-=[A thread on Ādam and Iblīs in the Qurʾan]=-
The Qurʾan often recasts biblical lore in a new light. Perhaps nowhere is this for visible than in its 7 (!) retellings of the creation of Adam and the fall of Iblīs|إبليس (=the Devil, from the Greek διάβολος|diábolos ). A thread ...
The Qurʾan often recasts biblical lore in a new light. Perhaps nowhere is this for visible than in its 7 (!) retellings of the creation of Adam and the fall of Iblīs|إبليس (=the Devil, from the Greek διάβολος|diábolos ). A thread ...
[chart above from Nicolai Sinai] These stories are very rich, but let's focus on just 2 motifs that distinguish the Qur'an: Adam as a caliph (ḫalīfah|خليفة) and Iblīs as a jinnī/genie
Whereas Genesis says humankind was made in God’s image and likeness, the Qurʾan eschews this language and calls Adam God’s vicegerent (ḫalīfah) over earth. As a ruler, the angels must prostrate before Adam, who shows his superiority over them by knowing the names God taught him.
The idea of Adam as a vicegerent or 'vicarious king' on God's behalf is not biblical but it does appear in Syriac literature prior to Islam, such as this sermon by Jacob of Serugh (d. 521 CE) *On Tamar*. Note that Jacob pairs the idea of man as God's image with man as God's ruler
Although the Qurʾan makes no mention of humankind being made in God’s image, this idea does appear in Islamic theology via authentic ḥadīth. There, however, the idea is taken rather literally. Adam is made in God’s image (ṣūrah) meaning he was *really* tall.
Iblīs among all the angels refuses to bow to Adam. The Qurʾan says that this is because he is one of the Jinn. Being created of fire, he will not bow to a creature made of clay. Thus God casts him out.
This is a popular story among Late Antique Christians too, even before the Qurʾan is revealed, and appears in many sources. One of the most interesting is the *Questions of Bartholomew* (circa. 4th-5th centuries CE) where the story is narrated by the Devil himself!
The qurʾanic account though raises many of its own questions. If Iblīs was one of the Jinn, then why would he be expected to bow alongside the angels? Were the Jinn angels, too? Why are they said to be made of fire? [nb: the idea that angels are made of light is non-qur'anic]
The early exegetical literature offers many solutions, but it seems to me they miss the mark: the Jinn *were* angels. The Enoch literature clarifies this. Jinn simply means 'demons' in the Qurʾan, and like the Enochic lit, it believed angels/the jinn to have been made from fire.
