Does Iblees have any offspring?

 

Does Iblees have any offspring? If so, is the via marriage? And does he have a wife?

Praise
be to Allaah.
 

 

Shaykh al-Shanqeeti said in his commentary on the aayah
(interpretation of the meaning): 

“Will you then take him (Iblees) and his offspring as
protectors and helpers rather than Me…?”[al-Kahf 18:50] 

The word dhurriyah (offspring) in this aayah indicates that
the Shaytaan has offspring. The claim that he does not have offspring
clearly contradicts this aayah as you can see. Everything that clearly
contradicts the Qur’aan is undoubtedly false. But there is no clear text
concerning the way in which his offspring come into being, whether that is
through marriage or otherwise, and the scholars differed concerning this
matter. Al- Shu’bi said: A man asked me whether Iblees has a wife? I said,
“That is a wedding party I never attended!”, then I remembered the aayah
(interpretation of the meaning): 

“Will you then take him (Iblees) and his offspring as
protectors and helpers rather than Me…?”[al-Kahf 18:50] 

Then I realized that he
could not have offspring unless he had a wife, so I said, Yes. 

Something similar to what
al-Shu’bi understood from this aayah, that having offspring implies having a
wife, was also narrated from Qutaadah. Mujaahid said: the way in which his
offspring came into being is that he inserted his private part into his
private part, then he laid five eggs, and this was the origin of his
offspring. Some of the scholars said that Allaah created a penis on his
right thigh and a vagina on his left thigh, so he impregnates himself in
this manner and ten eggs are laid every day, from each of which emerge
seventy male and female devils. 

It is obvious that these
views are unreliable, because they are not supported by any text in the
Qur’aan or Sunnah. The aayah indicates that he has offspring, but as to how
these offspring are born, there is no reliable text concerning that, and
such matters cannot be known through mere opinions. 

Al-Qurtubi said in his
commentary on this aayah: I say: what is proven in saheeh reports concerning
this matter is that which was narrated by al-Humaydi in al-Jam’ bayna
al-Saheehayn from Imaam Abu Bakr al-Burqaani, who narrated in his book
with an isnaad from Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Ghani ibn Sa’eed al-Haafiz from the
report of ‘Aasim from Abu ‘Uthmaan from Salmaan that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not be the first
one to enter the market-place or the last one to leave, for there the
Shaytaan lays his eggs and there they hatch.” This indicates that the
Shaytaan has offspring from his loins. 

Those who interpreted
this report literally (may Allaah forgive them) said that this hadeeth
indicates that he (the Shaytaan) lays eggs and that they hatch. But there is
nothing to indicate that these eggs are from a female, namely his wife, or
otherwise. This hadeeth may be interpreted differently, because the Arabs
often speak of laying eggs and hatching them by way of metaphor. So the
words “he lays his eggs and they hatch” may be interpreted as meaning that
he does whatever he wants to misguide and tempt people, and whisper
insinuating thoughts to them, and so on, as a metaphor. The wording of
metaphors does not change, regardless of the context.