Islamic Mythology
This is a body of myths that are associated with Islam & the Quran. These include a creation myth & a vision of the afterlife. The 2 types of myth & legends that make up Islamic mythology are cosmogony & eschatology.
The creation myths are based on the Quran, & expanded on in habits, Arabic & Persian writings, histories (Qisas al-anbiya), Muslim poetry, philosophical essays, & mystical writings.
There’s no 1 single story of creation, unlike in Christianity. It’s made clear that God is the 1 who created the world. The number of days in the creation story varies between 6-8 days.
In Islam, God created the angels as inhabitants of the heavens & jinn (& humans) as inhabitants of the earth. The 1st entities who lived on earth were the jinn. However, they fought each other until God sent an army of angels headed God sent an army of angels headed by Iblis (a.k.a. Satan), against them. Adam, a representative for mankind as a whole, was created as their successor.
In the Christian bible, God says He’s going to make mankind, in the plural: “…let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” It’s not clear to whom God is speaking to. In Jewish midrashism, it’s thought God is talking to the angels, maybe.
The Quran is explicit about it: “When your Lord said to the angels…” In an exegesis of the Quran, after the angels defeated the jinn, they settled on earth. It’s these angels whom God addressed when he announced to create Adam (mankind) as a deputy of God.
The angels, either only from the angels of the earth or from all angels oppose the creation of Adam for a variety of reasons. One major reason is due to the sins Adam’s successor will commit, which is explicitly mentioned in the Quran.
Another reason is that angels consider themselves superior to Adam, in terms of knowledge. The angelic opposition derives from a faulty analogy between Adam & the jinn. The angels don’t know that from among mankind, there will be saints & prophets. Despite the sinners among them. Eventually, the angels bow down, except for Iblis. Angels who remained in opposition to Adam became devils/demons.
According to Islam, Adam isn’t only the 1st human being, & man, but also the 1st prophet. The Quran says that Adam & Eve lives in the Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve both eat from the forbidden “Tree of Eternity.” According to the Quran, as punishment God declares the earth as a dwelling place for humans.
Only due to free will, humans are able to produce good. Although Adam’s disobedience created evil, only this made it possible to create good. The disobediences of Adam & Eve were already forgiven by God during their life.
According to a common narrative, God ordered the Archangels to collect a handful of soil from earth. But every time an archangel approached earth, the Earth sought refuge in God, that it might not be distorted.
All the archangels returned empty-handed. Except for Azrael, who succeeded because he sought refuge in God before, for that he’ll not return unsuccessful.
Another common tradition pictured the body of Adam lying on the ground for 40 years, whereupon Iblis became curious about the new creation. After investigating the lifeless body, he promised that, if he’ll gain authority over it, he’ll destroy it.
In another tradition, it’s not Azrael, but Iblis, included among the archangels, who succeeded in collecting soil from the earth. Thus he later declined to prostrate/bow himself before whose creation/formation he just helped.
The heavens span in a dome-like structure over the earths (yep, plural), arranged in horizontal layers 2 upon another. At the top sits Big G’s (or in this case, Big A’s) Throne (Al-‘Arsh) separated from the 7 heavens below.
The lowest heaven is often associated with a firmly-enclosed water of a celestial ocean. Below the heavens are the 7 earths. The Earth’s are also part of the supernatural cosmos & serve as gradual stages of hell.
The surface is inhabited by humans, the lower stages are abode of destructive winds & djinn, followed by brimstones of hell, scorpions, & vipers. With the devil, eventually, at the bottom.
According to Islamic mythology, God instructed Adam to construct a building (the Kaaba) to be the earthly counterpart of the House of Heaven & that Ibrahim (Abraham) & Ismail (Ishmael) later rebuilt it on its original foundations after it was destroyed in the flood of Nuh (Noah).
According to other versions, Ibrahim & his son, Ismail, were the 1st to build the Kaaba. As Ismail was searching for a stone to mark a corner with, he met with the angel Jibrail (Gabriel). Jibrail gave Ismail the Black Stone.
According to the Hadith, the Black Stone is reported to have milky white after being descended from Heaven but was made black due to the sins of the people, who had touched it. The Black Stone itself isn’t worshipped by Muslims.
The Kaaba was originally intended as a symbolic house for the 1 monotheistic God. After Ibrahim’s death, people started to fill the Kaaba with “pagan idols.” When Muhammad conquered Mecca after his exile, he removed the idols from the Kaaba.
The inside of the Kaaba is empty. It’s now an important pilgrimage site. All Muslims are supposed to visit at least 1 time, if they are able to (called the Hajj). Muslims are supposed to pray 5x a day while facing the Kaaba/Mecca’s direction.
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