A Quick Comparison of Satan in Christianity and Islam
In comparing Christian literature and Islamic literature in regard to Satan, there appears to be a clear dichotomy as to how each faith treats Satan in relation to both God and man. As it would seem, Islam lessens the stature of Satan, demeans him whereas Christianity elevates him to quite a lofty status. To most, this wouldn’t be noticeable but when the Islamic view and the Christian view of Satan is considered, the outcome can be quite disturbing.
Satan in Islam
Who is Satan a rival to in Islam? As the Qur’an teaches, he is a rival to mankind, to humans not to God:
“O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Verily, he is to you an open enemy.” – 2:168.
Satan is subordinate to God. Who is the all powerful deity that is Lord over all Creation? Allah is. He has no rivals, He is Lord of everything in creation (الْعَالَمِينَ):
“All praise is to Allah, the Lord Of The Creation.” – 1:2.
Does sin restrict God’s mercy in Islam? No, God forgives all sins.
Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” – 39:53.
Satan in Christianity
Who is Satan a rival to in Christianity? As the Bible teaches, he is a rival to God:
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” – Matthew 4:1.
In this episode in the wilderness and on the mount, Satan has the ability to directly tempt Jesus, directly challenge him and the power to take Jesus wherever he wills:
“Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” – Matthew 4:7-8.
Here we have Jesus who Christians claim to be God, telling Satan not to put him to test and what does Satan do? He puts Jesus or God, to test. Not only that, Satan then proceeds to take Jesus or God from one place to another thus demonstrating his power and will are on par with Jesus’/ God’s.
Is the God of Christianity, Lord of all Creation? It isn’t. The God of Christianity has a rival in the Lord of this world, who is Satan:
“(Satan) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” – 2 Corinthians 4:4.
Does sin restrict God’s mercy in Christianity?
“but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” – Mark 3:29.
Conclusion
As one can see in Christianity, Satan is the rival to God. He rivals God on His Lordship (power, stature, ability) and the sin which Satan spreads (blasphemy) cannot be forgiven by God, He (God) is restricted by Satan’s spreading of sin. Whereas in Islam, Satan cannot rival God, he is a rival to mankind. Only God is the true Lord of all creation, nothing is equal in power, stature or ability to Him (God) and He can forgive all sins, regardless of whom Satan misguides. Satan is subordinate to Allah (God), whereas in Christianity this is not the case. Therefore, it stands to reason that Christianity elevates Satan to a pedestal whereas Islam declares him lowly in God’s sight, subordinate to God.
and Allah knows best.
Calling Christians 
Salamu Alaykum, I believe you’ve wrongly interpreted Jesus’s response to satan in Matthew 4:7-8. ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Jesus wasn’t referring to himself as “the Lord your God,” rather he was making it clear that simply because God has promised to save him from danger doesn’t mean that he should intentionally put himself in danger ( thereby testing God) to see if God would live up to his promise. Earlier on satan asked him to jump off a building since it was written that God would send angels to rescue him. Jesus responds that, that doesn’t mean that I should test God to see if he will really do what He says.
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord
your God to the test.’
i.e. don’t test God to see if He would really live up to what He says.
wa alaykumus salaam,
Christians believe Jesus is God and it is in light of their belief that I’m using their own interpretation/ understanding against them.
Hey Muslims,
It’s clear that you know very little about the Bible and Christian theology. You twist what little you know and misrepresent Christian teaching. Which I guess is fair play because Christians don’t really understand your religion either.
Christianity doesn’t take Satan lightly, but it does not elevate Satan’s power to almost equal to God’s. You need to keep in mind that Christians believe that Jesus is God (not a god, but God) so therefore Satan was tempting God when he was tempting Jesus. Christians believe God can be in more than one place and in more than one of his persons at the same time. Who are you to disbelieve the powers and mysteries of God??? Maybe Satan has been talking in your ears too long because you’ve underestimated Satan’s power and influence in this world.
Personally I think it’s all myths to help us understand the inexplicable. The insistence on believing that you know the absolute truth is called the sin of spiritual pride, which is a form of blaspheming against God’s spirit.
“Christianity doesn’t take Satan lightly, but it does not elevate Satan’s power to almost equal to God’s. ”
but if the unseen person of trinity became WEAK (the spirit of the person) , then satan had an elevated status over the unseen son.
“You need to keep in mind that Christians believe that Jesus is God (not a god, but God) so therefore Satan was tempting God when he was tempting Jesus.”
satan tempted god, flew him to a mountain and offered him places. an unseen satan/evil spirit dominated and killed an unseen son/spirit of trinity. satan in his powers removed control of jesus the son and took over jesus the son’s flesh body. satan did destroy your god.
“Christians believe God can be in more than one place and in more than one of his persons at the same time.”
your god can be in cloud, flesh, unrecognizable Gardner, meat of any animal, fire etc. would you be the first to worship an unknown random flesh human who had holes in his hands and feet?
*
why not worship the PLACE your god was in since the place CONTAINED your god?
” Who are you to disbelieve the powers and mysteries of God???”
so god can be in satan too, so maybe satan is really god and it is a mystery?
“Maybe Satan has been talking in your ears too long because you’ve undere”stimated Satan’s power and influence in this world.”
yes he dominated and killed jesus/son of trinity
anytime you see an object move you picture it move
any time you hear it speak you hear that it depends on something to speak
your god/son of trinity is dependent (his SOUL ) is dependent on flesh organs and a body to come back to life. you christians are flesh worshipers even though you deny it.