Introduction

In Surah 2, the Quran mentions two angels with enigmatic names, Harut and Marut, who appear only once in the Quranic corpus: And when a messenger from Allah came to them confirming what was already with them, some of those to whom the Book had been given cast the Book of Allah behind their backs as if they did not know! And they followed what the devils recite against the reign of Solomon. Yet Solomon was never a disbeliever but rather the devils; they teach people magic and what was revealed to the two angels Harut and Marut in Babylon; but neither of the two taught anyone without first warning: “We are only a temptation, so do not disbelieve.” They learn from them what causes division among a man and his wife. And they cannot harm anyone except by Allah’s permission. [...] (2:101-102)

Before discussing the sources, this long passage warrants some clarification. Firstly, the verse is of a polemical nature: it accuses a segment of the People of the Book of rejecting the "Book of Allah" in favor of magic. As Patricia Crone has shown, the accusation is clearly directed against the Jews1. Many sources indeed attest to the place of magical practices among ancient Jews. In Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt, historians have discovered amulets, magical incantations on various supports, and even manuals of witchcraft of Jewish origin2. As Patricia Crone explains, "in Mesopotamia and Iran, the vast majority of incantation bowls were made by Jews, often for clients with Iranian names, suggesting that magic was considered a Jewish specialty there." 3. Moreover, ancient writings portray Solomon as a figure particularly versed in magical practices4. However, this image also appears in the Quran, which states that Solomon could speak to jinn and animals (27:17)5 or that he built the Temple of Jerusalem with the help of jinn "who worked under his orders" (34:12). Despite his use of magic, the Quran defends Solomon, who "was never a disbeliever".

Secondly, the passage concerns two angels, Harut and Marut, who teach magic to people. This is evidently a form of black magic "which sows discord between a man and his wife". Notably, Harut and Marut are explicitly linked to the city of Babylon, the ancient capital of Mesopotamia. In biblical tradition, the city is associated with evil itself: "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth" (Revelation 17:5). At the time when the story of Harut and Marut is incorporated into the Quran, Babylon was nothing but a village surrounded by ruins and dust6, making its mention in the Quran quite remarkable.

Although the verse is very allusive, historians have long identified themes borrowed from various myths widespread in the Near East. This article aims to synthesize the numerous studies published on the subject.

Haurvatât and Ameretât

The passage mentions two angels named Harut and Marut. These names appear enigmatic for several reasons. On one hand, their names are scarcely mentioned elsewhere in the Quran outside this passage. On the other hand, they do not belong to the repertoire of angels mentioned in the Bible, or in Judeo-Christian tradition in general. Muslim commentators had perceived that their names were not of Arabic origin but could not identify their sources7. It was only with Western Orientalist research in the 19th century that their true identities were clearly established8. They are two entities mentioned in the Avesta, the sacred book of the ancient Iranian religion, under the names Haurvatât and Ameretât. In Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda, the supreme god of creation, is assisted by six divine beings called Amesha Spenta or "Immortal Saints" 9. Among these is Haurvatât, lord of waters, whose name can be roughly translated as "Totality" or "Abundance". As for Ameretât, lord of plants, her name signifies "immortality," or more precisely, "non-death" 10. In Iranian religion, just like in Surah 2, these two deities form a couple invoked and acting together. The name given to them in the Quran derives from the form hrwwt mrwwt (Harut-Marut) found in a Manichaean fragment11.

We have shown that the two angels mentioned in the Quran, Harut and Marut, correspond to the two Iranian deities Haurvatât and Ameretât. However, aside from the similarity of their names, it is difficult to see what links the two Quranic angels to the two Immortal Saints. Indeed, the Zoroastrian tradition does not particularly associate Haurvatât and Ameretât with magic as the Quran does. The theme developed in Surah 2 actually aligns with traditions found in the Book of Enoch, which will now be discussed.

The Quran and Enochian Traditions

Contrary to what its name suggests, the Book of Enoch is not strictly a book but a collection of five texts composed at different times before being compiled together. They are named after Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, to whom they are falsely attributed. This means they can be called pseudepigraphical writings12. Among these texts is the Book of the Watchers, with Aramaic fragments dating from the 2nd century BCE discovered in Qumran13. The narrative of the text is based on a passage from the Book of Genesis where it is said: "When man began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took wives for themselves from all that they chose" (Genesis 6:1-2). The expression "sons of God" (beney Elohim) has generated much debate among ancient theologians and modern scholars. Mathias Delcor notes that "the term beney here does not indicate biological or physical filiation but rather belonging to a group. The beney Elohim are beings belonging to the divine realm" 14. But who exactly are they? According to a common interpretation at the time, the expression designates angels, a view adopted in the Book of the Watchers. From this, the text aims to answer a question that has occupied theologians of all eras: where does evil come from? Since Saint Augustine (died 430), who conceptualized the doctrine of "original sin," Christianity emphasizes the responsibility of Adam and Eve, whose transgression introduced sin and corruption to the earth. But before Augustine’s perspective, other explanations prevailed among both Jews and Christians.

The Book of the Watchers functions as an etiological account of the origin of evil; it explains causes. The text states that before the flood, angels were seduced by human daughters and descended to earth to mate with them. The children of these illicit unions, the Giants, then sow chaos on earth, destroying the crops of men before killing and devouring them. The angels responsible for chaos are two: their leader Azazel and his accomplice Shemhazaï. The text states that they taught humans how to make weapons (1 Enoch 7:8). Additionally, Shemhazaï "taught all enchantments, all magical practices," and Hermoni "taught the art of solving spells, exorcisms, magic, witchcraft, and charms" (1 Enoch 8:3-4). In reaction, God causes a flood to eradicate these demonic beings. Thus, the Enochian tradition highlights the responsibility of angels: they are the ones whose teachings spread evil across the earth. Azazel and Shemhazaï will be cast down by God.

The Enochian tradition influenced many early Christian theologians. The writer Justin Martyr (d. 165) wrote that "the angels, violating this order, sought to consort with women and bore children whom we call demons. Later, they enslaved the human race, either through magic or through the fears and torments they inflicted [...] ; and they sowed murder, war, adultery, excess, and all evil among men" (First Apology, V, 3). Around the same time, Tertullian (d. 240) also spoke of "these angels who rushed down from heaven to the daughters of men [...]. After teaching a coarse generation about matters that nature had wisely hidden, and arts that would have been better left unknown, sometimes teaching them to dig mines, sometimes revealing the virtue of plants, today by revealing the power of enchantments [...]" (De praescriptione haereticorum, I, 2). Finally, the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, a Judeo-Christian text of the 4th century, state that angels initiated women into magic (Homilies 8:14).

At this point, the reader begins to see some similarities between the broad Enochian tradition (meaning not only the Book of Enoch but also subsequent texts influenced by it) and the Quranic passage. Indeed, the Quran speaks of two angels descended to earth who teach magic to humans, sowing discord. However, it is not clear why the Quranic story identifies these two angels with Haurvatât and Ameretât, two entities of Zoroastrian origin, whereas it actually aligns with the story of Azazel and Shemhazaï from Jewish and Enochian tradition. Regardless, the fact that Harut and Marut in the Quran correspond to Azazel and Shemhazaï in the Enochian tradition was obvious to Muslim commentators, who made the connection early on15. They were well acquainted with Enochian traditions and did not hesitate to draw from them to develop their commentary on the Quranic story16.

In addition to the similarities, there are also significant differences: for example, the Quran does not mention illicit unions between angels and women. Moreover, while in the Enochian tradition angels act on their own initiative, in the Quran, they do so with Allah’s permission. In other words, the text exonerates the angels from responsibility. In this, the Quran aligns with an older tradition. The involvement of angels in the problem of evil was a theological difficulty. To address this issue, some ancient writings redrew the general outline of the Enochian story while revising the role of angels to exonerate them. This is particularly evident in the Book of Jubilees, composed around the 2nd century, which has a well-established influence on the Quran and Islam17. Annette Reed notes that the Jubilees gradually detach angels from responsibility by "describing their intentions as good and their descent as divinely mandated" 18. This is precisely what we see in the Quran, which states that Harut and Marut, far from acting with ill intent, warn humans by saying: "We are only a temptation; do not disbelieve." Another Quranic passage illustrating the tendency to absolve angels of responsibility was highlighted by Tommaso Tesei. It concerns the story in which Iblis negotiates with Allah for permission to tempt humanity (7:14-18; 15:36-40; 17:62-65). This episode closely resembles a story in the Book of Jubilees where the malicious angel Mastema asks God that demons may tempt humans19. As we can see, the Quran inherits from the Enochian tradition but in a reinterpretation where angels are no longer culpable for the evil spread on earth.

The Quran’s dependence on Enochian traditions is reinforced by several elements. Firstly, the Quran mentions twice a figure called Idris (19:56; 21:85). Muslim exegetes have recognized that this is the name of Enoch, which historians have since widely confirmed. In verse 19:57, the divine voice of the Quran states regarding Idris: "And We elevated him to a high station." This corresponds precisely to the passage in the Book of Enoch where Enoch ascends to heaven (1 Enoch 87:3). The name Idris may derive from a pun combining the Arabic root d-r-s, from which the verb darasa, "to write," comes, with the depiction of Enoch as a figure possessing "excellence in academic activities" 20. Additionally, the name of the angel Azazel appears in the Quran but in a distorted form. Verse 9:30 states that the Jews say "'Uzayr is the son of Allah." The identity of this figure, whose name appears only here, has sparked much scholarly debate. Muslim commentators have almost universally identified him with Ezra, a high priest mentioned in the Bible. Lacking alternatives, most historians have supported this hypothesis21. However, this is not entirely satisfactory, primarily because there is no text or tradition demonstrating that the Jews deified Ezra22. To bypass this difficulty, some have proposed the existence of a fringe Jewish group targeted by the Quran. But such a group leaves no trace in our sources. About a century ago, the French orientalist Paul Casanova suggested that ‘Uzayr was actually the angel Azazel23. In one of his publications, Patricia Crone revisited and elaborated this hypothesis convincingly. ‘Uzayr (‘zyr) would be a deformation of the Arabic ‘Azîl or ‘Azâ’îl (‘zyl). The verse would thus condemn a Jewish practice—well documented—that of angel worship24.

Conclusion

The Quranic passage about Harut and Marut has led us to draw true crossovers between different texts and traditions involved. We first saw that their names derived from two deities, or "Immortal Saints" of Zoroastrian origin, Haurvatât and Ameretât. However, the story recounted in Surah 2 pertains to a set of traditions related to the Book of Enoch. These traditions narrate how two angels, Azazel and Shemhazaï, encouraged their peers to descend to earth to unite with women and teach humans magic and the making of weapons, sowing chaos and division. From these traditions, the Quran only preserves the part concerning the teaching of magic by the two angels. It has also been shown that the Quran reflects knowledge of Enochian traditions, notably through mention of Enoch, alias Idris in the Quranic text, and perhaps Azazel, alias ‘Uzayr (if one subscribes to Casanova/Crone’s hypothesis).

Whatever the case, the Quranic story of Harut and Marut exemplifies the tendency of Quranic writers to draw certain themes from the mythological heritage of the Near East while rephrasing them in their own perspective. Thus, the Quran appears as a “ bricolage,” in the sense of Claude Lévi-Strauss25. It remains to determine when and how this mythological theme was integrated into the Quranic corpus. Without claiming to answer this question precisely, some elements of response can be inferred. Firstly, at the end of antiquity, Enochian traditions had been displaced both in Rabbinic Judaism and in "orthodox" Christianity. They continued to circulate within some marginal circles. Patricia Crone notes that the story "was now mainly propagated among pagans, gnostics, and occult practitioners, outside of dominant communities or within them as part of marginal circles of alchemists, diviners, and magicians. It was very likely from such circles that it entered the Quran" 26. Secondly, it has been observed that the polemic against the magic practices of Jews, well attested in certain regions, notably in Mesopotamia and Persia, influenced the narrative. Thirdly, the mention of the Zoroastrian couple Haurvatât and Ameretât, alias Harut and Marut in the Quran, and the reference to Babylon, clearly point towards a Persian milieu. A hypothesis proposed by scholars is that the story was incorporated into the Quran after the conquest of Persia, during which the (proto-)Muslims became familiar with ancient Iranian traditions27.