Who is Satan (Shaitan)?

Proud2BeHumble

Seek Truth, Be Happy
:salam2:

Q: Who is Satan and what's his name in Arabic?

A: Satan belongs to another form of life "jinnkind" or spirits. His name in Arabic is (Iblis) and he goes by another name "Sheetan" (Devil).

Q: Why does Satan despise humans and desire their destruction?

A: When God (swt) created Adam, God wanted to give Adam some sort of respect, value and position among the other creations. God (swt) commanded the Angels, including Satan from the Jinn, to prostrate to Adam as a sign of respect and not as a sign of worship. All prostrated to Adam but Satan. Satan was a mighty & a distinguished Jinn. God (swt) asked him what made you not prostrate to Adam and disobeyed my commandment? Satan replied, I am better than Adam, you created him from Clay and created me from Fire. God (swt) cursed Satan. Satan vowed to destroy Adam and his descendants forever.

Q: I am still confused, I thought Satan was an Angel like Gabriel and he has no free will but to worship God?

A: False. If Satan was an Angel, then we wouldn't have any problems with him at all. Angels are a special creation of God (swt). God (swt) created Angels from divine light (Nur). Angles don't have free will in doing things but to worship God (swt) and obey his commandments. Satan, on the other hand, is a Jinn "spirit", and like humans, Satan and his race "jinnkind" have free will in their actions; free will of doing good and free will of doing bad. Ref. QURAN (18:50)

According to the Qur'an (the basic source of Islamic belief), when God created Adam (pbuh) and directed the assembly of angels to prostrate before Adam (pbuh), Iblis - a Jinn - was also present in the court. All the angels obediently prostrated before Adam (pbuh). However, Iblis - the Jinn - arrogantly refused to do so. This, obviously, was a transgression on the part of Iblis. It was this transgression of Iblis that made him deserving of the name 'Al-Shaitaan'[1] (the Satan). As a result of this transgression, God turned Iblis out of His court and sentenced him to punishment. However, Iblis asked God for respite till the Day of Judgment and declared that because God had turned him out of his court and had sentenced him to punishment because of man, he would therefore always be an enemy to man. He, and those who become his agents, would do all that they can to turn man away from the path of God and as a consequence, suffer the everlasting punishment of hellfire..

Thus, according to the Islamic belief, Iblis - the Satan - is neither a fallen angel, as the Christians believe, nor an agent of God. Islam introduces Iblis as a Jinn, who by his freewill opted to disobey God and transgress. God allowed Satan respite from punishment till an appointed time and gave him the authority only to the extent of suggesting evil to man. Iblis and his agents[2] - from among jinn as well as men - cannot force man into evil. They, however, can incite man to do what is against God's commandments and thereby lose the path of eternal success.

It should be kept in mind that the basic scheme of things in giving man life, according to the Qur'an, was to test him by giving him authority to choose between 'good' and 'evil'. It is, in fact, the incorrect use of this authority, which results in evil. It seems that the Jinn are also given the same authority. Iblis became 'the Satan' for no other reason except for using this freedom of choice for the wrong end.


Wasalam
 

Proud2BeHumble

Seek Truth, Be Happy
Q. Shaitaan (Iblis) was thrown out by Almighty Allah on not obeying the orders. Thus Shaitaan is one entity, how can he be present at so many places at one given time to distort Muslims believers from doing their duties?

A. Adam was alone in the beginning and God created for him, his wife so that the human race could start and spread. Iblis is one person but being from Jinns, he may have his progeny. At which stage, Allah created his pair, is not known to us, as most other things about them are also unknown. We know that Iblis was the most learned and respectable of all Jinns before being expelled from the proximity of Allah. It does not necessarily mean that he was the lone person of his race when his expulsion came about. In one of the verses, where his non-compliance is described, it is at the same time stated that he was from among (the race of Jinn), which indicates that there may have been others of his race at that time also, though not necessarily in high heavens. The relevant verse is: “...they bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinns and he broke the Command of his Lord.” (18:50)

Qur’an has used, the words ‘tribe of Shaitan, hosts of Shaitans, brothers of Shaitans and it informs us that the Shaitans are from both Jinns and humankind. See the verses 7:27, 26:95, 17:27, and 6:112 etc. So there are and have been innumerable number of devils from among Jinns and human beings from day one.

Besides the above, it is possible for a Shaitan from Jinns to tempt and mislead more than one person from human beings even if they are at different places. Shaitan has not to be physically present near a man to allure him. Being a person whose basic constituent of the body is heat energy instead of matter, he can penetrate and infiltrate from a distance in different directions. The Qur’an tells us that he misleads by sending thought waves (Waswasa). He did not allure Adam by physically sneaking into the heaven from where he had been expelled. There was no question of his approaching near a place where from none other than Allah had debarred him. He allured Adam and Hawwa by sending thought waves. “Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them (before): he said “Your Lord only forbade you this tree lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever.” (7:20). We have been warned thus:

“O ye children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you in the same manner as he got your parents out of the garden stripping them of their raiment to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a position where ye cannot see them: We made the devil the protecting friends of those without faith.” (7:27)
 
Top