who makes the evil suggestions, is as much a fact as the existence of the angel who makes the good suggestions—the Holy Qur’ān requires a belief in angels and a disbelief in devils.19 This, of course, is not to say that one must deny the existence of the devil. The significance is clear enough: one must obey the commandments of God and refuse to follow the suggestions of the devil. Faith in the angels, therefore, only means that every good suggestion— and such is the suggestion of the angel—must be accepted, because it leads to the spiritual development of man.

Iblīs is not an angel but one of the jinn

There is a popular misconception, into which many writers of repute have fallen, that Iblīs or the Devil is one of the angels. The misconception has arisen from the fact that where the angels are commanded to make obeisance to Adam, there is also mention of Iblīs and his refusal to make obeisance: “And when We said to the angels, Be submissive to Adam, they submitted, but20 Iblīs (did not). He refused and was proud, and he was one of the disbelievers” (2:34). From these words it is clear enough that Iblīs or the Devil was one of the unbelievers and refused to obey, and, therefore, he could not be an angel, because, of the angels, it is plainly said that “they do not disobey Allāh in that which He commands them, but do as they are commanded” (66:6). And elsewhere it is stated in so many words that Iblīs was not from among the angels but from among the jinn: “And when We said to the angels, Make submission to Adam, they submitted except Iblīs. He was of the jinn, so he transgressed the commandment of his Lord” (18:50). Now jinn and angels are two different classes of beings; their origin and their functions have nothing in common. The jinn, as we have seen, are mentioned as being created from fire, while the angels are created from light, and the function of the jinn has also been shown to be quite different from the function of the angel. It is, therefore, an obvious error to look upon the jinn as being a branch of the angelic creation.

The jinn

The word jinn is derived from janna meaning he covered or concealed