Iblis Punishment
Belen Varenhorst
Iblis (Arabic: إِبْلِيسْ, romanized: Iblīs),[2] alternatively known as Eblīs,[3] is the leader of the devils (shayāṭīn) in Islam. According to the Quran, Iblis was thrown out of heaven after refusing to prostrate himself before Adam. He is often compared to the Christian Satan, since both figures were cast out of heaven according to their respective religious narratives.
In the first version, before Iblis was cast down from heaven, he used to be an angel, created from fire, called ʿAzāzīl. God appointed him to obliterate the jinn who precedingly inhabited of the Earth until they became disobedient and destructive. Consequently God decided to replace them with humans.[4] When God announces to create a successor to the jinn, the angels objected to that decision. When God taught Adam and showed the superiority of Adam compared to the angels in regards of knowledge, angels were ordered to prostrate themselves. All the angels obeyed except Iblis, who claims that the command was unjust and refuses to follow order. Whereupon, he was punished by being relegated from an angel (malāk) to a devil (shayṭān) and is expelled.[4]
When God created Adam, He ordered the angels to bow before the new creation. All of the angels bowed down, but Iblis refused to do so. He argued that since he was created from fire, he is superior to humans, who were made from clay-mud, and that he should not prostrate himself before Adam.[17] As punishment for his haughtiness, God banished Iblis from heaven and condemned him to hell. Later, Iblis requested the ability to attempt to mislead Adam and his descendants, whereupon God grants the request, thus depicting God as the power behind both the angels and devils.[18]
According to multiple scholars (Tabari, Suyuti, al-Nasafi,[18] al-Māturīdī,[a] this verse was meant to be a revelation about Iblis since only he was claiming divine authority for himself, and does so by inviting to follow egoistic desires (nafs).[18] The term sijjin, mentioned in Surah 83:7, is regarded by several scholars (Tabari, Tha'labi, Nasafi) as a prison in hell for Iblis. From this place, he would send his demons to the surface.[18]
Although not the cause of evil, Iblis is known as the progenitor of tempters, known as the "father of the devils" (Abū ash-Shayāṭīn).[33](p129) Ḥādīth literature emphasizes their evil influences over humans rather than treating them as proper personalities.[34] Muslims are advised to "seek refuge" from such influences and are recommanded to recite duʿāʾ (prayers) for protection.[35]
The predestinarians' approach was attractive for many Muslim thinkers to avoid dualistic tendencies. Some extreme positions went as far as to consider the belief that evil derives from an individual's own responsibility without God's interference, as a form of attributing a second power to God, thus falling into širk (polytheism).[36] From this idea of absolute predeterminism, some scholars and ṣūfis developed sympathy for Iblis. They began to consider Iblis to be a "true monotheist" only bested by Muhammed, who would accept punishment and suffering over bowing before something else but God, an idea later known as "Satan's monotheism" (tawḥīd-i Iblīs).[7]
This idea is reflected in a transmission by Wahb ibn Munabbih, an eminent teller of Israʼiliyyat, stating that Iblis met Moses on the slopes of Sinai. When Moses asks Iblis why he refused God's order, he replies that the command was actually a test.[37] This story inspired people, such as Mansur al-Hallaj and Ahmad Ghazali. The latter depicted Iblis as a paragon of self-sacrifice and stated at one point: "Whoever doesn't learn monotheism from Satan is a heretic (zindīq )."[38] His student, Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, asserted that Iblis' disobedience was wanted by God, or God would be powerless and a powerless being cannot be attributed to God.[39]
Such positive depictions are, however, by no means universal among the predestinarians. Ibn Ghanim refers to the report of the meeting between Iblis and Moses, and argues that Iblis is just using predeterminism as an excuse to cover his unbelief and use a subtle deception by evoking sympathies.[40] Ruzbihan Baqli calls Iblis' apology a form of deception.[41]
In his Masnavi (Book 2), he refers to several attempts to excuse Iblis, when he wakens Mu'awiya for the morning prayer (ṣalāt al-fajr). Mu'awiya is sceptical towards Iblis' alleged good intentions, so he begins to question him. Iblis argues that an original angel, who was predestined to fall, could never be truly evil.[44][45] Mu'awiya realizes he cannot outsmart Iblis and seeks refuge in God instead. When Iblis sees that he cannot win Mu'awiya over, he confesses that he never had good intentions in the first place and used these arguements just to trick people. Instead, he woke him up because missing a prayer and consequent repentance (tawbah), would bring him closer to God than performing the prayer. Rumi makes clear that there is no reason to have sympathies for the fallen angel, as he is still the enemy of humans.[7]
In reference to the interpretation of the events in Surah 2:30-34, when the angels complain over mankinds' potential to shed blood and cause injustice, Islamic narrative traditions elaborate a legendary battle between the angels and jinn.[48] Tabari and al-Thaʿlabi explain that the angels feared that humanity will become as corrupt as the jinn. Before Adam was created, the jinn, offspring of al-Jānn (الجان), lived on earth. When they became infidels, God sent an army of angels called "al-Jinn" (named after paradise, not the genus) to defeat them.[48] They explain that most angels were created from light, but Iblis and his angels from nār as-samūm, and the genus of jinn from mārijin min nār (smokeless fire).[48]
Some later traditions place Iblis among the genus of the jinn instead. In one narration of the Tarikh Khamis, among the masses of infidel jinn only Iblis dedicated his life to worship of God, withdrawing to a high mountain. The angels soon notice him and elavate him to the heavens, where he becomes one like them in worship.[49]
With reference to Surah 76:1, Islamic narrative tradition considers Adam to be created step by step, beginning as an inanimate body.[50] The story is mentioned by various scholars of the Sunni tradition, including Muqatil, Tabari, Mas'udi, Kisa'i, and Tha'labi.[50] The angels passing by him were scared. Most afraid was Iblis. To overcome his anxiety, he enters Adam and moves through the body.[50] He concludes that "this is hollow clay", whereas Iblis is "fire". Since fire overcomes clay, he vows to destroy Adam like fire destroys clay:
Some scholars (among them Thala'bi, Tabarsi,[51] Diyarbakri[52]) explain, with slightly variations, Iblis' entry to the Garden of Eden by the aid of a serpent and a peacock. Some traditions have the Garden of Eden being warded by an angelic guardian. Thus, Iblis persuades a peacock to get help, by promising him that, if he enters the Garden, the beauty of the peacock will never decay thanks to the fruit of immortality. The peacock, unable to carry Iblis, persuades the serpent, who decides to slip Iblis by carrying him in his mouth. From the mouth of the serpent, Iblis speaks to Adam and Ḥawwāʾ.[53]
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 in human form wearing a special head covering, clearly different from the traditional Islamic turban and long sleeves, signifying long lasting devotion to God.[1] Only in one, he wears traditional Islamic head covering.[57]
The complexity of Iblis' character from the Quranic story had lasting influence on Islamic literature. It elaborates on the necessity of evil and Iblis' disobedience in creative retelling of the exegetical tradition.[42]
Vathek, first composed in French (1782) by the English novelist William Beckford, in which the protagonists travel through, what he conceives as the supernatural world of the Orient. In their travels, they meet jinn, angels, peri, and prophets. The underworld is the domain of Iblis, however, they meet him only in person at the end of the journey. Although there are similarities to Dante's Satan in the Halls of Eblis, Beckford's Satan, clearly inspired by the figure of Iblis, is that of a young man with mixed traits of pride and despair, and not that of a monstrous being.[62][63]
In Muhammad Iqbal's poetry, Iblis is critical about overstressed obedience, which caused his downfall. But Iblis is not happy about humanity's obedience towards himself either; rather he longs for humans who resist him. Before a human who resisted him, he would be willing to prostrate himself, and he could finally achieve salvation.[64]
Egyptian novelist Tawfiq al-Hakim's ash-Shahid (1953) describes the necessity of Iblis' evil for the world. As a reference to Iblis' predetermined fall, his protagonist Iblis consulsts religious authorities to embrace salvation, but is rejected each time, because the world would require him to be sinful. He consults the Pope, the Rabbi, and the Al-Azhar Mosque, each of them explain the necessity of Iblis' unbelief. Without Iblis' evil deeds, a large portion of revelation would become obsolete. Afterwards, Iblis visits the angel Gabriel, but is rejected again. Realizing that Iblis is both doomed as well as appointed by God, he descends from heaven shouting out: "I am a martyr!".[65]
A non-muslim who does not believe in God, will he get more punishment then the Shaytan ( Iblis ) himself ? Iblis believes in Allah... Is there a verse in Quran that says that Iblis will go to hell ? Why did Iblis disobey Allah when he knew that Allah is AllPowerfull ? If Allah wanted him to disobey, then will he still have to be in hell for ever ? Please tell me about this issue...Will Iblis go to hell for ever ?
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