of Azazil to expose his self-conceit and pride: He created Adam out of a black nasty smelling decayed organic substance: the rotten and decayed corpse of a dead body of a man in a grave; that grave came down included in the meteorites which were the remnants of a broken inhabited planet; that man lived in that broken up planet in the previous Doomsday.
Then God commanded the angels including Azazil to prostrate themselves before Adam in salutation and honoring; so all the angels complied the command of God, while Azazil with his self-conceit refused to prostrate himself to Adam and Azazil insisted on his disobedience .. so now he deserved the punishment and was driven out of Paradise in heaven.
Some people think that Satan (Azazil) was so powerful and strong so as to oppose God Almighty, which is not correct; but Azazil now becoming Satan or the Devil, pleaded God to postpone his punishment in Hell till Doomsday, and God granted him his request and postponed his punishment in Hell till Doomsday.
God in fact gave Azazil or Satan such respite, as a reward of his past righteousness and worshiping.
Therefore, Satan envied Adam, who did not yet worship God and yet he was to be honored by Satan and the other angels, and Satan became the enemy of Adam and his progeny.
So God decided that anyone follows Satan will be punished and anyone follows the apostles or messengers will be rewarded, and it is to see who truly believe firmly and who is a wrong-doer so he will follow Satan's suggestions.
And Satan does not oblige them, but he only suggest to them; so the wrong-doer will incline to follow him, and the good-doer will reject his suggestions.
http://www.quran-ayat.com/man/1.htm#Satan
quran-ayat.com/man/1.htm#Satan
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Therefore, if God likes He can guide all people to become believers; but He has decided that He will not guide the wrong-doer; and will punish the wrong-doer and transgressor.
So He made Satan as a trial of people to see who follows the suggestions of Satan who suggests the atheism, the disbelief, the idolatry and every indecent work; and to see who will have a firm beleif in God alone and in the Next Life and so will not follow the suggestions of Satan, but will follow God's commandments, specially the First Commandment that God is One only and to Him alone the worship is due.
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Therefore, it is God that gudies and misguides people as He pleases.
And see the reply in the thread of
The Cunning atheist leader.
