Islamic mythology

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Islamic mythology is all the myths associated with the Koran and Islam are connected. It is about stories about the prophet, his followers and the caliphs. But also stories of mythical and hybrid creatures like the jinn are part of it. The transitions between a simple fable and part of Islamic mythology are often fluid and difficult to distinguish.

Often a number of traditional narratives are identified as "Islamic myths". These include the history of the creation of the world , life after death and the traditionally transmitted history of the Kaaba . The life of the Prophet Muhammad is generally recognized as largely historically based, and Islam is less dependent on mythology than Judaism or Christianity . Nevertheless, the Islamic narrative contains two key supernatural events : the divine revelation of the Koran and the Isra and Mi'radj - the night journey of Muhammad to Jerusalem, followed by his ascent to seventh heaven.

In addition, the Islamic tales and scriptures contain a number of legends about biblical characters that differ in some respects from the Jewish and Christian versions, such as the story of the prophet Job.

The Prophet and his companions arrive in Mecca, accompanied by the angels Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrael.

Biblical stories in the Quran

Islam includes many biblical events and heroes in its mythology. Stories such as those about Musa (Moses) or Ibrahim (Abraham) form part of the Islamic scriptures. The Koran also gives a detailed account of the Jewish story of Yūsuf (Joseph) , who was sold to an Egyptian, and the Christian story of Mary , the mother of Jesus . In both cases, Islam adds original details and Islamic interpretation: in this version, for example, Jesus spoke when he was still a child, and he was not the Son of God , but the son of Mary and, as the preacher of the Gospel, the Word of God .

The Islamic story of creation

In the Koran the creation myth appears scattered over several suras. Heaven and earth were connected as one unit before they were split apart. After a period in which they were smoke, they reached their present form. The Koran reports that the creation process lasted six days. Seven heavens will be created in the first two days. Then there is instruction about what has to happen in it. And the lower heaven, which is closest to the earth, was decorated with lamps that are also supposed to protect against curious satans.

However, it should be noted that in the Qur'an the word “day” is used very loosely and not in its present-day sense, while it indicates the time. For example, in sura 70, verse 4, it says: "The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in a day the extent of which is fifty thousand years".

The Koran states that God created the world, the cosmos and all living beings that run, swim, crawl and fly over the face of the earth. He created the angels, the sun, the moon and the stars to inhabit the universe. He poured it rain and broke the ground to bring out the plants. Traditionally, the earth was inhabited by some other creatures like the jinn before God created humanity.

God formed the first human model from clay , earth, sand and water . He breathed life into it and the model developed into the first human: Adam . He should live in paradise from now on. God taught Adam the names of all creatures and then commanded all the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam. Everyone bowed, only Iblis refused to obey God.

God put Adam in a beautiful garden in Paradise and told him that he could eat whatever he wanted except the fruit of a forbidden tree. Satan (Iblis) tried to mislead Adam and persuade him to eat the fruit. When Adam did this, God banished him from Paradise. Muslim scholars are divided as to whether the paradise from which Adam was driven is the commonly used paradise in heaven, which all righteous enter on the day of judgment, or a paradise on earth that has since been lost forever.

Although the creation story in the Qur'an is similar in some aspects to the Christian and Jewish variants, there are still some serious differences. In the Hebrew version in Genesis, a snake tries to seduce Adam and Eve into eating the fruit. While the creation story of Genesis does not explicitly identify the serpent with Satan, Satan and the serpent are the same being according to the New Testament (Revelation 12: 9 and 20: 2). Eve was also tempted in Genesis, but Adam was not. In contrast, the Qur'an specifically says that Shaitan (Satan) induced Adam to eat the fruit. In contrast to Christian traditions that see Satan as an angel rebelling against God, Islamic tradition identifies Satan's disobedience as the result of his superior nature of fire, as opposed to the nature of humans. Since angels in Islam do not rebel against God, it is unthinkable that an angel could envy God or even contradict him. God cast Iblis out of his paradise, and Iblis vowed to corrupt Adam's generations and to disobey God.

The jinn

Several jinns complain about humanity in front of the Ifrit Al-Malik al-Aswad (The Black King).

The Djinns are one of three spirit beings generally accepted in Islamic theology. Originally, the Djinns were thought to be nature demons or protective gods. The Koran, however, denies them any divine function and, as morally ambivalent beings, also the role of devils and angels, and moves them close to the position of the people with whom the jinns are mostly mentioned in the Koran. Due to the ambivalent role of the Djins, Islam was able to incorporate beliefs from other cultures into its own religion as it spread. The Jinn belief is therefore not a strict Islamic concept, but reflects various pagan beliefs that have been adapted to Islam.

The Djinns are also not purely spiritual beings, unlike the Ruhaniyya . Most Islamic authors describe them as physical beings created from fine material ( Marijin min Nar ) and also deal with questions of marriage between humans and the Djinn and how to stay with children who emerged from such a marriage. Such marriages were nevertheless classified as reprehensible ( makruh ) by most of the Muslim scholars . Based on the hadith literature, the Djinns, like humans, would eat food. They would prefer rotten meat to fresh. After eating, the meat grows back. To avoid accidentally injuring such a Djinn, many Muslims say "destur" before engaging in any activity that could injure or anger an invisible Djinn.

In the Islamic faith there is a multitude of different Djinns, some of which have their own genus of spirit beings, but which are nevertheless grouped under the term Djinn and occupy the same ontological position in the spirit realm. Among them are the Diw , monsters or demons, endowed with magical powers that were created before the actual Djinns. Popular belief prevails that the jinn inhabited the earth long before humans and that they are the successors of other species of spirit. The word Khalifa (successor) mentioned in the Koran in sura 2:30 was often interpreted as confirmation of this belief that people are the successors of those beings. When the king of the jinn insulted heaven, however, God sent Iblis with an army of angels to drive the jinn away. Some spirits would have joined Iblis and then became his followers. When God then created mankind to succeed, Iblis and his entourage refused to show respect for the new creation, whereupon they were banished to the fiery underworld . Since then, the other Djins have been wandering on earth as a source of suffering and misery. Only with the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad would the Djins have another chance of salvation. The Sura 72 is often interpreted as those sermon, in which the jinn first heard about the message of Muhammad.

The Kaaba

According to Islamic mythology, God commissioned Adam to build a building that would be the earthly counterpart to the House of Heaven. This was the huge black stone cube, the Kaaba, a mosque revered as sacred. Islamic literature says that the Kaaba was destroyed in the flood of Nuh (Noah). Later Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ismail (Ishmael) were instructed by Allah to rebuild the Kaaba on the old foundations. When Ismail was looking for a stone, he met the angel Djibrail (Gabriel) . This gave him the black stone.

According to the hadith , the black stone is said to have been milky white after descending from heaven, but due to the sins of Adam and the people who touched it, it turned black over time.

The Kaaba was originally intended as a symbolic house for the one monotheistic god. After Ibrahim's death, people started filling the Kaaba with pagan idols. When Muhammad conquered Mecca, he removed the idols from the Kaaba. It has since acted as an important place of pilgrimage, which all Muslims should have visited at least once in their life if they were able to. Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day and look in the direction of the Kaaba.

Essence

  • Azrael - one of the four archangels of Islam: the angel of death
  • Buraq - a winged steed with a very large step: it could land its hooves at the extreme limit of its gaze. It carried the Prophet Muhammad to heaven.
  • Djibra'il - the Archangel Gabriel: messenger from God. Unlike in the Christian tradition, it is not Michael but Gabriel who takes on the role of the warrior angel. So it is Gabriel who motivates Muhammad to war against the Banu Qurayza and leads the angels in the battle of Badr. Comparable to its role in the Jewish imagination of being sent to the destruction of the cities of the infidel.
  • Darda'il - angels who travel the earth seeking gatherings in which people will remember the name of God.
  • Djinn - invisible creatures who live with humans on earth and how they can decide between good and bad. However, they would have inhabited the earth before humans.
  • Angels - servants of God who were created from light. They have no physical needs and take on various tasks that God assigns them.
  • Harut and Marut - angels who taught magic to people on earth to test them.
  • Huri - pure beings in the hereafter, partner of those who have no spouse in paradise.
  • Iblis - destroyer of men and leader of satans. He was cast out of heaven by God.
  • Israfil - Archangel in Islam: the angel of the trumpet of perdition; when it is blown, all living things die.
  • Ifrit - Strong genie or powerful Satan, often a spirit of the underworld.
  • Kiraman Katibin - the two angels (Raqib and Atid) who collect, record and keep a person's good and bad deeds.
  • Mu'aqqibat - Guardian Angels who protect people from death until the appointed date of death has occurred.
  • Malik - angel: guards the hellfire.
  • Munkar and Nakir - angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves.
  • Ridwan - Angel: Guardian of Paradise.
  • Satans - followers of the devil (Iblis). Most of the time they are imagined as his children, whom God received after God was banished from heaven. They try to bring the believers to evil by whispering into their hearts .
  • Yaʾdschūdsch and Maʾdschūdsch ( Gog and Magog ): two peoples.

places

  • Barzach - border between hell and paradise, dead and living and death and resurrection. Phase in which the recently deceased are interviewed in their grave.
  • Dschahannam - Hell in Islam.
  • Garden of Eden - Paradise where Adam and Eve lived before their exile.
  • Janna - Paradise in Islam.
  • Kaaba - sacred building that Muslims visit during Hajj.

Events

  • Creation of the world; six day act from God
    • The loss of paradise caused by Adam eating the forbidden fruit; Unlike Christianity, Islam does not believe in original sin
    • Noah's Ark : After a flood event, the Ark loaded two of each animal species onto the ship, saving them from extinction.
  • Qiyamah - Day of Resurrection and the reward and punishment of the good and the bad; a fundamental element of Islamic eschatology , which is similar to the Jewish and Christian traditions.

Web links

Individual evidence

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