Iblis
Iblis is the main figure of evil in Islamic religion, basically the equivalent of the Christian Satan, or Devil. Some experts say that his name comes from the Arabic root word ‘balasa’, which means, “he despaired”, so it’s taken to mean instead, “he who is/causes despair.” Other theories are that instead, it comes from the Greek word for devil, Diabolos. Though Iblis is the polar evil of Islam, unlike Satan in Christianity, Iblis was not an angel, but instead, a jinn. There are three races created by God in the Islamic religion; humans, angels, and jinn. Jinn possess free will, and were created from smokeless flames. Angels, in the Islamic tradition, do not possess free will, and are also mainly messengers. Though, at one point, Iblis was held in very high regard by God, close to the level of an angel, because he was also once very pious and humble among the many jinn who were usually mischievous, or outright evil.
According to the Quran, when God created Adam, Iblis refused to bow down before the man, because he believed Adam to be inferior:
“And We created you (humans), then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who made prostration. He (Allah) said: “What hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when I bade thee?” (Iblis) said: “I am better than he. Thou createdst me of fire while him Thou didst create of mud”. Qur’an 7:11-12
Afterwards, Iblis was given the title “Shaitan” which means Devil, or Evil. God’s punishment for Iblis’ act of disobedience was to actually reserve punishment, until the Day of Judgement. In response, Iblis said that if God was going to be that way about it, he’d like to go to Earth, and test mankind by trying to lead them away from the path to Heaven. God granted this to Iblis and set him down on Earth, after agreeing that the jinn and his followers will be granted the recompense of Hellfire.