The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources
Bożena Prochwicz-Studnicka
Ignatianum Academy in Kraków , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1644-252X
Abstract
The article aims at presenting the motif of the angel(s) of death in the foundational texts of Islam, i.e. the Quran, and in the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. The scope of the research was limited to the dynamic motifs and therefore involves only the angels who participate in events associated with the time in which a person dies. The first part of the present study provides an overview of the foundational sources of Islam and the second consists of an analysis of the eponymous theme which is featured in them. At the end, an attempt has been made to draw conclusions as far as the conceptual and imagery dimensions of the motif are concerned.
Keywords:
angels, death, soul, Qura, sunna of the Prophet MuhammadReferences
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Ignatianum Academy in Kraków
Bożena Prochwicz-Studnicka, Ph.D. in Arabic studies, an assistant professor in the Institute of Cultural Studies (Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow). A researcher exploring the classical Arab-Muslim world, especially the influence of the communication systems on Arabic culture as well as Islamic religious doctrine and the religious experience in the light of the Qur’ānic commentaries. The author of many publications, the latest of which include the following: Motyw jaskini w tradycjach chrześcijaństwa i islamu, [in:] Pomiędzy rajem a piekłem. Tradycja judeochrześcijańska a Koran (co-authors – A. Mrozek and M. Teperska-Klasińska), „Estetyka i Krytyka”, 23 (4)/2011, pp. 183-204; Motyw jaskini w tradycjach chrześcijaństwa i islamu, [in:] Religie w świecie śródziemnomorskim (co-authors – A. Mrozek and M. Teperska-Klasińska), ed. K. Kochańczyk-Bonińska, L. Misiarczyk, Warszawa 2014, pp. 111-148. The formation and the development of the Arabic script from the earliest times until its standardisation, “The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series 9 (1/2019)”; The Origins of the Great Significance of Writing in the Arab-Muslim Culture, “Anthropos” 113.2018/1, Ibn al-Ğawzī, “Historie bystrych umysłów” (Aḫbār al-aḏkiyā’), „Przegląd Orientalistyczny” 1–2/2018; Boże miłosierdzie i jego (nie)ograniczoność w świetle Koranu, [in:] Interdyscyplinarne spojrzenie na doświadczenie miłosierdzia, ed. P. Sawa, Katowice 2018, pp. 209-228.
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