Iblis

Iblīs (Arabic إبليس), is the name given to the primary devil in Islam. He is also referred in the Qur'an (Islamic holy Book) as the Shaitan, a term used refering to any evil spirit allied with Iblis, but which is often used to refer to Iblis alone. Iblis is mentioned 11 times in the Qur'an, and Shaitan (‏(الشيطان is mentioned 87 times. Although there are important differences between the Islamic and Christian concepts his character, Iblis is the same being known as Satan or "the Devil" to Christians.

Iblis was a Jinn, a creature made of 'smokeless fire' by God, while like humans are made of 'clay'. In an outburst rooted in envy, Iblis disobeyed Allah and was expelled from divine grace. He also lured Adam and Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree. He was condemned by Allah (God) to Jahannam, or Hell. He replied by saying that he wanted to bring the inhabitants of Earth down with him, and Allah, to test mankind and the Jinn, allowed him to roam Earth to attempt to misguide others.

Iblis tempts humans through his whispering of sinful ideas to them. In the end, it is believed, he will be cast into Jahannam (Hell in Islam) along with those who give in to his temptation and disobey Allah's (God's) true message of Islam, while those who successfully try to follow a righteous path will be rewarded with the pleasures of Jannah (Paradise or Heaven in Islam).

Although he was rebellious, the Qur'an does not depict Iblis as operating outside of Allah will, for Allah is supreme over all His creations. Iblis' single enemy is humanity. He intends to discourage humans from obeying God. Thus, humankind is warned to struggle against Shaitan and the temptations he gives them in.

Etymology

Non-Muslim scholars generally hold Iblis to be a contraction of the Greek word diabolos, meaning "devil." Accprdomg to this theory, the Christian and Jewish communities of Arabia during Muhammad's knew the word from Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels. Muslim scholars, on the other hand, are more inclined to derive the word from the Arabic verbal root balasa (بلس) meaning "the despaired."

Origin

The Qur'an identifies Iblis as a Jinn (18-50) rather than an angel. The Jinn are created from fire (7-12)(38-76), and in the Islamic tradition are considered to have free will. In the opening pages of the Qur'an, Iblis demonstrates this by refusing to obey Allah's command to kneel before Adam (2-34). In Islam, angels—unlike Jinn—are basically messengers and do not possess free will. There is, accordingly, no parallel in Islam to the Fallen angel story in Christian and some Jewish traditions.

According to the Qur'an, after Allah (God) had completed the creation of everything else (2-29), God announced that He would create a Khalifa, or vicegerent, on Earth. So Allah created Adam and gave him from His knowledge what no other creature of His possesses. Teaching him the names of each creation, God also presened them to the angels, (2-30), knowing that they would fail where Adam succeeded.

After the angels had admitted that they had no knowledge except that which Allah(God) had given them (2-30), God commanded Adam to display his knowledge,(2-33), and when Adam did, God commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam and so they did. Iblis, however, refused (2-34), (7-11), (20-116).

In another telling of the story, Allah (God) informs the angels that He will create Man from clay (15-28) and that as soon as He has completed his creation they should all prostrate themselves before him (15-29). The all do so (15-30), except for Iblis (15-31), (38-74) When Allah demands an explanation from Iblis of why he refused to bow to Adam (15-32), Iblis explains that it is because Adam has been created from clay (15-33) (17-61), while Iblis was created from fire (38-76), and as such he was better than Adam (7-12).

See also

• Shaitan
• Jannah
• Qiyamah
• Hell
• Islamic eschatology
• Devil in Christianity
• Satan
• Devil
• Lucifer

External links

• Short summary on Iblis
• Another short summary
• Iblis

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Gustav Weil, The Bible, the Koran and the Talmud (London, 1846).

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