104. 'Evil ones' embraces all evil beings, whether they belong to the human
species or to the jinn. Here the reference seems to be to both.
When moral and material decline set in among the Israelites, they were overwhelmed
with slavery and ignorance, with misery and poverty, and with humiliation and
decadence. They were thus drained of all high ambitions and increasingly turned
to magic, sorcery, witchcraft, charms and amulets. They began to search for
facile means such as spells that would spare them hard work and yet ensure the
achievement of their desired ends. At this stage they were misled by the evil
ones, who made them believe that the mighty kingdom and astonishing power of
Solomon were merely due to occult sciences and magical formulae, and that by
revealing those they would pass on to them the keys to success. People were
so engrossed in such practices that they ignored both the Book of God and anyone
who summoned them to truth and righteousness.
105. There are various opinions on the interpretation of this verse. My own
conclusion is that at the time when the whole Israelite nation was chained in
slavery and captivity in Babylonia God sent two angels in human form in order
to test the Jews. In the same way as angels were sent to the people of Lot in
the form of handsome youths see (Quran 11: 69 ff. - Ed.), they were presumably
sent to Israel in the form of divines who could work magic and sorcery. These
angels at once began working their magical wonders but they warned the people
that their presence among them was designed to test their faith, and that they
ought not to jeopardize their After-life by the practice of magic. Despite the
warning it seems that the Israelites had become so fond of their magical artifices
that they continued to resort to talismans and sorcery.
It should not surprise anyone that angels came down to earth in human form;
angels are dutiful servants of God's kingdom, and are capable of assuming the
form appropriate to the specific task they are required to perform at any particular
time. Who knows how many angels may be busy performing their duties in our midst
even today!
One might also wonder why angels should teach people magic, which is after all
intrinsically evil. In order to understand this we must remember that the nature
of their task was no different from that of an undercover policeman who hands
over marked currency notes to a corrupt official as a bribe with the aim of
ensuring that he is caught red-handed.
106. This shows that the greatest demand was for magical arts and charms
to sow discord between a man and his wife and to procure the eventual seduction
of the latter. This was the depth of moral depravity to which these people had
fallen. A people cannot sink to a lower level of moral degeneracy than when
adulterous affairs become their favourite pastime, and when seducing a married
woman is considered a boastful achievement. The matrimonial relationship is,
in truth, the very foundation of man's collective life. The soundness of human
civilization depends on the soundness of the relationship between the two
sexes.
Hence, nothing could be worse than the person who strikes at the very foundations
of the structure which supports both him and society as a whole.
There is a Tradition from the Prophet to the effect that Satan sends his agents
on their missions to all parts of the world. On their return these agents report
their achievements with each mentioning his own special evil act. But Satan
is not completely satisfied with any of them. It is only when an agent reports
that he has succeeded in separating a wife from her husband that Satan is filled
with joy and embraces him. (Bukhari, 'Talaq', 25 - Ed.) In the light of this
Tradition it is understandable why the angels who were sent to the Israelites
to test them were asked to disclose those magical arts which would lead to separation
between a husband and his wife, for the inclination of a people to learn such
arts is a sure index of its moral decadence.