Fallen angel

=== Harut and Marut ===
[[File:FallenAngelsHarutandMarut.jpg|thumb|upright|The angels [[Harut and Marut]] punished by hanging over the well, without wings and hair ({{Circa|1703}})]]
Harut and Marut are a pair of angels mentioned in Surah 2:102 teaching magic. Although the reason behind their stay on earth is not mentioned in the Quran, the following narration became canonized in Islamic tradition.<ref>Stephen Burge ''Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik'' Routledge 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-136-50474-7}} p. 8</ref> The [[tafsir|Quran exegete]] [[Al-Tabari|Tabari]] attributed this story to [[Ibn Masud]] and [[Ibn Abbas]]<ref>Amira El-Zein ''Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn'' Syracuse University Press 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-8156-5070-6}} p. 40</ref> and is also attested by [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]].<ref>Reynolds, Gabriel Said, "Angels", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson. Consulted online on 16 October 2019 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204> Erste Online-Erscheinung: 2009 Erste Druckedition: {{ISBN|978-90-04-18130-4}}, 2009, 2009-3</ref> Briefly summarized, the angels complain about the mischievousness of mankind and make a request to destroy them. Consequently, God offers a test to determine whether or not the angels would do better than humans for long: the angels are endowed with human-like urges and [[Satan#Islam|Satan]] has power over them. The angels choose two (or in some accounts three) among themselves. However, on Earth, these angels entertain and act upon sexual desires and become guilty of idol worship, whereupon they even kill an innocent witness of their actions. For their deeds, they are not allowed to ascend to heaven again.<ref>Hussein Abdul-Raof ''Theological Approaches to Qur'anic Exegesis: A Practical Comparative-Contrastive Analysis'' Routledge 2012 {{ISBN|978-1-136-45991-7}} p. 155</ref> 

Probably the names ''Harut'' and ''Marut'' are of [[Zoroastrian]] origin and derived from two [[Amesha Spenta]]s called [[Haurvatat]] and [[Ameretat]].<ref>Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, p. 10</ref> Although the Quran gave these fallen angels Iranian names, {{transl|fa|[[mufassir]]s}} recognized them as from the ''Book of Watchers''. In accordance with [[3 Enoch]], [[Hisham ibn al-Kalbi|al-Kalbi]] (737 AD – 819 AD) named three angels descending to earth, and he even gave them their Enochian names. He explained that one of them returned to heaven and the other two changed their names to Harut and Marut.<ref>Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, pp. 10–11</ref> However, like in the story of Iblis, the story of Harut and Marut does not contain any trace of angelic revolt. Rather, the stories about fallen angels are related to a rivalry between humans and angels.<ref>Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, p. 11</ref> As the Quran affirms, Harut and Marut are sent by God and, unlike the Watchers, they only instruct humans to witchcraft by God's permission,<ref>Annette Yoshiko Reed ''Fallen Angels and the Afterlives of Enochic Traditions in Early Islam'' University of Pennsylvania 2015 p. 6</ref> just as Iblis can just tempt humans by God's permission.<ref>Alberdina Houtman, Tamar Kadari, Marcel Poorthuis, Vered Tohar ''Religious Stories in Transformation: Conflict, Revision and Reception'' Brill 2016 {{ISBN|978-90-04-33481-6}} p. 78</ref>