Sunday, May 30, 2010

Archangels and Lucifer



Archangels and Lucifer

Jegudiel, Selaphiel, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel : They are archangels.

Jegudiel as laudation of god from eastern orthodox culture,

Selaphiel from the second book of Esdras also from Eastern Orthodox tradition,

Michael from Bible is named as the field commander of the army of god (in the vision of Daniel, Michael has been described as the protector of Israel)

Gabriel from Gospel of Luke, also the messenger from god who in Islamic views was the mediul through whom god revealed the Quran to Mohammad. He is considered the chief of the four favored angels and the spirit of truth. Islam says that he is the creator of Holy Spirit.

Raphael from Book of Tobit, (It is God who heals). This angel is also the doctor of medicine thus echoing the healing function traditionally attributed to this angel
Uriel from Book of Enoch.

Islam named Archangels as Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Azrael. But many have acknowledged several archangels and among them the fallen archangel Lucifer famously known as Satan was an archangel until he rebelled against God who then had Michael cast him down to Hell from heaven. Malakhi Elohim or angels of god or malakhi Adomai or angels of the lord, sons of God and the Holy ones are all considered Angelic Messengers.

Lucifer -the Morning Star tried to rise high over the clouds and begin himself on the mountain where the gods assembled, in the far north, but was cast down into the underworld.

When Allah commanded all of the angels to bow down before Adam (the first Human), Iblis, full of hubris and jealousy, refused to obey Allah's command (he could do so because, as a jinn, he had free will), seeing Adam as being inferior in creation due to his being created from clay as compared to him (created of fire).
"It is We Who created you and gave you shape; then we bade the angels prostrate to Adam, and they prostrate; not so Iblis (Lucifer); He refused to be of those who prostrate."
(Allah) said: "What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?" He said: "I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay."
Qur'an 7:11–12
It was after this that the title of "Shaitan" was given, which can be roughly translated as "Mischievous" or "Devil". Shaitan then claims that if the punishment for his act of disobedience is to be delayed until the Day of Judgment, that he will divert many of Adam's own descendants from the straight path during his period of respite.Allah accepts the claims of Iblis and guarantees recompense to Iblis and his followers in the form of Hellfire. To test mankind and jinn alike, Allah allowed Iblis to roam the earth to attempt to convert others away from his path. He was sent to earth along with Adam and Eve, after eventually luring them into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree.

Joseph Campbell illustrates an unorthodox Islamic reading of Lucifer's fall from Heaven, which champions Lucifer's eclipsing love for God:
One of the most amazing images of love that I know is in Persian – a mystical Persian representation as Satan as the most loyal lover of God. You will have heard the old legend of how, when God created the angels, he commanded them to pay worship to no one but himself; but then, creating man, he commanded them to bow in reverence to this most noble of his works, and Lucifer refused – because, we are told, of his pride. However, according to this Muslim reading of his case, it was rather because he loved and adored God so deeply and intensely that he could not bring himself to bow before anything else, and because he refused to bow down to something inferior to him (since he was made of fire, and man from clay). And it was for that that he was flung into Hell, condemned to exist there forever, apart from his love.