AsalamuAlaikum
Iblis is a Jinn.
It has been answered on this website here:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/adeel_khan/Rebuttal_to_Sam_Shamoun7.htmZakir Naik answers it:
Source:
http://www.irf.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=479%3Aiblis-angel-or-jinn&catid=72%3Amcq-who-have-some-knowledge-about-islam&Itemid=199Question
The Qur'an in several places says that Iblis was an angel, but in Surah Kahf it says that Iblis was a Jinn. Isn't this a contradiction in the Qur'an?
Answer
1. Incidence of Iblis and Angels mentioned in the Qur'anThe story of Adam and Iblis is mentioned in the Qur'an in various places in which Allah (swt) says, "We said to the angels bow down to Adam: and they bowed down: not so Iblis".
This is mentioned in:
Surah Al Baqarah chapter 2 verse 43
Surah Al Araf chapter 7 verse 17
Surah Al Hijr chapter 15 verses 28-31
Surah Al Isra chapter 17 verse 61
Surah Ta Ha chapter 20 verse 116
Surah Sad chapter 38 verses 71-74
But in Surah Al Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 the Qur'an says:
"Behold! We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam." they bowed down except Iblis He was one of the Jinns."
[Al-Qur'an 18:50]
2. Arabic Rule Of Tagleeb
The English translation of the first part of the verse - We said to the angels bow down to Adam: they bowed down except Iblis, gives us the impression that Iblis was an angel. The Qur'an was revealed in Arabic. In Arabic grammar there is a rule known as Tagleeb, according to which, if the majority is addressed, even the minority is included. If for example, I address a class containing 100 students of whom 99 are boys and one is a girl, and if I say in Arabic that the boys should stand up, it includes the girl as well. I need not mention her seperately.
Similarly in the Qur'an, when Allah addressed the angels, even Iblis was present, but it is not required that he be mentioned separately. Therefore according to that sentence Iblis may be an angel or may not be an angel, but we come to know from Surah Al Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 that Iblis was a Jinn. No where does the Qur'an say Iblis was an angel. Therefore there is no contradiction in the Qur'an.
3. Jinns have free will and can disobey Allah
Secondly, Jinns have a free will and may or may not obey Allah, but angels have no free will and always obey Allah. Therefore the question of an angel disobeying Allah does not arise. This further supplements that Iblis was a Jinn and not an angel.
Zakir Naiks is the best answer!
It has been answered in many fatwa by the Ulama.
Source:
http://www.islamqa.com/en/8976Question:
I was just wondering if Iblis was actually a jinn or an angel. This particular issue recently sparked my curiosity when it was presented to me by a person I know. If he is an angel, then how is it he disobeyed Allah, when angels have no will of their own and follow only Allah's command? If he is really a jinn, then it would better explain his disobedience as then he actually had the choice to obey or disobey Allah. I would appreciate a response, even if it is a brief one.
Answer:
Praise be to Allah.
Iblis – may Allah curse him – is one of the jinn. He was not an angel for a single day, not even for an instant. The angels were created noble; they never disobey Allah when He commands them to do something and they do what they are commanded. This is clearly stated in the Quranic texts which indicate that Iblis is one of the jinn and not one of the angels. These texts include the following:
1. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And (remember) when We said to the angels: “Prostrate yourselves unto Adam.†So they prostrated themselves except Iblis (Satan). He was one of the jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord. Will you then take him (Iblis) and his offspring as protectors and helpers rather than Me while they are enemies to you? What an evil is the exchange for the Zalimoon (polytheists, and wrongdoers, etc).†[18:50]
2. Allah stated that He created the jinn from fire, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And the jinn, We created aforetime from the smokeless flame of fire†[15:27]
“And the jinn He created from a smokeless flame of fire†[55:15]
And it was narrated in a saheeh hadeeth (authentic report) that ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The angels were created from light, the jinn were created from smokeless fire and Adam was created from that which has been described to you.†[Muslim, Ahmad, al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Hibban].
One of the attributes of the angels is that they were created from light, and the jinn were created from fire. It was mentioned in the Quran that Iblis – may Allah curse him – was created from fire. This is what Iblis himself said when Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, asked him the reason for his refusal to prostrate to Adam when Allah commanded him to do so. He – may Allah curse him – said:
“ ‘I am better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created from clay.’†[7:12, 38:76 – interpretation of the meaning]. This indicates that he was one of the jinn.
3. Allah has described the angels in His Book, where He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Ward off yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not, (from executing) the commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.†[66:6]
“And they say: ‘The Most Gracious (Allah) has begotten a son (or children).’ Glory to Him! They [whom they call children of Allah i.e. the angels, ‘Isa (Jesus) son of Maryam, ‘Uzair (Ezra)], are but honoured slaves. They speak not until He has spoken, and they act on His command.†[21:26-27]
“And to Allah prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the moving (living) creatures and the angels, and they are not proud [i.e. they worship their Lord (Allah) with humility]. They fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded.†[16:49-50]
So it is not possible for the angels to disobey their Lord, because they are protected from sin and they are naturally inclined to obey Allah.
4. The fact that Iblis is not one of the angels means that he is not compelled to obey Allah. He has freedom of will just as we humans do. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.†[76:3]
There are also Muslims and kafirs (non-Muslims) among the jinn. It says in Soorat al-Jinn (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘It has been revealed to me that a group (from three to ten in number) of jinn listened (to this Quran). They said: ‘Verily, we have heard a wonderful Recitation (this Quran)! It guides to the right path, and we have believed therein, and we shall never join (in worship) anything with our Lord (Allah).’†[72:1-2]
In the same soorah (chapter), it states that the jinn said:
“‘And indeed when we heard the Guidance (this Quran), we believed therein (Islamic Monotheism), and whosoever believes in his Lord shall have no fear, either of a decrease in the reward of his good deeds or an increase in the punishment for his sins. And of us some are Muslims (who have submitted to Allah, after listening to this Quran), and of us some are Al‑Qasitoon (disbelievers those who have deviated from the right path)…†[72:13-14]
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his exegesis:
Al-Hasan al-Basri said: Iblis was not one of the angels, not even for a single moment. He is the father of the jinn, just as Adam (peace be upon him) is the father of mankind. This was narrated by al-Tabari with a saheeh isnad (authentic chain).
Some of the scholars said that Iblis was one of the angels, that he was the peacock of the angels, that he was the one among the angels who strove the hardest in worship … and other reports, most of which come from the Israiliyyat (stories and reports from Jewish sources), and some of which contradict the clear texts of the Quran.
Ibn Kathir said, explaining this:
A lot of these reports were transmitted from the salaf (pious predecessors), and most of them come from the Israiliyyat, which may have been transmitted in order to be examined [i.e., as opposed to being accepted as is]. Allah knows best about the veracity or otherwise of many of them. Some of them are definitely to be rejected, because they go against the truth which we hold in our hands. In the Quran we have what is sufficient so that we have no need for previous reports, because hardly any of them are free of distortions, with things added or taken away. Many things have been fabricated in them, for they did not have people who had memorized things precisely by heart (huffaz) who could eliminate the distortions created by extremists and fabricators, unlike this ummah (nation) which has its imams (religious leaders), scholars, masters, pious and righteous people, brilliant critics and men of excellent memory who recorded the hadeeths (reports) and classified them, stating whether they were saheeh (sound), hasan (good), da’eef (weak), mawdoo’ (fabricated) or matrook (to be ignored). They identified the fabricators and liars, and those about whom nothing was known, and other kinds of men (i.e., narrators). All of this afforded protection to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the seal of the Messengers and the leader of Mankind, so that nothing would be attributed to him falsely and nothing would be transmitted from him that he did not say or do. May Allah be pleased with them and make them pleased [by rewarding them], and make the Paradise of al-Firdaws their eternal abode. (Tafseer al-Quran il-‘Azeem).
And Allah knows best.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Source:
http://www.islamqa.com/en/22232Question:
Was Iblis one of the angels or one of the jinn? And are the jinn from among the angels?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ameen al-Shanqeeti (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
Allah says in the following ayah/verse (interpretation of the meaning):
“He [Iblis] was one of the jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord.†[18:50]
The apparent meaning is that the reason for his disobedience of his Lord was the fact that he was one of the jinn. The conjunction fa in the Arabic text [kana min al-jinn fa-fasaqa ‘an amri Rabbihi] is indicative of the reason, as in the Arabic phrase saraqa fa quti’at yaduhu which means, “he stole, so his hand was cut offâ€, i.e., that was because he stole; or the phrase saha fa sajada which means, “he forgot so he prostratedâ€, i.e., that was because he forgot. The same pattern is seen in the ayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“And (as for) the male thief and the female thief, cut off [fa-qta’u] (from the wrist joint) their (right) hands.†[5:38]
i.e., because of their stealing.
Similarly, the phrase kana min al-jinn fa-fasaqa (he was one of the jinn [so] he disobeyed …) means that this was because he was in essence one of the jinn, because this feature is what made him different from the angels, for they obeyed the command but he disobeyed. Because of the apparent meaning of this ayah, a number of scholars were of the opinion that Iblis was not originally one of the angels, rather he was one of the jinn, but he used to worship Allah with them, so he was called by their name because he followed them, just as an ally of a tribe may be given their name. The dispute as to whether Iblis was originally an angel whom Allah changed into a devil, or whether he was not originally an angel but was included in the word malaikah (angels) because he had joined them and worshipped Allah with them, is a well known dispute among the scholars. The evidence of those who say that he was not originally one of the angels is based on two things:
1 – The fact that angels are protected against committing kufr (disbelief) as was committed by Iblis, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Who disobey not, (from executing) the commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.†[66:6]
“They speak not until He has spoken, and they act on His Command.†[21:27]
2 – Allah clearly states in 18:50 that he was one of the jinn, and the jinn are not angels. They said: this is a Quranic text concerning which there is some dispute.
Among those who stated that he was not originally one of the angels based on the apparent meaning of this ayah was-Hasan al-Basri, who was supported by al-Zamakhshari in his tafsir (exegesis).
Al-Qurtubi said in his tafsir of Surat al-Baqarah: “The idea that he was one of the angels is the view of the majority, Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn Jurayj, Ibn al-Musayyib, Qutadah and others. It is the view chosen by al-Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan and regarded as more correct by al-Tabari, and it is the apparent meaning of the phrase “except Iblis.†[18:50]
What the mufassirin (Quranic exegetists) have quoted from a group of the salaf (righteous predecessors), such as Ibn ‘Abbas and others, that he was one of the noblest of the angels, one of the keepers of Paradise, and that he controlled the affairs of the first heaven, and that his name was ‘Azazil is all taken from the Israliyyat (reports narrated from Jewish sources) and is not reliable.
The clearest evidence concerning this matter, the evidence cited by those who said that he was not an angel because of the ayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“He [Ibls] was one of the jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord,†[18:50] is the clearest text from the revelation that proves this point.
And Allah knows best.
Adwaa’ al-Bayaan, 4/130-132.
Hope this helps.
