Information about Iblis

Iblīs (Arabic إبليس), is the name given to the primary devil in Islam.

He appears more often referred in the Qur'an (Islamic holy Book) as the Shaitan, a general purpose term used to refer to all of the evil spirits in alliance with Iblis, but which is often used to refer to just Iblis. Iblis is mentioned 11 times, and Shaitan "al-Shaitaan" is mentioned 87 times. He is chief of the spirits of evil (Shaitan), he is known as Satan, or "the devil" to Christians.

Iblis was a Jinn, a creature made of 'smokeless fire' by God (like humans are made of 'clay'). But he was so devoted to Allah that he was made equal to the angels. When Allah commanded all the angels to bow down before Adam. Iblis did not bow down to Adam^[1]. Then he mentions that he can convert many of Adam's descendants if he is to be respited to the day of judgment ^[2]. Allah agrees and offers payment/recompense to Iblis and his followers ^[3]. He was later sent to earth along with Adam and Eve after having lured them into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, although in this role he is always referred to as al-Shaitan. He was condemned consequently by Allah (God) to Jahannam (Hell). He replied with saying that he wanted to bring the inhabitants of Earth down with him, and Allah (God), to test Mankind and Jinn, allowed him to roam Earth to attempt to convert others.

He tempts humans through his whisper (waswas, "he whispered") of sinful ideas in their head and false suggestion (haiif). In the end, it is believed, he will go into Jahannam (Hell in Islam) along with the "Companions of the Fire" through Allah's (God's) true message to mankind (Islam), those who successfully follow a righteous path will be rewarded with the pleasures of Jannah (Paradise or Heaven in Islam).

The Qur'an does not depict Iblis as the enemy of Allah, for Allah is supreme over all His creations and Iblis is just one of His creations. Unlike the Zoroastrian beliefs, all good and bad deeds are from Allah Himself and only He can save humanity from the evils of His universe and His creations. Humankind is warned to struggle against the mischiefs of the Shaitan and temptations he puts them in (citation needed). A commonly shared belief in both Islam and Christianity is that the universal existence of evil in personal lives is usually experienced because of the devil .

Etymology

Non-Muslim scholars generally hold Iblis to be a contraction of the Greek word diabolos, also the disciple of Jibril Osman a somalian meaning "devil." Every thousand years one betrodeth child is said to become Iblis They claim that the Christian and Jewish communities of Arabia during Muhammad's time are likely to have known 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 بَلَسَ, meaning "he/it despaired". So the linguistic meaning of Iblis would be "he/it that causes despair", which sits well within the context of how the word is used in the Quran.

Origin

In contrast with the Christian tradition, the Qur'an names Iblis 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).) In Islam, angels are specifically messengers and do not posses free will. There is, accordingly, no parallel in Islam to the Fallen angel story in some Christian and Jewish traditions. Also Iblis was created before humans were even mentioned and lived as Allah's(God's) helper. Just like humans who have to work hard to gain a patience and status, Iblis also had to do this. A being who was given power close to that of angles by Allah(God) because he at one point was a pious and humble Jinn, a believer. This is where the term Lucifer might have been given to him because at one point in time he was close to Allah(God) and was on the good side. He was literally allowed into the heaven and go in and out as he pleased because Allah(God) gave him that privilege. There are many theorys on how he got to the elavated state he was in but the main thing was that he wanted to be close to Allah at one point in time. Only Allah knows how long Iblis was alive before Adam (peace be upon him) was created. But because of pride, jealousy and not following Allah's commands was exspelled from the heaven and made enemy to mankind. According to the Qur'an, after Allah (God) had completed the creation of everything else (2-29), God announced that He will create a Khalifa (vicegerent) on Earth, causing the angels to exclaim 'How He intends to place on earth one who shall make mischief and shed blood while they hymn His praise and sanctify Him.' Allah answered that He knows what they do not. (2-30).

So Allah (God) created Adam and gave him from His knowledge what no other creature of His possesses, by teaching him the names of everything, and by presenting them to the angels, Allah (God) demanded that they tell the names (2-30), knowing that they would fail.

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 in front of the angels (2-33), and when Adam did, He commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam and so they did except for Iblis (2-34), (7-11), (20-116).

In another telling of the story Allah (God) informs the angels that He will create Man (Bashar) from clay (15-28) and that as soon as He has completed his creation they should all prostrate before His creation (15-29), and so they all do (15-30), except for Iblis (15-31), (38-74) When Allah demanded an explanation from Iblis of why he refused to prostrate to Adam (15-32), and Iblis explains that he would not prostrate before Adam whom Allah has created from clay (15-33) (17-61), while he himself Iblis was created from fire (38-76), and as such he was better than Adam (7-12).

In popular culture

• In the Dune prequels science fiction series there is a corrupted high priest named Iblis Ginjo.
• In the original Battlestar Galactica, there was an alien known as Count Iblis. He was seen to be a science fiction equivalent of the Devil and was also the voice of the Cylon Imperious Leader.
• In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game), Silver (the newest character in the Sonic Series) believes that Sonic is the mysterious 'Iblis Trigger'. Iblis is a fiery demon who destroyed the world.
• The second installment in the Quest for Glory series of adventure games, , the antagonist Ad Avis plots to release a djinn by the name of Iblis. Releasing him will result in the destruction of the world as well as a gameover. Iblis can only be freed according to a strict prophecy involving the Hero from the East, being you the player.
• There is a character in the Star Wars universe named Garm bel Iblis (Garm being the hellhound, like Cerberus, in Norse mythology, and Bel (Baäl) a pagan god). He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. In contrast to the original Iblis, he was a highly moral senator who opposed Palpatine, and later played vital roles in the Rebellion and New Republic.
• In the Playstation 2 exclusive game Primal, in which there are four demon worlds for the user to explore the fourth and most dangerous world Volca is home to the Djinn who are ruled by their King, King Iblis.
• In the Wheel of Time series, the Nae'blis is Shai'tan's regent on Earth.
• In World of Warcraft there is a sword called Iblis, Blade of the Fallen Seraph.
• In the Tom Clancy novel "The Teeth of the Tiger", a federal hero/agent invokes the name of Iblis while forcing a dying Islamic terrorist to hold pigskin in order to induce fear and insult.
• MF Grimm has an album entitled .
• In Zone of the Enders the Fist of Mars, the Black Frame's true identity is Iblis.

See also

• Shaitan
• Jannah
• Qiyamah
• Hell
• Islamic eschatology
• Devil in Christianity
• Satan
• Devil
• Lucifer

External links

• Short summary on Iblis
• Another short summary
• Iblis

Notes

References

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