Israfil (the angel of the trumpet)

Israfil is the angel charged with blowing the trumpet. Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy describes the two blasts, and notes that some of the reported details have a weak chain of transmission, though other reports support them (needs_source). ¹

He says that Israfil stands ready, with the horn at his mouth, waiting for the command and not turning his gaze (needs_source). ^{2 3 4} He says the Prophet ﷺ saw this posture and feared being commanded to blow, as a report he relates (needs_source). ⁵

The Sheikh says the first blast destroys all in the heavens and on earth except whom God wills, and that a second blast then brings people up to stand and look (needs_source). ^{6 7 8} He describes the blast as moving the mountains before it, as he reads the description (needs_source). ⁵

He offers the possibility that Moses was struck once before, at Sinai, so that he is not struck twice (needs_source). ⁹ He relates a report that Moses was found holding one of the pillars of the Throne, and says he does not know whether Moses had been struck before or was spared (needs_source). ¹⁰

He tells of a questioner who asked Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) about the interval between the two blasts; Abu Hurayra's answer is given and then retracted in the telling, and the transcript breaks off (needs_source). ^{11 12}

He says God commands the Angel of Death to take the souls until none remains but him, after which Israfil is revived for the second blast (needs_source). ^{13 7}

He relates a report that four great angels remain after the first blast, and notes that its chain is weak though other reports support it (needs_source). ¹

The Sheikh relates that the Prophet saw Israfil with one foot advanced and the other held back, the trumpet placed to his mouth and his eyes fixed on the Throne ¹⁴. The Sheikh describes the blast of the trumpet as a wondrous blast so powerful that it sets the mountains moving ¹⁵.

The Sheikh explains the two blasts, noting that the Qur'an names the first blast the rajifa and the second the radifa, that is, the one that follows it ¹⁶. He says that all die after the first blast, that God then asks to whom the dominion belongs today and no one answers but Himself, and that God then raises Israfil as the first to be raised, and he sounds the second blast ¹⁷.