winjoy, satan is a jinn.

Allah created the jinns from smokeless fire.

Then when Allah created man (Adam), Allah told the jinns and angels to prostrate to Adam (pbuh).

Angels and jinns prostrated to Adam, except Iblis, who was a jinn, who disobeyed Allah by not prostrating to Adam.

Iblis, the jinn, said that Allah created Adam from clay, and Allah created the jinns from smokeless fire, so Iblis felt that he is better than Adam, so he did not prostrate to Adam, this way Iblis disobeyed Allah.

So Allah cursed Iblis forever, and then Iblis became a satan, Iblis said that if Allah gave Iblis the permission, Iblis would lead the mankind astray in this world, so Allah gave Iblis the permission to do so. Allah said that those who follow the satan (Iblis) are among the losers and Allah will cast Iblis and his followers from mankind and jinn in hell fire on the Day of Judgement.

And those who believe in Allah (Islamic monotheism), Allah will grant them Jannat (Paradise) on the Day of Judgement.

Winjoy,

Allah Created Satan who was the Only Jinn allowed In the Company of the Angels. He was Very knowledgable and obedient to Allah in contrary to the other Jinns who were disobedient.

However Pride which is a very dangerous thing and can prevent you from Heaven even if you have an Atom's weight of it in your heart brought him down and made Allah Curse him.

Satan felt too big to prostrate to Adam out of Pride and he disobeyed Allah's Command, so he was disgraced, cursed and banished form the Heavens.

Allah allowed Satan respite till Judgement day because it is part of Allah plan to see which of the Children of Adam will obey him and who will follow Satan.

I hope answered your question. May Allah forgive me for anything i said wrong.

winjoy wrote: is Satan made by Allah ? if so, why ? if no, why is it so powerful that even Allah can't destroy it ?

Satan is not a specific creature but character. This character can be applied to any creature - Iblis was one of them.

The same as Angel, that too is a character that can be applied to any creature - Iblis was one of them.

So satan is not a creature but a character for any given creature.

We as individual are made aware of what is satanic and what is angelic, than instruction followed after that:

Did I not charge you, O ye sons of Adam, that ye worship not the devil - Lo! he is your open foe! (36:60)

So when you have a bad character in you and you have been made aware of it you cease from commiting it and compensate it with a good deed - satan destroyed and an angel is born.

Angels and jinns prostrated to Adam, except Iblis, who was a jinn, who disobeyed Allah by not prostrating to Adam.

that means Allah made a jinn who was not willing to obey Allah..this is very tricky..they said Allah is powerful and knows everything.

Bismillah irrahman irrahim

Hi winjoy

yeah this whole concept is very tricky. Allah swt did create things but gave them a choice to choose good or bad. Now they choose ways according to thier own concent, Allah swt has only made the ways. Now Allah swt knows every thing because He is All-knowing, but not letting who would be disobedient come into existance negates the whole concept of this earthly life. We are told in Holy Quran that we are being created to see who is rightous. Now if disobedients were not let to be born then that means only rightous people would be walking on the face of earth. So why not send them straight to Paradise?

Now we need to take this concept along with the concept of judgement. Because if evil was finished straight away, there would be no judgement. You know that you are allowed to exist so you know you are going to be rightous and going to paradise. So being mindfull of your Lord's boundaries, being mindfull of straying away, all the purpose of this earthly life is in doubt.

One thing we need to consider is that we cant take one of the attributes of Allah swt and describe Him through that. There are 99 attributes which are commonly known and many scholars mention many more. We humans only know what we are been told, those attributes are in the Quran and sunnah section if you want to learn inshaAllah.

Lastly we are been given Holy Quran which I am sure you might have seen and thats the source of us knowing 99 attributes of Allah swt. In the same Holy Quran Allah swt says that if seas were ink to write Allah swt's words then it would finish but not the words of Allah swt. Another place it mentions that if seven more seas like these were brought still they would be exhausted but not the words of Allah swt. So there is much knowledge of Allah swt which is out of reach for us but if you stick to the basics then inshaAllah you will be satisfied. Just learn about the most commonly known attributes and know that Allah swt has all of them in a way most perfect suited to His Magisty.

wassalam

winjoy wrote: that means Allah made a jinn who was not willing to obey Allah..this is very tricky..they said Allah is powerful and knows everything.

The word prostrate here is like "admitting" of the existance of other party superiority. The condition of being superior is knowledge. Iblis had different idea of what is superiority.

Qur'an is not that complicated to understand, it is a guide for happy life. Oh btw, there was no conversation like below here ever occured, God does not have mouth. 

And He taught Adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying: Inform Me of the names of these, if ye are truthful. (2:31)

They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge saving that which Thou hast taught us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower, the Wise. (2:32)

He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names, and when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the secret of the heavens and the earth ? And I know that which ye disclose and which ye hide. (2:33)

And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever.(2:34)

Can God create a stone so heavy that he himself cannot lift it?

This is an old critique of the omnipotence doctrine isn't it?  If Allah can't create a rock that is too heavy for him to lift, then he isn't omnipotent, and if he can create a rock that is too heavy to lift he isn't omnipotent either.

This is a logical objection from our standpoint and frame of mind.

I think I have an answer to this, but do not know how to put what I am thinking into words.

Here we go.

Let's take an example from the animal kingdom.  Certain animals like dogs are able to see only black and shades of grey---they are in effect, colorblind.  Some creatures can only see ultraviolet and snakes fall into this category.  Humans as a general rule can see the full visible spectrum of colors.

Each of the creatures above were designed to see a certain type of light, and while  the type of light each different animal sees serves its intended purpose, the animal is still inherently limited as to what it can see as far as all the different types of light are concerned.

God created logic and declared that man would be governed by the rules of logic, though man may not necessarily  have been made aware of all of the laws  of logic by Allah just as  Allah declared that man would see color though not all the different kinds of light and color that exists.  There are laws of logic that Allah knows that allow him to create a rock he cannot lift but at the same time he can lift, without there being any contradiction and thus maintaining his omnipotence.  Just as a man would be foolish to declare there is no such thing as ultraviolet light because he can't see it with his own two eyes, he is foolish to declare that Allah is caught in a contradiction over a heavy rock because he as a man does not have knowledge of a law of logic that could explain the contradiction away.  It's not that a logical solution doesn't exist, it is just man was created to operate within a certain plane of logic and does not know or understand other laws of logic that do, in fact, exist outside that plane that explain the contradiction away.

Bismillah irrahman irrahim

Assalamu alaikum

MashaAllah B.H. very nicely put. May Allah swt grant you the knowledge of His deen and ability to follow it and bless you with His pleasure, ameen

wassalam

winjoy wrote:   Angels and jinns prostrated to Adam, except Iblis, who was a jinn, who disobeyed Allah by not prostrating to Adam.   that means Allah made a jinn who was not willing to obey Allah..this is very tricky..they said Allah is powerful and knows everything.

Allah knew that Satan (Iblis) would disobey and chose to create him anyway.

Lamplighter wrote: Dear BH, Allah knew that Satan (Iblis) would disobey and chose to create him anyway. But why? Angels and jinns prostrated to Adam, except Iblis, who was a jinn, who disobeyed Allah by not prostrating to Adam. In my opinion, Jinn is some kind of angel, only different in the way it is created. Because in the verse Allah only told ANGELS to prostate. LL

I was responding to to the question as to why Allah created Satan. 

From what I have read in the Holy Quran, it appears that the term Jinn and Angel can be used interchangeably, with devil being the term used for wicked ones among them.  I am a new convert to Islam, and do not know as much as I wish I did.  If anyone knows more than I please enlighten me.

Bismillah irrahman irrahim

Assalamu alaikum

Angels and Jinn are two different beings. The difference between jinn and angels is that angels are created of light, while jinn are created of fire. As �Aa�ishah reported: "The Messenger of Allah said: �The angels are created from light, just as the jinn are created from smokeless fire and mankind is created from what you have been told about.�" (Reported by Muslim, no. 2996). Their is also ayah about creation of jinn from fire and smokeless fire, 55:15] And He created the jinn of a flame of fire.

Angels (upon whom be peace) do not reproduce, while jinn do. Angels do not commit disobedience, while jinn include both the obedient and the disobedient, both believer and unbeliever, the rebellious of them being called devils. Jinn assume various forms, both noble and base, such as that of a snake and the like, while the angels (upon whom be peace) only assume noble forms, like that of a human being. Angels are not called to account on the Day of Judgement, but rather enter paradise, and whoever disparages one of them has committed unbelief.

Jinns however are been given choice of choosing good or bad and will be dealt with accordingly. There are many narrations which suggest that jinns were created about 2000 years before human beings. They were dwelling on earth and caused great mischief that is why when Allah swt told angels that He is creating Adam (as), thier reply was, why would you create some1 who would cause mischief while we worship you all the time. This knowledge was from seeing jinn living in earth.  

Now the devil, iblis who disobeyed Allah swt was a jinn, but he used to compete with angels for worship. So Allah swt gave him a place with angels as a reward for his worship. There are narrations which suggest that his worship started because he somehow found out that Allah swt is going to make His viceroy on earth. It could have been done through listening to the orders given to angels. It is stated in Surah Jinn that jinn used to listen to the conversation of angels about thier duties and Allah swt guarded that by sending shooting stars after them. t So iblis wanted to be that viceroy and was never sincere in his worship. So when Allah swt ordered angels, He included iblis in that order due to iblis's attempt of competing and false showing off.

Lastly the wisdom behind creating some1 knowing this creation is going to disobey is solely with Allah swt. All i can say is His knowledge of future dont interfere with the choice and if the disobedient were not let to be born then what was the point of life on earth. Because we are been told it is to see who is rightous, So if only rightous were allowed to live, why not straight entry into paradise? I think we have to grab hold of little things to try to make sense of bigger picture. We are only given limited knowledge and sense and persuming something bigger than ourself is only going to lead us stray.

wassalam

Assalamu alaikum,

I once heard a very good explaination for why the verse says Allah told the angels to bow down...apparently in Arabic one uses the majority, in other words, if one were speaking of a room full of boys and one girl, one would say "the boys", not the boys and the girl.  So, with angels in the majority and one jinn, the verse is simply following the normal "rules" of the Arabic language by saying the angels and not the angels and the jinn.

Peace, ummziba.

ummziba wrote: Assalamu alaikum, I once heard a very good explaination for why the verse says Allah told the angels to bow down...apparently in Arabic one uses the majority, in other words, if one were speaking of a room full of boys and one girl, one would say "the boys", not the boys and the girl.  So, with angels in the majority and one jinn, the verse is simply following the normal "rules" of the Arabic language by saying the angels and not the angels and the jinn. Peace, ummziba.

That makes a lot of sense too. Thanks for the post.

fatima wrote: Bismillah irrahman irrahim Assalamu alaikum Angels and Jinn are two different beings. The difference between jinn and angels is that angels are created of light, while jinn are created of fire. As �Aa�ishah reported: "The Messenger of Allah said: �The angels are created from light, just as the jinn are created from smokeless fire and mankind is created from what you have been told about.�" (Reported by Muslim, no. 2996). Their is also ayah about creation of jinn from fire and smokeless fire, 55:15] And He created the jinn of a flame of fire. Angels (upon whom be peace) do not reproduce, while jinn do. Angels do not commit disobedience, while jinn include both the obedient and the disobedient, both believer and unbeliever, the rebellious of them being called devils. Jinn assume various forms, both noble and base, such as that of a snake and the like, while the angels (upon whom be peace) only assume noble forms, like that of a human being. Angels are not called to account on the Day of Judgement, but rather enter paradise, and whoever disparages one of them has committed unbelief. Jinns however are been given choice of choosing good or bad and will be dealt with accordingly. There are many narrations which suggest that jinns were created about 2000 years before human beings. They were dwelling on earth and caused great mischief that is why when Allah swt told angels that He is creating Adam (as), thier reply was, why would you create some1 who would cause mischief while we worship you all the time. This knowledge was from seeing jinn living in earth.   Now the devil, iblis who disobeyed Allah swt was a jinn, but he used to compete with angels for worship. So Allah swt gave him a place with angels as a reward for his worship. There are narrations which suggest that his worship started because he somehow found out that Allah swt is going to make His viceroy on earth. It could have been done through listening to the orders given to angels. It is stated in Surah Jinn that jinn used to listen to the conversation of angels about thier duties and Allah swt guarded that by sending shooting stars after them. t So iblis wanted to be that viceroy and was never sincere in his worship. So when Allah swt ordered angels, He included iblis in that order due to iblis's attempt of competing and false showing off. Lastly the wisdom behind creating some1 knowing this creation is going to disobey is solely with Allah swt. All i can say is His knowledge of future dont interfere with the choice and if the disobedient were not let to be born then what was the point of life on earth. Because we are been told it is to see who is rightous, So if only rightous were allowed to live, why not straight entry into paradise? I think we have to grab hold of little things to try to make sense of bigger picture. We are only given limited knowledge and sense and persuming something bigger than ourself is only going to lead us stray. wassalam

Thank you for this information.

Life is a test.  I believe God knew Satan would not bow to Adam, or however his disobedience and betrayal is taught.  He knew that in order for people to have freewill and exercise that to Chose the Right Path, there needed to be a choice contrary to God.  If there was only one choice for humans to make and no evil to test us and lead us astray, then what is the point of having freewill? 

God could have created this world free of pain, suffering, evil, disease, greed, war and false religions.  But then would he know if we were obedient because we were making that choice or because there is no other alternative.

I like the statement in Genesis...

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Satan only has as much power as we give him.  We have the freewill.  We can deny him.

If I may add.........

Islam, Christianity and Judaism have similar ideas on Satan (or Lucifer) and how this developes. A more modern philosophy of Satan that exist in Judaism perceives Satan as not an entity but as part of a moral character of humans. Since humans are capable not just making good choices but also bad choices. In addition, some Jews do not perceive the fall of both Adam and Eve and the tempation of Satan as literal, but a conceptual story which involves the moral judgement made by man and how man cannot achieve spiritual enlightenement or God's influence until this immoral inclination is subdued. In more of the mystical aspects of Judaism Satan or (Enemy of Man) was an Angel created in the Empyrean (Highest Heaven) from the Shekinah which is comparable to the Islamic concept of nur or light.....

Satan (or sometimes referred to as Sotanail) became arrogant because he thought we was greater than man because man was created from earthly matter, or dirt. Satan, being created not only in the empyrean, but from light which exceeds all physical boundaries, thought his physical being was greater not only than man's but than all the beings of Heaven tried to raise his throne as equal to God. But was caste to Earth. So yes in this case Satan went from Angel to "Fallen Angel."

The Christian concept is a bit confusing because the comparison between Lucifer and Satan as the same entity. The name Lucifer which means "morning star" is misconstrude and misappropriated to Satan because in the Bible Jesus himself is referred to as the "morning star." But in moving forward Lucifer much like the concept of Sotanail in Jewish mysticism was created from God's light or his glory. Lucifer being of the Seraphim is the highest of all Angels and actually according to some theologians in the Middle Ages was "God's first love" then when God created mankind he fell from grace because his arrogance and hatred for man overtook him. Not only dedicated to making war with humanity but also with God.

In Islam it is somewhat similar yet different. Ibliss is perhaps seen as the Lucifer of both Judaism and Christianity. Although Ibliss is roughly translated as "devil" in English if one examines the Quranic verses with the behavior of  Satan/Lucifer in Judaims and Christianity we can see similar (if not the same) behavior. Of course Ibliss would not bow to Adam therefore he commits himself to recking havoc upon humanity through temptation.

It's quite amazing when I studied Lucifer's history because he is seen as the prince of Evil or the "father of lies" and so forth which, it appears that theologians and Christian historians have noted that Satan/Lucifer has actual power. God appears to have given Satan limited authority over humans. These powers perhaps transcend from the spiritual to physical realm which makes me wonder if its true that "The Devil made me do it." It also makes me state the question how do we discern the behavior of humans and the temptation of Satan. If Satan is truly tempting is with an overpowering authority, how can we be faulted for his influence? Since historically Lucifer has commanded a following as well as an influence it would be impossible to think he doesn't have true power and authority.