The Nature of Satan

Satan was created from fire that can penetrate the body. This fire has the property of spreading into the pores of human beings, and burning and poisoning them. With such a nature, Satan can penetrate a human being, poisoning their spiritual world, and burning them to ashes. Satan said to God, You created me from fire, and him from clay, as an excuse for his refusal to acknowledge human superiority (Qur’an 38:76, 7:12). Satan will burn a person’s spiritual world to ashes, just as the fire he is created from does.

Satan is one of jinn that were created from the same fire. The following verse expresses this fact:

Behold! We said to the angels: “Bow down to Adam.” They all bowed down except Iblis. He was one of jinn. He broke the command of his Lord. Will you then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies to you. Evil would be the exchange for the wrongdoers. (18:50)

Satan was also told to obey the order given to angels, but he failed to do his duty and carry out the order to bow down before Adam and to accept his superiority, and thus Satan lost. The second part of the verse expresses the error that one would make if one were to abandon God, rather befriending Satan and his progeny.

Stressing the point that one should focus on the harm that Satan may inflict rather than on his nature, al-Ghazzali says, “Various things are asked of Satan, such as ‘Is he an ephemeral being? Is he not a physical being? If he is, how can he enter the human body?...’ which are points that are not worth mentioning. Discussing the nature of Satan is like asking the size, length, and shape of a snake instead of telling someone that there is a snake in their clothes. A person who is told the latter will immediately look for ways to rid themselves of the danger. Similarly, one who hears of Satan, who is more harmful than snakes, should take the necessary precautions, without considering whether he is a physical being or not.”[1]

[1] Al-Ghazzali, Ihya’ al-‘Ulum al-Din [Reviving the Religious Sciences], 3:47.