Few Angels mentioned in the Quran and Most Names are taken from later Middle Eastern Folklore
By Devdutt Pattanaik
01 March, 2021
Very few angels are mentioned in the Quran. Most
names come from later Middle Eastern folklore.
In Christian mythology, the Devil is an
angel who disobeyed God. But, in Islamic mythology, angels do not disobey God.
Creatures of light, they have no free will, and they bowed to Adam when God
told them to. For them, the Devil, Iblis, is a djinn, hence
capable of disobedience. Like Christians, angels are a part of Islamic lore,
but we don’t know much about them as Muslims forbid their depiction in art.
When one goes to a mosque, one sees geometric art, never human forms, as
depicting human forms is forbidden in Islam. But, not so in a Church. Hence, we
don’t get to visualise Islamic angels as we visualise Christian angels such as
seraphim, cherubs and archangels.
Very few angels are mentioned in the Quran. Most
names come from later Middle Eastern folklore. The Christian Gabriel becomes Jibra’il,
Michael becomes Mika’il. The former is the messenger, who Prophet
Muhammad first encountered, who guided the Prophet in many ways, and who led
angels in the war at the Battle of Badr that enabled the Prophet
Muhammad to defeat his enemies and return to Mecca. The latter is the angel of
mercy, linked to righteous conduct and justice.
Azrail is the angel of death, horrifying to the false
and comforting to the true. He sits under a tree on whose leaves are written
the name of all living creatures; when a leaf drops; it is time to fetch their
souls. Israfil awaits God’s nod to blow the trumpet to announce the Day
of Judgement. The first sound will end the world; the second will resurrect the
dead so they can present themselves for the final judgement (Qayamat).
There is Habib, the angel who counsels
humans who pray. Raad is the angel of thunder who watches over clouds and
storms. Kiraman Katiban watches and records the deeds of humans. Hamalat
al Arsh carries the Throne of God and encircles it in prayer. Muqqabit
is the guardian angel who ensures no human dies before it is time for death.
Some angels exist as pairs. Malik is the
guardian of hell who never smiles, and Ridwan maintains the gardens of
paradise and is always smiling. Munkar and Nakir are caretakers
of the grave, and the first to question those who have been recently buried if
they have been faithful to God’s laws. Harut and Marut, who
succumbed to temptations, and hang upside down in Babylon, teaching astrology
and fortune telling, warn those who seek such occult powers of their futility.
The existence of supernatural beings, angels and
djinns, in Islamic lore reminds us that all humans yearn for powers that help
them cope with fears about life and death. Many imagine God as a king with
courtiers and knights, with gardens and prisons, and this is projected in
stories and songs. They may not make scientific sense, but they do make
powerful psychological sense. Humans need to feel their lives are being watched
and their death will be supervised. When we read other people’s mythology we
have a choice: to mock them as false and irrational, or to empathise with the
insecurities and anxieties. Everyone wants to argue if myths are true or false;
but what we need is to accept that myths help cope with the horrors of life,
that even science, or logic, cannot get rid of.
...................
The author writes and lectures on the relevance
of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt.pattanaik@mid-day.com
Original headline- Angels in Islam
Source: Midday
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/few-angels-mentioned-quran-most/d/124423
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