St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (Feb 2025)
Iblīs
Abstract
Iblīs is the name of a spiritual being reported within a single narrative told in varying forms in seven sūras of the Qur’an. He then develops in subsequent tradition into the dedicated adversary of humanity. The foundational story is that, having created Adam, God commands the angels to bow down to him. All comply except Iblīs, who tries to justify his refusal in various ways, but is nevertheless ejected from heaven. His essential flaw is arrogant pride. Iblīs is generally regarded in the Islamic tradition as the proto-Shayṭān (Satan), meaning that, after disobeying God in heaven, he becomes Shayṭān on earth, the manifest enemy of humanity. He will have the power to tempt to disobedience, but not to coerce. Satan does not rule the earth as in some Christian theologies. The hotly debated question of whether Iblīs is an angel or a jinn is rooted in ambiguities in the Qur’anic story and bears on the nature of angels – whether they are capable of disobedience or change. If they can change, or are of diverse sorts, how does this affect the reliability of revelation? This, in turn, bears on the larger theological issue of theodicy, the origin of evil. The Muslim scholastics, various schools of thought that explored the issue of theodicy, relegated Iblīs to a minor role, being concerned about the responsibility (or not) of God for the presence of evil in the world. In some Sufi traditions, Iblīs is the teacher of morality, the appraiser of spiritual purity. He can be the passionate lover of God, the ultimate monotheist, the guardian of the Presence of God, and a tragic figure. Sometimes he wishes to redeem himself. Generally, in popular literature, he is used to illustrate various clever and deceitful ways to lead believers astray. In some modern literature, he becomes a means to explore critiques of society, its materialism, patriarchy, abuse of religion, or the tensions between religion and reason.
