Islamic mythology

{{short description|Body of myths associated with Islam}} {{Synthesis|article|date=August 2023}} {{Islam}} [[File:Siyer-i Nebi 298a.jpg|thumb|Muhammad and his companions advancing on Mecca, attended by the angels Jibril, Mikael, Israfil and Izrael. An illustration from Siyer-i Nebi.]] [[File:Miraj by Sultan Muhammad.jpg|thumb|Mi'raj by Sultan Muhammad in Persian literature]] '''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 rituals or myths.<ref name=leeming>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|title=Islamic Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPrhBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207|pages=207–211|publisher=Oxford University Press|year= 2005|author=David Leeming|isbn=9780190288884}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bolle |first1=Kees W. |author-link=Kees W. Bolle |last2=Smith |first2=Jonathan Z. |author-link2=Jonathan Z. Smith |last3=Buxton |first3=Richard G.A. |last4=Stefon |first4=Matt |date=2017-01-03 |title=myth |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/myth |access-date=2023-04-30 |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> The primary focus of Islam is the practical and rational practice and application of the Islamic law. Despite this focus, Islamic myths do still exist.<ref name="leeming" /> ''The Oxford Companion to World Mythology'' identifies a number of traditional narratives as "Islamic myths".<ref name=leeming/> 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''.<ref name=leeming/>

The traditional biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who 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.<ref name=leeming/> 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.<ref name=leeming/> In addition, Islamic scriptures contain a number of legendary narratives about biblical characters, which diverge from Jewish and Christian traditions in some details.<ref name=leeming/>

== Types of Islamic mythology == {{Main|Religion and mythology}} The two types of myth and legends that make up Islamic mythology are cosmogony and eschatology. Cosmogony is a part of cosmogonic and cosmological myths, which are myths that deal in matters of the creation and origins of the universe, and more specially, the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |pages=82}}</ref> A cosmology is a culture's specific story of creation, and how in that culture the universe is structured (the placement of the Earth, the stars, and the afterlife). These stores of creation explain in that specific culture the origin of people, the first "home", and the early place of people in the world.

Eschatology is a type of mythology that deals with the day of judgement, the end of the world, heaven, and hell.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |pages=125}}</ref> Translated Eschatology means the "discourse about the last things". Eschatology deals with the question and ultimate quest for what is the "ultimate purpose" of humans in this life.<ref name=":3" />

The discussion of religion in terms of mythology is a controversial topic.<ref name="leeming=preface">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|title=Preface|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQFtlva3HaYC&pg=PR7|page=vii|publisher=Oxford University Press|year= 2005|author=David Leeming|isbn=9780195156690}}</ref> The word "myth" is commonly used with connotations of falsehood,<ref name=grassie>{{cite journal |last1=Grassie |first1=William |date=March 1998 |title=Science as Epic? Can the modern evolutionary cosmology be a mythic story for our time? |journal=Science & Spirit |volume=9 |issue=1 |quote=The word 'myth' is popularly understood to mean idle fancy, fiction, or falsehood; but there is another meaning of the word in academic discourse. A myth, in this latter sense of the word, is a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture}}</ref> reflecting a legacy of the derogatory early Christian usage of the Greek word ''mythos'' in the sense of "fable, fiction, lie" to refer to classical mythology.<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', 1968, p. 162.</ref> However, the word is also used with other meanings in academic discourse. It may refer to "a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture"<ref name=grassie/> or to stories which a given culture regards as true (as opposed to fables, which it recognizes as fictitious).<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 1, 8-10; ''The Sacred and the Profane'', p. 95</ref>

== Creation myths == Creation myths are based on the Quran, the central scripture of Islam, and expanded upon in hadiths, Arabic and Persian writings, histories (''Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ''), Muslim poetry, philosophical essays, and mystical writings.<ref name=":6">Campo, J. E. (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam. USA: Facts On File. p. 171</ref> While through syncretism, Islamic creation myths assimilated to African and Asian beliefs, Islam reshaped the indigenous cultural accounts on the origin of the world to fit the central Quranic teaching that, ultimately, everything in existence was created by a monotheistic God (Allah).<ref name=":6" /> As consequence, all beings, especially humans, were expected to serve God alone.<ref name=":6" />

The Quran is heavily based by Middle Eastern descriptions of the origin of the world (cosmogony) and creation of mankind (anthropogony).<ref name=":6" /> However, the Quran never portrays any of these in a continuous story, but rather alludes to them in order to illustrate a message. It is only in the 7th century, Muslims began to reconcile Quranic passages with Biblical material. Since the Quran refers to Biblical accounts only partly, Biblical stories were either unknown at the times of the revelation of the Quran or did not matter to the early Muslim community to convey the Quranic message.<ref name=":6" />

===The creation of the world=== While in Islam there is no single story of creation, it is made clear that God is the one who created the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Creation stories in Islam - The existence of God - GCSE Religious Studies Revision - CCEA |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zv2fgwx/revision/8 |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}</ref> Four different verses in the Quran mentions that the heavens and earth (''As-Samāwāt Wa Al-Ard'') were created by God in six days,<ref name=AD23Y1994:162-3>Dashti, ''23 Years'', 1994: p.162-3</ref> with three verse mentioning creation and numbers of days—how many days it took to create only the earth (two days);<ref>{{qref|41|8|b=y}}</ref> provide mountains, nutrients, etc. (four days);<ref>{{qref|41|9|b=y}}</ref> God's giving of orders to heaven and earth;<ref>{{qref|41|10|b=y}}</ref> and creating the seven heavens (two days).<ref>{{qref|41|11|b=y}}</ref> The arithmetic of adding the numbers of days can be confusing, as critics (Ali Dashti) point out that two plus four plus two "increases creation from six to eight days",<ref name=AD23Y1994:163>Dashti, ''23 Years'', 1994: p.163</ref> but Quranic translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali argues that commentators understand the four days in verse Q.41:9 to include the two days in verse Q.41:10.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Meaning of the Glorious Quran |author=Abdullah Yusuf Ali |page=1288, note 4470 |publisher=Dar al-Kitab}}</ref>

In Sūrah al-Anbiyāʼ, verse {{qref|21|30}}, the heavens and the earth were joined ("of one piece") as one "unit of creation", after which they were "cloven asunder". God then created the landscape of the earth, placed the sky above it as a roof, and created the day and night cycles by appointing an orbit for both the sun and moon.<ref>{{qref|21|31-33|b=y}}</ref> <ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio301/content/iscrst.htm|title=Islam Creation Story|website=www2.nau.edu|access-date=2018-09-15}}</ref> The Quran states that the process of creation took ''sitta ayam'' (ستة أيام) or six periods.<ref>{{qref|7|54|b=y}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Critics note that modern cosmology does not fit well with creation of the universe in six (or eight) days and that it would be difficult to determine days before the sun and earth had been created,<ref name=AD23Y1994:163/><ref name="Ibn Warraq-WINaM-134">{{cite book |last1=Ibn Warraq |title=Why I'm Not a Muslim |date=1995 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst NY |pages=134–137}}</ref> but many preachers argue the word ''youm'' (plural ''ayam'') can be translated as "era" or "period", and sometimes is in translations of the Quran.<ref>Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran: {{qref|7|54}} Footnote- The word day is not always used in the Quran to mean a 24-hour period. According to {{qref|22|47}}, a heavenly Day is 1000 years of our time. The Day of Judgment will be 50 000 years of our time (see {{qref|70|4}}). Hence, the six Days of creation refer to six eons of time, known only by Allah.</ref>

===The creation of humanity===

==== Adam and the angels ==== thumb|The Angels meet Adam, the prototypical human being. They share, albeit to a lesser degree, the defiant reaction of Iblis, who haughtily turns his head away. Painting from a manuscript of the Manṭiq al-ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) of Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār. Iran, Shiraz, 899/1494. {{Mythology}} The creation of mankind is discussed along with the creation of angels and jinn. When God created the angels as inhabitants of the heavens and jinn and humans as inhabitants of the earth.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Chipman |first=Leigh |date=2002 |title=ADAM AND THE ANGELS: AN EXAMINATION OF MYTHIC ELEMENTS IN ISLAMIC SOURCES |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/15700580260375407 |journal=Arabica |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=429–455 |doi=10.1163/15700580260375407 |issn=0570-5398|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The first who lived on earth were the jinn. However, they fought each other until God sent an army of angels headed by Iblis, against them.<ref name=":5" /> Adam, representative for mankind as a whole, was created as their successor.<ref name=":5" /><ref>Mahmoud Ayoub ''The Qur'an and Its Interpreters, Volume 1'' SUNY Press, 1984 {{ISBN|9780873957274}} p. 73</ref><ref>Brannon Wheeler ''Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis'' A&C Black 2002 {{ISBN|9780826449566}} Page 16</ref> In the Bible, God announces to create mankind in the plural: "let us make man" (Hebrew: "na’aseh adam"), but it is not clear to whom the speech is addressed. While Jewish midrashim conjectured this might be the angels, the Quran is explicit about it: "When your Lord said to the angels: <blockquote>"‘Lo, I am going to place a vice-regent in the earth.‘ They said: ‘Wilt Thou place in it one who will work corruption and shed blood? We sing hymns in Thy praise and ascribe holiness to Thee.‘ He replied: ‘I know what ye know not.‘ "<ref name=":5" /></blockquote>Various theologicans and story writers, including Muqatil ibn Sulayman, Al-Tabari, and Ibn Kathir, narrate the creation account of mankind in the context of these verses.<ref name=":5" /> Muqatil ibn Sulayman explains, in his exegesis of the Quran, that after the angels defeated the jinn, they settled on earth. It is these angels whom God addressed when he announces to create Adam (mankind) as a deputy of the earth.<ref name=":5" /> Tabari also relates a tradition according to which only the angels who were sent to earth are addressed.<ref name=":5" /> Maqdisi and Al-Kisa'i, on the other hand, considers all angels to be addressed.<ref name=":5" /> The command to bow before Adam is seen as a test by God for the angels.<ref name=":5" /> The angels, either only from the angels of the earth or from all angels, oppose the creation of Adam for a variety of reasons.<ref name=":5" /> One major reason is due to the sins Adam's successor will commit, which is explicitly mentioned in the Quran.<ref name=":5" /> Another reason is, according to Hasan al-Basri and Abu Qatada al-Ansari, that angels consider themselves superior to Adam in terms of knowledge.<ref name=":5" /> Overall, the angelic opposition derives from a faulty analogy between Adam and the jinn.<ref name=":5" /> The angels do not know that from among mankind, there will be saints and prophets, despite the sinners among them.<ref name=":5" /> Eventually, the angels bow down, but Iblis. Angels who remained in opposition become devils.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Siḥr |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_7023 |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition}}</ref>

The reluctance of bowing down before Adam is also occasionally linked to Harut and Marut.<ref name=":5" /> Others assert that they fell much later and independent of Iblis. This pair of angels is said to have made critical remarks about mankind and their sinful behavior, while claiming moral superiority.<ref name=":5" /> Whereupon God challenged them to descend to earth and avoid committing three major sins. However, secuded by a woman, they succumb to all these sins and are not allowed to ascend back to heaven.<ref name=":5" /> Like devils, they tempt people into sin by teaching forbidden magic.<ref name=":7" /> {{underline|While the angels have no sex-characteristics at all, devils procreate bisexually}}.<ref>Dieste, Josep Lluís Mateo. Health and ritual in Morocco: Conceptions of the body and healing practices. Vol. 109. Brill, 2012. p. 30</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2025}}

==== Adam in the Garden ==== Adam is according to Islam, both the first human and the first prophet.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/knowyourislam0000lall|url-access=registration|title=Know your Islam|last=Lalljee|first=compiled by Yousuf N.|publisher=Taknike Tarsile Quran|year=1981|isbn=978-0-940368-02-6|edition=3rd|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/knowyourislam0000lall/page/71 71]}}</ref> The Quran says that he and his wife dwelled in Garden of Eden. Adam and his wife both eat from the forbidden ''Tree of Eternity''. According to the Quran, as punishment God declares the earth as a dwelling place for humans. Only due to free will, humans are able to produce ''good''. Thus, although Adam's disobedience created evil, only this made it possible to create good.<ref>P. Koslowski ''The Origin and the Overcoming of Evil and Suffering in the World Religions'' Springer Science & Business Media 2013 {{ISBN|9789401597890}} pp. 34-35</ref> The disobediences of Adam and his wife were already forgiven by God during their life.<ref>Amina Wadud ''Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective'' Oxford University Press 1999 {{ISBN|9780198029434}} p.25</ref><ref>{{qref|2|37|b=y}}</ref>

Islamic traditions are more extensive, adding further details into the Quranic creation narrative. According to a common narrative, God ordered the Archangels to collect a handful of soil from earth. But every time an archangel approached earth, the earth sought refuge in God, that it might not be distorted. All the archangels returned empty-handed, except Azrael, who succeeded because he sought refuge in God before, for that he will not return unsuccessful.<ref>Scott B. Noegel, Brannon M. Wheeler The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism Scarecrow Press 2010 {{ISBN|978-1-461-71895-6}} page 13</ref> Another common traditions, portrayed the body of Adam lying on the ground for forty years, whereupon Iblis became curious of the new creation. After investigating the lifeless body, he promised that, if he will gain authority over it, he will destroy it.<ref>Alexander Kulik, Catherine Mary MacRobert, Svetlina Nikolova, Moshe Taube, Cynthia M. Vakareliyska ''The Bible in Slavic Tradition'' BRILL 2016 {{ISBN|9789004313675}} p. 351</ref> In another tradition, it is not Azrael, but Iblis, included among the archangels, who succeeded in collecting soil from the earth, thus he later declined to prostrate himself before whose formation he just assisted.<ref>Leigh N. B. Chipman. "Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam's Creation in Judaism and Islam." Studia Islamica, no. 93, 2001, pp. 5–25. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1596106.</ref>

There is an extensive debate among the exegetes (''muffasirun'') on the creation of Eve as outlined in the foundational sources - Qur'an and Hadith. Surah an-Nisa verse one says "O people! Be mindful of your Lord who created you from a single soul (''nafsin wahida'') and created from it, its mate (''zawjaha'')..." Most Muslim exegetes have interpreted this verse as suggesting that Eve (''zawjaha'') is the secondary creation brought forth from Adam (''nafsin wahida''). Karen Bauer argues that since the nature and manner of Eve's creation in the Qur'an remains obscure, exegetes had no option but to read into the text of the Qur'an using Biblical, para-Biblical accounts and older myths.<ref name="Bauer">{{cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=Karen |title=Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781139649759 |page=104 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139649759 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139649759}}</ref> The first spouse, according to the Qur'anic narrative, was created from (''min'') and for man (''lahu'') (Q. 7:189), but the meaning of from (''min'') is not clear. The exegetes have understood this in two key ways: first, from the "crooked rib" and second, "of the same type (substance)" It is worth mentioning that the Bible presents both accounts - of the same type (Genesis 1:26-7) and from the rib (Genesis 2:20-4) (109). The creation of man in the Quran differed from the Bible in that man was not made like the image of God but in the best of creation and not from Earth's dust but specifically from a dried pottery-like dark red clay, and that humans were made from a mixed fluid droplet that was recreated into a clinging thing, and that God made from water every living thing and that Eve was made from the person of Adam not his rib.<ref>{{ cite book |last=Bucaille|first=Maurice |title=the bible Quran and science |publisher=Fixot / Seghers; 6th edition |date=1 December 1983 |language=English |pages=272}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Asad|first=Muhammad |author-link= |date= 1980|title=The Message of the Qur'ān, ebook |url=https://archive.org/details/messageofqurn00muha|location=Gibraltar|publisher=Dar al-Andalus}}</ref>[[File:Israfel blowing nafir.jpg|thumb|Islamic drawing of an angel blowing a nafir trumpet, probably Israfel.]]Muqatil b. Sulayman (d. 150/767), one of the earliest interpreters of the Qur'an says Eve was created from Adam's rib and this is reflected in her name - Eve (Hawwa), from the word living being (''hayy'').<ref name="Bauer, p. 112">Bauer, p. 112</ref>

Another early exegete, Hud b. Muhakkam al-Hawwari (d. 3rd/9th century) presents the same reading by referring it to al-Hasan al-Basri who reported from Muhammad that "indeed, woman was created from a rib, and if you wish to straighten her you break her."<ref name="Bauer, p. 112" /> Many traditionalist exegetes like al-Tabari, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, Maybudi, etc. have quoted these opinions. But others like Abu Ja'far Muhammad al-Baqir and Ibn Bahr argue that Eve was created "of the same type."<ref>Bauer, p. 117-124</ref> In the modern period, the creation of Eve continues to be intensely debated. Pakistani scholar of the Qur'an, Israr Ahmed (d. 2010) was of the opinion that with the advances in our knowledge due to modern science, the notion of Eve's creation from Adam's rib is against human observation and reason. He believes the "crooked rib" hadith is using a metaphor to make a point regarding the psychological nature of women. Israr, in the evolution of the animal kingdom from a unicellular being like an amoeba, sees a clear indication that the creation was brought forth from the first unicellular being in which the characteristic of biological sex did not exist.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Israr |title=The Process of Creation: A Qur'anic Perspective |date=2013 |publisher=Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Quran |location=Lahore |pages=32–35 |url=https://tanzeem.org/wp-content/uploads/files/pdf/english-books/Process_of_Creation.pdf}}</ref>

Islamic traditions often use figures similar to the Biblical narrative. Adam's wife is commonly named ''Hawa'', and the serpent reappears together with a peacock as two animals, which supported Iblis to slip into Adam's abode.<ref>Amira El-Zein Islam, ''Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn Syracuse University'' Press 2009 {{ISBN|9780815650706}} page 98-99</ref> Many denied, that the Garden in which Adam dwelled with his wife, was identical with the Paradise in afterlife. They rather lived in paradisical conditions before their fall, while after their fall, they need to work to survive. Unlike Christian mythology, in Islamic thought, they did not simply walk out of paradise, but fell out of it. Hawa was punished with childbirth and menstruation, while Adam became bald<ref name="ReferenceA">Patricia Crone ''Medieval Islamic Political Thought'' Edinburgh University Press, 11.03.2014 {{ISBN|9780748696505}}</ref> and the serpent lost its legs.

Regarding the creation of Muhammad, Islam developed the belief in the pre-existence of Muhammad.{{efn|The idea of Pre-Islamic Muhammad in deeply rooted in Islamic tradition and already attested in the Sunni-canonical collection (al-Tirmidhi). The association of Muhammads pre-existence with light can also be found in Ibn Ishaq's Sira. Later, both Sunni and Shia sources extended this motif to construct cosmological scenarios.<ref name="ReferenceB" />}} This posits that God created the spiritual nature of Muhammad before God created the universe or Adam.<ref>Macdonald, John. ''The Creation of Man and Angels in the Eschatological Literature: [Translated Excerpts from an Unpublished Collection of Traditions].'' Islamic Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 1964, pp. 285–308. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20832755.</ref> Following this belief, Muhammad was the first prophet created, but the last one sent to mankind.<ref name="ReferenceB">Marion Holmes Katz The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam Routledge 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-135-98394-9}} page 13</ref> When Adam walked in heaven, he once read the ''Shahada'' inscripted in the Throne of God, a belief attested by Al-Bayhaqi, who attributes it to Umar.<ref>Uri Rubin, "Pre-Existence and Light—Aspects of the Concept of Nūr Muḥammad", Israel Oriental Studies 5 (1975), 62–119 [Reprinted in: Uri Rubin, Muhammad the Prophet and Arabia, Variorum Collected Studies Series (Ashgate, 2011) p. 106)</ref> In a Shia version, the inscription also mentions Ali.<ref>M.J. Kister Adam: ''A Study of Some Legends in Tafsir and Hadit Literature'' Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of The Qur'an, Oxford 1988 p.129</ref>

== Structure of the world == [[File:Islamic cosmology.jpg|thumb|200px|Map of the world according to Zakariya al-Qazwini. The world is carried by a fish (Leviathan), a bull (Behemoth) and an angel.<ref>M. Th. Houtsma ''E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Band 4'' BRILL, 1993 {{ISBN|9789004097902}} p. 615</ref>]] The traditionalist account on the structure of the world is deeply embedded in the larger context of Middle Eastern mythological cosmology.<ref name=":4">Heinen, A. (2012). Samāʾ. In P. Bearman (ed.), ''Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English)''. Brill. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0991</nowiki></ref> In contrast to the philosophical and some views deriving from speculative theology (''Kalām''), which agrees with Hellenistic cosmology on the distinction between a lower material world and an unchanging celestial world, the traditionalists describe both the earthly world and the heavens as composed of material nature.<ref name=":4" />

Accordingly, the heavens span in a dome-like structure over the earths, arranged in horizontal layers one upon another.<ref name=":4" /> At top stands the Throne of God (''Al-ʽArsh'') separated from the seven heavens below. The lowest heaven is often associated with a firmly-enclosed water of a celestial ocean.<ref name=":4" /> Below the heavens follow the seven earths.<ref name=":4" /> The earths are likewise also part of the supernatural cosmos and serve as gradual stages of hell.<ref name=":4" /> The surface is inhabited by humans, the lower stages are the abode of destructive winds and djinn, followed by brimstones of hell, scorpions and vipers, and eventually the devils at the bottom.<ref name=":4" />

==The ''Kaaba''== According to Islamic mythology, God instructed Adam to construct a building (called the ''Kaaba'') to be the earthly counterpart of the House of Heaven and that Ibrahim ''(Abraham)'' and Ismail ''(Ishmael)'' later rebuilt it on its original foundations after was destroyed in the flood of Nuh ''(Noah)''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAdbCq8HQBIC&pg=PA5|title=The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between Islam and Christianity|author=M. J. Akbar|page=5|isbn=9780415284707|year=2002}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1225|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209165602/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1225|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 9, 2016|title=Kaaba - Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-15|quote=Cube-shaped "House of God" located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Focal point of the hajj pilgrimage and a world spiritual center that all Muslims face during prayer. Muslims believe that it was built by Abraham (Ibrahim) and Ishmael (Ismail); some believe Adam built it and Abraham and Ishmael only rebuilt it. Often called the earthly counterpart to God's throne in heaven. Circumambulated seven times during the hajj ritual in imitation of angels circumambulating God's throne. Contains the Black Stone, which pilgrims often try to touch or kiss during circumambulations, believing that it physically absorbs sin; all pilgrims salute the stone as a gesture of their renewed covenant with God. Covered with a cloth called kiswah, which is embroidered with verses from the Quran.}}</ref> According to other opinions, Ibrahim and Ismail were the first to build it.<ref name=":1" /> As Ismail was searching for a stone to mark a corner with, he met with the angel Jibrail ''(Gabriel)''. Jibrail gave him the Black Stone. According to the ''hadith'',<ref>{{Href|tirmidhi|877|b=yl}}</ref> the Black Stone is reported to have been milky white after being descended from Heaven but was rendered black due to the sins of the people, who had touched it.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Stone-of-Mecca|title=Black Stone of Mecca {{!}} Islam|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-09-15|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=New Light on the Origin of the Holy Black Stone of the Ka'ba|last=Elsebeth|first=Thompson|journal = Meteoritics|volume = 15|issue = 1|pages = 87–91|bibcode = 1980Metic..15...87T|year = 1980|doi = 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1980.tb00176.x}}</ref> Muslims do not worship the Black Stone.<ref>{{Cite CiteSeerX|title=Muslim Pilgrimage as Education by Experience|last=Hedin|first=Christer|page=176|citeseerx = 10.1.1.1017.315}}</ref>

The ''Kaaba'' was originally intended as a symbolic house for the one monotheistic God. However, according to Islamic mythology, after Ibrahim's death, people started to fill the ''Kaaba'' with "pagan idols". When Muhammad conquered Mecca after his exile, he removed the idols from the ''Kaaba''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/pillars/fasting/tajuddin/fast_76.html|title=Cmje|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201161759/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/pillars/fasting/tajuddin/fast_76.html|archive-date=2009-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/260|title=Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys|website=bridgingcultures.neh.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-09-15|archive-date=2018-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010194902/http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/260|url-status=dead}}</ref> The inside of the ''Kaaba'' is now empty.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://insideislam.wisc.edu/2012/02/important-sites-the-kaba/|title=Important Sites: The Kaba|date=2012-02-14|work=Inside Islam|access-date=2018-09-15|language=en-US}}</ref> It now stands as an important pilgrimage site, which all Muslims are supposed to visit at least once if they are able (''Hajj'').<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e771|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001024405/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e771|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 1, 2015|title=Hajj - Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-15}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day while facing in the ''Kaaba''<nowiki/>'s direction (''qibla'').<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.stephens.edu/arh101glossary/?glossary=qibla|title=qibla {{!}} Art History Glossary|website=blog.stephens.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-15}}</ref>

==Events== * Creation - a six-stages creative act by God * Fall of man - expulsion from Heaven * Deluge and Noah's (Nuh's) Ark- flood-event. Unlike Christianity, the flood might be either global or local * The Exodus - Story of Moses leaving Egypt, whereupon God reveals Tawrat to him on biblical Mount Sinai * Qiyamah - the Day of Resurrection; a fundamental element of Islamic eschatology that incorporates much from the Jewish and Christian traditions

== In Salafi thought == Beginning as a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and the threat of Western colonialism, Salafi reformism sought out a more practical model to "restore the ''ummah''", downplaying mystical, cosmic, and mythological aspects attributed to Muhammad, while simultaneously emphasizing the social and political role of the ''sunnah''.<ref>Daniel W. Brown ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'' Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|9780521653947 }} p. 65</ref>

Many adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood reject most traditional Islamic mythological narratives. Sayyid Qutb attempted to break the connection between Khidr and the Quran, eliminating his identification with God's servant mentioned in Surah 18. Accordingly, adherents of Qutbist thought began to no longer perceive Khidr (and his corresponding mythology) as related to Islam.<ref>Quintan Wiktorowicz ''Quintan Wiktorowicz'' Pages 207-239 | Received 10 Jan 2005, Accepted 12 Apr 2005, Published online: 19 Aug 2006</ref> The teachings of Sulaiman Ashqar disapprove of many records about the traditional material regarding angels, including the Classical scholars who used them, which has led to a marginalization of Islamic thought of angels, including names and stories regarding their origin.<ref>Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi Akhbar al-malik Routledge 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-136-50473-0}} p. 13-14</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * ''The Holy Quran''. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. [http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/HolKora.html Available online]. * {{cite book |last1=Dashti |first1=`Ali |title=Twenty Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad |year=1994 |url=https://1400years.org/books/twentythreeyearsEN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425032900/http://www.1400years.org/books/twentythreeyearsEN.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 25, 2015 |access-date=10 April 2019 |ref=AD23Y1994 }} * Mircea Eliade. ''Myth and Reality''. Trans. Willard R. Trask. NY: Harper & Row (Harper Torchbooks), 1968. *{{cite book |last1=Ibn Warraq |title=Why I Am Not a Muslim |publisher=Prometheus Books |year=1995 |url=http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/books/Ibn%20Warraq%20-%20Why%20I%20Am%20Not%20a%20Muslim.pdf |access-date=25 April 2019 |ref=iWWINaM1995}} * Robert A. Segal. ''Myth: A Very Short Introduction''. NY: Oxford UP, 2004. * Huston Smith. ''The Religions of Man''. NY: Harper & Row (Perennial Library), 1965. * Zong In-Sob. ''Folk Tales From Korea'', Third Edition. Elizabeth: Hollym International, 1982.

==External links== {{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic mythology}} Category:Islamic mythology