Shaytan

In a previous Khutbah I discussed some of the symbolic meanings contained in the story of Adam & Eve. Today I want to look briefly at another character in that story, the character of Shaytan or Iblees. The Qur'an says:

“And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: ‘I am going to create a human from clay.  So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of my spirit, then you fall down prostrate to him.”

“The Angels prostrated themselves all of them together.  Except Iblees, he refused to be among the prostrators.  God said: ‘O Iblees! What is your reason for not being among the prostrators?  ‘Iblees said: ‘I am not one to prostrate myself to a human being, whom You created from clay.’  God said: ‘Then get out from Here for verily you are an outcast or cursed one.  Verily the curse shall be upon you till the Day of Resurrection.’”

"And (We said): O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden; so eat from where you desire, but do not go near this tree, for then you will be of the wrong-doers."

The term Iblees (إِبْلِيس‎) is probably from ancient Greek diábolos, which is also the source of the word 'devil'. The Quran doesn't say that Iblees actually commanded them to eat from the tree. Instead he tempted them saying;

“Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save that you should become Angels or become of the immortals.”

Their minds became filled with thoughts of the tree, and they desired it more and more and began to think of reasons and excuses why they should follow their desire.

So they took the fruit and ate it. They committed the first sin. But in Islam this is not considered to be a sin carried by all humans as with the doctrine of Original Sin in Christianity. The Qur'an makes it clear that God forgave them both.

“Then they both ate of that tree, and so their private parts appeared to them, and they began to stick on themselves the leaves from Paradise for their covering.  Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray.  Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness and gave him guidance.”

“Get you down (upon the earth), all of you together, from Paradise, some of you are an enemy to some others.  Then, if there comes to you guidance from Me, whoever follows My Guidance shall neither go astray, nor fall into distress and misery.”

“‘On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment, for a time.’  He said: ‘Therein you shall live and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected).’”

The traditional interpretation regards Iblees as arrogant and rebellious, justly sentenced to hell by God for his disobedience. All must submit to God as the absolute authority; God’s actions are beyond scrutiny. One may not understand them, but they must be obeyed regardless. Iblees refused to do this, and so he was justly punished for it.

Many Sufi scholars, however, have pointed out that the first and most essential command of God is the principle of Tawheed - Oneness of God - that none are worthy of worship other than God. They put a slightly different spin on this story and say that Iblees was in actual fact faced with the dilemma of prostrating to a being other than God or disobeying God. Should he obey God's command but then disobey God's most fundamental command?? Or should he refuse to prostrate to Adam, thus obeying the order to not prostrate to anyone other than God?

Ahmad Ghazali, younger brother of the more famous, al-Ghazali, concluded that God could not have truly wanted Iblees to prostrate to Adam and he illustrated this idea by relating the following story.

"One day Moses encountered Iblees on the slopes of Mount Sinai. Moses asked him, “O Iblees, why didn't you prostrate to Adam?” Iblees replied, “Heaven forbid that anyone worship anything but the One. This command was but a test.”

What was it that Iblees believed God was testing? Clearly not his obedience because he failed that test. What is suggested here is that God was testing something much greater than his obedience. God was testing his love. His love - over his self preservation.

The Qur'an can be read on many levels and different people can see different things. The story of Iblees and the Sufi interpretation above shows us how on deeper reflection a far more profound and noble moral lesson can be gained. It would take the greatest courage and the greatest love to disobey knowing full well the consequences.

We can liken this in our day to our struggle to defend the ideal of a Loving and Merciful God, against the idea that he is cruel & sadistic - even if this means challenging some orthodox views.

Of course stories such as that of the character Iblees are symbolic myths rather than actual historical events. They are stories used to convey ideas and these ideas depend as much upon the reader as they do upon the author. Like all art, the observer is an active participant.

Iblees or Shaytan can be seen as symbolic of our own struggle with good and evil - right and wrong. The wiswas of Shaytaan is our own inner voice battling with our desires, emotions, feelings & intellect. The struggle between our higher and lower self. Our greed, envy, and arrogance with our love, empathy and humility.

As my father always used to say, "No-one is all bad and no-one is all good." Within us we have the fire of Iblees, the light of the angels, and the clay of the earth. We possess both the loving pure ruh (spirit) that the Divine breathed into us and the rebellious arrogance of Shaytan. Life is a series of conundrums, some small some big - and there are rarely simple black and white solutions, only a huge spectrum of shades. Our mind concocts an endless stream of good excuses to make what we want seem right or what we don't want seem wrong. We struggle with Shaytaan on a daily basis. But he's not a horned demon with hooves and a pointy tail - he is just us, our desires, our ego, our conscience.