Shaitan
Shaitan (شيطان) is the equivalent of Satan in Christianity and Judaism. The Islamic view of Satan, has both commonalities and differences with Christian and Jewish views.
While Shaitan (شيطان, from the root šṭn شطن) is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant" or "illusionist") that can be applied to both Man ("AlIns", الإنس) and Jinn, Iblis is the personal name of the Shaitan who is mentioned in the Qur'anic "Genesis", and whose origin is unclear.
Whenever the Qur'an refers to the creature who refused to prostrate before Adam at the time of the latter's creation, it refers to him as Iblis.
- For a more full account of the creation of Adam, the refusal of Iblis to prostrate before him, and a description of the devil in Islam see Iblis.
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Shaitan and Adam and Eve
As per the Qur'an, before the creation of Man, Allah created the Angels — which had no free will — and the Jinn. Most of the Jinn were michevious and bad, so God asked the Angels to go down and kill them all. A giant fight pursued and in the end most of the Jinn were dead. However a small boy Jinn was left, and the Angels brought him to Heaven because he was not a sinner. They trained him in the way of the angels, and he soon became chief of all the angels. But one day the angels saw in the future that one of the angels will disobey God. They all got worried and wondered who it will be. Later God created Adam and told the Angels to prostrate to Adam. All the angels did so except Iblis, who was proud and considered himself superior due to being made of smokeless fire. For this Allah damned him to hell for eternity, but gave him respite till the Doomsday at his request. Then and there Iblis swore that he would use his time to lead all men astray to burn in hell.
After their creation, Adam and Hawwa' (حواء, Eve) dwelt in Paradise (الجنة, AlJannah), where Allah forbade them to go near a tree. "The Shaitan" (or al-Shaitan in Arabic), tricked Adam and Hawwa' into eating from the tree. Allah then expelled all of them from Heaven and onto Earth, to wander about, as a punishment. Then Adam sought to repent to Allah, and Allah taught him the words by which to do so. Allah forgave Adam and Hawwa' and told them "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. (Qur'an 2:38)." Iblis will try to influence as many of their descendants as he possibly could into sin, so as to be his companions in his final destiny into Hell.
Uses of the name "Shaitan" in contemporary fiction
Dune
In Frank Herbert's "Dune" universe, Shaitan is also one of the many names by which the Fremen refers to the sandworms of Arrakis. The Fremen, whose culture and language display an Arabic influence, regards the sandworms collectively as a great and terrible supernatural force, with anthropomorphic overtones.
Wheel of Time
In Robert Jordan's series, "The Wheel of Time", Shai'tan is the name of the more commonly known "Dark One", the antithesis of the Creator.
Angels and Demons
In Dan Brown's first novel featuring Robert Langdon, this character explains the origin of the fictional Illuminati by mentioning it as the first satanic cult, called the "Shaitan" by the Catholic Church.
Necroscope
In Brian Lumley's Necroscope series "Shaitan The Unborn" is the first Wamphyri (Vampire) seeded by a spore from swamps on the Vampire home world. In these novels Wamphyri are created via a symbiotic relationship between a vampiric leech and host.
Vampire: The Masquerade
In the White Wolf roleplaying game, Shaitan is a powerful vampire of the Baali bloodline, supposed to live in Mexico. It appears in the game supplement Chaos Factor.
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands
In the online roleplaying game "Achaea," from Iron Realms Entertainment, Shaitan is one of two gods that replace Sartan, The Malevolent (Sartan, Lord of Evil) during an event in which Sartan was cleaved into two divine beings.
