Devil, humanity and evil: A comparative study of Al-Syahid and Tikungan Iblis

This study examines the existence and function of the figure of Iblis in al-Syahid by Taufik al-Hakim and Tikungan Iblis by Emha Ainun Nadjib. Rather than merely presenting Iblis as a conventional embodiment of evil, both works utilize this figure to explore the relationships between evil, human agency, religious authority, and moral responsibility. Employing a comparative literary approach and in-depth textual analysis, the study investigates how characterization, dialogue, irony, and religious symbolism shape distinct understandings of Iblis within Arab and Indonesian cultural contexts. The analysis is grounded in the concept of theodicy and the philosophical notion of "necessary evil"—the idea that the presence of evil enables moral choice, spiritual testing, and the recognition of goodness. In al-Syahid, Iblis’s desire to repent gives rise to a theological paradox: religious authorities reject his repentance because the absence of temptation would destabilize established concepts of sin, virtue, punishment, and salvation. Thus, Iblis emerges as a necessary component of the religious moral order. In Tikungan Iblis, however, evil is not solely inherent in a supernatural figure; it operates through human desire, political power, materialism, intellectual arrogance, and religious hypocrisy. Consequently, the play shifts moral responsibility from an external tempter to human beings and the social structures they create. The study argues that both works transform Iblis into a critical mirror for humanity. While al-Hakim questions institutional religion's reliance on the binary opposition between good and evil, Nadjib demonstrates how human beings internalize and reproduce evil in their daily social lives. These differing portrayals ultimately reveal Iblis as a literary device for re-examining free will, ethical responsibility, and the social construction of evil.