Shayatin

Shayāṭīn (Arabic: شَيَاطِين shayāṭīn; sing. شَيْطَان shayṭān) refers to a class of evil spirits in Islam, inciting humans and jinn to sin by whispering (وَسْوَسَة waswasa) in their hearts (قَلْب qalb). According to Islamic tradition, though invisible to humans, shayāṭīn are imagined to be ugly and grotesque creatures created from the fires of hell. The Quran speaks of various ways the shayāṭīn tempt humans into sin. They may teach sorcery, float below the heavens to steal the news of the angels, or lurk near humans without being seen. Several hadith tell of how the shayāṭīn are responsible for various calamities that affect personal life. Both the hadith literature and Arab folklore usually speak of the shayāṭīn in abstract terms, describing their evil influence only. According to hadith, during Ramadan they are said to be chained up. In Islamic theology, the influence of the shayāṭīn on humans is elaborated as an internal struggle against the noble angels, often described in the invisible reality called alam al-mithal or alam al-malakut. On a narrative perspective, Islamic traditions disagrees whether the shayāṭīn are simply misguided jinn, or a separate class of being. The latter position often identifies them with the terrestrial angels who defied Adam as a governor of Earth and become enemies of mankind.