The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources as an Element of Cultural Diffusion
Bożena Prochwicz-Studnicka
Jesuit University Ignatianum in Cracow , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1644-252X
Andrzej Mrozek
Jagiellonian University in Kraków , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3177-4530
Abstract
The article harks back to the publication entitled “The Motif of the Angel(s) of Death in Islamic Foundational Sources” (VV 38/2 [2020]), which was devoted to the analysis of the eponymous theme in the foundational sources of Islam: the Quran and the sunna of the Prophet Muhammad. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the motif of angel(s) may have been borrowed from two monotheistic traditions that came before. The verification of the thesis that the motif of the angel(s) of death underwent diffusion was carried out in several steps. First, the motif was identified in the textual traditions of Judaism and early Christianity (i.e. sets of texts that were known and, in all likelihood, widespread in the Middle East during the formative period of Islam). As a result of the analysis, most of the themes recognised in the foundational texts of Islam were found. The next step was to identify possible routes of their transmission and percolation into the Islamic tradition and to determine the “ideological demand” for the motif of the angel(s) of death in the burgeoning Islam. Although Jewish and Christian imagery and beliefs about angels are an important (if not the primary) source of influence on Muslim angelology, there was most likely a two-way interaction between the monotheistic traditions, albeit to a limited extent.
Keywords:
angels, death, cultural diffusion, Hebrew Bible, intertestamental literature, Talmud, Christian Apocrypha, Quran, sunna of the Prophet MuhammadReferences
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Jesuit University Ignatianum in Cracow
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 law, religious doctrine and the religious experience in the light of the Qur’ānic commentaries. An author of many publications, the latest of which include “The development of qadiship in the medieval Arab-Muslim world as an implication of the dissemination of writing”, Reti Medievali Rivista, 21 (2/2020) and “The motif of the angel(s) of death in Islamic foundational sources”, Verbum Vitae, 38 (2/2020).
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1644-252XJagiellonian University in Kraków
Andrzej Mrozek – Ph.D. in religious studies, a biblical scholar and researcher in Ancient Near East culture and religions (particular Ugarit). A translator and an author of many publications, the latest of which include Biblijne dyskursy tożsamościowe w czasach starożytnych i współcześnie: perspektywa kulturowa i edukacyjna, (co-author R. Jasnos), Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Igantianum, Kraków 2019 and W kręgu dyskursów biblijnych: różne wymiary identyfikacji – analiza w ujęciu kulturowym i edukacyjnym, (co-authors R. Jasnos, M. Baraniak), Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Igantianum, Kraków 2018.
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