فَسَجَدَ المَلائِكَةُ كُلُّهُم أَجمَعونَ
Thereat the angels prostrated, all of them together.
EXPOSITION
Like in the previous stories, there is an omission here. It is understood that after the preceding instructions of God to the angels, Prophet Adam (a) was created, whereat the angels prostrated. It should be noted that the prostration of the angels was to glorify God and to worship Him, while simultaneously honouring Prophet Adam (a).
All the angels likely means that it included the angels of both the heavens and earth, and was not limited to the supernal elite. There is a pleonasm used here, with the double emphasis all of them and together. This is to make it exceedingly clear that the angels were all willing to submit to God’s command.
It was only Iblīs who did not prostrate. He was not an angel but was promoted to the rank of angels and was regarded as one of them, and this is why the Quran includes him in the address of the angels, and he was the only one who refused to do so. This is itself evidence that Iblīs was a jinn, since he did not prostrate. It is made explicitly clear in the verse, but not Iblīs. He was one of the jinn (18:50). It could be said that in Sūrat al-Kahf he is referred to by his origin, whereas the other verses address him by his rank. This could also explain the narrations that say he was an angel.
However, after he was honoured by God as a reward for his apparent dedication and was given the honorary place of an angel, he was naturally included in the command. For more on this see the Review of Tafsīr Literature section and the commentary on verse 2:34.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Because of the inclusion of Iblīs in the command directed at the angels to prostrate to Prophet Adam (a), some commentators have considered him to be an angel as well. They have in turn interpreted 18:50 in various ways, such as ‘he became (ṣār) one of the jinn’, and verse 66:6 to mean only certain angels that guard hell.
The more common opinion is that Iblīs was a jinn and that his mention in the next verse and his inclusion in the command is because of the high station that he had acquired, and he was thus permitted to sit in with the supernal elite of the angels.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’
[1] Tabrisi, 8/757.
[2] Tibyan, 8/580. In principle, prostration to other than God is allowed if it does not entail worship (Zamakhshari, 4/105). However, in Islam it has been forbidden, and is reserved only for God (Tabrisi, 5/405-406).
[3] Tabari, 23/118-119.
[4] Tabrisi, 6/516.
[5] This is the opinion adopted by Ṭūsī and attributed to Ibn Abbas, Ibn Masʿūd, Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), and others. See Tibyan, 1/150.
[6] Tibyan, 1/152.
[7] Hebrews 1:6.