41وَاذكُر عَبدَنا أَيّوبَ إِذ نادىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيطانُ بِنُصبٍ وَعَذابٍAli UnalAnd remember Our servant, Job, when he called out to his Lord: “Surely Satan has caused me to be afflicted with distress and great suffering.”1On the suffering of Job and his supplication to God, see sūrah 21: 83–84, notes 15–16. For any event to take place, for a thing to come into and go out of existence, and for a blessing or an affliction to visit a person, there are two causes: one apparent and visible, material; the other real and invisible. The former cause relates to the material world with the beings in it and human beings themselves, while the latter relates to God. God allows something good or evil to visit a person either because of that person’s belief or unbelief; good or evil intention and deeds; or purely as a blessing or harm for them, either to test them or to make them rise to higher ranks. Like all other apparent, material causes, Satan is also a cause for human beings to do something. Like all other material causes, he also has no creative effect on anything that takes place. So, the Prophet Job’s attributing his affliction to Satan as a cause can be seen to be either like the Prophet Moses’ qualifying the enmity and fighting which led to someone’s death as of Satan’s doing, or that Satan and other jinn may actually cause some illnesses in the human body. The second alternative invites medical research. Another point that should be mentioned here is that although the Prophets are sinless, this does not prevent them from seeing themselves as having faults or lapsing, or from asking God for forgiveness. Since they are extremely sensitive to their duties and their relationship with God, they asked for God’s forgiveness much more than other people. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, says: “I ask for God’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance (according to al-Bukhārī, “Da’awāt,” 3) more than seventy times (or according to Muslim, “Dhikr,” 41, a hundred times a day.”