Iblis ( ar, إِبْلِيس, translit=Iblīs), alternatively known as Eblīs, is the leader of the
devils
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in many and various cultures and religious traditions.
Devil or Devils may also refer to:
* Satan
* Devil in Christianity
* Demon
* Folk devil
Art, entertainment, and media
Film an ...
() in
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. According to the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, Iblis was thrown out of
heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
, after he refused to prostrate himself before
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
. Regarding the origin and nature of Iblis, there are two different viewpoints.
In the first version, before Iblis was cast down from heaven, he used to be a high-ranking angel (''Karub'') called
Azazil
In many Islamic and Islam-related traditions, Azazil (Arabic: عزازيل ''ʿAzāzīl'', also known as Arabic: حارث ''Ḥārith'') is the legendary prototype of the devil in Islamic culture. Azazil was considered to be among the nearest t ...
, appointed by God to obliterate the original disobedient inhabitants of the earth, who were replaced with humans, as more obedient creatures. After Iblis objected to God's decision to create a successor (), he was punished by being relegated and cast down to earth as a (devil). In the alternative account, God created Iblis from the fires beneath the seventh earth. Worshipping God for thousands of years, Iblis ascended to the surface, whereupon, thanks to his pertinacious servitude, he rose until he reached the company of
angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
in the seventh heaven. When God created Adam and ordered the angels to bow down, Iblis, being a
jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
created from fire, refused, and disobeyed God, leading to his downfall.
In the Islamic tradition, Iblis is often identified with ("
the Devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
"), often known by the
epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
( ar, ٱلرَّجِيْم, lit=the Accursed, links=no). is usually applied to Iblis in order to denote his role as the tempter, while is his proper name. Some
Sufi Muslims
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spiri ...
hold a more ambivalent role for Iblis, considering him not simply as the Devil but also as "the true
monotheist
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
", while preserving the term exclusively for evil forces.
Naming and etymology
The name ''Iblīs'' ( ar, إِبْلِيس) may have been derived from the
Arabic verbal root
The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowel ...
(with the broad meaning of "remain in grief") or ''('', "he despaired"). This is the major opinion among Arab scholars. His personal name was accordingly Azazil:
Some Muslim teachers, such as
al-Jili
Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī, or Abdul Karim Jili (Arabic:عبدالكريم جيلى) was a Muslim Sufi saint and Mysticism, mystic who was born in 1365, in what is modern day Iraq, possibly in the neighborhood of Jil in Baghdad. He is known in Muslim ...
, relate this name to ''talbis'' meaning confusion, because God's command confused him.
Another possibility is that it is derived from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''()'', via a
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
intermediary, which is also the source of the English word '
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
'. Yet another possibility relates this name to the ''bene
Elohim
''Elohim'' (: ), the plural of (), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it usually takes a singular verb and refers to a single deity, particularly (but not always) the God of Israel. At other times ...
'' (Sons of God), who had been identified with fallen angels in the early centuries, but had been singularized under the name of their leader.
However, there is no general agreement on the root of the term. The name itself could not be found before the Quran in Arab literature, but can be found in
Kitab al Magall
Kitab ( ar, کتاب, link=no, ''kitāb''), also transcribed kitaab, is the Arabic, Turkic, Urdu, Hindi and in various Indian Languages word for "book".
* ''Kitaab'', a 1977 Hindi language movie
* ''Kithaab'' (also written ''Kitab''), a 2018 Ma ...
, a Christian apocryphal work written in Arabic.
In Islamic traditions, ''Iblīs'' is known by many alternative names or titles, such as ''Abū Murrah'' (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: أَبُو مُرَّة, "Father of Bitterness") as the name stems from the word "''murr"'' - meaning "bitter", ‘''aduww Allāh'' or ‘''aduwallah'' (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: عُدُوّ الله, "enemy or foe" of God) and ''Abū Al-Harith'' (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: أَبُو الْحَارِث, "the father of the plowmen"). He is also known by the nickname "''Abū Kardūs''" (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: أَبُو كَرْدُوس), which may mean "Father who piles up, crams or crowds together".
Origin and classification
Iblis may either be a
fallen angel
In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said R ...
or a
jinni
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
or something entirely unique. This lack of final specification arises from the Quran itself, while Iblis is included into the command addressed to the angels and apparently among them, it is said he was ''from the jinn'' in Surah , whose exact meaning is debated by both Western academics and Islamic scholars. The motif of prostrating angels with one exception among them already appeared in early Christian writings and apocalyptic literature. For this reason, one might assume Iblis was intended to be an angel.
Samael
Samael ( he, סַמָּאֵל, ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom/Poison of God"; ar, سمسمائيل, ''Samsama'il'' or ar, سمائل, label=none, ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic ...
counterpart of Iblis. Both, created from fire, oppose God's new creation out of envy. In objection to the Quran relating Iblis to the jinn, some scholars argue this to be unlikely the general opinion of the Quran.Eichler, Paul Arno, 1889-''Die Dschinn, Teufel und Engel in Koran'' p. 60 Paul Eichler argues that, especially when the Quran calls Iblis a ''jinni'', his creation from fire is not mentioned, while when his creation from fire is mentioned, the connection between Iblis' fire and the fire of the jinn is absent. Whenever the Quran speaks about the creation of jinn, their fire is described with special attributes (like "smokeless"), whereas Iblis' fire is never described in such a manner throughout the Quran. In
Ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...
ern traditions, not only jinn, but also angels, such as a
Seraph
A seraph (, "burning one"; plural seraphim ) is a type of celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Chr ...
, have been associated with fire. Others proposed that ''jinni'' might have been a later interpolation, when both jinn and Iblis have been merged into the same category of evil spirits.Jacques Waardenburg argues, that Iblis' might have been considered an angel first, but appears to be a jinni in later Surahs. Whereas Satan has been known to be an angel in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Muhammad would have depicted Satan as a jinni, as a result of syncretism between monotheism and Arabian paganism, drawing a line between the angels on God's side and the jinn on the side of the pagans. The sharp distinction between angels and Iblis is supported by the later theological doctrine of angelic infallibility. While the angels possess no
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
, it is necessary for Iblis to be an entity apart, and Iblis being a jinni explains his downfall. Otherswise, it has been argued that supernatural creatures in early Islamic tradition were not expected to commit or reject
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
. Accordingly, Iblis could not be distinguished from angels by exercising free will in Islam's early stage, and Iblis would originally be depicted as created as a "rebellious angel".
Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
(''
Kalām
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
'') discusses Iblis' role in the Quran and matters of free-will. Some, especially the
Muʿtazila
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
, emphasize free-will and that Iblis freely chose to disobey. Others assert that Iblis was
predestined
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...
by God to disobey. By that, God shows his entire spectrum of attributes (for example; his ''wiliness'') in the Quran, but also teaches humankind the consequences of sin and disobedience.
Al-Damiri
Al-Damiri (1341–1405), the common name of Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa al-Damiri ( ar, كمال الدين محمد بن موسى الدميري), was an Arab Muslim writer from Egypt on canon law and natural history.
He wrote the first work ...
reports, most ''
mufassir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
'' do not regard disobedience alone to be the reason for Iblis' punishment, but attributing injustice to God by objecting God's order.
According to most scholars, Iblis is a mere creature and thus cannot be the cause or creator of evil in the world; in his function as a devil, he is seen only as a tempter who takes advantage of humanity's weaknesses and self-centeredness and leads them away from God's path. Iblis and his fellow devils can only operate with God's permission. The existence of evil has been created by God himself. The idea that God and the devil are two opposing and independent principles, has been rejected by Muslim theologians, like
Maturidi
Māturīdī theology or Māturīdism ( ar, الماتريدية: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (''Mujaddid''), and scholastic th ...
, as part of pre-Islamic Iranian beliefs.
Iblis also features as the progenitor of the devils, and thus referred to as the "father of the devils" (''abū al-shayāṭīn''). Egdunas Racius "Islamic exegesis on the jinn: Their origin, kinds and substance and their relationship to other beings"
Quran
Iblis is mentioned 11 times in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
by name, nine times related to his refusal against God's command to prostrate himself before
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
. The term ''
Shaytan
' (; ''devils'' or ''demons''), singular: (شَيْطَان) are evil spirits in Islam, inciting humans (and jinn) to sin by "whispering" (وَسْوَسَة, “waswasah”) to their hearts (قَلْب ''qalb''). Folklore suggests that they a ...
'' is more prevalent, although Iblis is sometimes referred to as Shaytan; the terms are not interchangeable. The different fragments of Iblis's story are scattered across the Quran. In the aggregate, the story can be summarised as follows:
When God created Adam, He ordered the
angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
to bow before the new creation. All of the
angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
bowed down, but Iblis refused to do so. He argued that since he was created from
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
, he is superior to humans, who were made from clay-mud, and that he should not prostrate himself before Adam. As punishment for his haughtiness, God banished Iblis from heaven and condemned him to hell. Later, Iblis requested the ability to try to mislead Adam and his descendants. God granted his request but also warned him that he would have no power over God's servants.
Affiliation
There are different opinions regarding the proper meaning of "among the jinni" in the Quran. Apart from the Quranic narrative, Islamic exegesis offers two different accounts of Iblis's origin: according to one, he was a noble angel, to the other he was an ignoble jinn, who worked his way up to heaven. Some also consider him to be merely the ancestor of jinn, who was created in heaven, but fell due to his disobedience, as Adam slipped from paradise when he sinned. It might be this moment, Iblis turned into a jinn, but has been an angel created from fire before.
According to exegetes of the Quran (''tafsir''), such as
ibn Abbas
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās ( ar, عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest mufassir of the Qur'an ...
,
Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...
Ash'ari
Ashʿarī theology or Ashʿarism (; ar, الأشعرية: ) is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Muslim scholar, Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer, and scholastic theologian Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the ...
,
Al-Tha`labi
Al-Tha''ʿ''labi (''Abū Isḥāḳ Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nīsābūrī al-Thaʿlabī'' ; died November 1035) was an eleventh-century Islamic scholar of Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically ...
,
Al-Baydawi
Qadi Baydawi (also known as Naṣir ad-Din al-Bayḍawi, also spelled Baidawi, Bayzawi and Beyzavi; d. June 1319, Tabriz) was a Persian jurist, theologian, and Quran commentator. He lived during the post-Seljuk and early Mongol era. Many commenta ...
Vicchio, page 183 and
Mahmud al-Alusi
Abū al-Thanā’ Shihāb ad-Dīn Sayyid Maḥmūd ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Ḥusaynī al-Ālūsī al-Baghdādī ( ar, أبو الثناء شهاب الدين سيد محمود بن عبد الله بن محمود الحسيني الآلوسي الب ...
Fr. Edmund Teuma ''THE NATURE OF "IBLI$H IN THE QUR'AN AS INTERPRETED BY THE COMMENTATORS'' 1980 University of Malta. Faculty of Theology Iblis was an angel in origin. Razi describes Iblis as "one of the closest angels" (''muqarrabun''). According to a tradition attributed to
ibn Abbas
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās ( ar, عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest mufassir of the Qur'an ...
and
ibn Masud
Abdullah ibn Masūd, or Abdullah ibn Masood, or Abdullah Ben Messaoud ( ar, عبد الله بن مسعود, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʽūd; c.594-c.653), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who he is regarded the greatest mufassir of Qu ...
, in case of Iblis, the term ''jinn'' is used in reference to ''
jannah
In Islam, Jannah ( ar, جَنّة, janna, pl. ''jannāt'',lit. "paradise, garden", is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of f ...
'' (heaven). Accordingly, Iblis was a guardian and of a sub-category of "fiery angels". These angels, created from fire (''nar''), are to be distinguished by both the angels of mercy, created from light (''nur''), and the earthly jinn, created from "smokeless fire" (''marijin min nar''). Tabarsi argued that, if Iblis were a jinni, he couldn't become a custodian of paradise among the angels.
Şaban Ali
Şaban, the Turkish is a popular cinema character, portrayed by Turkish actor Kemal Sunal. Both figures rose to fame hand in hand, as the commoner clean-hearted looks of Şaban on the screen became very popular among Turkish citizens, and the tw ...
argues that identifying Iblis as a jinni is a mistranslation. He states, instead of "was one of the jinn", the proper translation would be, analogous to Surah 2:34, "became one of the jinn" and that Iblis has been an angel first, but became a jinn when he becomes an unbeliever. The transformation of Iblis from angelic into demonic is used, by advocates of Iblis' angelic origin, as reminder of God's capacity to reverse something even on an
ontological
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
level. It is both a warning and a reminder that the special gifts given by God can also be taken away by Him.Tabari goes further in his Quran commentary, and argues against objections made against Iblis' angelic origin:
"There is nothing objectionable in that God should have created the categories of His angels from all kinds of things that He had created: He created some of them from light, some of them from fire, and some of them from what He willed apart from that. There is thus nothing in God's omitting to state what He created His angels from, and in His stating what He created Iblis from, which necessarily implies that Iblis is outside of the meaning of ngel for it is possible that He created a category of His angels, among whom was Iblis, from fire, and even that Iblis was unique in that He created him, and no other angels of His, from the fire of the Samum.
Likewise, he cannot be excluded from being an angel by fact that he had progeny or offspring, because passion and lust, from which the other angels were free, was compounded in him when God willed disobedience in him. As for God's statement that he was <one of the jinn>, it is not to be rejected that everything which hides itself (ijtanna) from the sight is a 'Jinn', as stated before, and Iblis and the angels should then be among them because they hide themselves from the eyes of the sons of Adam."
On the other hand, scholars arguing that the term ''jinni'' refers to jinn, and not a category of angels, don't need to explain Iblis' origin from fire, but they need to explain Iblis' stay among the angels. Examples of famous scholars who rejected Iblis' angelic origin are
Hasan of Basra
Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra (Arabic: الحسن البصري, romanized: ''Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī''; 642 - 15 October 728) for short, or as Hasan al-Basri, was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic ...
Ibn Taimiyya
Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم ...
,
Ibn Kathir
Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد; – 1373), known as Ibn Kathīr (, was ...
and
Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid 'Ibrāhīm Ḥusayn Quṭb ( or ; , ; ar, سيد قطب إبراهيم حسين ''Sayyid Quṭb''; 9 October 1906 – 29 August 1966), known popularly as Sayyid Qutb ( ar, سيد قطب), was an Egyptians, Egyptian author, educato ...
. This view is also attributed to the majority
Mu'tazilah
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
. They famously emphasize free will, and thus cannot argue that Iblis's has been predestined to fall, therefore his sin is necessary a result of rebellion against God's law, thus implying free will. This view was also popularized by Salafi scholars (such as
Muhammad Al-Munajjid
Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid (محمد صالح المنجد) (born June 7, 1960/30 Dhul hijjah,1380) is a Syrian-born Palestinian- Saudi Islamic scholar. He is the founder of the fatwa website IslamQA, a popular website for Saudi Arabian Salafi r ...
IslamQA.info
Islam Q&A is an Islamic da‘wah website that offers answers to questions about Islam based on the interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnah (including hadith) literature by its founder and its superviser Muhammad Al-Munajjid, an adherent of t ...
and
Umar Sulaiman Al-Ashqar
Umar Sulaiman Al-Ashqar (1940 - 10 August 2012: Arabic: عمر بن سليمان الاشقر) was a Salafi Muslim Brotherhood scholarOvamir Anjum1 ''Salafis and Democracy: Doctrine and Context
'' p. 21 who served as a professor in the Faculty of ...
, in his famous ''Islamic Creed Series'') in recent times.
There are two viewpoints regarding this matter. Hasan of Basra argues that Iblis has been the first of the
jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
, and thus, like Adam, been created in paradise. However, when he sinned, he and his progeny were cast out. Ibn Kathir on the other hand, follows the narrative that jinn have lived before Adam on earth, but, unlike ibn Abbas, argues that Iblis was not of the angels battling the jinn, but a jinni himself. Accordingly, Iblis was once an ordinary jinni but, due to his piety and constant worship, elevated among the angels. He explains Iblis' jinnic origin as follows:
"When Allah commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, Iblis was included in this command. Although Iblis was not an angel, he was trying - and pretending - to imitate the angels' behavior and deeds, and this is why he was also included in the command to the angels to prostrate before Adam. Satan was criticized for defying that command, (. . .)
(So they prostrated themselves except Iblis. He was one of the Jinn;) meaning, his original nature betrayed him. He had been created from smokeless fire, whereas the angels had been created from light, (. . .)
When matters crucial every vessel leaks that which to contains and is betrayed by its true nature. Iblis used to do, what the angels did and resembled them in their devotion and worship, so he was included when they were addressed, but he disobeyed and went what he was told to do. So Allah points out here that he was one of the Jinn, he was created from fire, as He says elsewhere."
Many scholars also point out to the doctrine of angelic infallibility, arguing that Iblis could not have been an angel therefore. However, this view is contested and depends on exegetical decisions on Quranic verses, both about the nature of angels and the meaning of free will. While Hasan al Basri is known for exempting angels from all deficits,
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
is reported as distinguishing between obedient angels, disobedient angels such as
Harut and Marut
Harut and Marut ( ar, هَارُوْت وَمَارُوْت, Hārūt wa-Mārūt) are two angels mentioned in Quran 2:102, who are said to have been located in Babylon. According to some narratives, those two angels were in the time of Idris. The ...
and unbelievers among the angels, like Iblis. For some, Iblis' disobedience is part of God's will. God would have created Iblis, differing from the other angels, from fire, installing a rebellious nature in him, so he will rebel and be endowed with the task to seduce humans, just as other angels are endowed with different tasks corresponding to their nature.
Fate of Iblis
While the Quran sentences Iblis to hell, interpreters are undecided if Iblis is already in hell, or will be thrown into hell after the Judgement Day. Some sources describe him and his host of devils as the first who enter hell to dwell therein forever, while according to others, he is already in hell. Due to the devils' creation from fire, some authors suggest they do not burn in hell, but will suffer in from intense cold (''Zamhareer''), instead of fire. Alternatively, Iblis is killed before the Judgement Day. Among
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
Muslims, the idea prevails that the
Mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
will kill Iblis. In manuals about Islamic eschatology, when Iblis is the last one on earth, the angels of divine justice will seize and kill him.
Yet others argue, that Iblis does not act upon free-will, but as an instrument of God. When Iblis is cast down to hell, he were sent to ''Sijjin'', and didn't ask God to spare him from punishment in hell, but requested a chance to redeem himself by proving that he is right and leading humans into sin. Accordingly God makes him a tempter for humanity as long as his punishment endures. Ibn Arabi writes in his ''
Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya
''The Meccan Revelations'' () is the major work of the philosopher and Sufi Ibn Arabi, written between 1203 and 1240.
The Andalusi thinker exposes his spiritual journey, his theology, his metaphysics and his mysticism, using sometimes pros ...
'' that Iblis and the devils (here: evil jinn) will say after hell ceases to be on the last day, their deeds were prescribed by God and thus not to be blamed when they tempted someone to sin. Since, according to , Iblis is cursed until Day of Judgement, some writers considered Iblis being redeemable after the world perished. His abode in
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
could be a merely temporary place, lasting from his fall until the
Judgement Day
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
; and after his assignment as a tempter is over, he might return to God as one of the most cherished angels. His final salvation develops from the idea that Iblis is only an instrument of God's anger, not due to his meritorious personality.
Attar
Attar or Attoor ( ar, عطار, ) may refer to:
People
*Attar (name)
*Fariduddin Attar, 12th-century Persian poet
Places
*Attar (Madhya Pradesh), the location of Attar railway station, Madhya Pradesh, India
*Attar, Iran, a village in Razavi Kho ...
compares Iblis's damnation and salvation to the situation of
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
, since both were accused to show people a greater meaning, but were finally not condemned.
Sufism
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
developed another perspective on Iblis, integrating him into a greater cosmological scheme. Iblis often became, along with
Muhammed
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...
, one of the two true
monotheists
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
and God's instrument for punishment and deception. Therefore, some Sufis hold, Iblis refused to bow to Adam because he was devoted to God alone and refused to bow to anyone else. Yet not all Sufis agree with Iblis' redemption.
By weakening the evil in the Satanic figure, dualism is also degraded, that corresponds with the later
Sufi cosmology
Sufi cosmology ( ar, الكوزمولوجية الصوفية) is a Sufi approach to cosmology which discusses the creation of man and the universe, which according to mystics are the fundamental grounds upon which Islamic religious universe is ...
of unity of existence rejecting dualistic tendencies. The belief in dualism or that "evil" is caused by something else than God, even if only by one's own will, is regarded as '' shirk'' by some Sufis.Awn, page 104 For Iblis' preference to be damned to hell rather than prostrating himself before someone else other than the "Beloved" (here referring to God), Iblis also became an example for
unrequited love
Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep and pure affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dic ...
.
As a ''true Monotheist''
Among some
Sufis
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spiri ...
, a positive perspective of Iblis' refusal developed, arguing that Iblis was forced to decide between God's command (''amr'') and will (''irāda''). Accordingly, Iblis refused to bow to Adam because he was devoted to God alone and refused to bow to anyone else. Thus Iblis would have followed the true will of God, by disobeying his command. This belief is also known as "Satan's monotheism" (''tawḥīd-i Iblīs'').
A famous narration about an encounter between
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
and Iblis on the slopes of
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
, told by
Mansur al-Hallaj
Al-Hallaj ( ar, ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج, Abū 'l-Muġīth Al-Ḥusayn bin Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj) or Mansour Hallaj ( fa, منصور حلاج, Mansūr-e Hallāj) ( 26 March 922) (Islamic calendar, Hijri ...
,
Ruzbihan Baqli
Abu Muhammad Sheikh Ruzbehan Baqli (1128–1209) was a Persian poet, mystic, teacher and sufi master. He wrote about his own life as well as published commentaries on Sufi poets and ideas.
Baqli's most renowned work was his autobiography ''Unv ...
and Abū Ḥāmid Ghazzali, emphasizes the nobility of Iblis. Accordingly, Moses asks Iblis why he refused God's order. Iblis replied that the command was actually a test. Then Moses replied, obviously Iblis was punished by being turned from an angel to a
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
. Iblis responds, his form is just temporary but his love towards God remains the same.
For
Ahmad Ghazali
Ahmad Ghazālī ( fa, احمد غزالی; full name Majd al-Dīn Abū al-Fotuḥ Aḥmad Ghazālī) was a Sunni Muslim Persian Sufi mystic, writer, preacher and the head of Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad (c. 1061–1123 or 1126). He is best known in the ...
, Iblis was the paragon of lovers in self sacrifice for refusing to bow down to Adam out of pure devotion to God. Ahmad Ghazali's student
Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir
‘Adī ibn Musāfir ( ku, شێخ ئادی, translit=Şêx Adî, ar, الشيخ عدي بن مسافر born 1072-1078, died 1162) was a Muslim sheikh of Arab origin, considered a Yazidi saint. The Yazidis consider him as an avatar of Tawûsê M ...
was among the Sunni Muslim mystics who defended Iblis, asserted that evil was also God's creation, Sheikh Adi argued that if evil existed without the will of God then God would be powerless and a powerless being can't be God.
Keeper of Paradise
Although in the Quran, Iblis appears only with his fall and intention to mislead God's creation, another role, as the gatekeeper of the divine essence, developed, probably based on the oral reports of the Sahaba. In some interpretations, Iblis is associated with ''light'' that misleads people. Hasan of Basra was quoted as saying: "If Iblis were to reveal his light to mankind, they would worship him as a god." Additionally, based on Iblis' role as ''keeper of heaven'' and ''ruler of earth'',
Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani
Ayn-al-Qużāt Hamadānī, also spelled Ain-al Quzat Hamedani or ʿAyn-al Qudat Hamadhani (1098–1131) ( fa, عین القضات همدانی), full name: Abu’l-maʿālī ʿabdallāh Bin Abībakr Mohammad Mayānejī ( fa, ابوالمعال ...
stated, Iblis represents the "Dark light" that is the earthen world, standing in opposite to the Muhammadan Light that represents the heavens. As such, Iblis would be the treasurer and judge to differentiate between the sinners and the believers. Quzat Hamadani traces back his interpretation to
Sahl al-Tustari
Sahl al-Tustarī ( ar, سهل التستري) or Sahl Shushtarī ( fa, سهل شوشتری) according to Persian custom, born Abū Muḥammad Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh (c.818 CE (203 AH) – c.896 CE (283 AH)), was a Persian Sunni Muslim schola ...
and Shayban Ar-Ra'i who in return claim to derive their opinions from
Khidr
Al-Khidr () ( ar, ٱلْخَضِر, al-Khaḍir), also transcribed as al-Khadir, Khader, Khidr, Khizr, Khazer, Khadr, Khedher, Khizir, Khizar, is a figure described but not mentioned by name in the Quran as a righteous servant of God possessing g ...
. Quzat Hamadani relates his interpretation of ''Iblis' light'' to the ''
shahada
The ''Shahada'' (Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is n ...
'': Accordingly, people whose service for God is just superficial, are trapped within the circle of ''la ilah'' (the first part of ''shahada'' meaning "there is no God") just worshipping their ''
nafs
''Nafs'' () is an Arabic word occurring in the Quran, literally meaning "self", and has been translated as "psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psych ...
'' (bodily urges) rather than God. Only those who are worthy to leave this circle can pass Iblis towards the circle of ''illa Allah'', the "Divine presence".
Rejecting apologetics
However, not all Sufis are in agreement with a positive depiction of Iblis. In Ibn Ghanim's retelling of the encounter between Iblis and Moses, Iblis does not truly offer an excuse for his disobedience. Instead, Iblis' arguments brought forth against Moses are nothing but a sham and subtly deception to make Sufis doubt the authenticity of their own spiritual path. Ruzbihan Baqli, too, seems to be critical of Iblis', asserting that his apologetics are mere inventions to claim innocence. In this context, Al-Baqli calls Iblis the master of religious deception and father of lies.
In
Rumi
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلالالدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...
's Masnavi Book 2, Iblis wakes
Mu'awiya
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
up for prayer. Doubting any good intentions from Satan, Mu'awiya starts arguing with Iblis and asking him about his true intentions. Iblis uses several arguments to proof his own innocence: being a former archangel who would never truly abandon God; being merely a tempter who just brings forth the evil in the sinners, to distinguish them from true believers, but is not evil himself; God's omnipotence and that Iblis' sin ultimate results in God's judgement.Hodgson, M. G. S. (2009). The Venture of Islam, Volume 2: The Expansion of Islam in the Middle Periods. Vereinigtes Königreich: University of Chicago Press. p. 253 Mu'awiya fails to stand against Iblis with reason and seeks refuge in God. Finally, Iblis confesses, he only woke him up, for missing a prayer and causing Mu'awiya to repent, would bring him closer to God than praying. Rumi rejects the idea of "Satan's monotheism" (''tawḥīd-i Iblīs'') asserted by many other Sufis, as his argument, that Iblis was an angel first, doesn't protect him from his disobedience.
Rumi views Iblis as the manifestation of the great sins of
haughtiness
Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...
and
envy
Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.
Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred b ...
. He states: "(Cunning) intelligence is from Iblis, and love from Adam." For
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
Quṭb-ud-Dīn Aḥmad Walīullāh Ibn ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Ibn Wajīh-ud-Dīn Ibn Muʿaẓẓam Ibn Manṣūr Al-ʿUmarī Ad-Dehlawī ( ar, ; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shāh Walīullāh Dehlawī (also Shah Wali Allah), was an Islamic ...
, Iblis represents the principle of "one-eyed" intellect; he only saw the outward earthly form of Adam, but was blind to the Divine spark hidden in him, using an illicit method of comparison.
Hasan of Basra
Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra (Arabic: الحسن البصري, romanized: ''Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī''; 642 - 15 October 728) for short, or as Hasan al-Basri, was an early Muslim preacher, ascetic ...
holds that Iblis was the first who used "analogy", comparing himself to someone else, this causing his sin. Therefore, Iblis also represents humans' psyche moving towards sin or shows how love can cause envy and anxiety.
In tradition
Story of Iblis
Most stories regarding Iblis consider him to be involved in a battle between angels and jinn. However, versions differ on whether Iblis was one of the angels or of the jinn during the battle.
As a jinn, Iblis is supposed to have lived on earth before the creation of humans. When the angels arrived to battle the jinn, they took prisoners, among them Iblis, and were carried to heaven. Since he, unlike the other jinn, was pious, the angels were impressed by his nobility, and Iblis was allowed to join the company of angels and elevated to their rank. Although he got the outer appearance of an angel, he was still a jinn in essence, and thus able to disobey God later. He was then sentenced to hell forever, but God granted him a favor for his former worship, that is to take revenge on humans by attempting to mislead them until the Day of Judgment.
Traditions considering Iblis being an angel, often describe him as an
archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
(malak al-muqarrab), called
Azazil
In many Islamic and Islam-related traditions, Azazil (Arabic: عزازيل ''ʿAzāzīl'', also known as Arabic: حارث ''Ḥārith'') is the legendary prototype of the devil in Islamic culture. Azazil was considered to be among the nearest t ...
. According to this story, Azazil/Iblis was the leader and ''
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
'' (teacher) of the angels, and became a guardian of heaven. At the same time, he was the closest to the
Throne of God
The Throne of God is the reigning centre of God in the Abrahamic religions: primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The throne is said by various holy books to reside beyond the Seventh Heaven which is called ''Araboth'' ( ''‘ărāḇōṯ' ...
. God gave him authority over the lower heavens and the earth. When God sent the angels to earth to battle the jinn, Azazil/Iblis and his army drove the jinn to the edge of the world,
Mount Qaf
Mount Qaf, or Qaf-Kuh, also spelled Cafcuh and Kafkuh ( fa, قافکوه), or Jabal Qaf, also spelled Djebel Qaf ( ar, جبل قاف), or ''Koh-i-Qaf'', also spelled ''Koh-Qaf'' and ''Kuh-i-Qaf'' or ''Kuh-e Qaf'' ( fa, کوہ قاف) is a legen ...
.
Knowing about the corruption of the former earthen inhabitants, Iblis protested, when he was instructed to prostrate himself before the new earthen inhabitant, that is Adam. He assumed that the angels who ''praise God's glory day and night'' are superior in contrast to the mud-made humans and their bodily flaws. He even regarded himself superior in comparison to the other angels, since he was (one of those) created from fire. However, he was degraded and sentenced to
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
(''Sijjin''),Syria in Crusader Times: Conflict and Co-Existence. (2020). Vereinigtes Königreich: Edinburgh University Press. by God for his arrogance.
Iblis is said to had four wings. After he was cursed, his form turned from that of an angel into a devil. God transformed his neck to that of a pig, and his head into that of a camel. His eyes are stretched all over his face, and canines the fangs of a boar. From his beard, only seven hairs grow.
After he was cast out from among the angels, God made him able to beget children. God aroused hatred within Iblis, so that a spark of fire emanated from him. From this spark of fire (samum), God created Iblis' wife. In other traditions, God made Iblis hermaphrodite, and Iblis begot offspring by himself alone.
Qisas al-Anbiya
According to the Stories of the Prophets, to enter the abode of Adam in garden Eden, Iblis uses the biblical serpent to sneak in. The garden is watched by an angelic guardian. He invents a plan to trick him and approaches a peacock and tells him that all creatures are destined to die and thus the peacock's beauty will perish. But if he gets the fruit of eternity, he could make every creature immortal. Therefore, the peacock persuades the serpent to slip Iblis into the Garden, by carrying him in his mouth. In similar narration, Iblis is warded off by
Riḍwan
Riḍwān (or ''Riswan'', ar, رضوان), is an angel in Islam, who guards the gates of heaven. His name is absent in the Quran and early tafsir, named by Ibn Hisham ''Ismāʿīl'' instead, he namely appears in later reports and Mi'raj narra ...
's burning sword for 100 years. Then he found the serpent. He says since he was one of the first
cherub
A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
, he will one day return to God's grace and promises to show gratitude if the serpent does him a favor. In both narratives, in the Garden, Iblis speaks through the serpent to Adam and Eve, and tricks them into eating from the forbidden tree.
Modern Muslims accuse the
Yazidis
Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...
of devil-worship for venerating the
peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
. The image of the biblical serpent might derive from
Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
and
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
oral tradition circulating in the Arabian Peninsula,
Iconography
Iblis is perhaps one of the most well-known individual supernatural entities and was depicted in multiple visual representations like the Quran and Manuscripts of Bal‘ami’s ‘Tarjamah-i Tarikh-i Tabari. Iblis was a unique individual, described as both a pious jinn and at times an angel before he fell from God's grace when he refused to bow before the prophet
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
. After this incident, Iblis turned into a ''
shaytan
' (; ''devils'' or ''demons''), singular: (شَيْطَان) are evil spirits in Islam, inciting humans (and jinn) to sin by "whispering" (وَسْوَسَة, “waswasah”) to their hearts (قَلْب ''qalb''). Folklore suggests that they a ...
''. In visual appearance, Iblis was depicted in ''On the Monstrous in the Islamic Visual Tradition'' by Francesca Leoni as a being with a human-like body with flaming eyes, a tail, claws, and large horns on a grossly disproportionate large head.
Illustrations of Iblis in Islamic paintings often depict him black-faced, a feature which would later symbolize any satanic figure or heretic, and with a black body, to symbolize his corrupted nature. Another common depiction of Iblis shows him wearing a special head covering, clearly different from the traditional Islamic turban. In one painting, however, Iblis wears a traditional Islamic head covering. The turban probably refers to a narration of Iblis' fall: there he wore a turban, then he was sent down from heaven. Many other pictures show and describe Iblis at the moment, when the angels prostrate themselves before Adam. Here, he is usually seen beyond the outcrop, his face transformed with his wings burned, to the envious countenance of a devil. Iblis and his cohorts (''div'' or ''shayatin'') are often portrayed in Turko-Persian art as bangled creatures with flaming eyes, only covered by a short skirt. Similar to European arts, who took traits of pagan deities to depict devils, they depicted such demons often in a similar fashion to that of Hindu-deities.
As a muse
During the early Abbaside period, Iblis might have been an inspirational figure, some sort of musical patron, for
anti-religious
Antireligion is opposition to religion. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe opposition to specific forms of supernatural worship ...
poets and
hedonists
Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decre ...
, such as al-Walid. In Muslim culture, it is said some people had befriended Iblis as a muse. Hilal al-Kufi (end of the seventh century) was nicknamed "companion of Iblis" (''sahib Iblis'').
Abu al-Fadl Muhammad al Tabasi
Abu al-Fadl Muhammad al Tabasi (died 1089) was a Shafi‘i Muslim and Sufi author, who lived most of his life in Nishapur. Although many works are associated with him, his al-Shamil fi al-bahr al-kamil (The Comprehensive Compendium to the Entire ...
frequently invokes Iblis (or Azazil) and his progeny in his Medieval encyclopedia of magic. Iblis is further said to approach dying people to tempt them away from Islam in exchange for their life. According to the Islamic Book of the Dead, Iblis in disguise approaches a thirsty man with a cup of water, but only handing him water over, if he testifies "two gods", "no one formed the universe" or "the Messenger, peace be upon him, lied".
In literature
In
Vathek
''Vathek'' (alternatively titled ''Vathek, an Arabian Tale'' or ''The History of the Caliph Vathek'') is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford. It was composed in French beginning in 1782, and then translated into English by Reverend Sam ...
by the English
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
William Beckford, first composed in French (1782), the protagonists enter the underworld, presented as the domain of Iblis. At the end of their journey, they meet Iblis in person, who is described less in the monstrous image of
Dante's Satan
In Dante's ''Inferno'', Satan is portrayed as a giant demon, frozen mid-breast in ice at the center of Hell. Satan has three faces and a pair of bat-like wings affixed under each chin. As Satan beats his wings, he creates a cold wind that contin ...
, but more of a young man, whose regular features are tarnished, his eyes showing both pride and despair and his hair resembling whose of an angel of light.
In
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
's poetry, Iblis is critical about overstressed obedience, which caused his downfall. But Iblis is not happy about humanity's obedience towards himself either; rather he longs for humans who resist him, so he might eventually prostrate himself before the perfect human, which leads to his salvation.
Egyptian novelist
Tawfiq al-Hakim
Tawfiq al-Hakim or Tawfik el-Hakim ( arz, توفيق الحكيم, ; October 9, 1898 – July 26, 1987) was a prominent Egyptian writer and visionary. He is one of the pioneers of the Arabic novel and drama. The triumphs and failures that are ...
's ''al-Shahid'' (1953) describes the necessity of Iblis's evil for the world, telling about a fictional story, Iblis seeking repentance. He consults the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and the chief
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
. Both reject him and he afterward visits the grand mufti of
Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic ...
, telling him he wants to embrace Islam. The grand mufti, however, rejects Iblis as well, realizing the necessity of Iblis' evilness. Regarding the absence of Iblis' evil, as causing most of the Quran to be obsolete. After that Iblis goes to heaven to ask Gabriel for
intercession
Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying to a deity on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others.
The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy sp ...
. Gabriel too rejects Iblis and explains the necessity for Iblis's curse. Otherwise, God's light could not be seen on earth. Whereupon Iblis descends from heaven shouting out: "I am a martyr!". Al-Hakim's story has been criticized as blasphemous by several Islamic scholars. Salafi scholar