Azazil

Azazil (Arabic: عزازيل ʿAzāzīl, Turkish: Azâzîl; also known as Arabic: حارث Ḥārith) is a figure in Islamic tradition, and believed to be the original name of Satan (Iblīs).^[1] According to various Islamic beliefs, ʿAzāzīl was the master of the angels and the strongest and most knowledgeable of them, before his pride led to his downfall.^[2]^[3]

ʿAzāzīl is mentioned in Islamic complementary narratives, such as tafsīr (authorized exegesis of the Quran) and Qisas al-Anbiya. According to a ḥadīth by ibn Abbas, Satan was once an angel called ʿAzāzīl or al-Ḥārith. He states that God created most angels from "light" (Nūr), but ʿAzāzīl and the angels with him from "poisonous fire" (nār as-samūm). The djinn were created from "a mixture of fire" (mārijin min nār).^[4]

The djinn were the first to inhabit the world and God entrusted them to govern the earth. When corruption increased among them, God sent an army of angels under the leadership of ʿAzāzīl to punish them. After driving the djinn away, ʿAzāzīl grew arrogant. When God creates a successor to the djinn and commands the angels to prostrate themselves before the new creation, ʿAzāzīl refuses, claiming that he is better. Thereupon, he is condemned to hell.

^ Aloiane, Z. A. (1996). "Anthropomorphic Representation of Evil in Islam and Some Other Traditions. Cross-Cultural Approach". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 49 (3): 423–434. JSTOR 43391301.
^ Kızılkaya (نجم الدين كز يلكايا), N.Kızılkaya, N. (2021). They Cannot Be Left to the Brutality of a Cruel Group: An Ottoman Scholar’s Treatise on Dogs [لا يمكن تركهم لمواجهة وحشية مجموعة من قساة القلوب: رسالة عالم عثماني حول الكلاب]. Journal of Islamic Ethics, 6(1), 122-140. https://doi.org/10.1163/24685542-12340075
^ Rosenthal, F. (2015). "Materials for an Appraisal of Knowledge as a Societal Force". In Man versus Society in Medieval Islam. Leiden, Niederlande: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004270893_018
^ Erdağı, Deniz Özkan. "Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in “Semum”." SN Social Sciences 4.2 (2024): 1-22.

[1] Aloiane, Z. A. (1996). "Anthropomorphic Representation of Evil in Islam and Some Other Traditions. Cross-Cultural Approach". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 49 (3): 423–434. JSTOR 43391301.

[2] Kızılkaya (نجم الدين كز يلكايا), N.Kızılkaya, N. (2021). They Cannot Be Left to the Brutality of a Cruel Group: An Ottoman Scholar’s Treatise on Dogs [لا يمكن تركهم لمواجهة وحشية مجموعة من قساة القلوب: رسالة عالم عثماني حول الكلاب]. Journal of Islamic Ethics, 6(1), 122-140. https://doi.org/10.1163/24685542-12340075

[3] Rosenthal, F. (2015). "Materials for an Appraisal of Knowledge as a Societal Force". In Man versus Society in Medieval Islam. Leiden, Niederlande: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004270893_018

[Erdağı-4] Erdağı, Deniz Özkan. "Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in “Semum”." SN Social Sciences 4.2 (2024): 1-22.

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