Assalamualaikum Brothers and Sisters.. I have a simple question, Is the name of Angel of Death (malaikat maut) really Izrail? can anybody verify it for me please? because i heard from a lecture that there is no verse from the Quran or hadeeth that says his name is Izrail.. only refers to the "malaikat maut"
We always talk about Azrael as being the angel of death, but some days ago I read in a place that Azrael’s name has no mention in hadith or the Qur’an, and I checked out the information and it was true. The name Azrael apparently came to Islam when a Jewish man reverted to Islam and he introduced the name Azrael to the deen. Can you clarify this issue regarding Azrael (as) name’s origin?
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
Qadi Iyad toward the very end of al-Shifa (IV, 3, fi hukm man sabba sa’ir anbiya’ Allah wa-mala’ikatah), cites “the common knowledge and agreement by categorical consensus” of the Ummah that the name of the angel of death is `Izra’eel (or `Azra’eel, both vocalizations being used: see Taj al-’Arus s.v. ‘-z-r), which al-Qurtubi glosses as meaning “the slave of Allah” (Tafsir, sub 32:11).
This name is found in several early hadith compilations such as the books of Imams al-Tabarani, Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Abu al-Shaykh al-Asfahani’s al-’Azama, Ibn Abi Hatim’s Tafsir, and Abu Nu’aym’s Hilya among others).
The arch-master of hadith, Ibn Hajar, was specifically asked about this issue and replied: “The collected weight of the reports indicates that there is an established basis to the name `Izra’eel for the Angel of Death” (al-Imta‘ p. 108).
He is identified thus in many Qur’an commentaries on Q 32:11, including those of Muqatil, Ibn al-Kalbi, al-Tha’labi, al-Baghawi, Ibn Juzayy, al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir—the latter stating, “This is well-known, and it was related by Qatada and others” (such as Wahb b. Munabbih)—al-Khazin and al-Shawkani who both categorically asserted it, The Javanese mufassir Nawawi al-Jawi, and al-Suyuti in his angelology al-Haba’ik fi Akhbar al-Mala’ik, his Hawi lil-Fatawa, his Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Qur’an, his Durr al-Manthur, his commentaries on Muslim and al-Nasa’i, etc., as well as in al-Jalalayn.
When I was a child we were taught in school that the name of the angel of death was Izrail.
I didn't know until around two years ago that Izrail is not found in Qur'an or in any shahih/hasan hadith. In Qur'an it is only said as malaikat al maut:
Say, "The angel of death will take you who has been entrusted with you. Then to your Lord you will be returned." (QS. 32:11)
I don't know how the name Izrael was taught to us.
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