Raphael in Islam
Raphael is honored in Islam as one of the great archangels and is known more commonly as "Israfil" or "Israfel" in Islamic history.
According to the hadith, he is the angel responsible for signaling the coming of Judgment Day by blowing the trumpet (namely Sûr). According to tradition, the trumpet will be blown three times. The first blow of the trumpet will signal the beginning of Last Day and the second blow will signal the death of every living thing including angels, demons and humans and the third blow will signal the time when all the souls from all ages will be gathered for the Last Judgement. According to the Quran, an unnamed trumpet-angel, assumed to be Israfel, has been holding his breath, waiting for Allah's order to blow the Sûr.
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Famous quotes containing the words raphael and/or islam:
“I take such men to be inspired. I fancy that this moment Shakespeare in heaven ranks with Gabriel Raphael and Michael. And if another Messiah ever comes twill be in Shakespeare’s person.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)