Angelic · Archangels · c. 650 CE

Israfil

Also called Israfeel, Raphael (conflated) · also recorded as Isrāfīl, Israfel, Esrafil, Azrafil (per Wikidata)

The angel of the trumpet, who will sound the blast that ends the world and the second that raises the dead.

Public domain · Unknown illustrator · Wikimedia Commons file page

18attested

Single lineage

CelestialArchangelIslamic

Israfil is not named in the Qur'an but is firmly established in hadith and later tradition as bearer of the horn (as-Sur). Descriptions have him poised with the trumpet at his lips since creation, waiting for the command. Western writers have often merged him with Raphael on the strength of the trumpet, though the two offices have entirely separate origins.

Identity

Where does the name come from?

Where it was actually worshipped

None. The trumpet is for the end rather than for a festival, and Islam builds nothing for angels.

A figure with temples and a figure that only ever existed on a page are different kinds of thing, and the difference is easy to lose once both are entries in a list.

At a glance

Vitals

Also known as

IsrafeelRaphael (conflated)IsrāfīlIsrafelEsrafilAzrafil

First attested: Qur'an & Hadith · 7th c. CE onward
Rank: Archangel
Order: Archangels
Base of operations: None. The trumpet is for the end rather than for a festival, and Islam builds nothing for angels.
Era: c. 650 CE
Traditions: Islamic
Placed in: The Great Archangels The Offices of the Mala'ika

Traits

Domain: The last day, resurrection
Traditional form: Four-winged, horn at the lips

Stats

Source base18/100

AuthorityOne of the four great archangels

Texts naming it1

Powers attributed2

Known connections

Identified with

Raphael

2 attributed

What is it said to do?

Where these powers cluster

The 2 offices attributed to Israfil, grouped by kind. Segment width is the share of powers falling in each category.

A bar dominated by one colour means a specialist; an even spread means a figure the sources credit with almost anything.

martial1
knowledge1

martial

Executes Judgment Qur'an & Hadith

knowledge

Bears Messages Qur'an & Hadith

1 texts

Which texts say so?

Qur'an & Hadith7th c. CE onward

IsrafilArchangel

Holds the trumpet and awaits the command to sound it; named in hadith among the greatest angels.

Connections

What is it connected to?

Historical depiction of Raphael, Archangel

Identified with Raphael

The trumpeting archangel, matched across the Islamic and Christian lists. Recorded by Wikidata (P460); not asserted by a text this corpus carries.

Placement

Where does it sit in the hierarchies?

The Great Archangels

Named elsewhere → Israfil

Bearer of the trumpet, in hadith.

alongside Uriel, Azrael, Metatron, Raziel

The Offices of the Mala'ika

The great archangels → Israfil

Holds the trumpet, waiting.

alongside Gabriel, Michael, Azrael

Answered from the sources

Common questions

Which texts mention Israfil?

ColossiansOne records 1 text naming Israfil: Qur'an & Hadith. The earliest is Qur'an & Hadith (7th c. CE onward), which gives the name as Israfil.

Is Israfil the same as Raphael?

ColossiansOne records the link as "identified with" rather than as simple identity. The trumpeting archangel, matched across the Islamic and Christian lists. Recorded by Wikidata (P460); not asserted by a text this corpus carries. Where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is shown rather than resolved.

What rank is Israfil?

Israfil is ranked as Archangel in Qur'an & Hadith. Rank in this material is a claim made by a particular text, not a fixed property of the figure.

How else is Israfil spelled?

The name appears as Israfeel, Raphael (conflated), Isrāfīl, Israfel, Esrafil and Azrafil. Variation on this scale is the norm: these names cross Ugaritic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and vernacular transmission, and each step reshapes the spelling. Every profile records the name as each text gives it.

What is Israfil said to do?

The sources credit Israfil with 2 distinct powers or offices, including Executes Judgment and Bears Messages. Each is attributed on the profile to the text that claims it. ColossiansOne describes what the texts say; it does not endorse the claims or reproduce them as instruction.

How old is Israfil?

The earliest attestation in this corpus dates to c. 650 CE. That is when the name first appears in a surviving text, which is a lower bound rather than an origin — a figure known from three tablets was probably named in many more that did not survive. Israfil is classified as celestial in ColossiansOne.

Nearest in the corpus

If Israfil is what you came for, these are next

Chosen by proximity rather than by popularity: the same pantheon first, then the same rank, then the same kind of figure.