Was Iblis's refusal to prostrate to Adam motivated by envy followed by arrogance, or was arrogance a primary cause from the very beginning?
The arrogance that befell Iblis when he refused to prostrate himself before Adam could have been either incidental or inherent in him. Ibn al-Jawzi said: "Did you consider yourself great when you refused to prostrate, or were you among the exalted ones—meaning, from a people who act arrogantly, so you acted arrogantly by refusing to prostrate because you are from a people who act arrogantly?" Al-Alusi said: "It is possible that the statement is an informative one, and 'am' (or) is disjunctive, meaning 'rather, you are among the exalted ones.'"
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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