Shaitan


Shayāṭīn, singular: Shayṭān are evil spirits in Islamic belief, inciting humans to sin by whispering to the heart via waswasaħ. By such, they always try to lead humans astray. Although demons are usually spoken of in abstract terms, and more often described by their evil influences only, they are depicted as ugly and grotesque creatures of hell-fire.

Etymology and terminology

The word Šayṭān originates from the Hebrew שָׂטָן "accuser, adversary". However Arabic etymology relates the word to the root š-ṭ-n taking a theological connotation designating a creature distant from divine mercy. In pre-Islamic Arabia this term was used to designate an evil spirit, but only used by poets who were in contact with Jews and Christians. With the emergence of Islam the meaning of shayatin moved closer to the Christian concept of devils. The term shayatin appears in a similar way in the Book of Enoch; denoting the hosts of the devil. Taken from Islamic sources, "shaitan" may either be translated as "demon" or as "devil". Among Muslim authors, the term can also apply to evil supernatural entities in general as to evil jinn, fallen angels or Tawaghit. In a broader sense, the term is used to designate everything from an ontological perspective, that is a manifestation of evil.

Theology

Quran

Mentioned 88 times, the Shayatin together with the angels, are the most frequently mentioned supernatural entities in the Quran. In the story of Adam and Eve, a shaitan tempts Adam to eat from the forbidden tree, arguing, God only prohibited its fruit, so they shall not become immortal, as narrated in. According to shayatin rise against heaven in attempt to steal its secrets, but are chased by meteorites, however, unlike the jinn, may partly succeed, snapping some information. mentions the shayatin as the teachers of sorcery. describes the fruits of Zaqqum, the tree of hell, as heads of shayatin. Surah mentions shayatin among Ins and jinn. According to some exegetes, the term is used as an epithet to describe rebellious men and jinn, but to others, referring to shayatin who tempt among the jinn, and whose, who tempt among humans.

Hadith

The hadith-literature depicts the shayatin as malevolent forces closely bound to humans and points to the presence of a Muslim's everyday life. A shaitan is assigned to every human, and shayatin are said to move through the blood of human. Sahih Muslim mentions among the shayatin five sons of Iblis, who bring everyday calamities: Tir, “who brings about calamities, loses, and injuries; Al-A’war, who encourages debauchery; Sut, who suggests lies; Dasim, who causes hatred between man and wife; Zalambur, who presides over places of traffic." Shayatin try to disrupt the prayer or the ablution. Further they might appear in dreams, and terrorize people. When someone yawns, the mouth should be covered, since the shayatin might enter the body. The sun is said to set and rise between the horns of a shaitan, when prayers should cease, since this is the moment the doors of hell opened. Sahih al-Bukhari and Jami` at-Tirmidhi state that the shayatin can not harm the believers during the month of Ramadan, since they are chained in Jahannam.

Exegesis

The shayatin make up one of three classes of supernatural creatures in Islamic theology. But since they share, like jinn the characteristics of invisibility, some scholars put them merely under one category of the supernatural. However the prevailing opinion among the mufassirs distinguish between the jinn and shayatin as following:
The shayatin are beings of the hell-fire, and although their origin is, like that of the angels, not mentioned in the Quran, Islamic scholars repeatedly asserted the idea, that the shayatin have been created from either smoke or the hell-fire itself. Comparable to demons or devils in Christian theology, shayatin are incapable of good and limited to "evil". Abu Mufti writes in his commentary of Abu Hanifa's al-Fiqh al-absat, that all angels, except with Harut and Marut, are obedient but all shayatin, except Ham ibn Him Ibn Laqis Ibn Iblis, are created evil. Only humans and jinn are created with Fitra, that means, both angels and shayatin lack free-will and are settled in opposition.
Some Sufi-writers connect the descriptions of shayatin mentioned in hadith to human's psychological conditions. Based on the notion that the shayatin reproduce by laying eggs into the heart of humans, Ghazali linked them to inner spiritual development. Accordingly, from the eggs laid on the heart, the offspring of Iblis grew and unite with the person, causing the sin the shaitan is responsible for. He further explains the difference between divine inspiration and the devilish temptations of the shayatin, by asserting, one should test the inspiration by two criteria: The first tests the piety, the second, whether or not the suggestion is in accordance with sharia. He further elaborates an esoteric cosmology, visualizing human's heart as the capital of the body, which is in constant struggle between the powers of carnal desires invoked by the shayatin, and the powers of reason. Ali Hujwiri similarly describes the shayatin and angels mirroring the human psychological condition, the shayatin and carnal desires on one side, and the spirit and the angels on the other.

Folklore

Shayatin are assumed to visit filthy or desacralized places. They tempt humans into sin and to everything that is disapproved by society, by their whisperings. It is commonly believed, that saying bismillah, reciting a certain du'a, like "A'uzu Billahi Minesh shaitanir Rajiim" or the Suras "An-Naas" or "Al-Falaq" could ward off attacks of shayatin. Although it is impossible to gather all depictions of local traditions on folk Islam, these characteristics appear frequently. Since the Quran states in that it was not Solomon who practised witchcraft but rather the shayatin, Witchcraft is also traced back to the shayatin.