“Except Iblis” — Two Interpretations of the Exception
There are two views about the meaning of the exception in the verse “except Iblis.”
The first view is that Iblis was from the same group as the angels. According to this view, he was originally an angel. This was reported from Ibn Masʿud رضي الله عنه and in one narration from Ibn ʿAbbas رضي الله عنه, who also said that Iblis was from the angels but Allah changed him into a devil.
The second view is that Iblis was not from the angels but from the jinn. This was the view of al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110 AH) and az-Zuhri (d. 124 AH). Ibn ʿAbbas said Iblis was one of the guardians of Paradise and managed the lower heaven.
If someone asks: how can he be excluded from a group he did not belong to? The answer is that he was included in the command given to them, so he was counted among them because he was also commanded to prostrate but refused. This is like when someone says: “I commanded my servant and my brothers, and they obeyed me, except my servant.” This view was explained by Az-Zajjaj (d. 311 AH).
The Meaning of the Name “Iblis”
There are two views about the name “Iblis.” The first is that it is a foreign name, not from Arabic, so it is treated as indeclinable. This was the view of Abu ʿUbaydah (d. 210 AH), az-Zajjaj (d. 311 AH), and Ibn al-Anbari (d. 328 AH).
The second view is that the name comes from the Arabic root “iblās,” meaning despair. This was reported from Abu Salih (d. after 100 AH) and mentioned by Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 AH). He said it is not declined because it is a proper name. But Abu Mansur al-Lughawi (d. after 300 AH) said the first view is stronger, because if it had come from the root word, it would have been declined like other names.
Was Iblis an Angel?
Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymeen (d. 1421 AH) said the Quran does not say Iblis was an angel. The verse says: “Except Iblis,” and then says: “He was of the jinn.” This means the command included him because he was present with the angels and used to be with them in worship. When tested, the angels returned to their good nature, but Iblis followed his origin — pride, arrogance, and false argument. He said: “I am better than him,” because he was created from fire and Adam was created from clay. But fire burns and is reckless, while clay is steady. So even if fire had some brightness, it is mixed with harm.
Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH) said in his book Ighathat al-Lahfan that clay has better qualities than fire. Even if Iblis thought he was better, he still should have obeyed Allah. But he refused and was arrogant.
Allah warned the children of Adam not to take Iblis and his offspring as allies. He said: “What a bad exchange for the wrongdoers.” He also reminded them of His covenant not to worship Shaytan, who is a clear enemy, and to worship Him alone.
Was Iblis from the Jinn or the Angels?
Many early scholars discussed the meaning of “He was of the jinn” (al-Kahf: 50).
Ibn ʿAbbas رضي الله عنه said there is a group among the angels called the jinn. Iblis was from them and used to rule what was between the heaven and the earth. Then he disobeyed and became cursed. In one narration, he was called al-Jannān because he was a keeper of Paradise.
Ad-Dahhak (d. 105 AH) reported that Ibn ʿAbbas and Ibn Masʿud differed: one said Iblis was from a tribe of angels called the jinn.
Another narration from Ibn ʿAbbas says Iblis was from the most noble angels, a keeper of the Gardens, and ruled over the lower heaven, the seas, and the earth. He became arrogant and was cursed. Others said he was called jinn in the verse because of his position in Paradise.
Qatadah رحمه الله (d. 117 AH) said the jinn were a tribe among the angels, and Iblis belonged to them. He was over the treasury of the lower heaven. Ibn ʿAbbas said that if Iblis had not been one of the angels, he would not have been ordered to prostrate.
Al-Hasan al-Basri رحمه الله (d. 110 AH) strongly denied that Iblis was ever an angel and said he is the origin of the jinn, just as Adam is the origin of mankind. Saʿid ibn Jubayr رحمه الله (d. 95 AH) also said Iblis was from the keepers of Paradise.
Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri رحمه الله(d. 124 AH) said Iblis is the father of the jinn, just as Adam is the father of mankind. Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib رحمه الله(d. 94 AH) said he was the leader of the angels of the lowest heaven.
Shahr ibn Hawshab (d. 100 AH) said Iblis was a jinn captured by the angels and taken to the heavens. Nawf al-Bikali (d. after 100 AH) said he was the leader of the lower heaven.
Warnings Against Using Isra’ili Narrations
Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH) explained in his tafsir that many reports about Iblis are from the Isra’ili stories (narrations from the people of the Book). Some of these narrations are clearly false, and others may be true, but we do not rely on them. The Quran and Sunnah are enough, and this Ummah has great scholars who preserved and checked hadith. They knew the liars and weak narrators, unlike the people of earlier scriptures whose books were changed and not protected.
Views of Shaykh Ibn Baz
Shaykh Ibn Baz said scholars differed. Some said Iblis was originally an angel. Others said he was always from the jinn. Those who said he was from the angels said “jinn” here means a hidden group among the angels. But many scholars preferred the second view: that he was not an angel, but was with them in worship, and was commanded along with them. When he refused, he was cursed. This is the view of Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) and others. They said Iblis is the father of the jinn and was created from fire, not from light like the angels.
Translation: Allah’s saying: “except Iblis” — there are two interpretations regarding this exception:
The first view is that it is an exception from the same category. According to this view, Iblis was from the angels. This was reported from Ibn Masʿud in one narration, and from Ibn ʿAbbas. It has also been narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas that Iblis was from the angels, then Allah transformed him into a devil.
The second view is that it is an exception from a different category. According to this, Iblis was from the jinn. This was said by al-Hasan and az-Zuhri. Ibn ʿAbbas said: Iblis was one of the keepers of Paradise, and he used to manage the affairs of the lowest heaven.
If it is said: how can he be excluded from a group he does not belong to?
The response is: he was included in the command to prostrate along with them, so he was mentioned among them in the exception because he did not prostrate. This is like when you say: “I commanded my servant and my brothers, and they all obeyed me except my servant.” This is the view of az-Zajjaj.
As for the name Iblis, there are two views:
The first is that it is a non-Arabic (foreign) name and not derived from any Arabic root. Because of that, it is not declined (i.e., it is treated as indeclinable). This was the view of Abu ʿUbaydah, az-Zajjaj, and Ibn al-Anbari.
The second is that it is derived from iblās, which means despair. This was narrated from Abu Salih and mentioned by Ibn Qutaybah. He said it is not declined because it is a proper name without any precedent, so it was considered too heavy to decline.
Our teacher Abu Mansur al-Lughawi said: the first view is more correct, because if it had been derived from iblās, it would have been declined. Do you not see that if you named someone Ikhrīt or Ijfīl, it would be declined even though it is a proper name?
Zaad al-Maseer fi ‘ilm at-Tafseer – Ibn al-Jawzi Pg 54-55
Translation: So if someone were to say: “Doesn’t the apparent meaning of the Quran show that Iblis was from the angels?”
The answer is: No, that is not the apparent meaning of the Quran. Allah said: “Except Iblis”, and then He said: “He was of the jinn”. So the Quran actually shows that the command was directed at Iblis just as it was directed at the angels. But why was that? The scholars said that Iblis used to come to the angels and gather with them. So the command was directed to that entire gathering, which included the angels who were created from light and Iblis who was created from fire. When the test came, the angels returned to their noble origin, while the devil returned to his origin, which is pride, arrogance, and arguing with falsehood.
He refused, acted arrogantly, and argued. What did he say? Allah said: “I am better than him” (al-Aʿraf: 12). Meaning: How can You command me to prostrate to someone I am better than? Then he gave a reason which actually went against him. He said: “You created me from fire and created him from clay” (al-Aʿraf: 12). But this actually works against him, because the one created from clay is better than the one created from fire.
Fire is a burning, inflamed substance that indicates recklessness. You see its flames jumping to the right and left, with no steady foundation. Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned many differences between clay and fire in his book Ighathat al-Lahfan. And even if we were to assume that fire is better and Iblis was better than Adam, should that not have made him more deserving to obey the Creator? Yes, it should have. But he refused and acted arrogantly.
Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, described the condition of Shaytan saying:
“Will you then take him and his offspring as allies instead of Me, while they are enemies to you? What an evil exchange for the wrongdoers” (al-Kahf: 50).
The address in “Will you then take him” is directed to those who took Iblis and his offspring as allies instead of Allah. They worshipped Shaytan and abandoned the worship of the Most Merciful. Allah, the Most High, said: “Did I not make a covenant with you, O children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaytan? Indeed, he is your clear enemy. And that you should worship Me? This is a straight path” (Yasin: 60–61).
His saying “and his offspring” means: those who were born from him. Some of the early scholars were asked by people who overcomplicated things: “Does Shaytan have a wife?” He replied: “I was not present at the marriage contract.” This question has no benefit. We believe that he has offspring—whether from a wife or not, we do not know. Did not Allah create Hawwa from Adam? Yes. So it is possible that Allah created the offspring of Iblis from him as He created Hawwa from Adam.
These matters, matters of the unseen, should not be approached with anything beyond what has come in the revealed texts. These are affairs beyond our level. We believe that Iblis has offspring, but are we required to believe that he has a wife?
The answer is: No, we are not required to.
Tafsir al-Qur’an li al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen Surah Al Kahf Page 91-92
Translation: Narrated by Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Abu Shaykh in al-ʿAzamah, and al-Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-Iman, from Ibn ʿAbbas who said: Among the angels there is a tribe called “the jinn.”
Iblis was from among them. He used to govern what was between the heaven and the earth. Then he disobeyed, so Allah became angry with him and transformed him into a cursed devil.
Ibn Jarir narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas regarding the verse “except Iblis, he was of the jinn” that he was a keeper of Paradise, so he was called al-jannān.
Ibn al-Mundhir and Abu Shaykh in al-ʿAzamah narrated from ad-Dahhak: Ibn ʿAbbas and Ibn Masʿud differed about Iblis. One of them said: He was from a tribe among the angels called the jinn.
Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas who said: Iblis was from the noblest of the angels and the most honoured of them in tribe. He was a keeper of the Gardens, had authority over the lower heaven, and he ruled over the meeting point of the two seas — the Sea of Rome and the Sea of Persia, one to the east and one to the west — and he also had authority over the earth.
From what his self suggested to him, along with Allah’s decree, he came to think that this gave him superiority and greatness over the inhabitants of the heavens. Arrogance settled in his heart in a way that no one knew except Allah.
So when the time came and Allah commanded him to prostrate to Adam, Allah brought out that pride that was hidden in him. He was then cursed until the Day of Judgement. As for Allah’s saying “he was of the jinn”, Ibn ʿAbbas said: he was called al-jannān because he was a keeper over the Gardens.
Narrated by ʿAbd al-Razzaq, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim from Qatadah regarding the verse “except Iblis, he was of the jinn”, that he was from a tribe among the angels called the jinn. Ibn ʿAbbas used to say: If he had not been among the angels, he would not have been commanded to prostrate. He was over the treasury of the lower heaven.
Narrated by Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Anbari in his book al-Adad, and Abu Shaykh in al-ʿAzamah from al-Hasan: Iblis was never from the angels, not even for a blink of an eye. He is the origin of the jinn just as Adam is the origin of mankind.
Narrated by Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim from al-Hasan who said: May Allah fight those who claimed that Iblis was from the angels, while Allah says: “he was of the jinn.”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu Shaykh in al-ʿAzamah from Saʿid ibn Jubayr regarding the verse “he was of the jinn” that he was from the keepers of Paradise.
Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn al-Anbari in al-Adad, and Abu Shaykh from another chain from Saʿid ibn Jubayr regarding the verse “he was of the jinn” that they were a tribe of angels who continuously made ornaments for the people of Paradise until the Day of Judgement.
Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-Iman from Saʿid ibn Jubayr who said: he was among the gardeners who worked in Paradise.
Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu Shaykh in al-ʿAzamah from Ibn Shihab regarding the verse “except Iblis, he was of the jinn” that Iblis is the father of the jinn just as Adam is the father of mankind. Adam was from the humans and is their father. Iblis is from the jinn and is their father. This was made clear when Allah said: “Will you then take him and his offspring as allies besides Me?”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib who said: Iblis was the leader of the angels of the lowest heaven.
Narrated by Ibn Jarir from Saʿd ibn Masʿud who said: The angels were fighting the jinn. Iblis was captured while he was still young, and he lived among the angels and worshipped with them.
Narrated by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim from Shahr ibn Hawshab who said: Iblis was one of the jinn whom the angels had expelled. One of the angels captured him and took him up to the heaven.
Narrated by Abu Shaykh in al-ʿAzamah from Qatadah regarding the verse “except Iblis, he was of the jinn” that he turned away from obedience to Allah.
Narrated by Abu Shaykh from Saʿid ibn Jubayr who said: When Iblis was cursed, his appearance changed from that of the angels. He was devastated and screamed a scream, and every scream heard in the world until the Day of Judgement originates from that scream.
Narrated by Abu Shaykh from Nawf who said: Iblis was the leader of the lower heaven.
Ad-Durr al-Manthur fi at-Tafsir bil-Ma’thur by As Suyuti (9/565-
Translation: Allah, Most High, speaks in this verse to make the children of Adam pay attention to the enmity of Iblis towards them and their father before them. He scolds those who followed him and disobeyed their Creator and Master, the One who brought them into being and created them from nothing, and who provided them gently with sustenance and nourishment.
Then, after all of that, they became allies of Iblis and enemies of Allah. So Allah, Most High, said: “And when We said to the angels” meaning, to all of the angels, as was already explained at the beginning of Surah al-Baqara.
“Prostrate to Adam” meaning a prostration of honour, respect, and elevation. As Allah, Most High, also said: “And when your Lord said to the angels: I am creating a human being from dry clay, from black mud fashioned into shape. So when I have shaped him and breathed into him from My spirit, then fall down in prostration to him” (al-Hijr: 28–29).
And His saying: “So they prostrated, except Iblis. He was of the jinn” meaning his origin betrayed him. He was created from the flame of fire, while the origin of the angels is that they were created from light, as is confirmed in Sahih Muslim from Aisha, from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: “The angels were created from light, Iblis was created from the flame of fire, and Adam was created from what was described to you.”
So when the need arises, every vessel pours out what it contains, and the one who follows deceives. That is because Iblis had taken on the appearance and actions of the angels, worshipping and exerting himself in devotion. Because of that, he was included in their command. But he disobeyed by going against it.
Allah, Most High, makes it clear here that he is from the jinn, meaning that he was created from fire, just as Iblis said: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay” (al-Araf: 12, Sad: 76).
Al-Hasan al-Basri said: Iblis was never from the angels, not even for a blink of an eye. He is the origin of the jinn, just as Adam, peace be upon him, is the origin of mankind. This was narrated by Ibn Jarir with a sound chain from him.
Ad-Dahhak said, from Ibn Abbas: Iblis was from a group of the angels known as the jinn. They were created from the smokeless flame of fire, different from the rest of the angels. His name was al-Harith, and he was one of the keepers of Paradise. The rest of the angels were created from light, different from this group. And the jinn who are mentioned in the Quran were created from the flame that appears at the tip of fire when it blazes.
Ad-Dahhak also said, from Ibn Abbas: Iblis was from the noblest of the angels and the most honourable of their tribes. He was a keeper over the Gardens, and he had control over the lower heaven and over the earth. What led him to destruction, by the decree of Allah, was that he thought this gave him superiority over the inhabitants of the heavens. Pride settled in his heart in a way that only Allah knew.
Allah then drew that pride out of him when He commanded him to prostrate to Adam. He became arrogant and was among the disbelievers. Ibn Abbas said about Allah’s saying, “and he was of the jinn” meaning he was one of the keepers of Paradise, just as a man might be called Makki or Madani or Basri or Kufi. Ibn Jurayj said something similar from Ibn Abbas.
Saeed ibn Jubayr said from Ibn Abbas: He was one of the keepers of Paradise, and he used to oversee the affairs of the lower heaven. This was narrated by Ibn Jarir through al-Aʿmash, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Saeed.
Saeed ibn al-Musayyib said: He was the leader of the angels of the lower heaven.
Ibn Ishaq said from Khallad ibn Ata, from Tawus, from Ibn Abbas: Before he committed the sin, Iblis was from the angels. His name was Azazil, and he lived on earth. He was among the most diligent of the angels in worship and the most knowledgeable of them. That is what led him to pride. He was from a tribe called the Jann.
Ibn Jurayj said from Salih, the freed slave of at-Tuʿamah, and from Sharik ibn Abi Tamrah, one of them or both of them from Ibn Abbas: There is a tribe among the angels known as the jinn, and Iblis was from them.
He used to govern what was between the heaven and the earth. Then he disobeyed, so Allah became angry with him and transformed him into a cursed devil. He said: If a man’s sin comes from pride, then do not have hope for him. But if it is from some act of disobedience, then you may still have hope for him.
Saeed ibn Jubayr said: He was one of the gardeners who worked in Paradise.
There are many reports about this from the early generations, but most of them are from the Israiliyat, which were passed down to be examined. Allah knows best about many of them. Some of them are clearly false because they contradict the truth that we have. What is in the Quran is enough without needing anything else from the earlier scriptures, because those other reports are rarely free from alteration, addition, or omission.
Many false things were added to them, and they do not have scholars who memorised and protected them from the distortions of the extremists and the inventions of the liars, the way this Ummah has. This Ummah has imams who are scholars, noble people, and righteous ones. They are the master critics and great memorizers who recorded the hadith, checked them, and clarified what is authentic, what is good, what is weak, what is rejected, fabricated, abandoned, or falsely attributed.
They recognised the forgers, the liars, the unknown narrators, and others among the types of transmitters. They did all of this to protect the Prophet’s honourable position and his final message as the seal of the messengers and the leader of mankind, peace and blessings be upon him, so that no lie would be attributed to him or anything said about him that he did not say.
May Allah be pleased with them and grant them His satisfaction, and may He make the Gardens of Paradise their home. He has already done so.
And His saying: “So he rebelled against the command of his Lord” means that he turned away from obeying Allah. Rebellion means going out. They say: The ripe date has rebelled if it comes out of its covering, and the mouse has rebelled from its hole when it comes out to spoil and spread corruption.
Then Allah says, scolding and criticising those who followed him and obeyed him: “Will you then take him and his offspring as allies instead of Me” meaning, in My place. That is why He said: “What a bad exchange for the wrongdoers”.
This part is similar to His saying after describing the Day of Judgement and its terrors and the fate of both the blessed and the doomed in Surah Yasin: “And be separated today, O criminals. Did I not make a covenant with you, O children of Adam, that you would not worship Satan, for he is a clear enemy to you, and that you would worship Me? This is a straight path. And he led astray a great multitude of you. Did you not then use your minds?” (Yasin: 59–62).
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (5/167-169)
Translation:
The scholars of tafsir differed regarding the meaning of Allah’s statement: “He was of the jinn” (al-Kahf: 50). Some of them said: this means he was not one of the angels.
Others said: rather, he was one of the keepers of Paradise, so he was named in relation to the Garden.
Others said: rather, he was called “of the jinn” because he was from those who were hidden (istajannū) from the sight of the children of Adam.
Those who said this include the following: Ibn Abbas who said: Iblis, before he committed the sin, was one of the angels. His name was Azazil, and he lived on the earth. He was one of the most diligent of the angels in worship and among the most knowledgeable of them. That is what led him to pride. He belonged to a group called the Jinn.
Qatadah from Saeed ibn al-Musayyib who said: Iblis was the leader of the angels of the lowest heaven.
Saeed ibn Jubayr from Ibn Abbas regarding the verse: “except Iblis, he was of the jinn”, who said: Iblis was one of the keepers of Paradise and oversaw the affairs of the lower heaven.
Al-Qasim narrated from al-Husayn from Hajjaj from Ibn Jurayj who said that Ibn Abbas said: Iblis was from the noblest of the angels and the most honoured of them in tribe. He was a keeper over the Gardens. He had control over the lower heaven and over the earth. From what Allah had decreed for him, he thought that this gave him superiority and greatness over the inhabitants of the heavens. That settled in his heart as pride that only Allah knew. So when the time came for the prostration, and Allah commanded him to prostrate to Adam, Allah extracted that pride from him. He was then cursed and delayed until the Day of Judgement. Ibn Abbas said that the meaning of “he was of the jinn” is that he was one of the keepers of Paradise, just as one might say: Makki, Madani, Basri, or Kufi. This was said by Ibn Jurayj.
Others said: they are a tribe from the angels, and the name of his tribe was al-Hin.
Al-Qasim narrated from al-Husayn from Hajjaj from Ibn Jurayj from Salih the freed slave of al-Tuʿamah and Sharik ibn Abi Tamrah, one or both of them, from Ibn Abbas who said: there is a tribe among the angels called the jinn, and Iblis was one of them. He governed what was between the heaven and the earth. Then he disobeyed, so Allah became angry with him and transformed him into a cursed devil, may Allah curse him. He was transformed. He said: if a man’s sin is pride, do not have hope in him. But if his sin is an act of disobedience, then have hope for him. The sin of Adam was disobedience, but the sin of Iblis was pride.
Bishr narrated from Yazid from Saeed from Qatadah رحمه الله regarding Allah’s saying: “And when We said to the angels: prostrate to Adam, they prostrated, except Iblis, he was of the jinn”: he said that they were a tribe among the angels called al-Hin. Ibn Abbas said: had he not been among the angels, he would not have been commanded to prostrate. He was over the treasury of the lower heaven. Qatadah used to say: he turned away from obedience to his Lord.
Al-Hasan said: Allah drove him back to his origin.
Al-Hasan ibn Yahya narrated from Abd al-Razzaq from Maʿmar from Qatadah regarding the verse “except Iblis, he was of the jinn” that he was from a tribe among the angels called the Jinn.
Ibn Bashar narrated from Ibn Abi Adi from Awf from al-Hasan who said: Iblis was never of the angels, not even for the blink of an eye. He is the origin of the jinn just as Adam is the origin of humanity.
Yahya ibn Wadih from Ubayd said: I heard ad-Dahhak say: Iblis was over the lower heaven and over the earth, and he was a keeper of the Gardens. I was told by al-Husayn ibn al-Faraj who said: I heard Abu Muadh say: Ubayd told us that he heard ad-Dahhak say regarding the verse: “they prostrated except Iblis, he was of the jinn” that Ibn Abbas used to say: Iblis was from the noblest of the angels and the most honoured of them in tribe. He was a keeper over the Gardens.
He had authority over the lower heaven and over the earth. From what Allah decreed for him, he thought that this gave him superiority over the inhabitants of the heavens. Pride settled in his heart in a way that only Allah knew. Allah then drew out that pride from him when He commanded him to prostrate to Adam. He became arrogant and was among the disbelievers. That is the meaning of His words to the angels: “I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you were hiding” (al-Baqara: 33) meaning, what Iblis concealed in his own self of pride.
And His saying: “he was of the jinn” Ibn Abbas used to say: Allah said “he was of the jinn” because he was a keeper over the Gardens, just as someone is called Makki, Madani, Basri, or Kufi.
Others said: the tribe of Iblis was called the jinn, and they were a group among the angels called the jinn. That is why Allah said: “he was of the jinn”, attributing him to his tribe.
Ibn Humaid narrated from Yaqub from Jaʿfar from Saeed regarding Allah’s saying “he was of the jinn” that he was one of the gardeners who worked in the Gardens.
Ibn Humaid also narrated from Yahya ibn Wadih from Abu Saeed al-Yahmadi Ismail ibn Ibrahim from Suwar ibn al-Jaʿd al-Yahmadi from Shahr ibn Hawshab who said about the verse “he was of the jinn”: Iblis was one of the jinn who were driven away by the angels, then one of the angels captured him and took him up to the heavens.
Muhammad ibn Saad narrated from his father from his uncle from his father from his grandfather from Ibn Abbas regarding the verse “except Iblis, he was of the jinn”: he said, he was a keeper of the Gardens, called so in reference to the Gardens.
Nasr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Awdi narrated from Ahmad ibn Bashir from Sufyan from Abu al-Miqdam from Saeed ibn Jubayr who said: Iblis was one of the guardians of Paradise.
Tafsir At Tabari (15/286-290)
Shayk Bin Baz رحمه الله said: This issue is a well-known matter of disagreement among the scholars. Some of them said that Iblis was one of the angels, then he was expelled and cursed. Other scholars said he was one of the jinn, and that the group he came from were the jinn. That is why Allah, the Most High, said: “except Iblis, he was of the jinn, so he rebelled against the command of his Lord” (al-Kahf: 50). So Allah made it clear that he was of the jinn, and the jinn are the known creation, the second group of accountable beings after humans.
Some scholars said that Iblis is the father of the jinn, just as Adam is the father of mankind. From the jinn came the devils, the rebellious ones. But some scholars said that the jinn are a group from the angels who are called “jinn” because they concealed themselves and remained hidden, so they were called jinn.
They were from among the angels. These two views are well-known, but a group of careful scholars preferred the view that the jinn are not angels. Rather, Iblis was with the angels, praying and worshipping alongside them. The command included him because he was with them. But when he refused, rebelled, and showed arrogance, he was cursed and expelled. May Allah protect us. From his offspring came the devils. And among the jinn are believers, sinners, and disbelievers, as Allah said: “And among us are the righteous, and among us are others less than that” (al-Jinn: 11).
Second Question: O Shaykh, was he from the jinn or from the angels?
Answer: The well-known view among the scholars is that he was from the angels and was expelled when he became arrogant. According to this view, the jinn are a group from the angels who were called jinn.
But others said no, the jinn are the well-known second group of beings whom Allah said about: “I did not create the jinn and humans except that they should worship Me” (adh-Dhariyat: 56), and that they are not from the angels. The angels were created from light, and the jinn were created from fire, as Allah said: “And the jinn We created before from the scorching fire” (al-Hijr: 27). And Iblis said: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay” (al-Araf: 12). So he is not from the angels in essence. The angels were created from light, and Iblis was created from fire. He is not one of them in substance or reality. However, he was among them, and when the command came to prostrate, he refused, became arrogant, disobeyed, and Allah expelled and cursed him.
This is the opinion chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and others. They said: he is from the jinn, and he is their father. Allah created him from the flame of fire. He is not from the angels, but he was with them in the heavens, worshipping. When he became arrogant, he was expelled and cursed. We ask Allah for protection.
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