The Hellhound of the Qur'an
A Dog at the Gate of the Underworld
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22326193 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George Archer (Georgetown University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1-33 |
| Publication date | 2016-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Qur'anic Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1465-3591 • E-ISSN: 1755-1730 |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3366/jqs.2016.0248 |
| OpenAlex | W2531882252 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 33 |
Q. 18:9–26 tells the story of the ‘Sleepers of Ephesus’/‘Companions of the Cave’. Unique to this version of the legend, the Qur'an mentions the presence of a dog alongside the Sleepers: this dog has long been understood as the Sleepers' pet, yet it can be read as much more than this. Many other sources of the Sleepers' legend equate the mysterious sleeping figures to the sleeping dead awaiting resurrection, and the Qur'an offers many clues that its account of the Sleepers' story serves as a warning against the worship of the dead, as this confuses God's signs with the divine reality that sends them. By positing the saintly dead in a sleep-state (e.g. the Syriac Christian doctrine of soul-sleep; the Islamic barzakh), their cults are rendered useless. In this light, the dog in the Qur'anic account can be read not as just a simple pet, but as a guardian over the dead in symbolic continuity with figures such as Anubis and Cerberus. Thus the Sleepers' dog can be read as simultaneously functioning as an underworld guardian that protects the departed, and a fearful creature that warns Muslims not to worship deceased human beings
Art · Doctrine · Guardian · Islam · Legend · Literature · Soul · Theology · Worship · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Philosophy
The Apocryphal New Testament
Orality and Literacy
The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection
Structures rhétoriques des Sourates 105 à 114
Reflections on Aspects of Immortality in Islam
Animals in Islamic Tradition and Muslim Cultures
The Qur'an and its Biblical Subtext
Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources
Arabic-English Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage
Oriental Elements in Surat al-Kahf
Interaction between This World and the Afterworld in Early Islamic Tradition
Untersuchungen zur Religion und zur Religionspolitik des Kaisers Elagabal
Christian Viaticum
Appendix
Moses or Alexander? Early Islamic Exegesis of Qurʾān 18
The Concept of Death in Early Israelite Religion
Al-Raqīm or al-Ruqūd? A Note on Sūrah 18
Studien zur Komposition der mekkanischen Suren
Concourse between the Living and the Dead in Islamic Eschatological Literature
The Sleep of the Soul in the Early Syriac Church
Charon's Obol and Other Coins in Ancient Funerary Practice
The Apocalypse of Islam
A Medieval Rip Van Winkle Story
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |