The Blame Game: Man Shifts Responsibility to the Devil for Acts of Evil and Immorality

Accident – Death – Obituary News : If there were a court on earth where the devil (Satan) and man could seek redress, the number of cases between both could be as vast as the number of sinning men and women. While the hearing of all the cases would require a judge with persevering patience, there’s also the onerous task of ensuring that all the judgments would not be seen as one-sided, favoring one party over the other. This is because the devil would always be the accused in all the cases. In this discussion, we will delve into why man, not the devil, is to blame for his acts of naughtiness and defiance against Allah’s injunctions.

Recently, a businessman named Harisu Yahaya appeared before an area court in Kubwa, Abuja on Monday, October 30, 2023, claiming that it was the devil who pushed him to impregnate his fiancée, Maryam Muhammad. Yahaya’s confession came as a response to a petition filed by Maryam seeking maintenance claims for their six-year-old daughter. He stated, “I am the father of the child, and I’m not married to the plaintiff; it was the work of the devil that made me impregnate her.” When Yahaya claimed he had no resources to support the daughter, Maryam pleaded with the court to compel Yahaya to take custody of the child since he has parents who can provide care for her. She even expressed her willingness to withdraw her maintenance petition if Yahaya takes responsibility for their child.

In another shocking incident, a 43-year-old man named Abiodun Oladapo allegedly impregnated his 19-year-old daughter and placed the blame on the devil. He even went as far as asking his daughter to name someone else as responsible for the pregnancy. The victim, who is now five months pregnant, revealed to the police at the Mowe divisional police station in Ogun State that her father had been sexually abusing her since February 2022, threatening to kill her if she told anyone about it. Incest, unfortunately, has become a distressing common occurrence and is considered the most severe form of fornication.

Surprisingly, even clerics are not exempt from this blame game. In the same Ogun State in 2020, a 44-year-old pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) allegedly raped his own daughter. When the police arrested him after his daughter reported the matter at the Owode-Egbado divisional police headquarters, he blamed the devil for his actions, claiming that he was targeted by “the devil’s arrow”. The daughter informed the police that her father had been sexually abusing her since 2015, shortly after her mother’s death. She also disclosed that she had become pregnant for her father three times, and he had taken her to a nurse to have the pregnancies terminated.

These reprehensible acts are not isolated incidents. In 2021, Olaoluwa Jimoh was arrested on September 16 by police attached to the Ode-Remo division in Ogun State for repeatedly raping his daughter, resulting in her eventual pregnancy. The 19-year-old victim explained to the police that she had been living with her mother until two years ago when her father asked her to come and live with him. In June 2021, her father forcefully had sex with her, and since then, he had raped her multiple times, threatening her life if she dared to disclose the abuse. The suspect, once again, attributed his actions to the devil.

In a similar incident that took place in June 2019, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) arrested a 48-year-old man in Abuja for allegedly raping and sexually exploiting a 16-year-old orphan. The suspect confessed to sexually abusing the girl twice and claimed that it was the “work of the devil”. The Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, condemned the act as the utmost form of wickedness against a vulnerable and helpless orphan.

Apart from individuals engaging in sinful acts, nearly everyone who commits a transgression at any point in their life often attributes their undesirable behavior to the devil. Even a husband or wife who regrets the actions that led to their separation may blame the devil. Similarly, a student caught cheating in an examination may claim that the devil influenced their actions. When a thief is caught in the act, they may also hold the devil responsible for their wayward behavior.

It has become a common trait for sinners to describe their transgressions as the “devil’s handwork”. However, it is important to note that the devil would absolve himself of any blame from sinful men and women on the Day of Judgment. Allah explains in the Qur’an that after man listened to the devil’s invitation to disobedience on earth, the devil would, in the hereafter, exonerate himself by stating that it was man’s foolish choice to disobey Allah because the devil feared Allah. This is highlighted in Qur’an 59:16, which reads, “He says to man ‘Disbelieve,’ but when he disbelieves, he says, ‘I am innocent (of your accusations). Verily, I fear Allah, the Lord of the universe.”

It is truly astounding that the devil would claim innocence for the evils he led man into. The devil audaciously asserts a sense of self-righteousness, rating himself higher than the very man who chose the path of disobedience that he showed him. This is a last-minute betrayal of man by his worst enemy, who many consider their ally while on earth. If there is any lesson to be learned from Qur’an 59:16, it is the truth that those who blame the devil for their unwelcome actions are actually on their own, as the “Prince of Darkness” would openly disown them before Allah.

The devil would be justified in turning his back on man because the latter had the choice to ignore the former’s call to disobedience. Allah has granted man the power of reasoning, enabling him to choose between the path of guidance and the path of transgression. Therefore, man has no excuse to blame the devil. May Allah guide us to always resist the devil’s invitation to unrighteousness. Amen..