Denying the truth, one reputed Muslim scholar took issue with Iblis’s accusation against Allah. [1] Trying to explain the Arabic word agwaitani that appears in verse 15:39, he stated: … Satan as the Power of Evil cannot be straight or truthful even before Allah. By his own arrogance and rebellion he {Iblis} fell; he attributes this to Allah. …[2]

The learned scholar is malicious, to say the least, for there is no verse in the Quran that supports his allegations against the so-called devil. 

Verse 35: We said: O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression. 

Verse 36: Then did Satan make them slip from the (Garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said “Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood-for a time. 

Verse 37: Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord turned towards him; for He Is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. 

Verse 38: We said: Get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from Me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.Having simply rebuked Iblis for his alleged disobedience, Allah asked Adam and his wife to dwell in Paradise and to eat anything and everything out of His bounty, but not the fruit of a particular tree. If they ate from that tree, Allah warned, it would cause them harm and they would become transgressors. Other related statements from Allah tell us that Iblis, later called fiend by Him had, after his expulsion from heaven, returned to it [3] without His knowledge and was, apparently, listening to the instruction He was giving Adam and his wife over their dietary restrictions. After Allah departed, Iblis approached Adam and began to persuade him to eat the forbidden fruit, with the assurance that eating of it would turn him into an eternal being.[4] Adam, unable to resist the enticement, ate the fruit. He also coerced his wife into following his footstep. [5]

After they ate the forbidden fruit, their eyes opened up, and they found themselves in a state of nakedness. [6] While they were sewing leaves together to cover them up, Allah returned and ordered Adam and his wife[7] to get out of the Paradise and to live on earth in enmity with each other, bearing the sin they had committed in heaven by eating the forbidden fruit. Iblis was, again, not punished for the reason we already know, and was allowed, once again, to live in Paradise . From the statements we read in the Quran, we can draw the following conclusions:

At the time Allah is supposed to have directed Adam and Eve’s attention to the forbidden tree, both of them were blind. Their inability to see afforded Allah the opportunity to entangle them in His net of treachery and fraud.

Impersonating Iblis, Allah Himself led the blind couple to the forbidden tree and induced them to eat its fruit. While they were eating the fruit, He disappeared from their midst. Eating over, their eyes opened up and Adam and his wife found themselves naked. Seeing their discomfort, Allah called unto them and asked: Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you? [8] (The Quran does not say that Adam and Eve had ever seen Iblis with their own eyes, nor does it say that they had seen him in their midst after their eyes opened up).

Acting in the manner of a dictator, Allah asked Adam to seek his forgiveness for the sin He accused him of committing. Adam, having realized, in a short period of time, how vindictive and ruthless Allah could be, felt compelled to repent and seek His forgiveness, which He granted. [9] But when his wife joined him in seeking the forgiveness, [10]He refused, causing her descendents to live till doomsday with the sin, she, their female progenitor had committed in Paradise. [11]

His objective achieved, Allah ordered Adam, his wife and Iblis to get out of Paradise and to live on earth, following the guidance He would give them from time to time. They were, at the same time, given assurance that if they lived by His guidance, they would have no fear, nor would they grieve on the soon-to-come Day of Resurrection. To what extent the promise of condonation will be applicable to Iblis on doomsday is not known. However, it is said that Allah, in fulfillment of His promise, sent 124,000 to 240,000 apostles and prophets to earth to guide mankind from the time of Adam to the time of Muhammad. Apostles were also sent to the Jinns,[12] but we do not know their number.

It seems that all the apostles sent to the Jinns had failed in their missions, causing Allah to assign their charge to Muhammad together with that of the human race.

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