Iblis

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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).

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 special knowledge that no other creature possesses. Teaching him the names of each creation, God also presened the creatures 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).

Jinn and shaitans

Jinn is the plural form of Jinni, from which the english word Genie derives. The pre-islamic mythology of the Arabs spoke of the a Jinni as a spiritual being with a status lower than that of the angels. The Jinn were of three classes: 1) Ghul (shape-changers), 1) Efrit (evil spirits), and Silla(spirits of treachery). Jinn were beings of flame. However some of them could take the form of a human or an aminal, while other dewelt in trees, stones, under the earth, in the air, etc.

Unlike angels Jinn had bodily needs and desires similar to those of human beings and could even be killed. Yet they were also described as being free from physcial constraints. They were held responsible for causing accidnets and diseases and all kinds of accidents, unless a person took precautions through various prayers or magical rites. Jinn found joy in tormenting humans who had harmed them, even unintentionally.

Tales of the Jinn were widespread from as far to the east Persia, as far to the west as Turkey, and as far to the south as Egypt and North African. The well known Thousand and One Arabian Nights contains many episodes of the exploits. Even Muhammad himself respected the power of the Jinn and reportedly feared that his revelations might have been influenced by them.

Shaitans, with a small "s" in English, are basically evil spirits, including both Jinn and angels. In pre-Islamic Arabic culture, shaitans functioned in a manner similar to Greek daemons, or familiars, providing inspiration and insight to prophets, fortune-tellers, mediums, and poets. In the Arabic tales of King Solomon, the powers of the shaitans were legendary; and they were capable of serving for good as well as evil.

In the rabbinic and other Jewish stories of the time, however, the "satans" were clearly evil. The Qur'an tradition, is closer to this pattern. As creations of Allah, they cannot be said to be "evil" but they constitute the myriads of spirit under the command of Iblis. Like their master, the shaitans whisper evil thoughts into the minds of humans. However, humans are fully capable of resisting this temptation by exercising their own free will. A clever shaitan is more likely to succeed than a less ingenious one in tempting a man, but a true Muslim is always able to overcome such whispering.

Lucifer and Iblis

While the Christian concept of Lucifer has much in common with Iblis, the character of two is not exactly the same. Lucifer was originally an Archangel, while Iblis was one of the Jinn. In Islamic theology, angels do not have free will and did not rebel against Allah. However, a Jinni such as Iblis was capable of taking independent action and refused Allah's command to bow before Adam. In Christian theology, angels apparently do have free will. Lucifer, in most Christian theologies, acting completely outside of God's will when he tempted Adam and Eve. And it was the angels who followed Lucifer/Satan into Hell.

The issue of free will itself is also somewhat different in Islamic thought than in the Judeo-Christian tradition. For Muslims, Allah's sovereignty over His creation is absolute, and this means that nothing happens outside of His will, including Iblis' temptation of Adam and Eve and the whispering of the shaitans in the ears of each human being. Although Calvinist Christians likewise affirm God absolute sovereignty over history, most Christians tend to admit that in granting mankind free will, He enabled humans to take actions against God's plan. In this view, such acts as the rebellion of Lucifer and the sin of Adam and Eve were committed outside of God's will, even if not outside of his foreknowledge.

Iblis in Sufi thought

Some Sufi Muslims hold to a view of Iblis which emphasizes his love for Allah as the motivation for his decision not to bow to Adam. Sufi teachers such as Mansur Al-Hallaj presents the story of Iblis as a predestined scenario in which Iblis plays the role of tragic and jealous lover of Allah who, unable to perceive the Divine Image in Adam, was compelled to disobey the divine mandate to bow down to him.

The Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan taught that 'Luciferian Light' is Light which has become dislocated from the Divine Source and is thus associated with the seductive false light of the lower ego which lures humankind into self-centred delusion. Here Lucifer represents what the Sufis term the 'Nafs', the ego.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Accardi, Dean. Iblis the casting of Satan in Islam. Theosophical Society in America, 2005. OCLC: 70706081
  • Awn, P.J. Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology. Brill Academic Publishers, 1997. ISBN 978-9004069060
  • Burton, Richard (translator). The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights. ISBN 978-0812972146
  • Davidson, Gustav. Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels. Free Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0029070529
  • Hayes, Christopher Sickels. An Ontological Study of Iblis Al-Shaytan. Thesis (M.A.)—University of Texas at Austin, 2002. OCLC: 50923528
  • Messadié, Gérald. A History of the Devil. New York: Kodansha International, 1996. ISBN 9781568360812

External links

References

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

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