665instr@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (Ian) (05/29/91)
In article <1991May28.152142.16892@nntp-server.caltech.edu>, jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) writes: > Man is made of clay > Angel is made of light > Jinn is made of fire (smokeless) > > Satan/Iblis was/is a Jinn .... it says in the Qur'an that he > was of the Jinn. People make this mistake (that Satan is a > fallen angel) because in the Qur'an it says something like all > the Angels prostated except Iblis ..... in English usage it > implies that Iblis was one of the Angels that did not > prostrate, but not so in Arabic. One scholar (forgot who), > said, probably while commenting on that part of the verse, > that it's correct usage in Arabic to say "all the people of > the village came except the little donkey...". Now that > doesn't mean that the little donkey is one of the people... That makes sense. (for the misunderstanding). Another reason why Western Muslims might think that Satan/Iblis was/is an angel is because in Western, ordinary thinking, there's no distinction made between Jinn and Malaikat - but both are referred to as "Angels". -- Ian Chai Internet: chai@cs.ukans.edu Bitnet: 665instr@ukanvax I don't believe in flaming. If I appear to be flaming, either (a) it's an illusion due to the lack of nonverbal cues or (b) my sprinkler system has suffered a momentary glitch, so just ignore me until it's fixed.