Iblis (Satan): Difference between revisions

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→‎Species of Iblis (angel/jinn): Tidied up some of the empty sections and added a link to the hadith mentioning devil/satan/iblis
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(Angel/Jinn discussion moved from Contradictions article (wasn't suitable there per edit comments))
(→‎Species of Iblis (angel/jinn): Tidied up some of the empty sections and added a link to the hadith mentioning devil/satan/iblis)
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To resolve the incoherence between the two interpretations on the nature of Iblis, Muslim scholarship came up with some ingenious ideas. Al-Tabari, for example, argued it is possible God created one part of his angels from light and another part from fire; Iblis possibly could belong to that group of angels who were created from the scorching winds.<ref>Ibid. pp. 46.</ref> Al-Baydawi (d. 1286), meanwhile, had a more plausible explanation. He argued Iblis, a jinni made out of fire, was carried off as a captive by the angels during one of the combats between jinn and angels that took place on Earth. Because Iblis was still a child, he grew up among angels. When God ordered the angels to bow before Adam, Iblis refused, and thus revealed his true jinni nature.<ref>Ibid.</ref>
To resolve the incoherence between the two interpretations on the nature of Iblis, Muslim scholarship came up with some ingenious ideas. Al-Tabari, for example, argued it is possible God created one part of his angels from light and another part from fire; Iblis possibly could belong to that group of angels who were created from the scorching winds.<ref>Ibid. pp. 46.</ref> Al-Baydawi (d. 1286), meanwhile, had a more plausible explanation. He argued Iblis, a jinni made out of fire, was carried off as a captive by the angels during one of the combats between jinn and angels that took place on Earth. Because Iblis was still a child, he grew up among angels. When God ordered the angels to bow before Adam, Iblis refused, and thus revealed his true jinni nature.<ref>Ibid.</ref>


Sinai 2023 notes a potential reason for this repeated seemingly contradictory statement. In the Qur'an, nine out of eleven mentions of Iblīs occur in the context of the angels prostrating to Adam, with Iblīs refusing (Q 2:34, 7:11, 17:61, 18:50, 20:116, 15:30–31, 38:73–74), or in the immediate divine address to Iblīs (Q 15:32, 38:75). The other two occurrences (Q 26:95, 34:20) refer to Iblīs’s followers and those who follow Iblīs, respectively. He suggests a more satisfactory resolution to the issue is therefore the formula "fa-sajadū illā iblīsa" might have originated from pre-Qur’anic Arab traditions on this story, where the formula fa-sajadū illā iblīsa reached the Qur’anic milieu as a set phrase that had been coined in prior Arabophone narrative traditions. This idea is supported by similar pre-Qur’anic narrative phrases in the Qur'an, like God blowing His spirit into Adam or Mary (e.g. Q 15:29, 21:91).<ref>Sinai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (pp. 453-454 & 456). Princeton University Press.  </ref>  
Sinai 2023 notes a potential reason for this repeated seemingly contradictory statement. In the Qur'an, nine out of eleven mentions of Iblīs occur in the context of the angels prostrating to Adam, with Iblīs refusing (Q 2:34, 7:11, 17:61, 18:50, 20:116, 15:30–31, 38:73–74), or in the immediate divine address to Iblīs (Q 15:32, 38:75). The other two occurrences (Q 26:95, 34:20) refer to Iblīs’s followers and those who follow Iblīs, respectively. He suggests a more satisfactory resolution to the issue is therefore the formula "fa-sajadū illā iblīsa" might have originated from pre-Qur’anic Arab traditions on this story, where the formula fa-sajadū illā iblīsa reached the Qur’anic milieu as a set phrase that had been coined in prior Arabophone narrative traditions. This idea is supported by similar pre-Qur’anic narrative phrases in the Qur'an, like God blowing His spirit into Adam or Mary (e.g. Q 15:29, 21:91).<ref>Sinai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (pp. 453-454 & 456). Princeton University Press.  </ref>


====His story====
=== In the hadith ===
 
See '[https://sunnah.com/search?q=Satan Satan]', '[https://sunnah.com/search?q=Devil Devil]' and '[https://sunnah.com/search?q=iblis Iblis]' keyword searches on Sunnah.com.
===In the hadith===
 
====Appearance====
 
====Other descriptions====


==Etymology==
==Etymology==
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== Theological significance ==
== Theological significance ==
===Sufism===
==Species of Iblis (angel/jinn)==


==References==
==References==
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