Re: Angels in Religion
No they are not.
The word Iblis is derived from Ablasa which means (1) his good or virtue decreased; (2) he gave up hope or despaired of the mercy of God; (3) became broken spirit; (4) was perplexed and unable to see his way; and (5) he was prevented from attaining his wish. Based on the root meaning of the word, Iblis is a being which contains little of good and much of evil. Iblis is really an attributive name given, on the basis of the root meaning of the word, to the Evil Spirit opposed to angels. He has been so named because he possesses the attributes enumerated above, particularly the quality of being deprived of good and of being left bewildered in teh way and of despairing of God’s mercy.
That Iblis was not the Satan spoken of in 2:37 is apparent from the fact that Quran mentions two names side by side wherever the story of Adam is given, but everywhere a careful distinction is observed between the two. Wherever it speaks of teh being who, unlike the angels, refused to serve Adam, it invariably mentions the name Iblis, and wherever it speaks of the being who beguiled Adam and became the means of his being turned out of “the garden” it mentions the name ‘Satan’. This distinction, which is most significant and which has been maintained throughout the Quran, in atleast ten places (2:35, 37; 7:12, 21; 15:32; 17:62; 18:51; 20:117, 121; 38:75) clearly shows that Iblis is different from the ‘Satan’.