Israfil

thumb|Israfel blows a [[nafir in Zakariya al-Qazwini's The Wonders of Creation (1570s).]]

Israfil (, ʾIsrāfīl) or Israfel is the angel who will blow the trumpet to signal Qiyamah (the Day of Judgment) in Islam. Though unnamed in the Quran, he is one of the four archangels in Islamic tradition, along with Michael, Gabriel, and Azrael. He is commonly thought of as the counterpart of the Judeo-Christian archangel Raphael.

In religious tradition

Israfil is mentioned in a hadith as the angel nearest to God, mediating the commands of God to the other archangels. Although the name Israfil does not appear in the Quran, a figure blowing a trumpet is repeatedly alluded to, and is assumed to be this figure:

Kitab Aḥwāl al-Qiyāma, states:

Know that Israfil is the master of the horn [al-qarn]. God created the preserved tablet [al-lawḥ al-maḥfuz] of white pearl. Its length is seven times the distance between the heaven and the earth and it is connected to the Throne. All that exists until the day of resurrection is written on it. Israfil has four wings--one in the East, one in the West, one covering his legs and one shielding his head and face in fear of God. His head is inclined toward the Throne .... No angel is nearer to the throne than Israfil. Seven veils are between him and the Throne, each veil five hundred years distance from the next; seventy veils are between Jibril and Israfil. While he is standing the trumpet [ṣur] is placed on his right · thigh and the head of the trumpet on his mouth. He awaits the command of God, and when God commands he will blow. And when the period of the world is completed, the trumpet will be brought near the face of Israfil and he will fold his four wings and blow the trumpet.

Kitab Aḥwāl al-Qiyāma states he has four wings, however, another tradition mentions that he has twelve.

Israfil is also said to have been sent along with the other three Islamic archangels to collect dust from the four corners of the earth, though only Angel of Death succeeded in this mission. It was from this dust that Adam, the first man and Prophet, was formed.

Israfil has been thought as the angels of Christian tradition, including Uriel

File:'Angel Blowing a Woodwind', ink and opaque watercolor painting from Iran, c. 1500, Honolulu Academy of Arts.JPG|Angel not named in source for image; matches other images that name the angel Israfel

File:Israfil, the Angel of Resurrection, Blows the Seven-Fold Trumpet, Ottoman miniature.jpg|Israfil, the Angel of Resurrection, Blows the Seven-Fold Trumpet, Ottoman miniature

File:Israfel, blowing 7-belled trumpet.jpg|Israfel blows the trumpet

File:Israfel blows the trumpet of Sur.jpg|Israfel blows the trumpet of Sur

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In religious tradition

See also

Appendix

Notes

References

Bibliography