πππ¬ πππ₯π’π¬/πππππ§ ππ¦π¨π§π ππ‘π ππ§π ππ₯π¬ π°π‘π¨ π°ππ«π π¨π«πππ«ππ ππ¨ π©π«π¨π¬ππ«πππ ππ¨ ππππ¦?
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
Question is about Quran Surah 2: 34:
And behold, we said to ANGELS: βbow down to Adamβ. And they bowed down, except Iblis. He refused and was haughty.
My understanding from the holy Qurβan about the angels, is that they always obey Allah Ta`ala1 and they donβt have any free will. What I would like to understand is if Iblis was an angel, how he could have disobeyed since he did not have any free will?
Furthermore, if he was not an angel, how did he disobey since Allah Exalted, He= Ta`ala only directed the angels to bow down?
Thank you, for helping us understand these religious issues. May Allah bless you.
Answer
The Qurβan has clearly stated that Iblees (Satan) was not an angel but was a jinn. The Qurβan says:
β¦ but Iblees did it not β he was a jinn β thus he disobeyed his Lord. Qurβan (Al-Kahaf 18: 50)
In view of this statement of the Qurβan, it is obvious that Iblees was a jinn and not an angel.
This brings us to the second part of your question that if Iblees was not an angel then how can it be said that he disobeyed Godβs command by not bowing down in front of Adam, especially when, according to the Qurβan, God had directed only the angels to prostrate before Adam.
In my opinion, the answer to this question is that by directing the angels to bow down before Adam, God had directed a higher cadre creation to bow down, the lower cadre creations like the jinn and any others that were present may or may not have been included in the directive.
This style of speech is used in almost all human languages. For instance, when someone says: βWhen the chief Justice enters the room all the parliamentarians shall pay their respects by standing up for himβ.
He may imply that all those who are present shall stand up to pay their homage, but uses the word βparliamentariansβ liberally β i.e. by addressing the dominant group that is present and actually implying all those that are present, whether they are parliamentarians or not.
Or he may actually imply that it is only necessary for the parliamentarians β and no one other than the parliamentarians β to stand up, using the words βparliamentariansβ literally. Thus, when God directed the angels to bow down to Adam, the directive could have been construed to be solely for those that are included among the group called βangelsβ (the word βangelsβ being used literally) or on the other hand.
It could also have been construed to be a general directive for all those present which means that the word βangelsβ had been used liberally β i.e. by addressing the dominant group that is present and actually implying all those that are present, whether they are angels or not.
Thus, considering only the words that you have referred to (Al-Baqarah 2: 34) one person may be of the opinion that Iblees was included in the addressees, while another may construe that he was not. The same could have been the case with Iblees β he could have construed that he was included in the directive, or he could have felt that it was meant solely for the angels. But to clarify this situation, the Qurβan at another instance explains:
All the angels fell down prostrate, but Iblees did it not. He refused to be among those who prostrated. God said: O Iblees what is wrong with you, why are you not among those who bowed down? He said: I shall not bow down to something that you have created from sounding clay. Quran (Al-Hijr 15: 30 β 33)
At another instance, the Qurβan explains:
Then we said to the angels: Bow down to Adam. They bowed down, except Iblees. He was not among those who bowed down. God said: What stopped you from bowing down, when I directed you to do so? He said: I am better than him, you created me from fire, and you created him from dust. Quran (Al-A`raaf: 7: 11 β 12)
Then again, the Qurβan says:
So, the angels bowed down, all of them. But Iblees did it not. He showed haughtiness and became a rejecter. God said: O Iblees, what stopped you from bowing down to the one whom I created with my hands? Was it your pride [that stopped you] or are you among the elevated ones? He said: I am better than him. You created me from fire while him you created from dust. Quran (Saβd 39: 73 β 76)
In all these verses, we see that Iblees was asked why did he refuse to bow down to Adam. Had Iblees construed from the words of Al-Baqarah 2: 34 that the directive was only for the angels, he would have said so in reply to the question. But as the cited reply clearly shows that the reason Iblees did not bow down to Adam was only his pride.
This really means that the words of the directive, although they could have been construed as addressing only the angels, were meant for all those that were present, and the angels were addressed liberally. Moreover, the dialogue between God and Iblees also shows that there was no doubt in Ibleesβs mind that he also was supposed to bow down to Adam in response to Godβs directive.
Why was Iblees commanded to prostrate to Adam along with the angels?
Question
If Iblees was not one of the angels, why was he commanded to prostrate to Adam along with the angels?
Answer
Praise be to Allah.
Undoubtedly, when Allah, may He be exalted, commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam, this command was also addressed to Iblees, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
ββ¦Except Iblees (Satan), he refused to be of those who prostrate.
Allah said:
βWhat prevented you (O Iblees) that you did not prostrate, when I commanded you?ββ
Qurβan [al-Aβraf 7:11, 12].
The scholars have spoken about the reason why the command to prostrate to Adam was addressed to Iblees even though he was not one of the angels; they stated that the reason for that was that he was similar to the angels in their outward deeds.
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said (1/105):
The conclusion is that when Allah, may He be exalted, commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam, He included Iblees in that because, even though he was not one of them, he was imitating them and doing deeds like theirs. Hence, he was included in what was addressed to them, and he was condemned for going against the command. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn βUthaymeen said in Clarification of chapter=Tafsir Surah al-Baqarah (1/127):
If someone were to say: there is something confusing in this verse, which is that when Allah, may He be exalted, says that He commanded the angels to prostrate, He says that they all prostrated except Iblees, and it would appear to mean that Iblees was one of them, but that is not the case.
The answer to that is that Iblees shared with them their outward deeds, so the command included him on the basis of his outward deeds. End quote.
Something similar was also said by al-βAllaamah at-Taahir ibn βAshoor in his tafseer, at-Tahreer waβt-Tanweer (1/409). What we are obliged to believe is that the command to prostrate to Adam was addressed to Iblees just as it was addressed to the angels.
And this is what the Qurβan clearly says:
β(Allah) said: βWhat prevented you (O Iblees) that you did not prostrate when I commanded you?ββ
Qurβan [al-Aβraf 7:12].
As for the reason why, this command was addressed to him, Allah knows best.
And Allah knows best.