Archangel Azrael

Archangel Azrael (עזראל‎) is an archangel in the Abrahamic religions. He is often identified with the Angel of Destruction and Renewal of the Hebrew Bible.

The Hebrew name translates to “Angel of God“, “Help from God”, or “One Whom God Helps”. Azrael is the spelling of the Chambers Dictionary.

The Qur’an refers to Azrael as Malak al-Mawt (ملك الموت) “angel of death“, which corresponds with Hebrew term malach ha-maweth in Rabbinic Literature. Islamic-Arabic tradition adopts the name, in the Arabic language as ʿAzrāʾīl (عزرائيل). He is responsible for transporting the souls of the deceased after death.

Background

Depending on the outlook and precepts of various religions in which he is a figure, Azrael may be portrayed as residing in the Third Heaven. In one description, he has four faces and four thousand wings, and his whole body consists of eyes and tongues whose number corresponds to the number of people inhabiting the Earth. He is recording and erasing constantly in a large book the names of men at birth and death, respectively.

Angel of Death

Angel of Death

In Judaism

In Judaism, Azrael is identified as the Angel of Death. However, the name “Azrael” itself is rarely used in Hebrew lore. In Jewish mysticism, he is commonly referred to as “Azriel”, not “Azrael”. The Zohar (a holy book of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah) presents a positive depiction of Azriel. The Zohar says that Azriel receives the prayers of faithful people when they reach heaven, and also commands legions of heavenly angels. Accordingly, Azriel is associated with the South and is considered to be a high-ranking commander of God’s angels (Zohar 2:202b).

In Christianity

Angel of Death giving a welcoming depiction of the angel of death, as usually attributed to Azrael, by Evelyn De Morgan, 1881.

Angel of Death giving a welcoming depiction of the angel of death, as usually attributed to Azrael, by Evelyn De Morgan, 1881.

There is no reference to Azrael in the Christian Bible, and as such Azrael is regarded as neither a canonical nor non-canonical figure in Christianity. In the apocryphal book of 2 Esdras, however, a story features a scribe and judge named Ezra, sometimes written “Azra” in different languages. Azra was visited by the Archangel Uriel and given a list of laws and punishments he was to adhere to and enforce as judge over his people. Azra was later recorded in the Apocrypha as having entered Heaven “without tasting death’s taint”. Depending on various Christian religious views, it could be taken as Ezra ascending to angelic status. This would add the suffix “el” to his name, which denotes a heavenly being (e.g. Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel). Hence, it would be Ezrael/Azrael. Later books also state a scribe named Salathiel, who was quoted as saying, “I, Salathiel, who is also Ezra”. Again, depending on certain views of Christian spirituality, this could be seen as angelic influence from Ezrael/Azrael on Salathiel.

Although there is no angel of death in the Christian Bible, some Coptic sources name this angel, Muriel. This text, “Discourse of the Abbaton”, a sermon based on the text delivered by Timothy the Archbishop of Alexandria in 386, claims that God changed his name to Abbaton. However, this is not commonly accepted by most mainline Protestant or Catholic churches. According to this document; depending on whether you have done good “works” or not while on earth, you will be visited by Abbaton in one of two forms. Either the calm and peaceful Man with a likeness to Adam or as a 7 headed monster to scare the soul of the unbeliever and filthy to a literal death on his or her deathbed.

In Islam

Along with Jibrail, Mīkhā’īl, and Isrāfīl, the Angel of Death, called Azrail (عزرائيل) is one of the archangels of the Islamic faith. He and his subordinate angels are responsible for taking the souls of the deceased away from the body. Azrail does not act independently from God; he takes only those souls which he has been commanded to take. Rather than merely representing an independent personified death, Azrail is described in Islamic sources as subordinate to the will of God “with the most profound reverence”.

In one tradition, Death and Azrael were once two separate entities, although in Islamic traditions, the lines between death personified and Azrael are blurred. Accordingly, God created death, and entrusted Azrael to him. The Kitab ahwal al-qiyama offers a detailed account of death and its relation to Azrael.

Several Muslim traditions recount meetings between the Angel of Death and the prophets, the most famous being a conversation between the Angel of Death and Moses. In an Islamic narration, the prophet Idris befriended the angel Azrael. Idris offered him food, whereupon Azrael revealed to Idris his non-human essence because as an angel, he does not eat. Later the archangel showed him the heavens.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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