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Abstract
This Master’s thesis explores the major Sufi and Shia scholars’ views of Iblīs – one of the two Qur’anic names for the Devil – views rooted in the traditional and orthodox Islamic understandings of the fall of Iblīs and the Ḥallājian-Sufi tradition built around the defense of Iblīs. However, this thesis also represents a departure from both of these schools of thought in important and significant ways. While agreeing with the Hallājian tradition’s appreciation of the necessity of the cosmic role of Iblīs after his fall – as the embodiment of evil on the human plane – I argue that it does not remove the agency of Iblīs nor does it absolve Iblīs from the responsibility of his actions. Rather, his fateful disobedience reflects a form of arrogance directed not only against Adam, but also against God.