Your Story Needs A Villain — And It's Not Who You Think
#12: The Forgotten Enemy Every Muslim Must Confront
Every meaningful story has a villain. Every Prophet had an enemy. And every believer can live a prophetic story—if they recognize the conflict.
In narrative theory, most stories follow the Hero’s Journey (Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces) or a structure like Freytag’s Pyramid.
In all of them, the protagonist (Hero) must pass through:
Conflict (internal or external)
Antagonism (villain, a person, system, or force)
Transformation (through struggle and perseverance)
Without a villain, there is no struggle.
Without struggle, there is no story—only a boring article.
As Robert McKee writes in Story,
“A hero and his story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.”
So yes—it’s both safe and profound to say: The villain is essential to the story. So you need to pick up your enemy wisely to have a story worth telling and a transformation that can shake the world.
And the Quran confirms it.
Every prophetic story includes a central enemy. Sometimes it’s a tyrant. Sometimes, a corrupt society. But behind every layer of opposition stands one root enemy: Shayṭān (Satan)—the one sworn to derail the human story from its divine arc.
Allāh ﷻ names him Shayṭān in the Qur’an.
The root of the word is Shatana شطن which means to distance, to drive away.
So Shayṭān (Satan) is the one who distances you from Allāh—the one who pulls you away from the path and mercy of your Creator.
And yet… we forget.
We forget our only purpose:
To draw closer to God. To confront that enemy.
Instead, we start chasing other goals. We invent new compasses. We build new idols.
And in the process, we create pseudo-enemies—distractions that keep us occupied while the real enemy roams unchecked.
We no longer see our enemy clearly.
We blur the face of the one we were commanded to resist.
“Indeed, Shayṭān is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy…” (Quran 35:6)
When Allāh created Adam ﷺ, He allowed him to eat from any tree in Paradise—except one.
The command was simple, clear, and divine.
“Do not approach this tree or you both will be wrongdoers”
وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ (2:35)
There was no detailed explanation, no philosophical debate.
The message was: Obedience over understanding—the key to understanding the unseen.
This was the very first test. And it came with a warning:
So We said, "O Adam, indeed this [Satan] is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from Paradise so you would suffer.
Ta-Ha (20:117)
فَقُلْنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ إِنَّ هَـٰذَا عَدُوٌّۭ لَّكَ وَلِزَوْجِكَ فَلَا يُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ فَتَشْقَىٰٓ ١١٧
So We said, "O Adam, indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from Paradise so you would suffer.
— Saheeh International
Now imagine:
You’ve seen angels prostrate before you.
You’ve seen Iblīs refuse that command out of arrogance.
You’ve heard Allāh’s command.
And still…
You listen to the whispers of the one who defied God, and you eat from the very tree He forbade.
Satan has made the tree so tempting to Adam that he forgot everything else and focused on the tree.
That’s the tragic effect of giving our attention to Shayṭān’s whisper—
a weak enemy, but one who preys on our forgetfulness.
Even with all the signs, we fall for the same whisper. We underestimate the enemy.
We overestimate our strength. And we keep repeating the oldest mistake in human history. Eating from the Forbidden Tree.
The Forbidden Tree was indeed physical when Adam ate from it.
But like every prophetic story, it also carries a deeper, timeless message—a transcendent warning.
Satan deceived Adam by tapping into the human psyche:
The desire for immortality and the pursuit of power.
He didn’t tempt Adam with evil. He tempted him with more.
He said:
Ta-Ha (20:120)
فَوَسْوَسَ إِلَيْهِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ قَالَ يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَىٰ شَجَرَةِ ٱلْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍۢ لَّا يَبْلَىٰ
Then Satan whispered to him; he said, "O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and possession that will not deteriorate?"
— Saheeh International
It was a psychological trap. And it still is.
Satan had studied Adam. He knew his material origin—earth.
And what is from the earth always wants more. Even in physics, mass attracts mass. It’s gravitational. It’s primal.
So he dangled before Adam the two things that still drive us today:
Immortality (now rebranded as “longevity”)
Endless power (now measured in money, metrics, and status)
Just look at us today:
We chase “health spans,” superfoods, nootropics, the tree of life—searching for eternal youth. But we forgot that God is responsible for our life, not longevity tricks.
We measure our worth by bank accounts, degrees, followers, likes… even the so-called “body count”.
We’re still eating from the same tree of more.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
“If the son of Adam had a valley full of gold, he would wish for a second one. Nothing fills his mouth except the dust of the grave. Yet Allāh accepts the repentance of the one who repents.”
(Bukhari & Muslim)
And Allah says:
“You have been distracted by your mutual competition for more—until you visit the graves.”
(Surah At-Takathur 102:1–2)
That’s the human condition. And it’s the Satanic exploit.
Satan wants you to chase.
To chase your idols. Your "forbidden trees."
To make them your mission—and forget the remembrance of Allah.
This is not just a distraction. It’s a form of aggression against your soul.
And in many cases, it borders on shirk—when the idol of status or success becomes your object of devotion.
Take the modern education system. Satan turned education into our modern golden calf, and we bow to it daily.
From toddlerhood, we are conditioned not to awaken but to be domesticated.
We are trained to obey, perform, and chase grades, promotions, patents, and paychecks.
We begin life with wonder—and end up in fluorescent-lit classrooms, chasing someone else’s rubric of success.
I speak from experience.
I spent nearly four decades, culminating in a Ph.D.—being conditioned by this system.
And now, unlearning it has been the most painful, exhausting transformation of my life.
Once you’ve been stamped, once the programming sets in, it runs you on autopilot.
Even now, I wrestle daily with how to function without dragging the heavy backpack of indoctrination.
But the real tragedy?
We could’ve used all that time and energy to ask a simple question:
“What would make God pleased with me today?”
That intention alone would’ve realigned our actions, elevated our decisions, and made us creators, not only consumers.
Because serving Allah and serving humanity are not opposites. They are on the same path.
“Those who believe and do righteous deeds…”
(frequent Quranic refrain)
So no—I’m not calling on people to quit their jobs, abandon society, or isolate themselves in prayer.
Quite the opposite.
Worship is incomplete without action.
We are the Khilāfa—the vicegerents of God on Earth.
“I am placing a Khalifa on Earth.” (Quran 2:30)
That means working, creating, innovating, building, healing—but with the right intention.
With a heart that serves God and elevates His creation.
But you can’t live out this divine role until you understand the battlefield.
Until you learn your environment.
Adapt to its ecosystem.
And most importantly: identify the parasites.
Yes—parasites.
Satan is the parasite of your spiritual ecosystem.
He infiltrates silently, drains you without permission, and rewires your instincts.
He is not just your enemy—he is your infestation.
Quran (35:6)
إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۭ فَٱتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا ۚ إِنَّمَا يَدْعُوا۟ حِزْبَهُۥ لِيَكُونُوا۟ مِنْ أَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ ٦
Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.
And what happens when you ignore a parasite?
You get sick. Your body breaks down. You lose energy. You become a shell of who you were created to be.
Even in medicine, it’s becoming clear: many chronic diseases, including cancer, may be linked to parasitic dysfunction.
Some have found healing not through radiation and chemotherapy, but through parasite cleansing protocols.
I'm not giving medical advice—but I'm offering spiritual clarity.
If physical parasites can corrupt the body…
Then, how much more damage can a spiritual parasite like Satan cause to your soul?
So fight him.
Remind yourself daily: you have an enemy—and his goal is to destroy your story.
The better you recognize his patterns and guard your soul…
The more fulfilling your life will become.
The more powerful your legacy will be.
You are not just a character in a story.
You are meant to be the hero.
But only if you stop eating from the trees he keeps planting in your path.
So tell me—how would your life story change if you truly believed that Satan was your enemy… and that his greatest trick was convincing you to keep chasing more?
What would you stop doing?
What would you finally start?
👇 I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments.