Azazil

Two angels turn back and see with alarm that Iblīs (ʿAzāzīl) will not bow down before Adam. Painting from a manuscript of ʿAjāʾib al-makhlūqāt (Wonders of Creation) of al-Ṭūsī Salmānī, 14th century.
The angels meet Adam, and seem to share, albeit to a lesser degree, the defiant reaction of Iblīs, who stands at the back haughtily turning his head away. According to tradition, God created Iblīs as a beautiful angel called ʿAzāzīl and he is depicted as such here. He is portrayed with his characteristic darker skin to denote his impending fall, but he has wings of an angel and wears the contemporary ‘angelic hairstyle,’ a loop of hair tied on top of the head.

Azazil (Arabic: عزازيل ʿAzāzīl, Turkish: Azâzîl; also known as Arabic: حارث Ḥārith) is a figure in Islamic tradition, and believed to be the original name of Satan (Iblīs).[1] The name does not appear in the Quran, however, is frequently mentioned in tafsīr (authorized exegesis of the Quran). According to a ḥadīth by ibn Abbas, Satan was once an angel called ʿAzāzīl or al-Ḥārith. He states that God created most angels from "light" (Nūr), but ʿAzāzīl and the angels with him from "poisonous fire" (nār as-samūm). The djinn were created from "a mixture of fire" (mārijin min nār).[2]

The djinn were the first to inhabit the world and God entrusted them to govern the earth. When corruption increased among them, God sent an army of angels under the leadership of ʿAzāzīl to punish them. After driving the djinn away, ʿAzāzīl grew arrogant. When God creates a successor to the djinn and commands the angels to prostrate themselves before the new creation, ʿAzāzīl refuses, claiming that he is better. Thereupon, he is condemned to hell.

  1. ^ Aloiane, Z. A. (1996). "Anthropomorphic Representation of Evil in Islam and Some Other Traditions. Cross-Cultural Approach". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 49 (3): 423–434. JSTOR 43391301.
  2. ^ Erdağı, Deniz Özkan. "Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in “Semum”." SN Social Sciences 4.2 (2024): 1-22.