In Surah Isra, verse 62, Allah conveys the words spoken by Iblis. Iblis says: araayta haza llazi karramta Alay – “Do You see him whom You have exalted above me” – that is, Adam – la in akhhartani ila yawmi l-qiyama la akhtanikanna zurriyatahu illa kalila – “if You grant me respite until the Day of Qiyamah, I will subdue his descendants, except for a few.” Or if translated more accurately, he says: I will bridle them as animals are bridles. Khanaq is the mouth of an animal, the mouth where the bridle is inserted to control the animal. That is, Iblis says: I will rule over them all, except for a few. And who are these “few”, will become clear to us later…
Iblis needs to be known… We must know who he is, how he acts, what he fears, what his plans are. Because he is our main enemy, the enemy of the descendants of Adam. All of us, regardless of our beliefs, skin color, nationality, gender. Between us and Iblis there is a war in which there can be no peace or even a truce. War until a certain day. And the fact that many descendants of Adam, and today probably even the majority, deny the very existence of Iblis, consider him a fairy tale, a myth – this is also one of Iblis’s tricks, one of Iblis’s tricks.
Iblis was created much earlier than us. He was created when our father Adam did not yet exist, he was on earth and ruled on earth. Then he was elevated to the angelic host and there he worshiped Allah for many thousands of years. Then he was cursed and has lived next to us from the time of Adam until today. He has survived hundreds and hundreds of generations of people, he has seen our entire history. Thus, his experience and knowledge are incomparable with ours.
Another advantage of Iblis is that he has time to implement his program. Allah has given him a reprieve, and he does not die until the day of a certain term. Iblis, unlike us, is in no hurry. He plans his actions centuries in advance. Therefore, we must understand how Iblis acts, how he thinks. What he does in order to implement his program … Understand his strategy … In any war, the first thing to do is to understand the thoughts and strategy of the enemy. This is the key to success.
Next, Iblis is not alone. He has a huge army that serves him, and every day we are in a state of war with this army, although we ourselves do not understand it. The number of this army exceeds the number of people by at least twice. It is built like a pyramid. She has a commander, she has a headquarters, she has commanders, she has meetings, she has executors…
But perhaps the main advantage of Iblis is that he sees us, but we do not see him. And that is why many people deny his very existence.
The problem with Muslims is that they imagine Iblis in accordance with the images that have penetrated to them from Christian culture. They think that Iblis, for example, is a creature with horns on his head, with a tail, with a red muzzle… No, this is absolutely not true. Iblis in his true essence, which we do not see, is, so to speak, a clot of energy. If you see him in his true form, you will see something like a black shadow. But he can also take the form of people or animals. For example, the camel, after which the battle of Jamal is named (“jamal” means “camel”), was a shaitan, as Imam Ali (A) said… Not Iblis, the main shaitan, but one of his offspring, from his army… And Iblis does not necessarily have to appear in a terrible and disgusting form. He and his descendants can take such a form if they want to frighten someone from people. However, they can also take a very beautiful form. The form of a beautiful person, for example. The appearance of a believer worshiping Allah…
In one of the hadiths, Iblis describes himself and proudly lists his virtues. He says: “I am the one who killed Abel, I am the one who equipped the army of Pharaoh and gave him power over Egypt, I am the one who killed Zakaria and Yahya, I am the one who arranged Saqifah, I am the one who was the owner of a camel in the Battle of Jamal…”. And at the end he says: ana abu mirra – and Abu Mirra is the kunya of Iblis – ana abu mirra mahlukun min narin la min tyn ana llazi ghaziba Alayhi rabbu l-Alameen – “I am Abu Mirra, created from fire, not from clay, I am the one with whom the Lord of the worlds was angry.”
That is, Iblis considers it his virtue and is proud of the fact that he caused the wrath of the Lord of the worlds. And here it is necessary to mention an important point – this is that Iblis himself is not a polytheist. Yes, he imposes polytheism on others, that is, on us, the descendants of Adam, he imposes shirk on us, but he himself is not a mushrik. Iblis knows the truth. He knows that Allah is one, he knows Who Allah is, he knows who the prophets are, who Ahl al-Bayt are, he knows all this… And this is his uniqueness, if I may say so, among other creations of Allah. Because the problem of other creations, primarily people, is that they do not know the truth. Iblis, knowing about the truth, still rejects it. That is, his problem is not shirk, but kufr, pride. He says: yes, Allah is great, Allah is omnipotent, I know this very well, but at the same time I am proud that I have caused His anger. That is, Iblis wants to show his importance here, he inflates his own greatness and self-esteem.
There is a point of view that Iblis is seducing humanity in order to delay the time of his reckoning, when he must die. In fact, this is not so. Iblis is not able to delay or speed up anything. He cannot influence the plan of Allah in any way. Then why is Iblis busy with what he does? You will get the answer if you look at the powers that be, the mighty of this world among people. Why are they busy killing people, robbing entire countries, starting wars?.. Are they trying to delay the time of their death by this? They know very well that they will not live longer than others, and their end will still be the same grave as others. Then why do all this? To demonstrate their own importance and pride! Their master and ruler Iblis is busy with the same thing, may Allah curse him.
Iblis, as we have already said, is a jinn. That is, Iblis and his descendants, the shaitans, are part of the clan of jinn, whose father is Jann. Just as Adam is our father, so Jann is the father of jinn. Allah says about him: wal jaanna halaknahu min qablu nari ssamum – “and created Jann from a blazing fire.” Thus, the father of Iblis and all jinn was this Jann. There are other hadiths on this matter, including those that say that Iblis was created like Adam, without a father or mother.
Be that as it may… There are many more jinn than people, and among them, as among people, there are different groups. There are Muslims, and all Muslims from among the jinn are Shiites, there are no Sunnis among them, because their lifespan is very long, and they saw with their own eyes the day of Ghadir, the appointment of Ali as a caliph, Karbala and so on… There are Jews among the jinn, there are Christians, there are unbelievers, and there are shaitans, the descendants of Iblis. Unbelief prevails over these shaitans. Although they can become believers, and in the hadiths there are examples of how this or that shaitan became a believer, that is, turned into a believing jinn. Although such cases are rare. If a shaitan becomes a believer, then he joins the ranks of believing jinn and lives with them. And vice versa, a believing jinn can become an unbeliever and join the ranks of shaitans. About the same as with people.
So, as we have seen, Iblis says to Allah: “I will seduce them all except a few,” that is, he kind of challenges Allah to a dispute and says: I will seduce all the descendants of Adam – those whom You ordered me to bow down to. And You will see that in vain You ordered me to bow down to them, that I am stronger than them, that I am better and higher than them. And Allah accepts this and as a reward for Iblis’ worship gives him certain opportunities, a certain influence on people, as we said in the previous part…
The question arises: when Iblis disobey Allah and was cursed by Him, why did Allah give him power over the descendants of Adam? Yes, Iblis asked him about it, and he had the right to ask, but why did Allah answer him positively to this request? Was Adam guilty of anything? Iblis envied him, Iblis refused to bow down to him and was cursed, but what was Adam’s fault, so Allah gave Iblis power over him? And the second question: why did Allah create such a creature, which is His enemy, seducing His other slaves from the straight path? Wouldn’t it have been easier not to create it or to destroy it, so that the descendants of Adam could worship Allah, and nothing would hinder them? Why does Allah need an enemy?
This question was asked to Imam Sadiq (A) by one zindiq, an atheist, with whom he had a long debate. Let’s look at the answer, the Imam says: “The enemy you mentioned cannot harm Allah in any way and in no way, and his enmity does not diminish anything in the kingdom of Allah.” That is, Iblis is not really an enemy of Allah. An enemy is someone who can harm, and Iblis’s enmity cannot harm Allah in any way, just as his friendship or worship will not bring any benefit to Allah. Allah does not need any of the creations. When we, for example, worship Allah, it is for ourselves, not for Him. And then Imam Sadiq (A) says: “Iblis is a slave whom Allah created to worship Him and honor His unity. And He knew when He created him who he was and where he would go.” That is, the basis for the creation of Iblis, like all other slaves, was the worship of Allah. However, Iblis chose to disobey instead of his own free will, and Allah knew about it.
And, by the way, here such a question or shubha may arise: if Allah knew in advance that Iblis or any other tyrant or sinner, such as Yazid, would disobey Him and end up in the Fire, then why did He create him at all? Answer: Allah knew in advance that they would be like that, but this does not mean that He forced them to do what they did. Knowledge does not mean compulsion. Let me give you an example: my neighbor is walking along the road, in front of which there is a hole, into which he will fall and die. I know in advance that he will definitely go there, but does this mean that I sent him there? On the contrary, I even warned him: “Don’t go there because you will crash,” although I know for sure that he will not listen to me and will go there anyway. So who is to blame for his death – me or himself? It is clear that he is himself. Allah knew in advance who His slaves would be, that is, He knew in advance about their choice, to which He did not force them. Then why did Allah create them at all? So as not to deprive them of this choice! If Allah, knowing in advance about their choice, had not created them at all, then this would have been another form of coercion. That is, without creating them, He would also have forced them not to disobey Him. This would have been another form of jabr, coercion. In this case, Allah would have created only those who obey Him, and the entire creation would have turned into a game, which would have contradicted His wisdom. That is why He created such beings as Iblis, Pharaoh, Yazid, knowing in advance who they would be and what they would do.
Further, Imam Sadiq (A) says: “And he (Iblis) did not stop worshiping Him along with the angels until He tested him by prostrating to Adam, and he refused to do it because of envy, and his misfortune overcame him, and Allah cursed him after that and expelled him from the ranks of the angels and sent him down to earth cursed. And for this reason, he became the enemy of Adam and his descendants, and he has no power over the descendants of Adam except waswas and calling to the false path.”
That is: in reality, Iblis has no power over the family of Adam. He cannot force them to do anything. He can only suggest to them and call them to lie. And whether to respond to his call or not is up to them to decide for themselves. In other words: Satan does not take away our freedom of choice. He does not have such an opportunity. That is, in reality, our fate is in our hands, not in the hands of the shaitan. And therefore Allah says that on the Day of Judgement, the shaitan will disown everyone who followed him. He will say: they have nothing to do with me. They did it themselves, they themselves committed their crimes and sins. I did not force them. They themselves chose. And Iblis will speak correctly. Here he will be right…
So, as we have seen, Iblis says to Allah: “I will seduce them all except a few,” that is, he kind of challenges Allah to a dispute and says: I will seduce all the descendants of Adam – those whom You ordered me to bow down to. And You will see that in vain You ordered me to bow down to them, that I am stronger than them, that I am better and higher than them. And Allah accepts this and as a reward for Iblis’s worship gives him certain opportunities, a certain influence on people, as we said in the previous part…
The question arises: when Iblis disobeyed Allah and was cursed by Him, why did Allah give him power over the descendants of Adam? Yes, Iblis asked him about it, and he had the right to ask, but why did Allah answer him positively to this request? Was Adam guilty of anything? Iblis envied him, Iblis refused to bow down to him and was cursed, but what was Adam’s fault, so Allah gave Iblis power over him? And the second question: why did Allah create such a creature, which is His enemy, seducing His other slaves from the straight path? Wouldn’t it have been easier not to create it or to destroy it, so that the descendants of Adam could worship Allah, and nothing would hinder them? Why does Allah need an enemy?
This question was asked to Imam Sadiq (A) by one zindiq, an atheist, with whom he had a long debate. Let’s look at the answer, the Imam says: “The enemy you mentioned cannot harm Allah in any way and in no way, and his enmity does not diminish anything in the kingdom of Allah.” That is, Iblis is not really an enemy of Allah. An enemy is someone who can harm, and Iblis’s enmity cannot harm Allah in any way, just as his friendship or worship will not bring any benefit to Allah. Allah does not need any of the creations. When we, for example, worship Allah, it is for ourselves, not for Him. And then Imam Sadiq (A) says: “Iblis is a slave whom Allah created to worship Him and honor His unity. And He knew when He created him who he was and where he would go.” That is, the basis for the creation of Iblis, like all other slaves, was the worship of Allah. However, Iblis chose to disobey instead of his own free will, and Allah knew about it.
A question may arise: if Allah knew that Iblis, a tyrant, or a sinner like Yazid would disobey Him and face punishment, why did He create them? The answer lies in the distinction between knowledge and compulsion. Allah’s foreknowledge does not imply coercion. For instance, if my neighbor walks toward a hole, knowing he will fall in, does that mean I made him do it? No, I warned him not to go. He chose to disobey, and thus he is responsible for his actions.
Similarly, Allah knew in advance who would choose to disobey, but He did not force them. If He had not created them, it would be another form of compulsion. Instead, He gave them the choice to obey or disobey, which aligns with His wisdom. By creating beings like Iblis, Pharaoh, and Yazid, Allah demonstrated His omniscience and His respect for free will.
Further, Imam Sadiq (A) says: “And he (Iblis) did not stop worshiping Him along with the angels until He tested him by prostrating to Adam, and he refused to do it because of envy, and his misfortune overcame him, and Allah cursed him after that and expelled him from the ranks of the angels and sent him down to earth cursed. And for this reason, he became the enemy of Adam and his descendants, and he has no power over the descendants of Adam except waswas and calling to the false path.”
In truth, Iblis holds no power over Adam’s family. He cannot compel them to act. He can only entice them and urge them to deceive. Whether to heed his call is entirely their decision. In essence, Satan does not strip us of our free will; he lacks such authority. Our destiny remains in our hands, not in the devil’s.
On the Day of Judgement, Allah tells us that Satan will disown those who followed him. He will declare: “They have nothing to do with me. They chose their own path, committing their crimes and sins on their own accord. I did not coerce them; they made their choices willingly.” And Iblis will speak the truth. In this, he will be right.
