Shaitan

Shaitan is the Arabic (شيطان) word for "Adversary", except in different contexts, the word is translated subversely as "Separator".

It could possibly be a derivation of from "שָׂטָן" (Hebrew) Satan. In Islam, he was originally known as Iblis (إبليس). The adversary of Allah is called by this name or title in the Qur'an.

Shaitan was also the Chaldean form of the Egyptian god Set.

This article applies to Islam only. See Satan for a Christian view of Shaitan. NOTE: Quotes from the Qur'an have been edited to save space, and thus references to verses in Suras have been omitted. Verses quoted are in bold text.

In the beginning

In Islam, after the creation of the Universe and the Earth, Allah directed the two Archangels, Mika'il (Michael) and Jibril (Gabriel) to fetch clumps of dirt and dust to be used for creating the first human. Allah announced that he would create caretakers for the Earth, or 'Khalifa, stewards (as translated literally from Arabic) that would be endowed with the gift of freewill. The assemblage of Angels at the time however, objected at the creation of a new creature that could choose to be evil. They said:

"Will you created beings there (on Earth) who will cause trouble and shed blood, while we Praise your Holy Name?"

God frankly rebutted saying he knew what he was doing and that he knew what they (the Angels) knew not.

After Adam and Eve was created, God placed Adam and Eve in a garden. The garden mentioned is not the same garden which is Heaven or Paradise. In Islam, it is not generally stated where this garden was, but the consensus is that this garden was not directly situated in Paradise, but not on any known place on Earth either.

In this garden, God taught Adam all the names of the individual organisms in his surrounding environment, and He taught Adam how to use and manipulate nature to his benefit. When Allah finished educating Adam, God called all the Angels to the garden to prove His point from earlier on.

God commanded the Angels:

"Tell Me about all of this (natural phenomenon on Earth)."

The Angels, who are light-based creatures, had no real understanding of how the natural environment in the physical universe worked, so expressed their ignorance on the subject.

Then God commanded Adam to tell the Angels about what he knew about the environment in this garden. When Adam finished, the Angels conceded that the humans were indeed of great worth and had much insight. God declared:

"Did I not tell you before that I know what you know not?"

Iblis's Disobedience

After what happened in the garden, Allah declared to the Angels and Jinns to bow (prostrate) before Adam. The Jinns who were also in the garden bowed before Adam as well - save one, the Chief of the Jinns, whose name was Iblis (translates as "frustrated" in english).

God asked Iblis:

"Oh Iblis! Why are you not part of the others who bow before Adam?"

In short, Iblis's response was simply: "I am better than him (Adam)." God had just proven that man was better than the Angels, and Angels are certainly established as better than the Jinns, so to make a statement like that is arrogant indeed. God commanded Iblis to get out of the garden, stating that his arrogance is not acceptable before Him. Before Iblis left, he declared a challenge to God:

"Grant me respite and I shall corrupt (your precious humans) and in the End you will find most of them to be ungrateful to You."

Respite was granted, and God gave Iblis time until the Day of Judgement to corrupt and separate as many humans from Him as he could. In return for granting Iblis extended life until the Day of Judgement, God laid down a universal ground rule: Iblis had no influence over those who sought God's protection from him. Iblis's name was reformed to Shaytan, (usually spelled Shaitan in english). A majority of the Jinns decided to follow Shaitan, who are now known as the Shayateen (the Separators).

Shaitan and Adam and Eve

Allah revealed to Adam and Eve about Shaitan before in a revelation. He told them that Shaitan was their declared enemy and was out to corrupt and deceive them.

Living in the garden, Adam and Eve had complete freedom to do whatever they so desired, except one thing - they could not approach a certain tree nor eat its fruit.

Islam does not state whether or not this tree was important or special, nor does the Quran mention anything that there was another tree. In the Bible, the Tree of Life is mentioned, stating that whoever ate from it, would be granted immortality. In Islam, the notion that God 'feared' that Adam or Eve would eat from that tree and rival Him is something completely contradictory to the concept of Almighty God.

Shaitan, expelled from the garden, sneaked back inside the garden, by tricking a serpent to share his body with him so he could enter the garden undetected by Adam or Eve.

Shaitan then lured Adam and Eve close to the forbidden tree and enticed them to eat its fruit, tempting them with the promise of everlasting power and life. When they ate from the tree, Shaitan left them immediately and exited the garden.

Also, it must be stressed that unlike the Bible, the Qur'an does not blame or state that Eve goaded her husband into eating the forbidden fruit, nor does it relieve Adam of any blame for disobeying either.

The moment they ate from the tree, they felt shame and disgrace knowing they consciously disobeyed God's order to not eat from the tree's fruit. Adam and Eve then felt their first emotional sense of inadaquacy and began to sew leaves into clothes to cover their private parts.

As a consequence for disobeying God, Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden and down onto the harsh wild Earth, where they had to fend for themselves.

Later on, God felt pity on the pair and taught them to ask for forgiveness. Then, when they implored for His grace, God forgave them. But however, they were to continue to stay on the Earth and never be let back into the garden.

In Islam, Shaitan still continues to try and corrupt us and separate us from our creator, Allah, and that Allah promised to send down Prophets conveying his message to help guide us away from Shaitan and his deceit.