Iblīs (or Eblis) is a figure frequently occurring in the Quran, commonly in relation to the
creation of Adam and the command to prostrate himself before him.
After he refused, he was cast out of heaven.
For many classical scholars, he was an angel, but regarded as a jinn in most contemporary
scholarship.
Due to his fall from God's grace, he is often compared to Satan in Christian traditions.
In Islamic tradition, Iblis is often identified with Al-Shaitan ("the Devil").
However, while Shaitan is used exclusively for an evil force and just applies to Iblis,
when he commits acts of wickedness, Iblis himself holds a more ambivalent role in Islamic
traditions.
== Naming and etymology == The term Iblis (Arabic: إِبْلِيس‎)
may have been derived from the Arabic verbal root BLS ب-ل-س (with the broad meaning
of "remain in grief") or بَلَسَ (balasa, "he despaired").
Furthermore, the name is related to talbis meaning confusion.
Another possibility is that it is derived from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos),
which is also the source of the English word 'devil'.
However, there is no general agreement on the root of the term.
The name itself could not be found before the Quran.
== Theology == Although Iblis is often compared to the devil
in Christian theology, Islam rejects the idea that the devil is an opponent of God.
Further there is no mention of trying to take God's throne According to the Quran, it was
due to his disdain towards humanity, he was banished, a narrative already occurring in
early apokrypha.
As a merely creature, Iblis can not be the cause or creator of evil in the world, he
is just a tempter who takes advantage of the inclination of humans to be self-centered
and to lead them away from God's path.
=== Quran === Iblis is mentioned 11 times in the Quran by
name, 9 times related to his rebellion against God's command to prostrate himself before
Adam.
More often occurs the term Shaitan, that is, sometimes related to Iblis.
The different fragments of Iblis' story are scattered over the Quran, comprised it can
be summed up as the following: Then God created Adam, He ordered all the
angels to bow before the new creation.
All the angels bowed down, but Iblis refused to do so.
He argued that since he himself was created from fire, he is superior to humans, made
from mud, and that he should not prostrate himself before Adam.
For his haughtiness, he was banished from heaven and condemned to hell.
Therefore, Iblis made a request for the ability to try to mislead Adam and his descendants.
God grants his request but also warned that he will have no power over God's servants.
=== Sufism === Sufism developed an unusual perspective of
Iblis' refusal by regarding Muhammed and Iblis as the two true monotheists.
Therefore, some Sufis hold, Iblis refused to bow to Adam because he was fully devoted
to God alone and refused to bow to anyone else.
By weakening the evil in the satanic figure, dualism is also degraded, that corresponds
with the Sufi cosmology of unity of existence rejecting dualistic tendecies.
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.
For Iblis' preference to be damned to hell, than prostrating himself before someone else
other than the "Beloved" (here referring to God), Iblis also became an example for unrequited
love.
A famous narration about an encounter between Moses and Iblis on the slopes of Sinai, told
by Mansur al-Hallaj, Ruzbihan Baqli and 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.
Iblis responds, his form is just temporary and his love towards God remains the same.However,
not all Sufis are in agreement with a positive depiction of Iblis.
Rumi's viewpoint on Iblis is much more in tune with Islamic orthodoxy.
Rumi views Iblis as the manifestation of the great sins haughtiness and envy.
He states: "(Cunning) intelligence is from Iblis, and love from Adam."
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 holds that Iblis was the first who used "analogy", comparing himself to someone
else, this causing his sin.
Iblis therefore also represents humans' psyche moving towards sin or shows how love can cause
envy and anxiety losing a beloved one.
=== Affilation ===
Islam differs in regard of Iblis' nature.
Some scholars such as Tabari, Ash'ari, Al-Baydawi and Mahmud al-Alusi, regard him as an angel.
Tabari argued for an angelic origin of Iblis in his tafsir: "The reason people held this
opinion [that Iblis was not an angel] is that God stated in His Book that He created Iblis
from the fire of the Samum (15:27) and from smokeless fire (55:15), but did not state
that He created the angels from any like of that.
And God states he was of the jinn, so they said that it is not possible that he should
be related to that which God does not relate him to; they said that Iblis had progeny and
offspring, but the angels do not procreate or have children.
(. .) But these reasons only bespeak the weakness
of these people's knowledge, for 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 [angel], 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 , it is not to be rejected that everything
which hides itself (ijtanna) from the sight is a 'jinn', . . . and Iblis and the angels
should then be among them, because they hide themselves from the eyes of mankind."
On the other hand, the Quranexegete Ibn Kathir, preferred to regard him as a jinni, an opinion
shared by scholars such as Hasan of Basra, Ja'far al-Sadiq,Al-Zamakhshari and Al-Munajjid,
stating in his tafsir:
"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."
The theological viewpoints can be summarized as follows:
Iblis is from a type of angel, who was created from fire.
Iblis is a jinni differing from the angels, who are made out of light.
Once an angel, Iblis turned into a jinn by his act of disobedience.
=== As an angel ===
As an angel, Iblis is described as an Archangel, the leader and teacher of the other angels,
and a keeper of heaven.
At the same time, he was the closest to the Throne of God.
God gave him authority over the lower heavens and the earth.
Iblis is also considered as the leader of those angels who battled the earthly jinn.
Therefore, Iblis and his army drove the jinn to the edge of the world, Mount Qaf.
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 human and his 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 by God for his arrogance.
But Iblis made a request to prove that he is actually right, therefore God entrusted
him as a tempter for humanity as long as his punishment endures, concurrently giving him
a change to redeem himself.
Thus, his abode in hell could be a merely temporary place, until the Judgement Day and
after his assignment as a tempter is over, he might return to God as one of the most
cherished Angels, but this is not necessary.
Furthermore, the transformation of Iblis from angelic into demonic is a reminder of God's
capacity to reverse injustice even on an ontological level.
It is both a warning and a reminder because the special gifts given by God can also be
taken away by him.
=== As a Jinn === On the other hand, as a jinni, Iblis is commonly
placed as one of the jinn, who lived on earth during the battle of the angels.
When the angels took prisoners, Iblis was one of them and 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 companry of angels and elevated to their rank.
However, although he got the outer appeariance of an angel, he was still a jinn in essence,
thus he was able to choose when the angels and Iblis were commanded to prostrate themselves
before Adam.
Iblis, abusing his free-will, disobeyed the command of God.
Iblis considered himself superior because of his physical nature constituted of fire
and not of clay.
God sentenced Iblis to hell forever, but 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.
Here, Iblis damnation is clear and he and his host are the first who enter hell to dwell
therein forever, when he is not killed in a battle by the Mahdi, an interpretation especially
prevalent among Shia Muslims.
== Iconography ==
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 special headcovering, clearly different
from the traditional Islamic turban.
In one painting however, Iblis wears a traditional Islamic headcovering.
The turban probably refers to a narration of Iblis' fall: there he wore a turban, then
he was sent down from heaven.
== Disputing his essence ==
Islamic traditions are undecided about the exact nature of Iblis.
He may either be a fallen angel or a jinni or something entirely unique.
These contradictions arise from the Quran itself, while Iblis is included into the command
addressed to the angels and apparently among them, he is identified as a jinni ('الجِنِّ')
in Surah 18:50.
This combined with the fact, he himself boasts to be created from fire (nar), suggests that
he is not angel but a jinni, since according to hadith the angels are created from light
(nur) and the jinn from fire (nar).
But the term jinni itself is ambiguous.
In Pre-Islamic Arabia the term denoted any type of invisible creature including angels
known from Arab Christians, Arab Jews and Zorastrians.
Additionally, the Quran does not mention light as a separate source from which the angels
are supposed to be created.
In Ancient Near Eastern traditions, the nature of angels was associated with fire, therefore
Iblis could indeed be intended to represent an angel, such as a Seraphim.Otherwise, the
nature of the jinn in later Islamic tradition is not always clear either.
Some hold the jinn to be a sub-category of "fiery angels" who are guardians of jannah,
differing from the earthly jinn, who are like monsters or demons.
Accordingly they are named 'Jinni', because of their relation to heaven.
On the other hand, in another story, the earthen jinn themselves are related to angels.
Therefore, they were angels sent down to earth to experience bodily pleasure and although
they remained obedient towards God during the beginning, they later found themselves
lost in wars, bloodshed, and other unjust deeds.
Iblis, disgusted from his fellow beings, prayed for his return to heaven until his prayers
were answered.Assuming Iblis was one of the jinn, who differ from the angels, scholars
tried to explain his stay among the angels.
According to a narrative provided by Ibn Kathir, Iblis was once an ordinary earthly creature,
but, due to his piety and constant worship, elevated among the angels.
He lived there for thousand of years, until his non-angelic origin was forgotten and only
God remembered Iblis' true identity.
To reveal his haughtiness, God commanded the angels, Iblis, due to his rank among the angels
included, to prostrate himself before Adam.
But Iblis refused, thus his own nature betrayed him, leading to his downfall.Other scholars,
such as Hasan of Basra and Ibn Taymiyyah, do not provide an explanation for his abode
among the angels.
In this case, his stay in heaven is self explanatory, because every creature is created in heaven
first.
Here, although created in heaven, Iblis is not regarded as an angel, but the equivalent
father of the jinn, compared to what Adam is to humanity.
Iblis, as the father of the jinn, was cast out of heaven due to his own sin, just as
Adam was banished after his corresponding transgression of God's order not to eat from
the Forbidden Tree.
Those scholars, who argue against Iblis' angelic origin also refer to his progeny, since, angels
do not procreate in Islam, pointing at 18:51.
Islamic study scholar Fritz Meier also insist, that the Islamic Iblis can not be hold as
an angel, since angels have no progeny by definition.
Otherwise Walther Eickmann argued that the progeny of Iblis does not correspond with
"progeny" in a literal sense, but just refers to the cohorts of Iblis.
Actually, according to some Islamic traditions, Iblis is indeed an asexuel being just like
the other angels.
On the other hand, he occurs as a hermaphrodite creature, whose children split from himself,
for that he lays eggs, characteristical for Shayatin (demons).
The Quran exegete Tabari however, who defends Iblis' angelic origin, asserts, that Iblis
did not procreate until he lost his angelic state and became a demon.
Therefore, the fact Iblis has progeny could not exclude him from an angelic origin.
Another central argument to determine Iblis essence, also relating to his theological
significance, deals with his disobedience.
Since angels are, according to Islam, merely servants of God, Iblis' disobedience speaks
against his angelic nature, as opponents of Iblis' angelic origin argue.
Unlike the angels, he was endowed with the ability to choose, but he decided to disobey
due to his own arrogance.
His nature to disregard God is thought of a part of the free-will given to jinn.
On the otherhand, scholars who adhere to Iblis' angelic nature, do not regard him as free.
Actually Iblis is seen as just another instrument of God, a tester who acts within God's plan.
It would be impossible to act against God's will anyway.
Therefore, his disobedience was in accordance with God's will.
Several narratives attempt to explain the reason why he choose to refuse the command,
unlike the other angels.
According to one, Iblis, as the teachers of the angels, was more knowledgeable than the
others and knew about a command, not to prostrate himself, when all the other angels do.
In another narrative, Iblis has stolen the secret writings of heaven, therefore he had
insight into the future.
Knowing about Adams future, he was no longer able to prostrate himself.
However, this narrative is more unconvincing, since other angels protested alike, knowing
about the corruption.
In another explanation, Iblis is endowed with the task to seduce humans, comparable to other
angels, such as Gabriel is endowed with the transmission of revelation, and created for
this purpose from fire differing from the other angels.
== Keeper of Paradise == 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 god."
Additionally, based on Iblis' role as keeper of heaven and ruler of earth, Ayn al-Quzat
Hamadani stated, Iblis represents the "Dark light" that is the earthen world, standing
in opposite to the Muhammadan Light that represents the heavens.
Quzat Hamadani traces back his interpretation to Sahl al-Tustari and Shayban Ar-Ra'i who
in return claim to derive their opinions from Khidr.
Quzat Hamadani relates his interpretation of Iblis' light to the shahada: 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 rather than
God.
Only those who are worthy to leave this circle, can pass Iblis towards the circle of illa
Allah the Divine presence.
== Serpent and peacock ==
Although the Serpent is not mentioned in the Quran, Quranic commentaries as well as the
Stories of the Prophets added the serpent borrowed from Gnostic and Jewish oral tradition
circulating in the Arabian Peninsula.
Iblis tries to enter the abode of Adam, but the angelic guardian keeps him away.
Then Iblis invents a plan to trick the guardian.
He approaches a peacock and tells him that all creatures will die and the peacock's beauty
will perish.
But if he gets the fruit of eternity, every creature will last forever.
Therefore, the peacock convinces the serpent to slip Iblis into the Garden, by carrying
him in his mouth.
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 of devil-worship for venerating the peacock.In Umm al Kitab,
an Ismaili work offering an hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, the peacock and the serpent
were born after men mated with demonic women.
== See also ==
Elbis Gnosticism
Masih ad-Dajjal Melek Taus
Prince of darkness (Manichaeism) Samael
== References ==