:salam2:
Satan is a Jinn {another kind, which also has free-will, like humans}. Jinn are made out of smokeless fire, man from clay/water and angels from light.
Angels have no free will, they cannot disobey God's commands, think of them like robots, but Humans and Jinn can choose to disobey as they have free-will. Christians believe Satan is a 'fallen angel', muslims don't.
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Incidence of Iblis and Angels mentioned in the Quran
The story of Adam and Iblis is mentioned in the Quran in various places in which Allah (swt) says, “We said to the angels bow down to Adam: and they bowed down: not so Iblis”.
This is mentioned in:
Surah Al Baqarah Chapter 2 verse 43
Surah Al ‘Araf Chapter 7 verse 17
Surah Al Hijr Chapter 15 verses 28-31
Surah Al Isra Chapter 17 verse 61
Surah Ta Ha Chapter 20 verse 116
Surah Sad Chapter 38 verses 71-74
But in Surah Al Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 the Quran says:
“Behold! We said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam.” they bowed down except Iblis He was one of the Jinns.” [Al-Quran 18:50]
Christians claim this is a contradiction, since it states he [satan/iblis are synonymous terms, iblis is 'satan' in arabic as is 'shaytan', which sounds similar to the english/biblical 'satan'] was amongst the angels thus an angel, and it then goes onto say in the same line/verse that he [satan] was a Jinn; Unfortunetly for our eager Christian friends who are looking for mistakes, but fail miserably, this is not a contradiction, but is following the arabic rule of Tagleeb, which is detailed below, since Allah is all knowing, he knows the customs, culture, language and everything about the nation He reveals a revelation to.
For the sake of argument, the Christians/non-believers claim the Holy Qur'an was written by a man, Muhammad [pbuh], what grievous words they utter.
But lets just say for the sake of argument that it was written by man, no man would contradict himself on the same line/verse, he will most probably do so else where in the [long] book he writes, saying one thing here, forgetting what he said, and then saying something else somewhere else in that man-made book, this is rife in the Bible, proving it is the word of man.
Allah says in the Holy Qur'an that if this (Quran) were from other than Allah, you would find within it many contradictions.:
"Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah [God], they would surely have found therein much discrepancy"
Holy Qur'an - Translation by Yusuf Ali, 4:82
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2. Arabic Rule Of Tagleeb
The English translation of the first part of the verse ‘We said to the angels bow down to Adam: they bowed down except Iblis’, gives us the impression that Iblis was an angel. The Quran was revealed in Arabic.
In Arabic grammar there is a rule known as Tagleeb, according to which, if the majority is addressed, even the minority is included. If for example, I address a class containing 100 students of whom 99 are boys and one is a girl, and if I say in Arabic that the boys should stand up, it includes the girl as well. I need not mention her seperately.
Similarly in the Quran, when Allah addressed the angels, even Iblis was present, but it is not required that he be mentioned separately.
Its like when someone jokes and says 'Ladies & Gentlemen...and John {or whatever name here}, and everyone laughs, its rude/funny {it can also make that individual feel isolated, feel like the odd one out, and unimportant/not one of them/bitter}, and God is not rude or makes fun out of his slaves, he is the best of protectors, and the best master one could have.
Therefore according to that sentence Iblis may be an angel or may not be an angel, but we come to know from Surah Al Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 that Iblis was a Jinn. No where does the Quran say Iblis was an angel. Therefore there is no contradiction in the Quran.
3. Jinns have free will and can disobey Allah
Secondly, Jinns have a free will and may or may not obey Allah, but angels have no free will and always obey Allah. Therefore the question of an angel disobeying Allah does not arise. This further supplements that Iblis was a Jinn and not an angel.
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A Bit Off Topic, yet Relevant
Each and every language has its own rules/style, for instance in Hebrew and Arabic there is no such thing as a capital letter in the Hebrew/Arabic {daughter languages} written alphabet, and in arabic there are 30 letters, not 26 as is with english. In addition, arabic is the most eliquent language in the world, this means that a word in arabic has several meanings, like word 'Mujrimun' {phonetically spelt in english} means criminals, polytheists, sinners, ect. all in one word, this makes the Qur'an very poetic, beautiful, and with a big impact on the reader. Unfortunetly, this beautiful poetry does not come over in english translation, but the meaning can be understood, in fact 80% of muslims do not understand arabic, me included, I read the english translation by Muhammad Asad {an ex-Jew/Father was a rabbi}.
This elequence also can cause problems, mistakes in translations, understanding, and allow the non-muslims to claim 'contradictions' when they know nothing about the arabic toungue, or its eliquence, and complexity.
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What was a Jinn doing in Heaven?
It is said iblis {satan} was a righteous Jinn, who prayed devoutly to God {Allah}, and prasied Him and worshipped Him more/equally as the angels did.
So iblis was raised in rank to heaven, and chilled out there with the angels, since he was so pure, righteous and good.
Until he disobeyed Allah's command to prostrate before Adam, in addition to being arrogant, for these two reasons, if not either one alone, he was banished from heaven.
Which emphasis the free-will of Jinn and man, and how Evil is the disobedience of Allah. Good and Evil are not necessarily opposites, like hot and cold, something that is cold is just devoid or has litle heat energy, something that is hot has a lot of that thermal {heat} energy. Similarly, Good is following the commands of Allah {God} and submitting your will to Him, and Evil is rejecting faith and denying God, thus being ungrateful for the blessings he has bestowed on us all.
Hope this helps.
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RE: Angels made of Light
Your absolutely right, no where, to my knowledge is it mentioned in the Holy Qur'an what the Angels are made out of. In fact as you stated, it is mentioned in a hadith, that is considered authentic by the scholars of islam, both past and present.
In addition, no where in my answer did I claim that this [angels being made of light] is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an.
The belief in Angels is one of the Six Pillars of Belief, it is a generally subscribed belief that:-
The Angels are made of light, neither male nor female. They do not disobey God and do not require sustenance.
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The Holy Qur'an & Hadiths
The Qur'an is indeed the 'first source of information', it is the very core or the heart of Islam. The hadiths complement the Holy Qur'an, authentic hadiths do not contradict the Qur'an, the one's that do are not considered authentic.
Additional information is provided in the Hadiths on how to perform ablution correctly, which is not mentioned in as much detail in the Holy Qur'an, further, prophecies of the prophet are stated in the hadiths, how to perform Hajj correctly, prophetic medicine, as well as information detailing the signs of the Hour[Judgement Day nearing], the dajjal/antichrist, and what verses of the Qur'an should be recited if you are unfortunate enough to be confronted by the antichrist/Dajjal[deceiver], {Surah Al-Kahf verses 1-10 will protect you}.
As I said the hadiths complement the Holy Qur'an and can provide additional miscellaneous information, but the very core to living a righteous life, and submitting your will to Allah {God} is mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an.
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Angels, Jinn & Judgement Day
We know a fair bit about the angels {even some of their names, their ranks/duties} and the Jinn {they can shapeshift, and move very fast}, but Allah will not question us on Judgement Day about our knowledge of angels, what they are made out of, or about the Jinn. I assure you Allah will not question you on this.
Learn more about the angels and their duties here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIWRLCcR…
So what will you be Questioned on?
You will stand before Allah with all your actions, deeds and works set out before you; It is your good/bad deeds that will either give you eternal life, or condemn you to Hell, if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds on the scale on Judgement day you are successful, and will enter gardens through which running waters flow, therein in abide beyond the count of time.
Unlike other religions, Islam does not guarantee a 'Get out of Hell Free card', by putting your 'sins' on Jesus's tab, because you [falsely] believe 'he died for your sins', all we can say is due the minimum {5 pillars of Islam}, do good deeds and you should be successful.
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Source(s):
Quranic vs Biblical account of the Angels
This is in stark contrast to the Biblical account of angels, which portrays them as beautiful naked/semi-naked females, with 36D bust, large hips ect. As the statues in the Vatican Church, and in the paintings attest to. Further, the angels also eat food and drink in the Biblical account, as does Almighty God himself [according to the Bible, refuted by a verse in the Holy Qur'an called Al-Kursi], thus need sustenance/food, which is refuted several times in the Holy Qur'an, eating is an animal act, and the angels and God are not animals, but reside in the unseen spiritual realm, not the physical realm {our realm}:
"Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full." Bible - Psalm 78:25