Thread by @aaolomi

Contrary to their contemporary image, early and medieval descriptions of angels in Islam are utterly alien and fearsome. Their presence could bring comfort to the devout or strike terror in the hearts of the wicked.

A thread on the angels of hell and death in Islam-

In Islamic cosmology, angels are the perfect servants of God, unerring in carrying out their duties and implacable in their mission.

Like their ancient Biblical counterparts, they are described as otherworldly and terrifying.

Angels are depicted as maintaining the celestial and earthly order, worshipping God, and significantly, guarding Hell itself.

The angelic custodian of hell is Malik. In describing Muhammad’s journey through the heavens during the Miraj, Ibn Abbas says all the angels smiled upon meeting the Prophet except for Malik, for Malik never smiles.

Malik is described as the dreaded overseer of Hell.

It is said the denizens of hell cry out for Malik to let them out for centuries on end, but Malik is unmoved.

The angel will gaze down and reply, “you will remain” then return to its watch. (Q 43:77)

In an account by Tha’labi and Ibn Abbas, Malik is said to have been fashioned out of God’s wrath and justice.

Ibn Qutayba says Malik has as many fingers as those who are in hell.

Malik is attended to by the Zabaniyya. 19 in number (Q 74:30), they are described by ibn al Mundhir as having eyes like lightning while al Basri says they have iron rods by which to drive the wicked to their judgement.

The Zabaniyya as part of the Khazana angels who mind and guard hell and are its gatekeepers.

In apocalyptic literature like ibn Abi Shayba’s work, hell is described as a monstrous being brought forth on the Day of Judgement bound in 70,000 chains each held by 70,000 Khazana guardians.

The hell-beast will break free and rush to consume humanity only to be turned back and set in place by Muhammad.

Lange notes the descriptions of hell as a beast are similar to the descriptions of Sheol (Isaiah 5:14).

In later Persianate versions of the Ibn Abbas ascension narration further angels are described.

Here Malik’s chief assistant is Sarha’il. A fearsome being who wanders through hell maintaining its order.

Another, Sukha’il is described as massive as a mountain with eyes blue like glass and fire springing from nose, eyes, and ears.

So terrifying is Sukha’il that just the sight of the angel causes fear-induced blindness.

Higher in the celestial realm is the Angel of Death.

Though not given a proper name in the Qur’an, the angel is commonly named as Azra’il.

The narrations about the Angel of Death are many and varied full of fascinating details.

One narration says the Angel of Death was instrumental in the creation of humanity.

When God wished to create humans, the angels were sent to collect dirt, but the Earth refused to give it up.

Each angel came back empty-handed.

So God sent the Angel of Death who took the dirt from all over the earth and thus each human is born with a seed of the grave within them.

Abu Nu’aym says the angel of death possess a poisoned spear as large as the distance from East to West.

Muqatil ibn Sulayman says the angel has 400 hundred wings and 4 faces and is covered in eyes from head to toe.

Suyuti on the other hand says the Angel of Death has four eyes, two in the front and two in the back.

All the eyes are affixed upon a tree upon which everyone’s name is written. When a leaf falls it signals the time for the reaping of a soul.

Abu Nu’aym however says it is a tablet the angel studies.

When the time comes the angel of the death sends out its helpers, the Nazi’at and Nashitat who take the souls of the righteous gently and the souls of the wicked by force.

The souls of the recently departed must then face the inquisitors, the dreaded angelic caretakers of the grave, Munkar and Nankir.

Known as the chastisers they test the righteousness and faith of the soul giving it a glimpse of the peace or judgement to come.

There are also warriors among the angels.

In medieval Christian angelology Michael is the warrior of God, but this function falls to Jibra’il in Islam.

In addition to being the angel of revelation, Jibra’il waged war alongside the Muslims at the Battle of Badr.

According to Umar b. al Khattab and ibn Abbas the angel rides a mighty steed called Hazium and together they charged into the midst of the melee.

Ibn Abbas described Jibra’il has having 600 wings with shoulders so vast it would take a bird 500 years to cross.

A narration from Aisha describes Jibra’il as so vast that the angel’s wings blot out the entire sky.

Al Samarqandi in a more esoteric account describes Jibra’il as having hair of saffron or saffron wings and with the sun and moon between the angel’s eyes.

Islamic angelology is an oft-neglected study. While the Qur’an is allusive in its description of angels, the extra-Qur’anic literature from the hadiths to the commentaries are quite evocative.

In addition to telling us a bit about what Muslims believe, they are also important points of study to understand the cross-confessional exchange in Late Antiquity and can tell us a great deal about the time period of the authors of the accounts.

By the 9-12th century angelic lore would feature prominently in cosmographic and eschatological works alike revealing at once an imperial ideology set to order a chaotic world and the apocalyptic anxieties facing Muslim empires.

If you are interested in Islamic cosmology check out my patreon where I’ve covered the Islamic apocalypse, jinn, angels, & today released a podcast on the Zodiac cancer in astrology from the Islamic world.
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I’ll cover more Islamic cosmology, history, and esotericism in future threads