Most Common Questions asked by Non-Muslims
who have some knowledge of Islam
who have some knowledge of Islam
Q15. Iblis - Angel or Jinn?
Question:
The
Qur’an in several places says that Iblis was an angel, but in Surah Kahf it
says that Iblis was a Jinn. Isn’t this a contradiction in the Qur’an?
IBLIS - ANGEL OR JINN?
Answer:
- Incidence Of Iblis And Angel Mentioned In The Qur’an
The
story of Adam and Iblis is mentioned in the Qur’an in various places in which Allah
(swt) says,
“We said to the angels bow down to Adam: and they bowed down: not so Iblis”.
“We said to the angels bow down to Adam: and they bowed down: not so Iblis”.
This is
mentioned in:
Surah
Al-Baqarah chapter 2 verse 43
Surah Al-Araf
chapter 7 verse 17
Surah Al-Hijr
chapter 15 verses 28-31
Surah Al-Isra
chapter 17 verse 61
Surah Ta-Ha
chapter 20 verse 116
Surah Al-Sad
chapter 38 verses 71-74
But in
Surah Al-Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 the Qur’an says:
“Behold!
We said to the angels, ‘Bow down to Adam. ’They bowed down except Iblis He was
one of the Jinns.”
[Al-Qur’an 18:50]
- Arabic Rule Of Tagleeb
The
English translation of the first part of the verse ‘We said to the angels bow
down to Adam: they bowed down except Iblis’, gives us the impression that Iblis
was an angel. The Qur’an was revealed in Arabic. In Arabic grammar there is a
rule known as ‘Tagleeb’, according to which, if the majority is
addressed even the minority is included. If for example, I address a class
containing 100 students of whom 99 are boys and one is a girl, and if I say in
Arabic that all the boys should stand up, it includes the girl as well. I need
not mention her seperately.
Similarly
in the Qur’an, when Allah addressed the angel, even Iblis was present, but it
is not required that he be mentioned separately. Therefore according to that sentence
Iblis may be an angel or may not be an angel but we come to know from Surah
Al-Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 that Iblis was a Jinn. No where does the Qur’an say
Iblis was an angel. Therefore there is no contradiction in the Qur’an.
- Jinn have free will and can disobey Allah.
Secondly,
Jinns have a free will and may or may not obey Allah, but angels have no free will and always obey Allah. Therefore the question of an angel
disobeying Allah does not arise. This further supplements that Iblis was a Jinn
and not an angel.
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