Falling from the Sky: The Outcome of Idolatry
Among the Quran’s many vivid metaphors, few are as perplexing as the one found in Surah 22 (Al-Hajj), verse 31:
[22:31] You shall maintain your devotion absolutely to GOD alone. Anyone who sets up any idol beside GOD is like one who fell from the sky, then gets snatched up by vultures, or blown away by the wind into a deep ravine.
حُنَفَآءَ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِينَ بِهِۦ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَتَخْطَفُهُ ٱلطَّيْرُ أَوْ تَهْوِى بِهِ ٱلرِّيحُ فِى مَكَانٍ سَحِيقٍ
This verse has puzzled and captivated many students of the Quran. The imagery is surreal, even violent: a person falling through the sky, torn apart by vultures, or swept into a remote abyss by the wind. Why such intense visuals for something as abstract as idol worship? What does this metaphor reveal about the nature of spiritual failure—and more importantly, about our place in this world?
On the surface, the passage may seem obscure. But beneath it lies a layered warning about the consequences of misplacing our trust, reverence, or obedience in anything besides God. The verse is more than a threat; it’s a symbolic map of spiritual descent—charting what happens when we abandon God’s sovereignty for false sources of guidance or control.
To understand this metaphor, we must unpack each element: What does it mean to “fall from the sky” in Quranic language? Who are the “birds” that devour? What is the wind that drives a soul into a ravine? And how does all of this connect to the fundamental Quranic principle of worshiping God alone?
What Is Idol Worship?
Idol worship—or shirk in Arabic—is often misunderstood as simply the act of bowing to statues or believing in multiple gods. But the Quran presents a far more nuanced and penetrating definition. At its core, idol worship is the act of believing anything other than God can harm or benfit us.
[5:76] Say, “Would you worship beside GOD powerless idols who can neither harm you, nor benefit you? GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.”
قُلْ أَتَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرًّا وَلَا نَفْعًا وَٱللَّهُ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
[7:188] Say, “I have no power to benefit myself, or harm myself. Only what GOD wills happens to me. If I knew the future, I would have increased my wealth, and no harm would have afflicted me. I am no more than a warner, and a bearer of good news for those who believe.”
قُل لَّآ أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِى نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ ٱلْغَيْبَ لَٱسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ ٱلسُّوٓءُ إِنْ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ
While many claim with their lips that they believe only God controls benefit and harm, their actions often portray a different belief. The Quran exposes this contradiction: idol worship occurs when someone chooses to obey a source that contradicts God’s clear command. If a person truly believes only God has power, then God’s word will carry the highest weight. But if someone chooses another authority over God’s instruction, it reveals a deeper truth—that they believe the other source can protect them, reward them, or save them more than God can.
This is why the Quran emphasizes that God’s testimony must hold supreme authority for those who truly worship Him alone. Those who uphold another testimony over God’s are setting up another god alongside God.
[6:19] Say, “Whose testimony is the greatest?” Say, “GOD’s. He is the witness between me and you that this Quran has been inspired to me, to preach it to you and whomever it reaches. Indeed, you bear witness that there are other gods* beside GOD.” Say, “I do not testify as you do; there is only one god, and I disown your idolatry.”
قُلْ أَىُّ شَىْءٍ أَكْبَرُ شَهَـٰدَةً قُلِ ٱللَّهُ شَهِيدٌۢ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَأُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانُ لِأُنذِرَكُم بِهِۦ وَمَنۢ بَلَغَ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ ءَالِهَةً أُخْرَىٰ قُل لَّآ أَشْهَدُ قُلْ إِنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَـٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ وَإِنَّنِى بَرِىٓءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ
Whenever God says X, and someone else says Y—then those who choose Y over X—are prioritizing another entity’s words above divine command. The Quran is clear: that is idolatry.
[6:121] Do not eat from that upon which the name of GOD has not been mentioned, for it is an abomination. The devils inspire their allies to argue with you; if you obey them, you will be idol worshipers.
وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا۟ مِمَّا لَمْ يُذْكَرِ ٱسْمُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَفِسْقٌ وَإِنَّ ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينَ لَيُوحُونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَوْلِيَآئِهِمْ لِيُجَـٰدِلُوكُمْ وَإِنْ أَطَعْتُمُوهُمْ إِنَّكُمْ لَمُشْرِكُونَ
This warning applies even when the source is religious. If God gives a command, but a religious leader or scholar teaches something different—and a person chooses to follow the scholar instead of God—they have, knowingly or not, elevated that scholar to the status of a partner with God.
[9:31] They have set up their religious leaders and scholars as lords, instead of GOD. Others deified the Messiah, son of Mary. They were all commanded to worship only one god. There is no god except He. Be He glorified, high above having any partners.
ٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَـٰنَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْمَسِيحَ ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓا۟ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَـٰهًا وَٰحِدًا لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
This last verse is especially striking. The people mentioned likely didn’t think they were committing idolatry. But by accepting the rulings and religious authority of men over God’s law, they fell into it without realizing.
Idolatry, then, is not always loud or ceremonial. Often, it’s quiet. It’s psychological. It creeps in through trust, dependence, and misplaced reverence. It may look like blind obedience to tradition. It may sound like “my scholar said…” instead of “God said…”. It may even appear noble—deferring to a religious figure or community for direction—but the Quran warns that when God speaks clearly, to follow anyone else over Him is a form of treason.
This is the threshold moment described in [22:31]: the moment someone trades God’s authority for another. From that instant, they begin their fall from the sky.
Falling from the Sky: A Metaphor for Spiritual Descent
The Quran’s imagery in [22:31] is stark: the one who commits idolatry is “like one who fell from the sky.” To modern readers, this may conjure images of planes or skydiving—but in the 7th-century Arabian context, this metaphor would have struck differently. People of that time had no experience with flight. So what does it mean to fall from the sky?
The Arabic word used here, as-samā’ ( ٱلسَّمَاءِ ), is rich in meaning. It can refer to the physical sky above us, but also to heaven, to elevation, to nearness to God. The Quran repeatedly uses this term in metaphorical ways—to signify spiritual heights, divine support, or a state of grace. Falling from the sky, then, is more than a physical image. It’s a symbol of losing divine favor, of being cast out from an elevated spiritual state.
We see this meaning echoed elsewhere in the same surah:
[22:15] If anyone thinks that GOD cannot support him in this life and in the Hereafter, let him turn completely to (his Creator in) heaven, and sever (his dependence on anyone else). He will then see that this plan eliminates anything that bothers him.
مَن كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَن لَّن يَنصُرَهُ ٱللَّهُ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ ثُمَّ لْيَقْطَعْ فَلْيَنظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُۥ مَا يَغِيظُ
The call to turn “to heaven” here is clearly spiritual—not physical. It’s an exhortation to rise above worldly dependencies and reconnect directly with God. Likewise, falling from the sky in [22:31] can be understood as the opposite: disconnecting from God and placing trust in false sources of power.
This metaphor also ties back to the primordial fall—the one we all participated in. According to the Quran, humanity was originally in a state of closeness with God. But through disobedience, we fell:
[2:36] But the devil duped them, and caused their eviction therefrom. We said, “Go down as enemies of one another. On Earth shall be your habitation and provision for awhile.”
فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ وَقُلْنَا ٱهْبِطُوا۟ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَلَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
Adam and his spouse were removed from the elevated state (al-jannah) due to their disobedience. The fall from paradise was not just geographical; it was spiritual. It marked a shift from nearness to God to the dunyā—a word that not only means “world” but also “lower” in Arabic.
So when the Quran says that the idolater “falls from the sky,” it’s not just describing punishment. It’s describing a loss of spiritual altitude—a soul descending from a state of purity and proximity to God into a world of chaos, confusion, and vulnerability.
It is the beginning of a tragic trajectory. And it’s only the first stage.
Snatched by Vultures or Blown into a Deep Ravine
After describing the fall from the sky, the verse presents two possible outcomes for the one who commits idolatry:
[22:31] “…then gets snatched up by birds, or blown away by the wind into a deep ravine.”
فَتَخْطَفُهُ ٱلطَّيْرُ أَوْ تَهْوِى بِهِ ٱلرِّيحُ فِى مَكَانٍ سَحِيقٍ
These two images—being devoured by birds or swept away by wind into a remote abyss—are not arbitrary. They represent two distinct paths of spiritual destruction, both resulting from the same root: idol worship.
1. Snatched by Birds: Destruction by External Forces
The image of vultures seizing a falling body conveys the terror of being preyed upon. These birds don’t cause the fall—they simply lie in wait, circling above, ready to devour the vulnerable. The metaphor illustrates what happens to those who, after falling from God’s grace due to their own actions, become exposed to external, predatory forces.
This idea aligns with the archetype described in the Fãtehah of those who have deserved wrath.
[1:7] “…not of those who have deserved wrath…”
غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ
These are not merely misguided souls. They are those who knowingly reject God’s guidance, who substitute it with falsehood, and who thereby bring wrath upon themselves. Like the body snatched by birds, they are not simply falling—they are being torn apart by the very forces they chose to align with.
[26:221] Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?
[26:222] They descend upon every guilty fabricator.
هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ عَلَىٰ مَن تَنَزَّلُ ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينُ
تَنَزَّلُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٍ
The devils—like vultures—descend on the already guilty, those who fabricate lies and persist in sin. These individuals are not innocent victims; their prior actions—namely their rejection of God’s truth—expose them to even greater ruin. They are spiritually unshielded, and the devils descend accordingly. This theme continues in Surah 7 from the warnings and advice God gave after the fall of Adam.
[7:27] O children of Adam, do not let the devil dupe you as he did when he caused the eviction of your parents from Paradise, and the removal of their garments to expose their bodies. He and his tribe see you, while you do not see them. We appoint the devils as companions of those who do not believe.
يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ لَا يَفْتِنَنَّكُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ كَمَآ أَخْرَجَ أَبَوَيْكُم مِّنَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ يَنزِعُ عَنْهُمَا لِبَاسَهُمَا لِيُرِيَهُمَا سَوْءَٰتِهِمَآ إِنَّهُۥ يَرَىٰكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُۥ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا تَرَوْنَهُمْ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Here we see that devils become awliyā’—protectors, allies, even masters—of those who have fallen. The Quran presents disbelief and disobedience as a signal flare to the unseen forces. Without God’s protection, a person becomes spiritually naked—just as Adam and Eve were stripped of their garments—exposed to attack.
This metaphor is a warning: idol worship doesn’t just result in moral confusion—it opens the door to external forces that prey on the spiritually exposed. Once the connection to God is severed, a person becomes spiritually visible to the devils, and—like birds circling overhead—they come down swiftly.
2. Blown into a Deep Ravine: Internal Confusion and Aimlessness
In contrast, the image of being swept away by the wind into a deep ravine suggests aimlessness, instability, and spiritual drift. This person is not devoured, but scattered—lost in ideas, trends, and philosophies that lead further and further from truth.
The wind in the Quran is often associated with God’s will or worldly forces. But here, it represents forces that carry the unanchored soul away—not necessarily with violence, but with disorientation. The ravine (makān saḥīq) is not just physically distant; it is the spiritual abyss, and reflects the archetype of the strayers (aḍ-ḍāllīn) who have lost their way:
[1:7] “…nor of the strayers.”
وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ
They are not necessarily rebellious, but misled. Their downfall is not aggression, but drift—gradually abandoning the truth, losing their moral compass (35:8), and corrupting their innate desire for monotheism (30:30).
A similar image appears in [24:40], describing those who lack divine light:
[24:40] Another allegory is that of being in total darkness in the midst of a violent ocean, with waves upon waves, in addition to thick fog. Darkness upon darkness—if he looked at his own hand, he could barely see it. Whomever GOD deprives of light, will have no light.
أَوْ كَظُلُمَـٰتٍ فِى بَحْرٍ لُّجِّىٍّ يَغْشَىٰهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ سَحَابٌ ظُلُمَـٰتٌۢ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَآ أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُۥ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَىٰهَا وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ ٱللَّهُ لَهُۥ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُۥ مِن نُّورٍ
This is the condition of the one swept into the ravine—lost in darkness, far from any source of guidance.
Together, the birds and the wind illustrate two fates: one aggressive, one passive. One devoured, one forgotten. One punished by external agents, the other swallowed by spiritual erosion. Both stem from the same fall—the moment when God’s authority was replaced by something else.
And both can be avoided… if the fall is stopped before it begins.
Conclusion: The Gravity of Allegiance
Surah 22:31 offers one of the most visually arresting metaphors in the Quran—a soul falling from the sky, only to meet one of two tragic ends: devoured by vultures, or scattered by wind into the abyss. These are not random poetic images. They are precise spiritual diagnostics. Each element reveals the natural consequences of placing anything—any voice, authority, or desire—above God.
The “fall from the sky” is the moment of disobedience, the severing of devotion to God alone. It reflects the original fall of Adam and the universal descent of the human soul when it replaces God’s authority with another. From that moment, one of two trajectories begins:
- The vultures symbolize the punishment for those who knowingly reject God’s truth and become prey to corrupting influences. They are the maghdūb ʿalayhim—those who deserve wrath for their sins and transgressions in this world. They are exposed, spiritually unprotected, and devoured by the very forces they empowered.
- The wind-blown are for those who have gone astray and have fallen farther away from God. These are the ḍāllīn—the strayers, and their destiny is the abyss where they will be long forgotten, for they forgot God.
[20:124] “As for the one who disregards My message, he will have a miserable life, and we resurrect him, on the Day of Resurrection, blind.”
[20:125] He will say, “My Lord, why did you summon me blind, when I used to be a seer?”
[20:126] He (God) will say, “Because you forgot our revelations when they came to you, today you are forgotten.”قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ أَتَتْكَ ءَايَـٰتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمَ تُنسَىٰ
The Quran warns us that both paths begin the same way: idol worship. And idol worship is not just bowing to stone—it is obeying a source other than God. It is fearing someone else, trusting someone else, following someone else, when God’s command is clear.
But the verse doesn’t open with the fall. It opens with the command that protects from it:
[22:31] “You shall maintain your devotion absolutely to God alone.”
حُنَفَآءَ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِينَ بِهِ
This is the safeguard. This is the anchor. In a world full of seductive voices, deceptive scholars, inherited norms, and cultural winds, there is only one way to be protected from this outcome: complete and unwavering devotion to God alone.
Idolatry breaks that connection. And once we let go, gravity does the rest.
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