Editing Iblis (section)

== Theology (''Kalam'') ==
=== Quran ===
Iblis is mentioned by name in the [[Quran]] eleven times, nine of which relate to his refusal against God's Command to prostrate himself before [[Adam]]. The term ''[[Shayatin|šayṭān]]'' is more prevalent; although Iblis is sometimes referred to as ''šayṭān'', the terms are not interchangeable. The fragments of Iblis's story are scattered across the Quran. In the aggregate, the story can be summarised as follows:<ref name="Awn-1983"/>{{rp|p=18}}

When God created Adam, He ordered the [[angels in Islam|angels]] to bow before the new creation. All of the angels obeyed, but Iblis refused. He argued that, having been created from fire, he was superior to humans, who were made from clay-mud, and therefore should not be expected to prostrate himself before Adam.<ref>{{qref|7|12|b=y}}</ref> As punishment for his haughtiness, God banished Iblis from heaven and condemned him to hell. Later, Iblis requested permission to attempt to mislead Adam and his descendants, and God granted the request—thus portraying God as the power behind both angels and devils.<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=5}}

Surah [[al-Kahf]] states in reference to Iblis:

<blockquote>[...] except Iblis, he was one of the ''jinni'' [...] (Arabic: إِلَّاۤ إِبۡلِیسَ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلۡجِنِّ "''illā iblīsa kāna mina l-jinni''") (18:50)<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=6}}</blockquote>

This led to a dispute among the ''[[tafsir|mufassirūn]]'' (exegetes), who disagree on whether the term is meant to be a ''[[Nisba (onomastics)|nisba]]'' to designate Iblis's heavenly origin (i.e. an angel) in contrast to the earthly Adam (and the jinn preceding him), or if the term is meant to set Iblis apart from the angels and that he is the progenitor of the jinn dwelling in paradise until his fall (comparable to how Adam fell when he sinned in the Garden).<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=6}}<ref name="u038">{{cite journal | last1=Akbari | first1=Mahtab | last2=Ashrafzadeh | first2=Reza | title=A comparative study of the image of the devil in the logic of Attar Attar and the commentary of Abolfotuh Razi | journal=Propósitos y Representaciones | volume=8 | issue=SPE3 | date=2021 | doi=10.20511/pyr2021.v9nSPE3.1096 | doi-access=free | url=https://revistas.usil.edu.pe/index.php/pyr/article/download/1096/1353 | access-date=2025-03-19 | page=}}</ref><ref name="z808">{{cite journal | last=Öztürk | first=Mustafa | title=The Tragic Story of Iblis (Satan) in the Qur'an | journal=Islamic University of Europa Journal of Islamic Research | date=2009-01-01 |volume=2|issue=2| url=https://www.academia.edu/37861568 | access-date=2025-03-19 | page=}}</ref>{{rp|p=146}} This dispute goes back to the formative stage of Islam. These two conflicting opinions are based on the interpretations of [[ibn Abbas]] and [[Hasan al-Basri]] respectively.<ref name="y167">{{cite journal | last=Erdağı | first=Deniz Özkan | title=Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in "Semum" | journal=SN Social Sciences | volume=4 | issue=2 | date=2024-02-01 | issn=2662-9283 | doi=10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w | doi-access=free | url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w.pdf | access-date=2025-03-19 | page=}}</ref>{{rp|p=6}} Muslim scholars then followed one of these two interpretations.<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=7}}

Iblis is arguably implicitly mentioned in [[Al-Anbiya|Surah 21:29]] (''al-’anbiyā)'', claiming divinity for himself by inviting to follow [[nafs|egoistic desires]] (''nafs''),<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=6}} a position shared by Tabari, Suyuti, [[Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi|al-Nasafi]],<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=5}} and [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi|al-Māturīdī]]{{efn|'''From''' Yüksek Lisans Tezi: '''{{sc|Translation:}}''' {{in lang|en}}<br />" When one of them said, He is not God, I am! If he says that, we will punish him with hell. This is how we punish the oppressors.” (Anbiya-21/26-29) If the angels who were considered as gods had not had the possibility of making such a false claim, God would not have prohibited that. According to those who say that angels can commit sins, those who are good by nature are not praised. Since angels are praised in the verses, it is not necessary for them to do good. Mâturîdî says that angels are tested and that it is possible for them to sin and reminds that Iblis is also one of the angels." 
'''{{sc|Original:}}''' {{in lang|tr}}<br />
"“…Onlardan biri, Tanrı O değil, benim! diyecek olsa, biz onu da cehennemle cezalandırırız. Zalimleri böyle cezalandırırız.” (Enbiya-21/26-29) beyanında tanrı edinilen meleklerin kendilerinin de böyle yanlış bir iddiayı ortaya koyma ihtimalleri olmasa Allah onlara yasak getirmezdi. Meleklerin günah işleme gücünün olduğuna inananlara göre fıtratları gereği iyi olanlar övülmez. Ayetlerde melekler övüldüğüne göre hayrı işlemeleri bir zorunluluk değildir."<ref name="s613">{{cite journal | last=Pekim | first=Mehmet Tahir | title=İMAM MÂTÜRÎDÎ'NİN TE'VÎLÂTU'L-KUR'ÂN TEFSİRİNDE ARŞ VE MAHİYETİ | journal=Batman Akademi Dergisi | volume=8 | issue=1 | date=2024-06-30 | issn=2619-9114 | doi=10.58657/batmanakademi.1481527 | doi-access=free | pages=1–16}}</ref>{{rp|p=64}})}} among others:

<blockquote>"And whosoever among them would say, "Truly I am a god apart from Him," such weill We requite with Hell. Thus do We requite the wrongdoers." (21:29)<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Nasr |editor-first=Seyyed Hossein |editor-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |title=[[The Study Quran]] |publisher=HarperOne |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-06-112586-7 |pages=47–48}}</ref></blockquote>

''[[Sijjin]]'', mentioned in Surah 83:7, is described as a [[Spirits in prison#Other religious traditions|prison in hell]] by Quranic exegetes (for example by, Tabari, Tha'labi, Nasafi).<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=5}} Iblis is chained at the bottom and sends his demons to the surface.<ref name=y167/>{{rp|p=5}}

=== Affiliation and predestination===
[[File:Angels (malāʾika) meet Adam.png|thumb|The Angels meet Adam, the prototypical human being. They share, albeit to a lesser degree, the defiant reaction of Iblis, who haughtily turns his head away. Painting from a manuscript of the Manṭiq al-ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) of Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār. Iran, Shiraz, 899/1494.]]
There are different opinions regarding the origin of Iblis. This dispute is closely related to doctrinal differences regarding [[Free will in theology#Islam|free will]]. Like humans, jinn are created on earth to "worship" ('''abada'') God (51:56), and are capable of righteous and evil acts (11:119).<ref name="b922">{{cite book | last=Abu-Hamdiyyah | first=Mohammad | title=The Qur'an – an Introduction | publisher=Routledge | date=2020-09-23 | isbn=978-1-003-07091-7 | doi=10.4324/9781003070917 | page=}}</ref>{{rp|p=101}}

If angels can sin or not is disputed in Islam. Those who say that Iblis was not an angel, but a jinni, argue that only jinn (and humans), but not angels are capable of disobedience.<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}} This is the generally opinion among the [[Qadariyah]] and most [[Mu'tazilism|Mu'tazilites]].<ref name="Lange"/><ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}} This view is also found to be prominent among many [[Salafism|Salafis]].<ref name="p475">{{cite book | last=Gauvain | first=Richard | title=Salafi Ritual Purity | publisher=Routledge | publication-place=New York, NY | date=2013 | isbn=978-0-7103-1356-0 | page=}}</ref>{{rp|p=73}} The [[Sunni Islam|Sunni school]] holds on to the doctrine of predestination, [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|al-Razi]] being an exception,<ref name="c946">{{cite journal | last=Street | first=Tony | title=Medieval Islamic doctrine on the angels: the writings of Fakhr al-Dīh al-Rāzī | journal=Parergon | volume=9 | issue=2 | date=1991 | issn=1832-8334 | doi=10.1353/pgn.1991.0074 | pages=111–127}}</ref>{{rp|p=120}} and asserts that Iblis acts in obedience to his inner nature and God's plan, but in disobedience to God's command.<ref name="r895"/><ref name="z808"/>{{rp|p=137–140}}

The term for celestial beings in early Islam is usually ''malāk'' (angel).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gallorini |first=Louise |title=Angels in the Qur'ān: some of their roles, representations, and relationship with the jinn |journal=Journal of Ethnophilosophical Questions and Global Ethics |volume=3 |number=1 |year=2019 |pages=11–26}}</ref> [[Shaykh Tabarsi|Tabarsi]] says that if Iblis were a jinni, he could not have been one of the custodians of paradise.<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=103}}
Many of those who say that Iblis was an angel read Surah 18:50 as a ''[[Nisba (onomastics)|nisba]]'' for the term ''[[Jannah|jannāt]]'', thus referring to Iblis' heavenly origin (this reading is preferred by – among others – [[Ash'ari]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Miguel Asin|last=Palacios|title=Islam and the Divine Comedy|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=Abingdon, England|date=2013|isbn=978-1-134-53643-6}}</ref>{{rp|p=109}} [[Suyuti]], and [[Al-Tha'labi]]<ref name="Gardet-1971"/>).
The [[Hanbalites|Hanābila]] and [[Ash'arism|Ash'arites]] argue that Iblis was ignorant (''jahl'') and did not understand [[Will of God#Islamic discourse|God's will]] (''irāda'').<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}} However, Iblis' [[Kafir|unbelief]]  (''kufr'') would be ultimately caused by God.<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}} [[Abu Uthman al-Maghribi|Al-Maghrībī]] states that, when the angels questioned the creation of Adam, God opened the angels' eyes for the characteristics of Adam, but closed the eyes of Iblis, so he would remain in resistance (''iḥtijāj'').<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=131}} Therefore, Iblis would have been created as a disobedient angel and function as God's tempter.<ref name="Awn-1983"/>{{rp|p=177}} [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi]], the eponymous founder of [[Maturidism|Māturīdī theology]], argues that humans and jinn are tested on earth, but angels in heaven. If angels were not tested, the Quran would not compliment angels for obedience.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Saleh |first=Walid A. |title=Rereading al-Ṭabarī through al-Māturīdī: New light on the third century hijrī |journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies |volume=18 |number=2 |year=2016 |pages=180–209|doi=10.3366/jqs.2016.0242}}</ref>{{rp|p=185}}

The Mu'tazilites, absolving God from all negative associations, reject the notion that Iblis' function as a tempter was initiated by God.<ref name="u351">{{cite journal | last=Kassem | first=Hammond | title=The Idea of Justice in Islamic Philosophy | journal=Diogenes | volume=20 | issue=79 | date=1972 | issn=0392-1921 | doi=10.1177/039219217202007904 | pages=81–108}}</ref><ref name="z808"/>{{rp|p=139}} [[Al-Zamakhshari]] criticizes ''Ahl al-Sunnah'' for ascribing negative attributes to God.<ref name="z808"/>{{rp|p=140}} According to the Mu'tazilites, when Iblis blames God for leading him astray in [[Al Hejr|Surah 15:39]], these words belong to Iblis alone and cannot serve as a confirmation of God being the cause of Iblis' fall.<ref name="z808"/>{{rp|p=140}}

[[Islamism|Islamist writer]] [[Sayyid Qutb]] denies that angels could sin and thus, rejects readings which depict Iblis as an angelic being.<ref name="r895"/>

=== Function ===
[[File:Iblis (The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp).png|thumb|upright|Depiction of Iblis in the [[epic poem]] ''[[Shahnameh]]'']]
Within Muslim thought, Iblis is generally not considered to be the originator of evil. However, there are a few exceptions among Muslim scholars.<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}} The ''Qadariyya'' asserted that evil was introduced by disobedience to God, and Iblis was the first who disobeyed.<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}} This view is sometimes attributed to Hasan al-Basri.<ref name="e255">{{cite book | last=Hamdan | first=Omar | title=Studien zur Kanonisierung des Korantextes | publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag | publication-place=Wiesbaden | date=2006 | isbn=978-3-447-05349-5 | oclc=85842622 | language=de | page=}}</ref>{{rp|p=291–292}} An extreme position among the ''Qadariyya'' asserts that Iblis was not even created by God, but this view is generally rejected as beliefs of the [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]] (''majūs'').<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=123}}<ref name="auto1">{{cite book |first=Jacques |last=Waardenburg |title=Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions |place=New York & Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-19-510472-2}}</ref>{{rp|p=123}} Al-Māturīdī argued that such [[Dualism in cosmology|dualistic worldviews]] are irreconcilable with the Islamic doctrine of ''[[tawhid|tawḥīd]]''.<ref name="auto1"/>{{rp|p=123}} Some extreme positions went as far as to consider belief that actions are uncaused by God to be a form of ''[[Shirk (Islam)|širk]]'' (association), as it implies a second power independent from God.{{sfnp|Awn|1983|p=104}}

Iblis' disobedience is seen as an example and warning for the ''thaqalān'' (the two who are accountable for their deeds; i.e. humans and jinn).<ref name="Asma Hussain ">{{Cite conference |last=Khan |first=Asma Hussain  |date=September 2014 |title=The Problem of Evil: Islamic Theodicy. |url=https://www.ocerints.org/Socioint14_e-publication/papers/139.pdf |conference=Proceedings of SOCIOINT14- International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities |isbn=978-605-64453-1-6}}</ref> Those who say that Iblis was predestined to fall, say that he was created in such a way that God can demonstrate his [[Names of God in Islam|entire spectrum of attributes]] (for example; ''jalal'' (majesty)) in his eternal speech (i.e. the Quran), and teaching the consequences of sin.<ref name="Lange">{{cite book |last1=Lange |first1=Christian |chapter=Devil (Satan) |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_25991 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam |editor1-first=Kate |editor1-last=Fleet |editor2-first=Gudrun |editor2-last=Krämer |editor3-first=Denis |editor3-last=Matringe |editor4-first=John |editor4-last=Nawas |editor5-first=Everett |editor5-last=Rowson |isbn=978-90-04-35666-5 }}</ref> Three things to avoid are marked by the fall of Iblis: Transgression (''ma'siyah''), arrogance (''istikbār''), and comparison (''qiyās'') to another creature of God.<ref name="Basharin-2018"/>{{rp|p=122}}

Although not the cause of evil, Iblis is known as the progenitor of tempters, known as the "father of the devils" (''Abū ash-Shayāṭīn'').<ref name="Egdunas Racius">{{cite journal | last=Racius | first=Egdunas | title=Islamic Exegesis on the jinn: Their origin, kinds and substance and their relation to other beings | journal=Studia Orientalia Electronica | volume=85 | date=2014-05-08 | issn=2323-5209 | pages=127–138 | url=https://journal.fi/store/article/view/44004 | access-date=2025-03-19}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=129}} ''Ḥādīth'' literature emphasizes their evil influences over humans rather than treating them as proper personalities.{{sfnp|Awn|1983|p=46}} Muslims are advised to "seek refuge" from such influences and are recommended to recite ''[[du'a|duʿāʾ]]'' (prayers) for protection.<ref name="q742">{{cite book | last=Macuch | first=Rudolf | title="And life is victorious" | publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag | publication-place=Wiesbaden | date=2008 | isbn=978-3-447-05178-1 | language=de | page=82}}</ref>