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Harut and Marut

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Harut and Marut hanging as punishment for being critical of Adam's fall in an image from 1717 CE (1121 AH)

Harut and Marut (Arabic: هَارُوْت وَمَارُوْت, romanized: Hārūt wa-Mārūt) are a pair of angels mentioned in the Quran Surah 2:102. They are said to tempt humans by teaching them the arts of sorcery (siḥr) in Babylon.[1][2]

Quranic exegesis (tafsīr) explains that this pair of angels complained about human wickedness, a reference to Surah 2:30, whereupon they were sent down to earth to compete against humankind with regards to obedience. After they committed various crimes, they found themselves unable to return to heaven. God offered them a choice between punishment on earth or in hell. They decided for punishment on earth, leading to their situation mentioned in the Quran.

The angelic pair is exemplary for angels in Islamic tradition to be tested and potentially fail. Furthermore, they are strongly associated with introducing sorcery to the world throughout Islamic culture.

Quran

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Readings

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In the Quran, Harut and Marut are mentioned briefly in Surah 2:102. There are different readings and interpretations of the verses. The The Study Quran translates the verse as follows:

Solomon did not disbelieve, but the satans disbelieved, teaching people sorcery and that which was sent down to the two angels at Babylon, Harūt and Marūt. But they would not teach anyone until they had said, "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve." Then they would learn from them that by which they could cause separation between a man and his wife. But they did not harm anyone with it, save by God's Leave. And they would learn that which harmed them and brought them no benefit, knowing that whosoever purchases it has no share in the Hereafter. Evil is that for which they sold their souls, had they but known.

— The Qur'an, 2:102.[3]

According to the reading attributed to Hasan al-Basri (642–728), Harut and Marut are "two kings" (Arabic: ملكين‎, romanized: malikayn), and not two angels.[4][5][6]

Alternatively, a reading attributed to ibn Abbas reads the term mā (Arabic: ما‎), as "not" instead of "what":

"The devils believed not, they taught men sorcery and not what was sent down to the two angels at Babel, Harut and Marut."[7]

In his commentary, Tabari (839–923 CE) puts forth an arguement that mā ("not") refers to the angels Gabriel and Michael, and not to Harut and Marut.[8][9] In line with Hasan al-Basri's reading, Harut and Marut are ordinary men, who learned sorcercy from the devils.[10] This exegetical approach is similar to the reinterpretation of the Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm mentioned in the Book of Genesis; depicting them as ordinary humans (sons of Cain and Seth) instead of as angels.[11] However, most early commentators of the Quran regard Harut and Marut as angels.[12]

Another variance can be found in a reading attributed to ibn Abbas. Accordingly, mā ("not") refers to the angels Harut and Marut, meaning that the devils taught men unlawful sorcery instead of the lawful things taught by the angels Harut and Marut.[13] This reading is rather unconvincing as the verse depicts Harut and Marut as testers, implying that these angels taught something unlawful.[14] Tabari explains that this interpretation is best be understood as, that there are two kinds of magic; lawful sent down by angels and unlawful taught by devils.[15][16] He defends this interpretation on the authority of Ibn Wahb, arguing that God creates both good and evil.[17]

Exegesis

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Harut and Marut in Their Forever Well (1703)

Tale of Harut and Marut

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The tale of Harut and Marut (qiṣṣat Hārūt wa-Mārūt) is a recurring story throughout Quranic exegesis (Tabari, ibn Hanbal, Rumi, Maqdisi, Tha'labi, Kisa'i, Suyuti) to explain the earthly abode of this angelic pair.[18][19] There are different variances of the same story with additional details. They all contain a prolegomenon in heaven, resulting in an angelic mission to earth, followed by a corruption of these angels, and consequent punishment by God.[20] In some variations, not two, but three angels are send down to earth. In Rumi's (1207 – 1273) Masnavi, God tests three angels. However, once on earth one of them suspects to fail and returns to heaven.[21]

A version provided by Tabari narrates the Tale of Harut and Marut as follows:[22]

The angels were astonished at the acts of disobedience committed by the human beings on earth, claiming they would do better than them. Therefore, God challenged the angels to choose two representatives among them, who would descend to earth and be endowed with bodily desires. During their stay on earth, they fell in love with a woman named Zohra (Venus). She told them she would become intimate with them if they joined her in idolatry and told her how to ascend to heaven. The angels refused and remained pious.[23] Later they met her again and the woman this time stated she would become intimate with them if they drank alcohol. The angels thought that alcohol could not cause great harm and therefore, they accepted the condition. After they were drunk, they became intimate with her and after noticing a witness, they killed them. The next day, Harut and Marut regretted their deeds but could not ascend to heaven anymore due to their sins, as their link to the angels was broken. Thereupon, God asked them, whether their punishment shall be in this world or in the hereafter. They chose to be punished on earth and therefore were sent to Babel as a test, teaching humans magic but not without warning them that they were just a temptation.[24]

Protest of the angels

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Although not explicitly mentioned, Harut and Marut are sometimes linked to the events in Surah 2:30.[25] The Study Quran translates the verse as follows:

"And when thy Lord said to the angels,"I am placing a vicegerent upon the earth," they said, "Wilt Thou place therein one who will work corruption therein, and shed blood, while we hymn Thy praise and call Thee Holy?" He said, "Truly I know what you know not."2:30.[26]

According to this view, God sent down these angels to demonstrate to the protesting angels men's unique and special features.[27]

In his Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik, Suyuti narrates a ḥadīth that after the dispute mentioned in this verse, the angels made a bet with God. They bet that they are more obedient than the sons of Adam. God then inqures them to choice two among them to descent to earth and being tested.[28]

Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203–1283) narrates on authority of ibn Abbas, when Adam was cast out of the Garden Eden, he passed by a crowd of angels who reprimanded Adam for breaking the covenant with God.[29] The most critical ahve been Harut and Marut. Adam sought mercy from the angels and their mockery. Then, God tries the angels until they fail on their part.[30] This version is silent on the details of these angels sins and their teachings of magic.[31]

Criticism

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Historical Criticism

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Although the Quran does not call this pair of angels fallen explicitly, the context assumes this to be true.[19] The story bears some resemblance to the Watchers,[19] mentioned in Second Temple traditions and reflects an early Christian belief.[19] The most dominant components of this motif, however, are unique to Islamic tradition and do not reflect neither biblical or Second Temple traditions: The core feature of this story is the angels' amazement at human wickedness.[19] Unlike in the Book of Watchers and Christian tradition, the story is not about angelic revolt or original sin, but about how tough it is to be a human.[19] In contrast to apocalyptic literature, according to the Quran, they are "sent down" by God.[19]

The names "Hārūt" and "Mārūt", do not originate from Semitic beliefs. Instead, they appear to be etymologically related to Haurvatat and Ameretat, two Amesha Spenta from Zoroastrianism.[32][33] Georges Dumézil suggested that the story has close parallels to the Mahabharata.[34]

Mufassirs (authorized exegetes of the Quran) seem to have been aware of the historical reliance on previous Jewish material. Compared to the fallen angels from 3 Enoch, Al-Kalbi (737 AD – 819 AD) identifies Harut and Marut with them. Accordingly, their original names were (‘Azā, ‘Azāyā) and then changed after their fall to Hārūt and Mārūt, just as the name of Satan was changed from ʿAzāzīl to Iblīs after his fall.[35]

For this reason, some Muslim scholars argue that the stories surrounding Harut and Marut derive from Judeo-Christian sources (Israʼiliyyat). According to Ansar al-'Adl, the extra-Quranic story of this verse entered tafsir from Judaism or Christianity. The English Quran translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali states this story develops from Jewish midrashim, particularly Midrash Abkir.[36] Yet, historically, the Midrash Abkir is not dated earlier than the eleventh century, a time then the story of Harut and Marut has been recorded already.[19] Thus, John C. Reeves concludes that, although the Quran alludes to previously known Judeo-Christian material, the midrashim is shaped by Muslim beliefs, not the other way around.[37]

Similarly, Patricia Crone argues that Jews adopted the Islamic story, especially since stories regarding fallen angels were considered unauthentic by Rabbinic Judaism.[35] Rejecting a Jewish origin of the story also comes from Muslim scholars. Kürşad Demirci points out that there are no similarities between the story of Harut and Marut and the angels from ancient Jewish lore.[38]

Theological Criticism

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A miniature showing Harut and Marut punished (Servet Ukkâşe, Târîḫu'l-fen VI: et-taṣvîrü'l-Fârîsî ve't-Türkî, Beirut 1983, p. 213)

The inclusion of Venus in the Tale of Harut and Marut gave rise to dispute in Islam. Rabi ibn Anas argues that there is nothing in the Quran about Venus and calls for eleminating her from the Tale of Harut and Marut, or interpreting her as merely an idol, similar to worship of stars.[39] Likewise, Ibn Kathir argues that parts of the Tale of Harut and Marut are fabricated (mawḍūʿ) and traces them back to Ka'b al-Ahbar.[40] Al-Suyuti, argues that the complain of the angels in the Tale of Harut and Marut goes back to Muhammad.[41]

Although angels are not infallible in Orthodox Islam,[42][43] Muslim philosophers (falsafa) commonly reject the Tale of Harut and Marut on grounds of angelic impeccability.[44] According to the philosophers, angels lack a body and the mental capacity to strive for anything else but devotion to God.[45] Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (787 – 886) considers angels to be pure ministers of God, a conception borrowed from Jewish lore.[46] Likewise, they reject that the planets could commit sins, as they hold the view that the planets are integral part of the order of the universe.[47] An exception to Ash'arism and Māturīdism acceptance of angelic fallibility[48] is Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, who agrees with the Mu'tazilites and philosophers that angels cannot sin, and rejects the associated story of the Quranic verse regarding Harut and Marut.[49] He further elavated this position to the The Six Articles of Faith.[50] Mujahid ibn Jabr explains, in his version of this story, that the lechery of Harut and Marut was in their heart (qalb) not in their flesh, since as angels they lack bodily desires.[20]

While the Tale of Harut and Marut has been widely accepted in pre-modern times, in the modern period Muslim scholars increasingly adhere to the philosopher position. Modernist Salafis Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida ignore Venus as part of the story entirely. Furthermore, in the process of the demystification of the Quran, they reject the heavenly origin of Harut and Marut.[51]

Sufism

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In the wider Islamic culture, Harut and Marut are seen as those who introduced magic to the world.[52] Magic is thus explained to be of celestial origin. Such spells would include spells to separate husband and wife and to harm others. Contrarily to demons (šayāṭīn), the angels teach magic by means of temptation, not malice.[53] The motif of Harut and Marut teaching magic found its way into Turkish poetry through Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ and spread across Central Asia, often featuring as the trope for enchanting love.[38]

Ibn Arabi interpretates the verse concerning Harut and Marut metaphorically. The satans are forces veiling the soul from God's light through powers of illusions (awham).[54] By doing so, they are "kafir"; rejecting that only God can ultimately affect things.[55] The fallen angels Harut and Marut, in this context, are the "theoretical" and "practical" intellect, inclined towards the soul. Since the intellect descends to the heart, Harut and Marut are described as "upside down".[56] Their sorcery consists of veiling the heart from the soul, which is symbolized in "separating husband and wife".[57]

Rūmīs major work, the poem Mas̲navī, is closer to the orthodox Islamic depiction of Harut and Marut. The reader is recommended to remember the story of Harut and Marut, and how their self-righteousness led to their demise.[58] By that, Rumi compares believers who criticize other believers for their sins, not realizing that they are doing for worse. Like the angels Harut and Marut, they look down on others, yet are blind to their own pride.[59]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Quran 2:102 (Translated by Yusuf Ali)
  2. ^ Jastrow, Morris; Price, Ira Maurice; Jastrow, Marcus; Ginzberg, Louis; MacDonald, Duncan B. (1906). "Tower of Babel". Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk @-Wagnalls.
  3. ^ Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, ed. (2015). The Study Quran. HarperOne. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-06-112586-7.
  4. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 287-336.
  5. ^ Al-Saïd Muhammad Badawi Arabic–English Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage M. A. Abdel Haleem ISBN 978-90-04-14948-9, p. 864
  6. ^ Omar Hamdan Studien zur Kanonisierung des Korantextes: al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrīs Beiträge zur Geschichte des Korans Otto Harrassowitz Verlag 2006 ISBN 978-3-447-05349-5 pp. 291–292 (German)
  7. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): p. 297
  8. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 130
  9. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): p. 297
  10. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): p. 297
  11. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): p. 298
  12. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 131
  13. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 297
  14. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): p. 297
  15. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 130
  16. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 298
  17. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 298
  18. ^ Majmaʻ al-Buḥūth al-Islāmīyah The Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research 1968 p. 707
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Dye, Guillaume. Early Islam: the sectarian milieu of late Antiquity?. Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Reeves, John C. "Some Parascriptural Dimensions of the “Tale of Hārūt wa-Mārūt”." Journal of American Oriental Society 135.4 (2015): 817-842.
  21. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 298
  22. ^ Hanan Jaber (November 18, 2018). Harut and Marut in The Book of Watchers and Jubilees. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. pp. 14–15.
  23. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 298
  24. ^ Hussein Abdul-Raof (2012). Theological Approaches to Qur'anic Exegesis: A Practical Comparative-Contrastive Analysis. Routledge. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-136-45991-7.
  25. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 131
  26. ^ Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, ed. (2015). The Study Quran. HarperOne. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-06-112586-7.
  27. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 131
  28. ^ Burge, Stephen. Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik. Routledge, 2015. p. 286
  29. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 298
  30. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 201
  31. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 301
  32. ^ Bürgel, J. Christoph. "Zoroastrianism as viewed in medieval Islamic sources." Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions (1999): 202-212.
  33. ^ "Harut and Marut". Britannica.
  34. ^ Burge, Stephen. Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik. Routledge, 2015. p. 89
  35. ^ a b Crone, Patricia. The Book of Watchers in the Quran. pp. 10–11.
  36. ^ Ali, Abdullah Yousf (2006). The Meaning of the Holy Quran (PDF) (11th ed.). note 104, p. 45. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-05.
  37. ^ Reeves, John C. (2015). Some Parascriptural Dimensions of the Muslim "Tale of Harut wa-Marut". Journal of the American Oriental Society. Western scholars who have studied the "Tale of Harut and Marut" and grappled with its literary analogues have most frequently pointed to the Jewish and Christian parascriptural materials that envelop the enigmatic figure of Enoch and in particular to a curious medieval Jewish aggadic narrative known as the "Midrash of Shemhazai and 'Azael." (29) This unusual tale, extant in at least four Hebrew versions and one Aramaic rendition, (30) requires our attention at this stage, and I accordingly provide here a translation of what is arguably its earliest written registration, in the eleventh-century midrashic compilation Bereshit Rabbati of R. Moshe ha-Darshan.

    Careful comparison of the developed narratives of the "Tale of Harut and Marut" and the "Midrash of Shemhazai and cAzael" amid the larger literary corpora within which they are embedded suggests that the Muslim Harut wa-Marut complex both chronologically and literarily precedes the articulated versions of the Jewish "Midrash of Shemhazai and 'Azael," or as Bernhard Heller expressed it over a century ago, "la legende [i.e., the Jewish one] a ete calquee sur celle de Harout et Marout." (39) What is likely the oldest Hebrew form of the story dates from approximately the eleventh century, (40) several hundred years after the bulk of the Muslim evidence.
  38. ^ a b KÜRŞAT DEMİRCİ, "HÂRÛT ve MÂRÛT", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/harut-ve-marut (19.09.2023).
  39. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 300
  40. ^ KÜRŞAT DEMİRCİ, "HÂRÛT ve MÂRÛT", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/harut-ve-marut (20.09.2023).
  41. ^ Dye, Guillaume. Early Islam: the sectarian milieu of late Antiquity? Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2023.
  42. ^ Houtsma, M. Th. (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Band 5. BRILL. p. 191. ISBN 978-90-04-09791-9.
  43. ^ Welch, Alford T. (2008) Studies in Qur'an and Tafsir. Riga, Latvia: Scholars Press. p. 756
  44. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 299
  45. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 299
  46. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 300
  47. ^ Jung, Leo. "Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature: A Study in Comparative Folk-Lore." The Jewish Quarterly Review 16.3 (1926): 299
  48. ^ Rudolph, Ulrich (2015). "The Foundation and Establishment of Ḥanafite Theology in the Second/ Eighth and Early Third/Ninth Centuries". Al-Māturīdī and the Development of Sunnī Theology in Samarqand. Islamic History and Civilization. Vol. 100. Translated by Adem, Rodrigo. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 21–71. doi:10.1163/9789004261846_003. ISBN 978-90-04-26184-6. ISSN 0929-2403. LCCN 2014034960.
  49. ^ Street, Tony. "Medieval Islamic doctrine on the angels: the writings of Fakhr al-Dīh al-Rāzī." Parergon 9.2 (1991): 111-127.
  50. ^ Street, Tony. "Medieval Islamic doctrine on the angels: the writings of Fakhr al-Dīh al-Rāzī." Parergon 9.2 (1991): 111-127.
  51. ^ Burge, S.R. The Demystification of Magic in the Tafsīr al-Manār: An Analysis of the Exegetical and Homiletic Devices Used in the Discussion ‘Mabḥath al-siḥr wa-Hārūt wa-Mārūt’. Religions 2021, 12, 734. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090734
  52. ^ Salim Ayduz, Caner Dagli The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam Oxford University Press, 2014 isbn 978-01998-1257-8 p. 504
  53. ^ Jones, David Albert. Angels: a very short introduction. OUP Oxford, 2010. p. 107
  54. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 133
  55. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 133
  56. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 133
  57. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Qurʾan and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1 State University of New York Press, 30.06.1984 p. 133
  58. ^ "English-an Analysis of Spiritualism in Rumi's Mathnawi". The Scholar Islamic Academic Research Journal. 6 (2): 129–155. 2020. doi:10.29370/siarj/issue11ar6.
  59. ^ Arberry, A.J. (1993). Tales from the Masnavi (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315026091 p. 173-174
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