A reference to heavenly beings called " Watchers" originates in Daniel 4, in which there are three mentions, twice in the singular (v. The concept of fallen angels derives mostly from works dated to the Second Temple period between 530 BC and 70 AD: in the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees and the Qumran Book of Giants and perhaps in Genesis 6:1–4. Although the different types of spirits in the Quran are sometimes hard to distinguish, the jinn in Islamic traditions seem to differ in their major characteristics from fallen angels. Īcademic scholars have discussed whether or not the Quranic jinn are identical to the biblical fallen angels. The precise degree of angelic fallibility is not clear even among scholars who accepted fallen angels according to a common assertion, impeccability applies only to the messengers among angels or as long as they remain angels. For that reason, he read the term mala'ikah (angels) in reference to Harut and Marut, two possible fallen angels mentioned in 2:102, as malikayn (kings) instead of malā'ikah (angels), depicting them as ordinary men and advocated the belief that Iblis was a jinn and had never been an angel before. To support the doctrine of infallible angels, he pointed at verses which stressed the piety of angels, while simultaneously reinterpreting verses which might imply acknowledgement of fallen angels. One of the first opponents of the concept of fallen angels was the early and influential Islamic ascetic Hasan of Basra (642–728). On the other hand, some Islamic scholars opposed the belief in fallen angels by stressing the piety of angels supported by verses of Quran, such as 16:49 and 66:6, although none of these verses declare angels as immune from sin. Accordingly, fallen angels became identified with those led by Lucifer in rebellion against God, also equated with demons.Įvidence for the belief in fallen angels among Muslims can be traced back to reports attributed to some of the companions of Muhammad, such as Ibn Abbas (619–687) and Abdullah ibn Masud (594–653). Christian theology indicates the sins of fallen angels occur before the beginning of human history. Rabbinic Judaism and Christian authorities after the third century rejected the Enochian writings and the notion of an illicit union between angels and women producing giants.
In such accounts, God sends the Great Deluge to purge the world of these creatures their bodies are destroyed, yet their peculiar souls survive, thereafter roaming the earth as demons.
During the late Second Temple period the biblical giants were sometimes considered the monstrous offspring of fallen angels and human women. In the period immediately preceding the composition of the New Testament, some sects of Judaism, as well as many Christian Church Fathers, identified these same "sons of God" as fallen angels. The idea of fallen angels derived from the Book of Enoch, a Jewish pseudepigraph, or the assumption that the " sons of God" ( בני האלוהים) mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4 are angels. The literal term "fallen angel" appears neither in the Bible nor in other Abrahamic scriptures, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven or angels who sinned. In Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The Fallen Angels (1893) by Salvatore Albano at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City