Angels in Islam: a commentary with selected translations of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī’s Al-Ḥabā’ik fī akhbār almalā’ik (The Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels)
dc.contributor.advisor
Hillenbrand, Carole
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dc.contributor.author
Burge, Stephen Russell
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dc.contributor.sponsor
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
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dc.date.accessioned
2010-10-28T14:16:29Z
dc.date.available
2010-10-28T14:16:29Z
dc.date.issued
2010
dc.description.abstract
This thesis presents a commentary with selected translations of Jalāl al-Dīn cAbd al-
Raḥmān al-Suyūṭī’s Al-Ḥabā’ik fī akhbār al-malā’ik (The Arrangement of the
Traditions about Angels). The work is a collection of around 750 ḥadīth about
angels, followed by a postscript (khātima) that discusses theological questions
regarding their status in Islam.
The first section of this thesis looks at the state of the study of angels in
Islam, which has tended to focus on specific issues or narratives. However, there has
been little study of the angels in Islamic tradition outside studies of angels in the
Qur’an and eschatological literature. This thesis hopes to present some of this more
general material about angels.
The following two sections of the thesis present an analysis of the whole
work. The first of these two sections looks at the origin of Muslim beliefs about
angels, focusing on angelic nomenclature and angelic iconography. The second
attempts to understand the message of al-Suyūṭī’s collection and the work’s purpose,
through a consideration of the roles of angels in everyday life and ritual. The
translation and annotated commentary that follow focus on angels mentioned in the
Qur’ān itself: Gabriel, Michael, Isrāfīl, the Angel of Death, the Bearers of the
Throne, the Spirit, Riḍwān, Mālik, the Guardians of Heaven and Hell, al-Sijill, Hārūt,
Mārūt and the Sakīna.
The aim of the thesis is to open up the study of the angelic world of the
ḥadīth, beyond the eschatological material and to show the vitality of Muslim beliefs
about angels in Islamic tradition.
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dc.identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1842/4110
dc.language.iso
en
dc.publisher
The University of Edinburgh
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dc.relation.references
Jalāl al-Dīn cAbd al-Raḥmān al-Suyūṭī’s Al-Ḥabā’ik fī akhbār al-malā’ik (The Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels).
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dc.subject
Islam
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dc.subject
angels
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dc.subject
Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn al-
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dc.title
Angels in Islam: a commentary with selected translations of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī’s Al-Ḥabā’ik fī akhbār almalā’ik (The Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels)
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dc.type
Thesis or Dissertation
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dc.type.qualificationlevel
Doctoral
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dc.type.qualificationname
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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