Who is Iblis? Shaytan in the Quran

Short answer: Iblis is the jinn who refused Allah's command to bow to Adam, out of pride, and so was expelled and cursed. The Quran says plainly that "he was of the jinn" (18:50), so he was never an angel. He asked to be given time until the Day of Resurrection and promised to mislead the children of Adam. Allah gave him that time, but told him he has no authority over Allah's sincere servants. In Arabic he is called Iblis (إِبْلِيس), and he and his followers are called shaytan (شَيْطَان), plural shayatin. A Muslim seeks protection from him by saying a'udhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim.

Iblis and Shaytan: the names in Arabic

Iblis (إِبْلِيس) is his personal name. The Quran uses it eleven times, and almost always in the scene where the angels bow to Adam. Shaytan (شَيْطَان) is a description: anyone rebellious and harmful, from the jinn or from people, can be called a shaytan, and the plural is shayatin (شَيَاطِين). When the Quran says ash-shaytan, "the Satan", it usually means Iblis himself. His title ar-rajim (الرَّجِيم) means "the outcast", the one driven away and stoned.

Arabic scholars give two views on where the words come from. Some say shaytan comes from shatana, to be far, because he is far from Allah's mercy; others from shata, to burn. Many say Iblis comes from ablasa, to lose all hope; others say it is a foreign name. Either way, the meaning the Quran gives him is clear from what he did.

A jinn, not an angel

Many people, Muslims included, picture Iblis as a fallen angel. The Quran says otherwise, in one short sentence:

The Quran also tells us what the two kinds of creation are made of. Of Adam's creation and the jinn it says: "And the jinn We created before from scorching fire" (15:27), and "He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire" (55:15). Iblis himself says he was made of fire. Angels do not disobey: they "do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded" (66:6). Iblis disobeyed.

Then why does the Quran say the angels bowed "except Iblis"? Because he was among them when the command came, so the command reached him too. Arabic allows an exception from a group that the excepted one is with but does not belong to. The Quran's own answer to "what was he?" is 18:50: of the jinn. See Is Shaytan an angel? for what the scholars said about the reports that he once lived among the angels.

The refusal: "I am better than him"

The story is told in seven surahs: Al-Baqarah, Al-A'raf, Al-Hijr, Al-Isra, Al-Kahf, Ta-Ha and Sad. Allah told the angels that He would create a human being from clay, and that when He had shaped him and breathed life into him, they should fall down to him in prostration (15:28-29, 38:71-72). The angels all bowed. Iblis refused, and Allah asked him why:

That one answer holds the whole of his sin. He did not deny that Allah exists or that Allah had spoken. He compared himself with Adam, judged fire better than clay, and put his own judgement above Allah's command. Al-Baqarah names it: "He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers" (2:34). In Surah Sad, Allah asks him: "What prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My hands? Were you arrogant [then], or were you [already] among the haughty?" (38:75). Pride came first, and disbelief followed from it.

So Allah said: "Then get out of it, for indeed, you are expelled. And indeed, upon you is the curse until the Day of Recompense" (15:34-35).

His request and his promise

Iblis did not repent. He asked for time: "My Lord, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected" (15:36). Allah gave him time "until the Day of the time well-known" (15:38). Then he made his promise, and the Quran records it in his own words more than once:

In Al-Isra he adds that he will "destroy his descendants, except for a few" (17:62). Allah answers him with a challenge: "incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them" (17:64). And the next ayah closes the door on him:

What he did to Adam

Allah warned Adam directly: "O Adam, indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from Paradise so you would suffer" (20:117). Iblis came to them with a whisper and a promise of eternity, swore that he was a sincere adviser, and "made them fall, through deception" (7:20-22). The difference between Adam and Iblis is in what happened next. Adam and his wife said: "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers" (7:23), and Allah forgave them. Iblis blamed Allah: "Because You have put me in error" (7:16). One owned his mistake and turned back; the other blamed someone else and stayed proud.

What power does Shaytan have?

The Quran is clear that his power is real but small. He whispers, he makes wrong look attractive (15:39), and he "threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality" (2:268). He cannot force anyone. On the Day of Judgement he will say so himself:

"Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak" (4:76). His hold is "only over those who take him as an ally" (16:100). So the Quran's instruction is simple: "Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy" (35:6), and "do not follow the footsteps of Satan" (2:208), which means the small steps that lead to a big sin.

How a Muslim seeks protection

The Quran gives the remedy straight after describing the whisper: "And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing" (7:200). In practice:

• Say the isti'adhah. A'udhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim, "I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the outcast". It is said before reciting the Quran (16:98), and the Prophet ﷺ taught it to a man who was furious: if he said it, his anger would go (Sahih al-Bukhari 6115). See A'udhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim, its meaning and when to say it.
• Recite the last two surahs. Al-Falaq and An-Nas were revealed for protection, and An-Nas ends with "the retreating whisperer", from "the jinn and mankind" (114:4-6).
• Recite Ayat al-Kursi at night. The Prophet ﷺ confirmed that whoever recites it on going to bed has a guardian from Allah, and no shaytan comes near him until morning (Sahih al-Bukhari 2311).
• Recite Al-Baqarah at home. "Shaytan flees from the house in which Surah Al-Baqarah is recited" (Sahih Muslim 780).
• Stop the whisper, do not argue with it. When doubts like "who created Allah?" come, the Prophet ﷺ said to seek refuge in Allah and stop there (Sahih al-Bukhari 3276). For whispers in prayer, he told Uthman ibn Abi al-As to seek refuge and spit lightly to the left three times (Sahih Muslim 2203).

For more on the unseen world, read jinn in Islam and angels in Islam. For the reason Allah created him at all, see Why did Allah create Shaytan?

FAQ

Sources

1. Quran 2:34, 7:11 to 23, 15:26 to 43, 17:61 to 65, 18:50, 20:116 to 120, 38:71 to 85, with 2:208, 2:268, 4:76, 14:22, 16:98 to 100, 35:6, 55:15, 66:6, 7:200 and 114. Arabic from the Uthmani text, translation by Sahih International.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari 6115, from Sulayman ibn Surad (seeking refuge when angry).
3. Sahih al-Bukhari 2311, from Abu Hurayrah (Ayat al-Kursi at night).
4. Sahih Muslim 780, from Abu Hurayrah (Surah Al-Baqarah in the home).
5. Sahih al-Bukhari 3276, from Abu Hurayrah (the whisper "who created...").
6. Sahih Muslim 2203, from Uthman ibn Abi al-As (whispers in prayer).
7. On the words shaytan and Iblis: the classical dictionaries and commentaries, for example ar-Raghib al-Isfahani, al-Mufradat, and Ibn Kathir's commentary on 2:34 and 18:50.