Ketab-E-Qayyem

Ketab-E-Qayyem

A New Analysis of Iblīs’s Deceptive Strategy: Concealing His Aspiration for the Rank of the ʿĀlīn under the Pretext of Comparison with Adam (pbuh)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
mohammad hadi mansouri 1
Mohsen Fazel Bakhshayesh 2
1 Assistant professor, Department of Qurʾanic Sciences and Ḥadīth, Faculty of Islamic Teachings, University of Islamic Teachings (Maʿāref), Qom, Iran. E-mail: mansouri@maaref.ac.ir
2 PhD student in teaching Qurʾanic sciences and Ḥadīth, University of Islamic Teachings (Maʿāref), Qom, Iran. E-mail: mohsenfazel1373@gmail.com
10.30512/kq.2025.22952.4061
Abstract
The event of Iblīs’s refusal to prostrate before Adam, as a pivotal and frequently reiterated episode in the Qurʾānic text, has long been the focus of exegetical attention. The majority of commentaries, to explain the cause of this disobedience, have concentrated on Iblīs’s own words, attributing the root of his defiance to the comparison between fire and clay and interpreting it as a kind of cognitive error. Adopting a critical approach and questioning the sincerity of Iblīs, the present study seeks to uncover the true cause of this refusal from the perspective of God’s own Qurʾānic analysis. To this end, the research focuses primarily on the verses of Sūrat al-Aʿrāf and Sūrat Ṣād, as the texts that contain the divine evaluation and judgment of this incident. The findings of this study, conducted through a descriptive-analytical method within the framework of tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Qurʾān and supported by narrational sources (riwāyāt), indicate that Iblīs was not truthful in his statements. Rather, by employing a deceptive strategy, he concealed the real cause of his defiance and falsely attributed it to his supposed comparison with Adam. According to the results, God’s own analysis of Iblīs’s behavior comprises two dimensions, psychological and ontological. The psychological dimension is represented by Iblīs’s inner arrogance, inferred from God’s reproachful question in Sūrat Ṣād. The ontological dimension pertains to his covetous desire for the rank of the Ahl al-Bayt and his transgression beyond the limits of his existential station within the cosmic order. On this basis, Iblīs did not truly compare himself with Adam, but rather with the ʿĀlīn, the Exalted Ones. Also, driven by greed and arrogance, he resisted the divine command.
Keywords
Refusal of Iblīs to prostrate
Falsehood of Satan
Veil of comparison
Arrogance
Rank of the ʿĀlīn
Subjects
Holy Qur'an.
Alusi, Mahmoud ibn Abdullah. (1994). Ruh al-Ma'ani fi Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim wa al-Sab' al-Mathani. Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya. [In Arabic]
Ansari Moghadam, Mojtaba, Baziyar, Maryam, Dehghan Baghi, Rouhollah, & Karimi Nia, Muhammad Mahdi. (2021). A study of the evolution of commentators' views on the verses of prostration to Adam (PBUH). Research and Studies in Islamic Sciences, 3(31), 35-45. [In Persian]
Baydawi, Abdollah ibn Umar. (1998). The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation. Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-'Arabi. [In Arabic]
Fadlallah, Muhammad Hossein. (2018). An Interpretation from the Revelation of the Qur'an. Dar al-Malak li-l-Tiba'ah wa-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawzi'. [In Arabic]
Fakhr Razi, Muhammad ibn Umar. (2000). Mafatih al-Ghayb. Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-'Arabi. [In Arabic]
Farahidi, Khalil ibn Ahmad. (1989). Kitab al-'Ayn. Nashr-e Hijrat. [In Arabic]
Heshmatiyan, Fereshteh, Hosseini Mirsafi, Ma’soumeh Sadat, & Safahiyan, Muhammad. (2024). A Comparative Study of Iblis's Refusal to Prostrate, Based on the Views of Allameh Tabataba'i, Shabestari, and Hallaj. Quranic Studies, 15(58), 173-190. [In Persian]
Ibn Ashur, Muhammad al-Tahir. (2000). Al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir min al-Tafsir. Mu'assisat al-Tarikh al-'Arabi. [In Arabic]
Ibn Atiyyah, Abd al-Haqq ibn Ghalib. (2001). The Concise Editor in the Interpretation of the Mighty Book. Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali. (1975). Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Ni'mah. Islamiyyah. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali. (2006). Ilal al-Shara'i'. Kitab Furushi-ye Davari. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali. (n.d.). Fada'il al-Shi'a. A'lami. [In Arabic]
Javadi Amoli, Abdollah. (2013). Tasnim Interpretation. Esra. [In Persian]
Khamenei, Ali. (2013). Educational Treatise. Nashr-e Fiqh-e Rooz. [In Persian]
Khoei, Abu al-Qasim. (1998). Misbah al-Fiqaha. Maktabat al-Davari. [In Arabic]
Kufi, Forat ibn Ibrahim. (1990). Furat al-Kufi Interpretation. Mu'assasat al-Tab' wa-l-Nashr fi Wizarat al-Irshad al-Islami. [In Arabic]
Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub. (1987). Al-Kafi. Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. [In Arabic]
Majlisi, Mollah Baqir ibn Muhammad Taqi. (1983). Bihar al-Anwar. Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-'Arabi. [In Arabic]
Majlisi, Mollah Baqir ibn Muhammad Taqi. (1984). Mir'at al-'Uqul fi Sharh Akhbar Al al-Rasul. Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. [In Arabic]
Makarem Shirazi, Nasser. (1995). Nemuneh Interpretation. Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. [In Persian]
Mudarrisi, Mohammad Taghi. (1998). From the Guidance of the Qur'an. Dar Muhibbi al-Husayn. [In Arabic]
Mustafa, Khalid Ahmad. (2021). The Issue of Iblis's Refusal to Prostrate to Adam in the Holy Qur'an: A Thematic Study. Majallat al-'Ulum al-Islamiyyah [Journal of Islamic Sciences], (12), 139–167. [In Arabic] https://doi.org/10.25130/jis.21.12.7.7
Qummi, Ali ibn Ibrahim. (1984). Qummi Interpretation. Dar al-Kitab. [In Arabic]
Qurtubi, Mohammad ibn Ahmad. (1985). Al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an. Naser Khosrow. [In Arabic]
Raghib Isfahani, Hossein ibn Muhammad. (1992). Mufradat Alfaz al-Qur'an. Dar al-Qalam. [In Arabic]
Rida, Muhammad Rashid. (1994). Al-Manar. Dar al-Ma'rifah. [In Arabic]
Sadiqi Tehrani, Muhammad. (1986). The Criterion in the Interpretation of the Qur'an by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Mu'assasat al-A'lami li-l-Matbu'at. [In Arabic]
Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir. (2001). The Comprehensive Clarification of the Interpretations of the Verses of the Qur'an. Hajar. [In Arabic]
Tabarsi, Fazl ibn Hasan. (1988). Majma' al-Bayan. Dar al-Ma'rifah. [In Arabic]
Tabataba'i, Muhammad Hossein. (1973). Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an. Mu'assasat al-A'lami li-l-Matbu'at. [In Arabic]
Tousi, Muhammad ibn Hasan. (n.d.). Al-Tibyan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an. Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-'Arabi. [In Arabic]
Zamakhshari, Mahmoud ibn Umar. (1987). The Unveiler of the Truths of Revelation and the Springs of Sayings on the Facets of Interpretation. Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabi. [In Arabic]
Ketab-E-Qayyem
Volume 16, Issue 2 - Serial Number 35
October 2026
Pages 159-180

  • Receive Date 29 July 2025
  • Revise Date 01 October 2025
  • Accept Date 12 November 2025