The Story of Azazel

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following was taken from the “Lore of Light” by Shaykha Amina Adil (q.s.).  I consider much of this allegorical, and based on folk tales.  They are not necessarily meant to be believed, except that which is from the Qur’an and, perhaps, the ahadits.

The Lord of the Worlds Created the fire of Sammun.  From this Fire of Sammun, He Created the jinn.  The first of the jinn was named Marij, and the Lord Created a second one to be his wife, and she was named Marijah.  They had a son, and they called him, Jinn.  From them, derived all the clans of the jinn, including Azazel.  The Lord Gave them the Earth to dwell, and they lived and worshipped there for a long time.  So much did they worship, that the angels grew amazed and said, “O our Lord, Raise them up to the Heavens so that we might learn from them and follow their good examples.”  So the Lord Raised Azazel up to be among the angels, and he lived among them in the First Heaven.  The others remained on Earth, and they were mostly righteous, until a number of them began to transgress the Law.

And the Earth said, “O my Lord, have You Created me that I should be peopled by disobedient-folk?”

The Lord Said, “O Earth, be patient.  I shall Send prophets among them to lead them back to the straight path.”  Until that time, no prophets had appeared amongst the jinn.  The Lord Sent to them eight hundred prophets, but they killed them all.  Finally, the Lord spoke to Azazel in the First Heaven, and He Said, “Azazel, go and fight the unbelievers on Earth!”  Azazel obeyed and descended onto Earth and confronted the unbelievers.  Then the Lord Sent down a fire from the skies, and it consumed them, so not a trace remained except the believing jinn.

Again, Azazel prayed that he was Raised Up into the First Heaven.  According to one narration, he worshipped so much in the First Heaven that he was raised through all the Seven Heavens and beyond.  He worshipped on the Earth, and he worshipped in the Heavens until Adam (a.s.) was brought into existence.  Then, the Lord Ordered all the angels and Azazel to bow down before Adam (a.s.) and all the angels obeyed.  Except Azazel.

Shaykh Abu Sa’id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Baswri (q.s.) said, “Azazel worshipped above the Seven Heavens for more than 70,000 years until he was Raised to the station of Ridhwan.”  Ridhwan being the Guardian of Paradise and Azazel was the Guardian of Paradise for 1,000 years.  Once he read an inscription on the Gates of Paradise, and it read: “There is a servant, among the Most Favoured servants of the Almighty Lord.  For a long time, he will be obedient and serve his Lord well, but there will come a day, where he will oppose his Lord and disobey, and he will be Driven from His gates and be Cursed.”

Azazel wondered at this prediction.  “How can that be?” he asked, “that one of the closest servants of the Lord should grow disobedient and be Driven from His Nearness?”  “O Lord,” he pleaded, “Grant me the permission to curse this rebellious one, whoever he may be.”  The Lord Gave him Permission and Iblis showered curses upon the future sinner for one thousand years, knowing not that it was to be himself.

There is a conflict of opinion between people whether Azazel, who later became Iblis, was of the angels or of the jinn.  But it is Written in the Holy Qur’an, he was one of the jinn and committed ungodliness against his Lord’s Command.  Because of his extreme virtue and the intensity of his prayers, the Lord Raised him up into the Heavens to live amongst the angels.  When the Lord Ordered them all to prostrate before Adam (a.s.), he refused and his hidden rebellion was exposed.

Some say he was the Peacock among the Angels.  He caused the Heavens to wonder, when there was not a space the width of a hand on the Earth where he did not make prostration for his Lord.  For ages, none excelled him, none could match him, not even the angels.  Outwardly, he was perfect.  His physical existence surrendered to the Will of his Lord perfectly until he was eventually Raised to the Heavens to be among Angels, and to lead them in prayer.  He was dressed in greatness; he worshipped his Lord more than any other creation.  But yet, he failed to serve Him inwardly.

At the external physical level, he was in the state of perfection before His Lord.  But at the internal spiritual level, he was in a state of rebellion.  Hence, when Azazel was Tested by the prostration before Adam (a.s.), he refused.  And Allah (s.w.t.) Brought to the surface what was hidden within his breast and allowed him respite, until the Day of the Time Appointed.


Comments

  1. My personal answer..and may Allah forgive me should I be wrong and allow me to learn that I am wrong and correct me accordingly...

    Adam a.s was lonely because he was the only one of his kind and hence, he could not practice the Hablumminannas aspect of Love and that affected his Habluminallah.

    Wallahu'alam.

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  2. Because if he hadn't gotten lonely, he wouldn't have needed Hawa

    If he had not needed Hawa, there would not be the exile to Earth.

    If there wasn't an exile to Earth, there would be no need for a Khalifah

    You anwered it yourself Harlequin, it wasn't that there needed to be a Lote tree, but there just was.

    There needn't be Hawa, but if Adam A.S. had been exiled to Earth anyway -- without the Lote tree, and without Hawa by his side; being distant from the presence of God would have been too painful for a human soul to bear.

    This, is His infinite Mercy -- that existed even beyond the realm where the soul was created.

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    1. Lonely imagine the most intelligent being ever being locked in a room/cell of darkness and then it awakens/becomes conscious of its own existence, it is so intelligent it sees and understands so much and wishes to talk about and to discus everything that it has seen with some one but cannot because it is all alone locked in its cell.

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    2. I guess we can create things in our minds cars trains planes spaceships mobile phones even worlds especially if we nuse visualization techniques well I guess this great being did so too but just look at the detail he has gone into look at the depth?

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  3. Well, true but if you have the Source of Love, do you really need anything else? But maybe the Hablul Min Naas was correct. Thank you for your enlightenment.

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  4. Harlequin,should you get a better and more satisfying answer, do share.please...

    As it is for me right now, I am caught in a swirl over the perpendicular equation. It needs both the vertical and horizontal lines...of which I am still trying to find, let alone draw!

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  5. I may be wrong. May Allah forgives me and guide me.

    In my opinion,this is all part of Allah's plan. Since He has created Adam a.s, surely He would have created loneliness and all that emotions or feelings in him. And i think even if he(Adam a.s) didn't felt lonely, Allah swt would still create Hawa.

    And Allah knows best.

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  6. Reading, how Azazel became Iblis, it makes me feel foolish. Like when Azazel was guarding the Gates of Heavan and reading the script on the gate, he was reading his future, his destiny. Allah s.w.t wrote his fate on the gates that he was guarding. The door to Heavan had Azazels fate written on it. And Allah s.w.t told him that he had permission to curse that Angel that will rebel against thy lord. It just hurts me to think that Azazel had the chance to change because he would've known his fate, but I guess Allah s.w.t wrote his future and wanted to see if he will be loyal. Astagfarallah hul azim... Allah s.w.t have mercy on our souls and guide to the gates of the 7 Heavans yarub

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  7. Hi. I was searching for Azazel and I came across this post.
    My reason of searching him comes from the fact that I think I was visited by him in my dream. See, I saw in my dream a cat , and I love cats and I loved that one as well. Then it changed into this human form , a man with dark hair and a medium height with white clothes. He was friendly and had that calming effect on me and we became friends and so I asked his name and he made an arabic letter "aaiin" with his hand. I didn't understand and so he said his name was Azazel. I knew the name sounded familiar but I didn't care and I started to like him. I remember in my dream i didn't feel scared in the least bit. He sort of grew on me.
    It's only now I realised who he is and I'm not sure what to do now or how to interpret this dream of mine.

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    Replies
    1. Dreaming of a cat is not necessarily a good sign, since it may symbolise a thief, or worse.

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  8. An angel does not disobey the Orders given by ALLAH SAW at any cost. Only a creation with free will can go against the orders and become rebellious. So did Iblees (satan, azazel), and he had parents as well. So how can be iblees an angel when he had parents?

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    Replies
    1. Nothing in the post states he was an angel.

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  9. I like different symbol. Especially ancient ones. I bough a pendant with the Azazel symbol. Is it okay to wear it.

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    Replies
    1. How do you know that is the symbol of Azazel?

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  10. You that dream about cat turning to human and called himself Azazel it means, you will have free mind and growth powerful soul

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  11. You that dream of cat turning to human, and called itself Azazel the dreams means you will grow powerful soul and a free mind person

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