Question:

Assalamu aleykum,
is there anyone who can write the story of Haroot and Maroot, or send a link, where we can read it?

Thanks,

Answer:

wa `alaykum salam,

The Story of Harut and Marut

In the time of Sayyidna Sulayman, (as) as has been mentioned Shaitan once managed to wrest from him his ring of power and to occupy his throne for a time. The angels spoke to the Lord, “Oh our Lord Almighty, You have given such powers to man who is weak; being imperfect he cannot wield it correctly so that it has evil results” The Lord answered them and said, “Oh My angels, I will teach you something: let those most assured of themselves step forward, and I will give them such a Nafs as I gave to man; then We will see how they are able to deal with power” The angels chose from among themselves 12 of the most reverent angels and among these they selected the four most established in piety. Of these four one angel stepped back, and the other three came before the Lord. “These three candidates are the most steadfast and established in worship,” they said. One of the three then felt ashamed before the Lord and said, “Oh lord, I have been tempted and I repent; forgive me my trespassing from Thy Boundless Mercy.” And he fell down upon his face and has not lifted his head again to this day, but remains in this position imploring the Mercy of the Lord. – Two angels now remained, they were Harut and Marut. The Lord sent them down into a city of believers; one was to act as a judge there, while the other was to be a scholar. They lived, ate and drank as mortal men during the day, while at night they returned to their heavenly stations by means of the Most Holy Name which had been vouchsafed to them on account of their angelic nature.

Now in that town there lived a most beautiful but mischievous woman by the name of Zahra. She was known for her wiles and her plotting of intrigues, and she did her best to make trouble for everyone. One day she had to appear before the court in a case brought against her so she came before the two angels in court. She contrived to take the judge and the scholar aside to bribe them into deciding the case in her favour. She did this by making sly and lewd promises, concerning the delights she had in store for them if only they took her side in this one case. Now, as the angels had been given a human nafs, they were vulnerable, and corruptible by the wiles of women. This temptress was entrancing, so much so, that Harut and Marut were swayed from the path of justice, forgot their trail and the mission they had been sent to earth for, and issued a verdict bent in her favour.

The woman Zahra was true to her word, and invited the angels to her house and made a feast for them, She gave them the best of food and drink, and under the influence of wine and music their heads soon became light and reason fled. She then danced for them and teased them, until they were quite mad with desire, and no longer knew what they said or did. This woman, Zahra, was no fool, and she had long understood that these two ‘men’ were not as ordinary mortals, and she sought to pry from them their secret. Now that she saw them completely in her hands, she set about to discover what this secret was, and before long she knew the Holy Name which is secret and which the angels used to be transported to their heavenly stations. Zahra was curious to know whether it was true, so she spoke the Name, and as soon as she had pronounced it, she flew off and disappeared from the face of the earth, and was never seen there again. It is said that she repented of her wrongdoings, and that the Lord of the Worlds forgave her, and set her as a star upon the firmament, known as Zuhra (Venus) which stands in the sky in the early morning or evenings.

The angels slowly recovered from their debauchery, and wished to return home to their true stations, but when they tried to read the secret verse they found they could not escape their earthy forms any longer, they were inextricable enmeshed in worldly existence, and the cloak of disobedience was heavy upon them. It was then that realization of what had befallen dawned on them, and they saw how the Lord’s Word had come true on them, and that they had fallen. They fell down and wept and prayed and besought the Lord for His forgiveness. At length the Lord spoke to them and said, “You reproached man for his faulty nature; now you have seen that, equipped with a nafs such as his, you will act in no way differently, and all his iniquity has now become yours.” Then He Almighty put His angels before the choice of punishment in this life, or in the life hereafter. The angles wept and begged the Lord to give them their punishment in this life, for it is but a passing instant, while the life to come is enduring and eternal. The Lord granted them this wish. Thus it is that they are strung up by their feet in a certain well in the town of Isfahan every day between the hour of Maghrib and `Isha, and they are punished in this way until the Day of Judgment. Then they will be forgiven and resume their stations among the angels.

The other angels took this episode as a lesson and warning and refrained from tempting the Lord. Never again did they say, “If we were in mankind’s place we would do so much better,” for they now understood how much is required of man to fight his evil inclination and remain steadfast on the straight path, for he has to live with the nafs the Lord has supplied him with. For this reason also the Lord has given to mankind even higher rank than to His angels, making them to be His deputies on earth – if they are able to master their egos.

Harut and Marut were placed in the well, and would-be students of magic work flock to them to be instructed.

Qur’an:

And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not! but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said, “We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two angels people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no one save by Allah’s leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no portion in the hereafter; and surely hell is the price for which they sell their souls, if but they knew.

And if they had believed and kept from evil, a recompense from Allah would be better, if they only knew.”

(The Cow, II: 102-103)

Excerpted from The Lore of Light, Volume 3, by Hajjah Amina Adil