Islamic mythology#Islamic creation narrative

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.{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |pages=82}} 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.{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |pages=125}} 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.

{{Main|Religion and mythology}}

The discussion of religion in terms of mythology is a controversial topic.{{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}} The word "myth" is commonly used with connotations of falsehood,{{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}} 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.Eliade, Myth and Reality, 1968, p. 162. 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" or to stories which a given culture regards as true (as opposed to fables, which it recognizes as fictitious).Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 1, 8-10; The Sacred and the Profane, p. 95

{{main|Biblical and Quranic narratives}}

The Quran includes many biblical narratives. Central figures, such as Moses (Musa),{{qref|17|2|b=y}} Abraham (Ibrahim),{{qref|14|35-53|b=y}} Joseph (Yūsuf), Mary (Maryam){{qref|19|16-33|b=y}} and Jesus (Isa), reappear throughout the Quran. However, in contrast to the Biblical narratives, the Quran only provides a summary of a certain story, and gets into the religio-moral point, rather scattered through the Quran, instead of offering such narrations in a chronological order. More extensive details about stories incorporated by the Quran were taken from extra-Islamic sources (Isra'iliyyat). Alluding that such stories were of Jewish origin, in fact, Isra'iliyyats may also derive from other religions, such as Christianity or Zoroastrianism.Isabel Lang Intertextualität als hermeneutischer Zugang zur Auslegung des Korans: Eine Betrachtung am Beispiel der Verwendung von Israiliyyat in der Rezeption der Davidserzählung in Sure 38: 21-25 Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH, 31.12.2015 {{ISBN|9783832541514}} p. 30 (German) Many of them were stored in Qisas Al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets), but also integrated in Quranic exegesis (Tafsir). Although important in early Tafsir, later scholars discouraged the usage of Isra'iliyyats.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 158 Besides narrations from the canonical Bible, Islam further adapted Apocryphal and Midrashic writings.Isabel Lang Intertextualität als hermeneutischer Zugang zur Auslegung des Korans: Eine Betrachtung am Beispiel der Verwendung von Israiliyyat in der Rezeption der Davidserzählung in Sure 38: 21-25 Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH, 31.12.2015 {{ISBN|9783832541514}} p. 98 (German)

{{See also|Genesis creation narrative}}

While in Islam there is no single story of creation, it is made clear that God is the one who created the world.{{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}} Four different verses in the Quran mentions that the heavens and earth (As-Samāwāt Wa Al-Ard) were created by God in six days,{{qref|10|3|b=y}}, {{qref|7|52|b=y}}, {{qref|11|9|b=y}},{{qref|50|37|b=y}}Dashti , 23 Years, 1994: p.162-3 with three verse mentioning creation and numbers of days—how many days it took to create only the earth (two days);{{qref|41|8|b=y}} provide mountains, nutrients, etc. (four days);{{qref|41|9|b=y}} God's giving of orders to heaven and earth;{{qref|41|10|b=y}} and creating the seven heavens (two days).{{qref|41|11|b=y}} 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",Dashti , 23 Years, 1994: p.163 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.{{cite book |title=The Meaning of the Glorious Quran |author=Abdullah Yusuf Ali |page=1288, note 4470 |publisher=Dar al-Kitab}}

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.{{qref|21|31-33|b=y}}

{{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}} The Quran states that the process of creation took sitta ayam (ستة أيام) or six periods.{{qref|7|54|b=y}} 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,{{cite book |last1=Ibn Warraq |title=Why I'm Not a Muslim |date=1995 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst NY |pages=134–137}} but many preachers argue the word youm (plural ayam) can be translated as "era" or "period", and sometimes is in translations of the Quran.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.

According to the {{transliteration|ar|mufassirs}} (authors of Quranic commentary), Islam acknowledges three different types of creation:

• Ex-nihilo in time: A position especially held by most classical scholars: God existed alone in eternity, until God's command "Be", thereupon the world came into existence. This world is absolutely distinct from God. Accordingly, the world was neither created out of His own essence nor did God create the world out of a primordial matter which preceded the creation, but created by His sheer command not bound by the laws of nature.Husam Muhi Eldin al- Alousi The Problem of Creation in Islamic Thought, Qur'an, Hadith, Commentaries, and KalamNational Printing and Publishing, Bagdad, 1968 p. 29 and 96
• Emanation: Found especially among scholars such as Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina: Accordingly, the world was emanated from God and the world has an eternal essence but created existence.Husam Muhi Eldin al- Alousi The Problem of Creation in Islamic Thought, Qur'an, Hadith, Commentaries, and KalamNational Printing and Publishing, Bagdad, 1968 p. 179{{Clarify|date=November 2023}}
• Creation out of primordial matter: Maintained by scholars such as Ibn Taimiyya: God fashioned the whole world out of primordial matter, the waters and the smoke.Husam Muhi Eldin al- Alousi The Problem of Creation in Islamic Thought, Qur'an, Hadith, Commentaries, and KalamNational Printing and Publishing, Bagdad, 1968 p. 53

{{Mythology}}

According to Quranic creation narrative, God informed the angels, that He was going to create a khalifa (viceregent) on earth. The meaning of Khalifa holds different interpretations within Islamic exegesis:

• Successor: Adam and his descendants replace another species, who formerly inhabited and ruled the earth. Accordingly, the jinn preceded humanity, but God decided to replace them, due to their malevolence. Whereupon God sent an army of angels to annihilate the rule of jinn. Iblis, the future devil, plays a significant role in this story, either as the angel, who led his army into battle against the jinn, whereafter he declined to acknowledge the dignity of their successors, or as one of the few pious jinn, which were spared by the angels, but became an infidel, by opposing his successor.Patricia Crone, The Qurʾānic Pagans and Related Matters: Collected Studies in Three Volumes, Band 1 BRILL, 09.06.2016 {{ISBN|9789004319288}} p. 200Mahmoud Ayoub The Qur'an and Its Interpreters, Volume 1 SUNY Press, 1984 {{ISBN|9780873957274}} p. 73Brannon Wheeler Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis A&C Black 2002 {{ISBN|9780826449566}} Page 16
• Deputy: Adam and his descendants are thought of as the deputy of God. Therefore, humans are obligated to maintain the earth given by God and should spiritualize God's attributes, to rule and govern it in accordance with God's will.Annemarie Schimmel Mystical Dimensions of Islam Univ of North Carolina Press, 1975 {{ISBN|9780807812716}} p. 188Mahmoud Ayoub The Qur'an and Its Interpreters, Volume 1 SUNY Press, 1984 {{ISBN|9780873957274}} p. 79 The heavenly Adam, who has learned the names of God, functions as the prototype of Al-Insān al-Kāmil (Perfect human), which flawed humans should strive to become.

Adam is according to Islam, both the first human and the first prophet.{{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]}} 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.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 The disobediences of Adam and his wife were already forgiven by God during their life.Amina Wadud Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective Oxford University Press 1999 {{ISBN|9780198029434}} p.25{{qref|2|37|b=y}}

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.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 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.Alexander Kulik, Catherine Mary MacRobert, Svetlina Nikolova, Moshe Taube, Cynthia M. Vakareliyska The Bible in Slavic Tradition BRILL 2016 {{ISBN|9789004313675}} p. 351 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.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.

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.{{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}} 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.{{ 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}}{{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}}

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).Bauer, p. 112

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." 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."Bauer, p. 117-124 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.{{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}}

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.Amira El-Zein Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn Syracuse University Press 2009 {{ISBN|9780815650706}} page 98-99 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 baldPatricia Crone Medieval Islamic Political Thought Edinburgh University Press, 11.03.2014 {{ISBN|9780748696505}} 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.Marion Holmes Katz The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam Routledge 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-135-98394-9}} page 13}} This posits that God created the spiritual nature of Muhammad before God created the universe or Adam.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. Following this belief, Muhammad was the first prophet created, but the last one sent to mankind.Marion Holmes Katz The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam Routledge 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-135-98394-9}} page 13 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.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) In a Shia version, the inscription also mentions Ali.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

In the Quran, fire (nar) makes up the basic substance for spiritual entities,Tobias Nünlist Dämonenglaube im Islam Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2015 {{ISBN|978-3-110-33168-4}} p. 47 (German) in contrast to humans created from clay (tin). Islamic traditions state more precisely, how different spiritual creatures were created. Islamic mythology commonly acknowledges three different types of spiritual entities:

File:Israfel blowing nafir.jpg trumpet, probably Israfel.]]

File:Paris BnF Supplément Persan 1559 fol 10v All angels except Iblis bow to Adam cropped.jpg of Depiction of Iblis with turban, refusing to prostrate ]]

Angels, created from light (nur)Jane Dammen McAuliffe Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān: vol. 5 Brill, 2005 {{ISBN|9789004123564}} p. 118 the heavenly hosts, and servants of God.{{Cite web |title=Islam » Nature of Angels |url=https://www.islam.org.uk/beliefs-overview/angels/nature-of-angels/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |language=en}} In the Quran angels are described as winged beings of no specific gender, who wholly worship and are devoted servants of God. Each angel has a specially defined role, consisting of various duties, however only God knows all of the roles and duties of the angels.{{Cite web |title=Islam » Duties of Angels |url=https://www.islam.org.uk/beliefs-overview/angels/duties-of-angels/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |language=en}} In Islam angels serve the purpose of teaching the importance of specialization, specifically the importance of specializing in a variety of subjects so that a society is well balanced.

Some of the angels mentioned in the Quran are Jibreel, Mika'el, Munkar and Nakeer, Ridwan and Malik, The Recorders, and The Guardians. There are great angels in Islam, Jibril, who bestowed revelations to prophets, Israfel, whose trumpet will bring the end of days as well as its resurrection, Mikail, who is responsible for the natural events, the weather, and the sustenance of living things.

Jinn, created from a mixture of fire and air or smokeless fire ({{transliteration|ar|marigin min nar}}): that exist between both visible and invisible realms of life.Jane Dammen McAuliffe Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān: vol. 3 Brill, 2005 {{ISBN|9789004123564}} p. 48Beatrice Gruendler, Michael Cooperson Classical Arabic Humanities in Their Own Terms: Festschrift for Wolfhart Heinrichs on His 65th Birthday BRILL, 2008 {{ISBN|9789004165731}} p. 104{{Cite book |last=El-Zein |first=Amira |title=Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2009 |pages=1}} Jinn are creatures who have existed in Arabia before the establishment of Islam, and are believed to be capable of great mystical powers. In Islam Jinn are intellectual creatures who, like humans, have received the Revealed Law, and will be accounted for on the Day of Judgement.{{Cite book |last=El-Zein |first=Amira |title=Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn |publisher=Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn |year=2009 |pages=14}} Jinn, like humans, have the capability and choice of both good and evil, and according to the Quran, will be judged by God for such choices come judgment day.{{Cite book |last=El-Zein |first=Amira |title=Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2009 |pages=19}} Jann is usually perceived as an ancestor of the jinn.

In Islam, Iblis is the name of the devil. There are various stories as to the origin and role of Iblis in Islam, but he is consistently portrayed as the head of shaitan, and in direct opposition to God.{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |title=The Oxford companion to world mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |pages=192}}

Shayatin, created from smoke or fire (Samūm):Tobias Nünlist Dämonenglaube im Islam Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2015 {{ISBN|978-3-110-33168-4}} p. 49 (German) comparable to Christian demons or devils, usually regarded as the offspring of Iblis, They tempt humans (and jinn) into sin. In Islamic folklore, Ifrit and Marid are usually two powerful classes of shaitan.

Other prominent creatures within Islamic mythological traditions are Buraq, Ghaddar, Hinn, Houris and Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog). Later, spiritual entities from other cultures were identified with those of the Quran and assimilated to Islamic lore, such as Peri of Persian-Frederick M. Smith The Self Possessed: Deity and Spirit Possession in South Asian Literature and Civilization Columbia University Press 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-231-51065-3}} page 570 Ghoul of Arabian- and İyeFuzuli Bayat Türk Mitolojik Sistemi 2: Kutsal Dişi – Mitolojik Ana, Umay Paradigmasında İlkel Mitolojik Kategoriler – İyeler ve Demonoloji Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş 2016 {{ISBN|9786051554075}} (Turkish) of Turkic origin.

File:Islamic cosmology.jpg

According to popular ideas derived from cultural beliefs during the Classical Islamic period, the earth is flat, surrounded by water, which is veiled in darkness, with Mount Qaf at the edge of the visible world. Despite being flat, there is no trace of a disc-shaped earth within cosmological treatises. The heavenly dome ends at a world-serpent or agon. Studies from Suyuti's works often give the description of the first heaven, consisting of waters enclosing the earth.Anton M. Heinen Islamic Cosmology 1982 Beirut Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden isbn 3515-03177-4 p. 86 The world is carried by different creatures: an angel, a bull and a fish. Zakariya al-Qazwini identified the bull and the fish with the biblical monsters, Behemoth and Leviathan.M. Th. Houtsma E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Band 4 BRILL, 1993 {{ISBN|9789004097902}} p. 615

Both heaven and hell coexist with the temporary world. The seven layers of hell are identified with the seven earths. Sijjin is one of the lowest layers of hell, while Illiyin the highest layer of heaven.Christian Lange Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions BRILL 978-90-04-30121-4 p. 12 Hell is portrayed with the imageries of seas of fire, dungeons, thorny shrubs, the tree of Zaqqum, but also immense cold at bottom, inhabited by scorpions, serpents, zabaniyya and shayatin.Christian Lange Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions BRILL 978-90-04-30121-4 p. 14 The imageries heavens are described with different colors, seas of light, the tree of heaven, inhabited by angels and houris,Abu Ashaq Ahmad At-Talabi, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Thaʻlabī Islamische Erzählungen von Propheten und Gottesmännern: Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʼ oder ʻArāʼis al-maǧālis Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006 {{ISBN|9783447052665}} pp. 20-22 as a Garden with sprawling meadows and flowing rivers. The inhabitants can rest on couches bedecked with silk and visit the other deads if they wish.Christian Lange Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions Cambridge University Press, 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-521-50637-3}} pp. 125, 132

Islamic scholars knew the world was not flat. Islamic astronomy was developed on the basis of a spherical earth inherited from Hellenistic astronomy.Ragep, F. Jamil: "Astronomy", in: Krämer, Gudrun (ed.) et al.: Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Brill 2010, without page numbers The Islamic theoretical framework largely relied on the fundamental contributions of Aristotle (De caelo) and Ptolemy (Almagest), both of whom worked from the premise that the Earth was spherical and at the centre of the universe (geocentric model).

The 11th-century scholar Ibn Hazm stated: "Evidence shows that the Earth is a sphere but public people say the opposite." He added: "None of those who deserve being Imams for Muslims has denied that Earth is round. And we have not received anything indicates a denial, not even a single word."{{Cite journal |last = Ash-Shareef |first = Abdurrahim Khairullah Omar |title = Aspects of Ancient Muslim Scholars' Induction Drawn from the Holy Qur'an in Proving Earth is Spherical |date=2014 |publisher=Zarqa University |page=217}}

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).{{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}}{{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.}} According to other opinions, Ibrahim and Ismail were the first to build it. 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,{{Href|tirmidhi|877|b=yl}} 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.{{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}}{{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}} Muslims do not worship the Black Stone.{{Cite CiteSeerX|title=Muslim Pilgrimage as Education by Experience|last=Hedin|first=Christer|page=176|citeseerx = 10.1.1.1017.315}}

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.{{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}}{{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}} The inside of the Kaaba is now empty.{{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}} It now stands as an important pilgrimage site, which all Muslims are supposed to visit at least once if they are able (Hajj).{{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}} Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day while facing in the Kaaba's direction (qibla).{{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}}

• 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

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.Daniel W. Brown Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|9780521653947 }} p. 65

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.Quintan Wiktorowicz Quintan Wiktorowicz Pages 207-239 | Received 10 Jan 2005, Accepted 12 Apr 2005, Published online: 19 Aug 2006 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.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

• Christian mythology
• Folk religion
• Jewish mythology
• Religion and mythology

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{{Reflist|2}}

• 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.

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