Israfil (Arabic: إسرافيل, translit. Isrāfīl, Alternate Spelling: Israfel, Esrafil, Meaning: The Burning One),[1] is the angel of the trumpet in Islam[2] though unnamed in the Qur’an and is the alternative name of the archangel Uriel for the Jewish people.[3] Along with Mikhail, Jibrail and Azrael, he is one of the four Islamic archangels.[1] Israfil will blow the trumpet from a holy rock in Jerusalem to announce the Day of Resurrection.[4] The trumpet is constantly poised at his lips, ready to be blown when God so orders. In Judeo-Christian biblical literature, Raphael is the counterpart of Isrāfīl.[4] Isrāfīl is usually conceived as having a huge, hairy body that is covered with mouths and tongues and that reaches from the seventh heaven to the throne of God. One wing protects his body, another shields him from God, while the other two extend east and west. He is overcome by sorrow and tears three times every day and every night at the sight of Hell.
