guard his throne, and visit the celestial kaaba, as
Muslims visit the earthly one during the pilgrim-
age to mecca. They will also greet people when
they enter paradise. According to the Quran,
angels witnessed the creation of adam, the first
human. All but Iblis (sata n) bowed down to
Adam in respect; God punished Iblis by cursing
and expelling him from heaven. Sometimes, Iblis
is regarded as one of the Jinn, a separate class of
supernatural beings, but he is also seen as a fallen
angel whose role is to test people’s faithfulness to
God’s commands. Some angels have special func-
tions. For example, gabriel is widely regarded as
the angel of revelation, Izrail is the angel of death,
Malik is the guardian of hell, and Israfil is the
one who will blow the trumpet on JUdgment day.
Other angels are responsible for recording people’s
good and bad deeds, while the angels Mlunkar
and Nakir are assigned to conduct interrogations
of the dead in their tombs, thus preparing them
for their future rewards or punishments in heaven
or hell.
Angels are said to be awesome beings made of
dazzling light and to have wings, unlike humans,
who are made of clay, and the jinn, who are made
of fire. But according to some accounts, angels
may also appear in human form, as beautiful men
and women. Islamic tradition holds that Muham-
mad encountered Gabriel many times in his adult
life: Gabriel transmitted the Quran to him, and
he served as his escort through the heavens dur-
ing the night JoUrney and ascent. According to
some versions of this story, Muhammad also led
the angels in prayer at the aqsa mosqUe in JerU-
salem. Shia Muslims share many of these beliefs
with the Sunnis, but they also claim that their
Imams have special knowledge that angels have
given to them and no one else and that the angels
protect them from harm. In sUFism and Islamic
philosophy, angels were associated with the stars
and planets and ranked according to their place in
the seven spheres of heaven. Some mystics even
thought that humans could perfect their souls
enough to become angels themselves.
Further reading: Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes in the
Quran (Minneapolis and Chicago: Bibliotheca Islamica,
1980); Jane Smith and Yvonne Haddad, The Islamic
Understanding of Death and Resurrection (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1981); Alford T. Welch,
“Allah and Other Supernatural Beings: The Emergence
of the Quranic Doctrine of Tawhid.” Journal of the Amer-
ican Academy of Religion 47 (1979): 733–758.animals
Animals hold a significant place in the religious
beliefs, rituals, arts, and Folklore of Muslims.
They are discussed in the qUran and hadith,
mentioned in Islamic legal texts, and depicted in
illustrated manuscripts and decorative arts, and
stories of them are popular in Islamic religious
literature and folklore. Islamic tradition gives
humans dominion over animals—people obtain
benefits from them such as food and transpor-
tation, but people are also responsible for their
well-being. In the Quran, where six chapters are
named after animals, the most frequently men-
tioned species are domesticated ones that live
in herds, such as sheep, goats, camels, horses,
and cattle. Wild animals, such as birds, snakes,
fish, and insects, are also mentioned, but not in
great detail. All creatures are believed to have
been created by God for the benefit of humans,
and they serve as signs of God’s power. The most
famous stories in the Quran that involve animals
include the raven that showed Cain how to bury
his murdered brother (Q 5:31), Noah’s ark (Q
23:27), the hoopoe bird that served as a mes-
senger between King Solomon and the queen
of Sheba (Q 27:20–28); the staff of moses that
turned into a serpent (Q 7:107; 26:32), the fish
or whale that swallowed Jonah (Q 37:139–145),
the birds JesUs created from clay (Q 3:49), the
dog that guarded the seven sleepers in the
cave (Q 18:18, 22), and the flock of birds sent
by God to destroy “those of the elephant” who
were about to attack mecca (Q 105). The Quran
also contains stories about people whom Godanimals 43 J