Recordings › Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth · 16 Feb 2021 › Segment 13 of 57
Is the devil a real creature or a symbol of bad impulses?
muftis shaitan shaytaan iblis iblees shayateen shayatin satan koran quraan al-quranShaytan and the supernatural: a literal creature or a personification?
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This segment42:20 to 44:58 · 2 min 38 sA view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
The answer in brief
machinesummary, machine-writtenMufti Abu Layth presents two readings of Shaytan, a literal creature or a personification of negative impulses, and refers viewers to his detailed video.
In more detail
After finishing the point about the narrator's explanation, Mufti Abu Layth takes a question about Shaytan and the supernatural and refers to his detailed video on how to understand the devil in Islam. He describes two takes: one camp holds that the devil is a literal creature that zooms around the globe whispering to people, adding that the picture of a body with a tail and horns is obviously silly though people believe it; the other holds that the devil is the personification of the negative insinuations and impulses people receive. He frames the question as whether the Quran addresses such a creature or a personification, and closes with a joke about talking to himself.
Question as read aloud · questioner not identifiedWhat about the shaytan and the supernatural?
Position stated
This segment presents a view in order to discuss or respond to it. It is recorded as quoted, never as held, and no position is attributed from it.
Kind: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position heldTranscript
machine42:20 to 44:58 · click a time to seek · dotted terms open the glossary
This segment states a view in order to discuss it. It is recorded as a quoted view, not as a position held.
now the person assumes he's saying the prophet said this part as well but this was his explanation of the event oh right somebody's asking about the shaitaan and supernatural i've got a video explaining all of that uh do watch it because you know i go into in much detail how do you understand the concept of the devil in islam and i explained that there's
different uh takes on this you know there's some people who take this to mean a literal you know there's this creature called the devil and he's this kind of creature with a body and you know with us a tail and horns or obviously that stuff's stupid but i mean people believe it so and this person kind of zooms around the globe and he whispers to people and does stuff so you have that camp of people and then you have the other camp that will speak to these things are more so personifications
of um of uh really what were insinuations negative insinuations so we get receive negative insinuations negative impulses these the devil is the personification of that or is that but personified as a person so that's um you know so you'll have different takes on this that what is the quran addressing is it is it this creature that runs around and does this or is that simply a personification
of these negative um impulses and insinuations that we have so yeah but i've got a detailed video on that was he talking to himself right i don't know am i talking to myself all the time a story of my life i'm just always talking to myself
Paragraphs overlapping 42:20 to 44:58. Full text on the recording page.
Cite this segment
Stable id, transcript version and tier are part of the citation. Every change to a transcript is logged.Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 2021-02-16-S13, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/13/ (accessed 1 November 2026)
- APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2021, February 16). Is the devil a real creature or a symbol of bad impulses? [Video, segment 2021-02-16-S13, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/13/
- Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2021. "Is the devil a real creature or a symbol of bad impulses?" Video, segment 2021-02-16-S13, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded February 16, 2021. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/13/
- BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2021-02-16-S13, author = {Mufti Abu Layth}, title = {{Is the devil a real creature or a symbol of bad impulses?}}, year = {2021}, month = {2}, date = {2021-02-16}, howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/13/}}, url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/13/}, organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive}, urldate = {2026-11-01}, note = {Segment 2021-02-16-S13, auto-transcribed, may contain errors} }
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