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56-476: Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael holds a benevolent role as God 's angel of death; he acts as a psychopomp , responsible for transporting the souls of the deceased after their death. In Islam, he is said to hold a scroll concerning the fate of mortals, recording and erasing their names at their birth and death, similar to the role of the malakh ha-mavet (Angel of Death) in Judaism . Depending on

112-513: A human prophet and the promised Messiah sent by God, although the Islamic tradition itself is not unanimous on the question of Jesus' death and afterlife . The writings of the Baháʼí Faith describe a monotheistic , personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. The existence of God and the universe

168-533: A Spanish attack in 1230. During his youth, he contributed to his family by carrying clay for use in potteries. He finished his education in Qurtubah (Córdoba), studying from renowned scholars ibn Abu Hujja and Abdurrahman ibn Ahmed Al-Ashari. After the fall of Cordoba in 1236, he left for Alexandria , where he studied hadith and tafsir . He then passed to Cairo and settled in Munya Abi'l-Khusavb where he spent

224-631: A common core foundation in the form of worshipping Abraham's God, who is identified as Yahweh in Hebrew and called Allah in Arabic . Likewise, the Abrahamic religions share similar features distinguishing them from other categories of religions : In the Abrahamic tradition, God is one , eternal , omnipotent , omniscient , and the creator of the universe . God is typically referred to with masculine grammatical articles and pronouns only, and

280-621: A distinct characteristic of God. All these names refer to Allah, considered to be the supreme and all-comprehensive divine Arabic name. Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Entirely Merciful" ( al-Rahman ) and "the Especially Merciful" ( al-Rahim ). Islam rejects the doctrine of the Incarnation and the notion of a personal God as anthropomorphic , because it

336-591: A shape resembling a blue colored ram, has numerous eyes in numerous places, and according to Ikrimah Mawlâ Ibn 'Abbâs  [ id ; ar ] , a tabiʾ scholar, the size of Azrael were so huge that "if the Earth were put on his shoulder, it would be like a bean in an open field". He also had 4,000 wings which consisted of two types, wings of grace and wings of punishment. The wings of punishment are made from iron rods, hooks, and scissors. Muqatil ibn Sulayman has recorded his commentary in his commentary work, al-Suluk ,

392-419: Is One " ( Deuteronomy 6:4 ). God is conceived as unique and perfect, free from all faults, deficiencies, and defects, and further held to be omnipotent , omnipresent , omniscient , and completely infinite in all of his attributes, who has no partner or equal, being the sole creator of everything in existence. In Judaism, God is never portrayed in any image . The idea of God as a duality or trinity

448-601: Is also attested by the testament of Nasir Khusraw , in which he claims to have met Azrael during his sleep, informing him about his upcoming death. According to the Sufi teacher Al-Jili , Azrael appears to the soul in a form provided by its most powerful metaphors. It is believed to resist the pulling of the soul by the angel of death by accusing him of acting arbitrarily. In that case, the angel of death returns to heaven to bring proof for following heavenly instructions. The Islamic notion of Azrael, including some narratives such as

504-446: Is an impersonal force or ideal rather than a supernatural being concerned with the universe. Christianity originated in 1st-century Judea from a sect of apocalyptic Jewish Christians within the realm of Second Temple Judaism , and thus shares most of its beliefs about God, including his omnipotence , omniscience , his role as creator of all things, his personality, immanence , transcendence and ultimate unity, with

560-461: Is conceived as anthropomorphic , unique, benevolent, eternal, the creator of the universe, and the ultimate source of morality . Thus, the term God corresponds to an actual ontological reality, and is not merely a projection of the human psyche. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal yet also transcendent and able to intervene in the world, while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God

616-531: Is contended that a belief in an intermediary between man and God or in the multiplicity of persons in the Godhead is against the Noahide laws , and thus not monotheistic . In mainstream Christianity , theology and beliefs about God are enshrined in the doctrine of monotheistic Trinitarianism , which holds that the three persons of the trinity are distinct but all of the same indivisible essence, meaning that

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672-400: Is further held to have the properties of holiness , justice , omnibenevolence , and omnipresence . Adherents of the Abrahamic religions believe that God is also transcendent , meaning that he is outside of both space and time and therefore not subject to anything within his creation , but at the same time a personal God : intimately involved, listening to individual prayer, and reacting to

728-549: Is heretical in Judaism—it's considered akin to polytheism . The Torah specifically forbade ascribing partners to share his singular sovereignty, as he is considered to be the absolute one without a second, indivisible, and incomparable being, who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to him. Thus, God is unlike anything in or of the world as to be beyond all forms of human thought and expression. God in Judaism

784-676: Is none comparable unto Him" ( 112:4 ). Therefore, Islam strictly rejects all forms of anthropomorphism and anthropopathism of the concept of God , and thus categorically rejects the Christian concept of the Trinity or division of persons in the Godhead . Muslims believe that Allah is the same God worshipped by the members of the Abrahamic religions that preceded Islam, i.e. Judaism and Christianity ( 29:46 ). Creation and ordering of

840-577: Is one of the four major archangels in Islam . He is responsible for taking the souls of the deceased away from the body. Azrael does not act independently, but is only informed by God when the time is up to take a soul. Surah 32:11 mentions the angel of death. Regarding Azrael's missions and function, interpretation from several groups of modern Islamic scholars from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Yemen and Mauritania has issued fatwa that taken

896-409: Is only one deity—is the focus of the Abrahamic religions , which like-mindedly conceive God as the all-powerful and all-knowing deity from whom Abraham received a divine revelation, according to their respective narratives . The most prominent Abrahamic religions are Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . They, alongside Samaritanism , Druzism , the Baháʼí Faith , and Rastafari , all share

952-612: Is seen as demeaning to the transcendence of God . The Quran prescribes the fundamental transcendental criterion in the following verses: "The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, so serve Him and be patient in His service. Do you know any one equal to Him?" ( 19:65 ); "(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things)" ( 42:11 ); "And there

1008-658: Is supposed to be created. Only Azrael succeeded, whereupon he was destined to become the angel concerning life and death, a reference to show the close connection between these two. Islam elaborated further narratives concerning the relation between Azrael and Death. Christian Lange mentioned that according to some scholars Azrael and Death were one entity; other exegesis scholars opined Azrael and Death were different entities, with Death as some kind of tool used by Azrael to take life. One account explains death and its relation to Azrael, representing Death and Azrael as former two separate entities, but when God created Death, God ordered

1064-485: Is the supreme being, all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe. Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular ( tawhid ). He is considered to be unique ( wahid ) and inherently one ( ahad ), all-merciful and omnipotent. According to the Quran , there are 99 Names of God ( al-asma al-husna , lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke

1120-655: Is thought to be eternal, without a beginning or end. Though transcendent and inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of the creation, with a will and purpose that is expressed through messengers recognized in the Baháʼí Faith as the Manifestations of God (all the Jewish prophets , Zoroaster , Krishna , Gautama Buddha , Jesus , Muhammad , the Báb , and ultimately Baháʼu'lláh ). The purpose of

1176-527: Is used in mainstream Christianity. This description of God represents the orthodoxy of the LDS Church, established early in the 19th century. A small minority of Christians, largely coming under the heading of Unitarianism , hold Non-trinitarian conceptions of God . In Islam , God ( Allah ) ( Arabic : ٱلل‍َّٰه , romanized :  Allāh , IPA: [ɑɫˈɫɑː(h)] , lit. "the God")

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1232-410: Is variously classified by religion scholars as either an international socio-religious movement, a distinct Abrahamic religion, or simply a new religious movement . Judaism, the oldest Abrahamic religion, is based on a strict, exclusive monotheism , finding its origins in the sole veneration of Yahweh , the predecessor to the Abrahamic conception of God. The names of God used most often in

1288-603: The Grim Reaper . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow mentions Azrael in " The Reaper and the Flowers " as an angel of death, but he is not equated with Samael , the angel of death in Jewish lore who appears as a fallen and malevolent angel , instead. Azrael also appears in G. K. Chesterton 's poem " Lepanto " as one of the Islamic spirits commanded by "Mahound" ( Muhammad ) to resist Don John of Austria 's crusade. In The Smurfs ,

1344-743: The Hebrew Bible are the Tetragrammaton ( Hebrew : יהוה , romanized :  YHWH ) and Elohim . Jews traditionally do not pronounce it, and instead refer to God as HaShem , literally "the Name". In prayer, the Tetragrammaton is substituted with the pronunciation Adonai , meaning "My Lord". This is referred to primarily in the Torah: " Hear O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD

1400-604: The Holy Ghost , in a Non-trinitarian conception of the Godhead . The Father and Son have perfected, material bodies, while the Holy Ghost is a spirit and does not have a body. This differs significantly from mainstream Christian Trinitarianism; in Mormonism, the three persons are considered to be physically separate beings, or personages, but united in will and purpose. As such, the term Godhead differs from how it

1456-617: The Sunni point of view and criticised the Mu'tazilah . The hadith scholar Dhahabi said of him, "..he was an imam versed in numerous branches of scholarship, an ocean of learning whose works testify to the wealth of his knowledge, the width of his intelligence and his superior worth." Islamic scholar Nuh Ha Mim Keller said of him: Imam Qurtubi is Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abu Bakr ibn Farah, Abu Abdullah al-Ansari al-Qurtubi, of Cordova (in present day Spain). A Maliki scholar and hadith specialist, he

1512-490: The exclusive monotheism of the other Abrahamic religions: Judaism , Samaritanism , the Baháʼí Faith , and Islam . Although personal salvation is implicitly stated in Judaism, personal salvation by grace and a recurring emphasis in orthodox theological beliefs is particularly emphasized in Christianity, often contrasting this with a perceived over-emphasis in law observance as stated in Jewish law , where it

1568-709: The hypostatic union . In the belief system held by the Christian churches that adhere to the Latter Day Saint movement and most Mormon denominations , including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the term God refers to Elohim ( God the Father ), whereas Godhead means a council of three distinct gods: Elohim (the Eternal Father), Jehovah ( God the Son , Jesus Christ), and

1624-425: The 16th century) as an angel of hell, who avenges those who had been wronged during life. Before the creation of man, Azrael proved to be the only angel brave enough to go down to Earth and face the hordes of Iblīs, the devil, in order to bring God the materials needed to make man. For this service he was made the angel of death and given a register of all mankind. Along with Gabriel , Michael , and Israfil , Azrael

1680-591: The Father is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and the Son is God, yet there is one God as there is one indivisible essence. These mainstream Christian doctrines were largely formulated at the Council of Nicaea and are enshrined in the Nicene Creed . The Trinitarian view emphasizes that God has a will , and that God the Son has two natures, divine and human, though these are never in conflict but joined in

1736-463: The actions of his creatures. With regard to Christianity, religion scholars have differed on whether Mormonism belongs with mainstream Christian tradition as a whole (i.e., Nicene Christianity ), with some asserting that it amounts to a distinct Abrahamic religion in itself due to noteworthy theological differences . Rastafari, the heterogenous movement that originated in Jamaica in the 1930s,

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1792-530: The angel possessed 70,000 limbs of foot. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz , an Umayyad caliph , reported a narration that the angel of death is armed with a flaming whip. Caliph Umar also reported a narration that the angel of death was so huge that he even dwarfed Bearers of the Throne , group of angels which are known as the biggest among angels. The "Islamic Book of Dead" describes him with 4 faces, and his whole body consists of eyes and tongues whose number corresponds to

1848-456: The angels to look upon it and they swoon for a thousand years. After the angels regained consciousness, Death recognized that it must submit to Azrael. This opinion were shared among scholars of Islam such as Sultan ibn ‘Abdirrahman Al-‘Umairi, in his book Al-‘Uquud Adz-Dzahabiyyah ‘alaa Maqaasid Al-‘Aqiidah Al-Waasithiyyah where he adds commentary the Hadith about Death will be materialized after

1904-602: The cat of the evil wizard Gargamel is called Azrael. In Joy Williams 's 2024 novel Concerning the Future of Souls , Azrael is a core character, although his responsibilities extend beyond serving as a psychopomp for humanity alone- he also collects the souls of other sentient beings on Earth, such as whales and apes . Williams' book describes ninety nine story accounts of his duties and interactions with multiple souls, God , Satan and countless others. God in Abrahamic religions Monotheism —the belief that there

1960-453: The classical exegesis from chapter Al-Anfal verse 50 Quran   8:50 , that the angel of death has special tasks during the battle of Badr . According to one Muslim tradition, 40 days before the death of a person approaches, God drops a leaf from a tree below the heavenly throne, on which Azrael reads the name of the person he must take with him. Al-Qurtubi narrated commentary from classical scholar, Ibn Zhafar al-Wa'izh, that Azrael, has

2016-458: The commentary regarding Azrael in Quran chapter As-Sajdah verse 11 Quran   32:11 , that taking many lives are very easy for the angel, that in caliph's words "it is as if the entire mankind of earth were only like a dish on a plate from the perspective of Malak al-Mawt (angel of death)". Meanwhile, Al-Qurtubi has narrated from the authority of Mujahid ibn Jabr that the world being between

2072-410: The creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator, through such methods as prayer , reflection , and being of service to humankind . God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through his intermediaries, the prophets and messengers who have founded various world religions from the beginning of humankind up to the present day, and will continue to do so in

2128-432: The form of a ram, then placed between paradise and hell, and finally slaughtered by God himself, causing Death cease to exist, which followed by God to declare to both people of paradise and hell that eternity has begun, and their state will never end. Lange mentioned that according to some scholars, the ram in that Hadith narration is no other than the angel of death himself, while others assert, this to be death's own form in

2184-651: The future. The Manifestations of God reflect divine attributes, which are creations of God made for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment, onto the physical plane of existence. In the Baháʼí view, all physical beings reflect at least one of these attributes, and the human soul can potentially reflect all of them. The Baháʼí conception of God rejects all pantheistic , anthropomorphic , and incarnationist beliefs about God. Al-Qurtubi Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Anṣārī al-Qurṭubī ( Arabic : أبو عبدالله القرطبي ) (1214 – 29 April 1273)

2240-474: The hands of the Angel of Death is "similar to a vessel between the hands of a human; he takes from whatever place he wants", where Mujahid described that Azrael is able to seize many souls at the same moment because God made the earth shrunk for him until it seems as if it is a vessel between his hands. A similar Marfu' Hadith (i.e., with an elevated chain of transmission) was reported by Zuhayr ibn Muhammad. When

2296-504: The hereafter. In other account sourced from Muqatil ibn Sulayman , Azrael and death were said as one entity as he reported the angel has number of faces and hands equal to the number of living creatures on his body, where each of those faces and hands are connected with the life of each souls in the living world. Whenever a face within Azrael body vanished, then the soul which connected with it will experience death. A common belief holds that

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2352-597: The innovation that Jesus of Nazareth is considered to be, in one way or another, the fulfillment of the ancient biblical prophecies about the Jewish Messiah , the completion of the Law of the prophets of Israel , the Son of God , and/or the incarnation of God himself as a human being . Most Christian denominations believe Jesus to be the incarnated Son of God, which is the main theological divergence with respect to

2408-502: The interpretation from ibn Kathir regarding Quran chapter Al-An'am verse 61, and a hadith transmitted by Abu Hurairah and ibn Abbas , that the angel of death has assisting angels who helped him taking souls. According to exegesis , these verses refer to lesser angels of death, subordinative to Azrael, who aid the archangel in his duty. Tafsir al-Baydawi mentions an entire host of angels of death, subordinative to Azrael. The eighth Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz once reported

2464-615: The judgment day in form of a Ram, which said as different entity than Angel Azrael. According to one narration, Azrael is rewarded to become the angel of death for successfully carrying the dirt of the earth from which Adam would be created. The identification of "Death" and angel Azrael as one entity were explained in a Hadith about the fate of "Death" entity itself after the judgment day, where classical Hanafite scholar Badr al-Din al-Ayni has interpreted in that Hadith which compiled in Sahih Bukhari collection, that Death would take on

2520-450: The lesser angels of death are for the common people, while saints and prophets meet the archangel of death himself. Great prophets, such as Moses and Muhammad are invited politely by him, but saints are also said to meet Azrael in beautiful forms. It is said that, when Rumi was about to die, he laid in his bed and met Azrael in human shape. The belief that Azrael appears to saints before they actually die to prepare themselves for death,

2576-755: The name Azrael, nor does it appear in the rabbinic literature of the Talmud or Midrashim . No such angel is treated as canonical in traditional Rabbinic Judaism . However, an angel by a similar name, Azriel ( עזריאל ), is mentioned in Kabbalistic literature, such as the Zohar . Despite the absence of such a figure in Judaism, the name Azrael is suggestive of a Hebrew theophoric עזראל , meaning "the one whom God helps". Archeological evidence uncovered in Jewish settlements in Mesopotamia confirms that it

2632-456: The number of humans inhabiting the Earth. The angel of death features in a famous extra-Quranic creation story regarding the creation of Adam, recorded by various Muslim scholars, including Tabari, Mas'udi, Maqdisi, Kisa'i, Tha'labi, Ibn Kathir in his work Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā (Stories of the Prophets), and Muqatil. Accordingly, God ordered the archangels to collect dust from earth from which Adam

2688-770: The perspective and precepts of the various religions in which he is a figure, he may also be portrayed as a resident of the Third Heaven , a division of heaven in Judaism and Islam. In Islam, he is one of the four archangels , and is identified with the Quranic Malʾak al-Mawt ( ملاك الموت , 'angel of death'), which corresponds with the Hebrew term Malʾakh ha-Maweth ( מלאך המוות ) in Rabbinic literature . In Hebrew, Azrael translates to "Angel of God" or "Help from God". The Hebrew Bible does not mention an angel by

2744-450: The rest of his life. Known for his modesty and humble lifestyle, he was buried in Munya Abi'l-Khusavb, Egypt in 1273. His grave was carried to a mosque where a mausoleum was built under his name in 1971, still open for visiting today. He was very skilled in commentary , narrative , recitation and law ; clearly evident in his writings, and the depth of his scholarship has been recognized by many scholars. In his works, Qurtubi defended

2800-477: The stories and histories customary in other commentaries, and recorded instead the legal rulings contained in the Koran and how scholars have inferred them, together with canonical readings (qira’at), Arabic grammar, and which verses abrogate others and which are abrogated (nasikh wa mansukh). Scholars have used it extensively ever since it was written. It is related that Qurtubi disdained airs, and used to walk about in

2856-467: The tale of Solomon , a hadith reaching back to Shahr Ibn Hawshab , was already known in the United States in the 18th century as attested by Gregory Sharpe and James Harris . Some Western adaptions extended the physical description of Azrael, hence the poet Leigh Hunt depicts Azrael as wearing a black-hooded cloak. Although lacking the eminent scythe , his portrayal nevertheless resembles

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2912-422: The unbelievers in hell cry out for help, an angel, also identified with Azrael, will appear on the horizon and tell them that they have to remain. Other Quranic verses refer to a multitude of angels of death. Several modern contemporaries, such as Wahbah al-Zuhayli, and scholars from Islamic University of Madinah, Indonesian religious ministry , Saudi Islamic affair ministry , and Masjid al-Haram have compiled

2968-500: The universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures sing his glories and bear witness to his unity and lordship. According to the Quran: "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" ( 6:103 ). Similarly to Jews, Muslims explicitly reject the divinity of Jesus and don't believe in him as the incarnated God or Son of God, but instead consider him

3024-467: Was an Andalusian Sunni Muslim polymath , Maliki jurisconsult , mufassir , muhaddith and an expert in the Arabic language . He was taught by prominent scholars of Córdoba, Spain and he is well known for his classical commentary of the Quran named Tafsir al-Qurtubi . He was born in Qurtubah (modern-day Córdoba), Al-Andalus in the 13th century. His father was a farmer and died during

3080-504: Was indeed at one time used on an incantation bowl from the 7th century . However, as the text thereon only lists names, an association of this angelic name with death cannot be identified in Judaism. After the emergence of Islam, the name Azrael became popular among both Christian and Islamic literature and folklore . The name spelled as Ezrā’ël appears in the Classical Ethiopic version of Apocalypse of Peter (dating to

3136-478: Was one of the greatest Imams of Koranic exegesis, an ascetic who divided his days between worship and writing. Educated in hadith by masters like Ali ibn Muhammad al-Yahsabi and al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Bakri, he wrote works in the sciences of hadith and tenets of faith, though his enduring contribution is his twenty volume al-Jami li Ahkam al-Qur’an [The compendium of the rules of the Koran], from which he mainly omitted

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