Part 25

they killed them, drove them ou t of it and exterm inated the m.

And they inhabited it afte r them, because of what they had

donc. As-Sudd i sa id in hi s Tt!fseeron the authority o f ' Abdullah

Ibn 'Abbas, on the authori ty of MlJn'uh, who rcported 011 the

authority of ' Abd ull ah Ibn Mas 'ood and on the auth ority of

some of th e Co mpanions of the Messenger of A llah :l1fj, that

they sa id tha t when A ll ah had com pleted the crea tion as I-Ie

w il led , He ascend ed (istall'a) ove r the T hrone and He appoi nt ed

Iblees ove r the dom inion of the earth ly hea ven . I-Ie be longed

to a tribe o f th e an ge ls known as the j inn. T hey were call ed th e

jinn because Ihey were th e guardian s of A I-Jalll/a/t (Paradise).

In add ition to hi s do min ion o f Ihe earthly heavcn, Iblecs was a

guardi an and the idea grew in hi s heart th at A llah had favored

only him above a ll of the ange ls. Ad~ D a hh a k mcnt ions, on th e

authorit y o f 'A bdu llah Ibn ' A bb as ~, that when theji nn ca used

corru pti on in the Ea rth co mmitted bloodshed, Allah sent Iblees

aga in st thcm wilh an army of ange ls and thcy killed the m and

ex pell ed thcm from the land to is lands in the seas.

Muhammad Ibn Ishaq reported, on the aut hority o f' Abdulla h

Ibn ' Abbas ~. lhal he said lhal lhe name of IbIees before he

co mmitted the act of di so bed ience (to A llah) was' Azazee l

and he was one of the inhabitants of the Earth and one of the

str ongest o f Ihe ange ls in formul at ing legal j udgme nt s and th e

(I) Namucd by r-,'Iuslim (2996) and Imam Ahmad (24826).

(2) /linll: Tht! wcakes1 and lowest or1hejinn.

(/1111: Jilin and Ihe Stun. ' of..

g reatest of th em in know ledge. He hai led from a tribe known

A IHasan A I-B asri said: " He was not of the an gel s for even

the blink o f an eye. Hi s ori g in was the jinn, just as Adam 's

ori g in was hu man." Shahr Ibn Hawshab and ot hers sa id that

Ib lces was of th e j inn whom th e an ge ls ex pe lled and they

captured some o fth cm and took them to the heavell . Thi s was

narrated by Ibn Ja ree r A l-Tabari .

They said that w hen A llah w illed to create Adam ~ in orde r

that he mi ght be 0 11 th e Ea rth along with hi s progeny w ho ca me

after him and created his body from it, Ib lees - whose name at

that time was' Azazcc l and w ho was the leader of the jinn and

the most ferve nt of th em in worshipping Allah - went around

and in side his body and w hen he fo und that it was ho llow, he

realized that he was a creation w ho co ul d not be contro lled and

he sa id , " If I gain mastery over you, I will certa inl y destroy yo u,

but if you ga in mas tery o ver me, I w ill di sobey you." Th en,

wh en A llah blew into him o f Hi s Sp irit , as we shall see, and

commanded the ange ls to prostrate be fore him , Iblees beca me

fi lled with extreme envy and re fu sed to prostrate befo re him.

I-Ie said , " I am better than he; You created me from fire and

You crea ted him from clay." So he di sobeyed th e comm and

and opposed the Lo rd, the A lmighty, the A ll - Powerful and he

co mm itled a sin by hi s words and was w ithd rawn from th e

Me rcy of ll is Lord and removed from the hig h positi o n that he

had occ upi ed due to his worshi p. I-Ie had resembl ed the an gels

but he was no t o f the same spec ies as them , because he was

created from fire, whil e th ey were created from ligh t. He had

been d eceived by hi s nature and returned to hi s fi ery orig in:

( So the ange ls prostra ted themse lves, all ofthel11, except Iblees

(Satan) he was proud and was o ne oflhe disbe li evers. ) (SoOl'aII

Melltioll of the Crealioll of the .Iilllll/Ild the Sto/,)' of.

So Iblccs was scnt down fro lll thc heavcnl y host and he was

pro hib ited fro m ever entering it again. As a resu lt , he went

down to the Earth wretched, humbled, di sgraced and expell ed,

with the threat (or promise) of the Fire for him and those of the

jinn and mankind who follow him. In spite o f thi s, he exerts

all of his efforts to mi sgui de the chil dren of Adam, by every

means and every way, as Allah , Most High, says, ( (Iblees)

sa id. 'See? Thi s one whom You have honored above me, if You

give me resp it e (keep me alive) to the Day of Resurrection, I

w ill surely se ize and mi slead his offspring (by sending thcm

astray), a ll but a rew!' (A llah) sa id , 'Go, and whosoever of

them fo llows you , sure ly! Hell w ill be the recompense of

you (a ll ) an ample recompense . And lstajii= (litera lly means:

befool th em gradually) those whom you can among them with

your vo icc (i.e. songs, Illllsic, and any other call for Alla h's

di sobed ie nce), make assaults on them with yo ur cavalry and

your infalllry, 111lilually share with them wea lth and ch ildren (by

tempting them to earn money by illegal ways usury, etc., or by

committin g ill ega l sexua l intercourse, etc.), and make promises

to them. But Sa tan pro mises them nothing but dece it. Veri ly!

My slaves (Le. th e true believers of Islamic Mon otheism), you

have no aut hority over them . And AlI~S u fficie nt is your Lord as

a Guardian' ,") (Saara" AI-Isl'o' 17:62-65) And we shall rcla te

the story in de ta il when we ment ion the crea ti on of A d am ~ .

Allah, Most High, says in SOO/'o" AI-Jillll, ( Say (0,

Muhammad): ' It has bee n revealed to me that a group (from

three to te n in number) ofjinn li stened (to this Qur'a n). They

said, 'Verily! We have heard a wonde rful Recital (thi s Qur ' an)!

It gu id es 1O the Right Path. and we have believed th ere in ,

and we shall neve r j oin (in worship) anything with our Lord

Alelllif) 11 uJth e CreatiOIl oJthe Jillil alld the StolT of. 123

(A ll ah). And exa lted be the Majesty o f ollr Lord , He has taken

neither a wife, nor a son (nor ofTspring nor ch ildre n). And that

the fooli sh among li S (i. e. Iblces) or th e po lythci sts among the

j inn used to utter against Allah that wh ich was wrong and not

right. And veril y, we thought that men anci j inil would not utlc r

a li e against Allah. And verily, therc were men among-mankind

who took shelt er with the masculine among the j inn, but they

(the jinn) increased them (ma nkind) in si n and disbelief. And

they thought as you thought. that A llah wi ll not send any

Messenge r (to mankind or jinn). And we have sought to reach

the heavcn: but found it filled with stcrn guard s and flaming

fires. And ve ril y, we lIsed to sit there in stations. to (steal) a

hearing. but anyon e who li sten s now wi ll fi nd a fl aming fire

watching him in amb ush. And we know 110t whether evil is

inte nded for those on Earth, or whether their Lord intends for

them a Ri ght Path. Th ere are among us so me th at arc righteous,

and some the opposite; we arc groups each having a d ifferent

way (rel igious sect. etc.). And we thi nk th at we cannot escape

(from the punishm ent of) Allah on Earth, nor can we escape

(from the punishment) by fli ght. And ind eed when wc hcard

the Guida nce (th is Qur' an) , we be li eved therein (Islami c

tVlonotheism). and whosoeve r believes in hi s Lord shall have

no fear. either o f a decrease in the reward of hi s good deeds

or an increase in punishment for hi s sins. And o f us some are

Mus lims (who have submitted to All ah, after li stenin g to thi s

Qur'an), and of us so me are al-qasiloon. (di sbeli evers, those

who have dev iated from the Right Path )." And whosoever ha s

embraced Islam (i.e. has become a Muslim by submitt ing 10

Allah). then such have sought the Right Path . And as for the

qasilooll (di sbelievers who dev iated from the Ri ght Path). they

shall bl.! the firewood for Hell, If they (the non-Mu slims) had

believed in Allah. and went on the Ri ght Way (i.e. Islam) We

124 Mellfioll (~r tile Crelltioll oftill' Jil/ll (II1l1 tile StOl:'"oJ .

should surel y ha ve bestowed on them wa lcr(rain) in abundan ce.

That We might try them thereby. And whosoever tums away

from the Rem inde r of his Lord (i.e. thi s Qur ' an , and practices

not its laws and orders), li e wi ll cause him to enter in a severe

torment (i.e. Il e ll ). ) (Soora" AI-Jillll 72: 1-1 7)

We have given the exp lanation ofthisSoorah and the comp lete