page_title: Islamic mythology
section_title: Spiritual creatures
hierarchical_section_title: Islamic mythology / Spiritual creatures
caption_attribution_description: English: Islamic drawing of an angel blowing a horn, probably Israfel
context_page_description: Islamic mythology is the body of myths associated with Islam and the Quran. Islam is a religion that is more concerned with social order and law than with religious ritual or myths. The Oxford Companion to World Mythology identifies a number of traditional narratives as "Islamic myths". These include a creation myth and a vision of afterlife, which Islam shares with the other Abrahamic religions, as well as the distinctively Islamic story of the Kaaba.
  The traditional biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which plays a central role in Islamic teachings, is generally recognized as being largely historical in nature, and Islam depends less on mythology than Judaism and Christianity. However, the canonical narrative includes two key supernatural events: the divine revelation of the Quran and the Isra and Mi'raj — the night journey to Jerusalem followed by the ascension to the Seventh Heaven. In addition, Islamic scriptures contain a number of legendary narratives about biblical characters, which diverge from Jewish and Christian traditions in some details.
context_section_description: In the Quran, fire (nar) makes up the basic substance for spiritual entities, in contrast to humans created from clay (tin). Islamic traditions state more precisely, how different spiritual creatures were created. Islamic mythology commonly acknowledges three different types of spiritual entities:
  Angels, created from light (nur) or fire (nar): the heavenly hosts, and servants of God. Eminent among them are the four Archangels (Jabra'il, Mika'il, Azra'il and Israfil), Kiraman Katibin, who record a person's good and bad deeds, Maalik, who guards the Hellfire, Munkar and Nakir, two angels questioning the dead and Harut and Marut, two angels instructed to test mankind by teaching of knowledge of magic.
  Jinn, created from a mixture of fire and air or smokeless fire (marigin min nar): morally ambivalent creatures, can convert to Islam and are subject to salvation or damnation. Jann is usually perceived as an ancestor of the jinn. Shayatin, are a malevolent type of Jinn. Not all Jinn are Shayatin but all Shayatin are Jinn.  comparable to Christian demons or devils, usually regarded as the offspring of Iblis, who is the head of shayatin. They tempt humans into sin by wispering to them. In Islamic folklore, Ifrit and Marid are usually two powerful classes of shayatin.
  Other prominent creatures within Islamic mythological traditions are Buraq, Houris and Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog). Later, spiritual entities from other cultures were identified with whose of the Quran and assimilated to Islamic lore, such as Peri of Persian- Ghoul of Arabian- and İye of Turkic origin.
caption: Islamic drawing of an angel blowing a horn, probably Israfil
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