View source for Nar as-samum

{{Short description|Islamic term referring to a type of infernal fire}}
{{Islam}}
[[File:Semum (shaytān).jpg|thumb|Depiction of ''shayāṭīn'' in the Turco-Islamic horror film "Semum" (2008).<ref name="Erdagı-2024">{{cite journal | last=Erdağı | first=Deniz Özkan | title=Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in "Semum" | journal=SN Social Sciences | volume=4 | issue=2 | date=2024-02-01 | issn=2662-9283 | doi=10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w | page=| doi-access=free }}</ref>]]
In [[Islam]], '''''Nār as samūm''''' ({{langx|ar|نار  السموم}}, meaning "fire of poison"; also spelled ''Simoom'' or ''Semum''; from the [[Semitic root|root]] {{lang|ar|س م م}} ''s-m-m'', {{lang|ar|سم}} "to poison") refers to a type of infernal fire or hot wind. The term is related to a [[Simoom|type of storm]] in the deserts of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. According to the [[Quran]], the damned will be tormented in ''samūm'' and [[demons]] are said to be created from ''samūm''.
== Etymology ==
The term ''Samūm'' derives from the root ''s-m-m'' {{lang|ar|سم}}, which means "to poison". It is also used of referring to a [[Simoom|hot, dusty desert wind]].<ref>John Penrice ''A Dictionary and Glossary of the Koran: With Grammatical References and Explanations of the Text'' Biblo & Tannen Publishers 1969 {{ISBN|978-0-819-60252-7}} page 72</ref><ref>Rashid al-Din ''Rashid al-Din's History of India: Collected Essays with Facsimiles and Indices'' Walter de Gruyter 1965 {{ISBN|978-3-111-71602-2}}</ref>
In [[Talmud]]ic and post-Talmudic literature and [[Bedouin]]s beliefs, the wind of Samum became associated with a [[demon]].<ref name="Löwinger 1924"/> [[Johann Gottfried Eichhorn]] relates the term to the [[Plagues of Egypt#Three_days_of_total_darkness|three days of darkness]] in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]].<ref>William Jenks ''Genesis-Judges'' J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1859 Pennsylvania State University Digit. 2010 p. 250</ref> Accordingly, the darkness comes just with the tempest of Samum.<ref>Marcus Moritz Kalisch ''Shemot: Exodus'' Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855 Harvard University Digit. 22. Nov. 2006 p. 169</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Worrell |first1=William H. |title=The Demon of Noonday and Some Related Ideas |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=1918 |volume=38 |pages=160–166 |doi=10.2307/592600 |jstor=592600 }}</ref>
In Islamic traditions, it is usually interpreted as a kind of fire, which penetrates through the skin of human body in contrast to ''marijin min nar''. However, both fires became usually associated with dangerous spirits.<ref>Mehmet Yavuz Seker ''A Map of the Divine Subtle Faculty: The Concept of the Heart in the Works of Ghazali, Said Nursi, and Fethullah Gulen'' Tughra Books, 07.04.2015 {{ISBN|9781597848770}} part 4</ref>
== Quran and ''tafsīr'' ==
The [[Quran]] uses the term ''samūm'' three times. According to [[Al Hejr|Surah 15:27]], ''[[al-Jann]]'' was created from the fires of ''samūm'' (''nār as samūm''). Surah [[Al-Waqi'a|56:42]] states that "the people of the left hand" (the damned) will suffer from ''samūm''. [[At-Tur|Surah 52:27]] states that [[God in Islam|God]] protects from the fires of ''samūm''.<ref name=Erdağı>Erdağı, D. Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in “Semum”. SN Soc Sci 4, 27 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w</ref>
According to Quranic [[exegesis]] (''[[tafsīr]]''), ''samūm'' is the source from which [[Iblis|Iblīs]] (Satan) and his angels (''shayāṭīn'') were created.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Reynolds |first1=Gabriel Said |title=Angels |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204 }}</ref>  According to [[ibn Abbas]], the good angels were created from "[[Nūr (Islam)|light]]" (''Nūr''), Iblīs and his angels from "poisonous fire" (''samūm''), and the [[djinn]] from a "composition of fire" (''mārijin min nār'').<ref name=Erdağı/><ref>Tabari, Muhammad ibn Yarir al- Tabari, Tabari ''The History of al-Tabari Vol. 1: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood'' UNY Press, 23.03.1989 {{ISBN|9780887065637}} p. 252</ref><ref>Mahmoud M. Ayoub ''The Qur'an and Its Interpreters: Surah 1 and 2'' Islamic Book Trust 2012 {{ISBN|978-9-675-06290-2}} page 74</ref>
The exact nature is subject to much discussion. [[Tabari]] (839–923) offers many interpretations for the nature of ''samūm''. According to one meaning it is "hot wind which kills" and in another "the flame of the fire of the hot wind" and yet in another he relates it to "night-wind" in opposition to ''harur'' (day-wind). Further, he states, some hold ''samūm'' to be the hell-fire (''nar jahannama'').
On the authority of [[Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah|Abu Ubaidah]], ''samūm'' is the fire that "penetrates the pores due to its fineness in the day-time as well as at night." Abu Sãlih is reported as saying that ''samūm'' is ''smokeless fire'' located between the heavens and [[barzakh|the veil]]. Tabari concludes, it is the ''heart of a flame'' and not wind, as others indicated.<ref>Peter J. Awn Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblīs in Sufi Psychology BRILL 1983 {{ISBN|9789004069060}} p. 31</ref>
According to [[Ibn Abbas]], the ''samūm'' is "the worst hot fire which kills". On the authority of [[Amr ibn Dinar|'Amir ibn Dinar]], ''samūm'' is the fire of the sun.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Racius |first1=Egdunas |title=Islamic Exegesis on the jinn: Their origin, kinds and substance and their relation to other beings |journal=Studia Orientalia Electronica |date=1999 |volume=85 |pages=127–138 |url=https://journal.fi/store/article/view/44004 }}</ref> [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|Cosmographics in the medieval age of Islam]] usually depicted the sun setting on the gates of hell, and deriving its heat from the fires of hell (i.e. ''nār as-samūm'') during night. On day time, the sun emits the fire of hell over earth.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=42}} Most ''mufassirūn'' repeat the mentioned interpretations, but usually more briefly.<ref>The Society ''Studia Orientalia, Band 85'' 1999 University of Michigan Digit. 23. Febr. 2008</ref>
==Adaptations in later religious traditions==
The name of the [[Midrash]]ic satanic figure [[Samael]] is linguistically related to the term ''samūm''.<ref name="Löwinger 1924">{{cite journal |last1=Löwinger |first1=Adolf |title=Der Windgeist Keteb |journal=Mitteilungen zur jüdischen Volkskunde |date=1924 |volume=26/27 |pages=157–170 |jstor=41459639 }}</ref><ref>John Hamilton Warrack, John Warrack ''Carl Maria Von Weber'' CUP Archive 1976 {{ISBN|978-0-521-29121-7}} page 214</ref><ref name="Heyse1853"/> In [[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]], he is a twelve-winged [[seraph]] who refused to prostrate himself before [[Adam]].<ref>Dulkin, Ryan S. "The Devil Within: A Rabbinic Traditions-History of the Samael Story in 'Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer'." ''Jewish Studies Quarterly'', vol. 21, no. 2, 2014, pp. 153–175., {{JSTOR|24751800}}. Accessed 6 Sept. 2021.</ref> His depiction might have been influenced by the  Islamic portrayal of [[Iblis]] who is similarly imagined as an angel related to ''samūm'' who refused to bow down before Adam.<ref name="Seidenberg2015"/>
Likewise, [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]] relate their concept of the Devil, who is also called "Iblīs al-Qadīm" (''Iblis without beginning''),<ref name="ReferenceB">Peter J. Awn ''Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology'' BRILL 1983 {{ISBN|9789004069060}}</ref> to the pestilential winds (''samūm'') in one of the five Kingdoms of darkness.<ref name="BeDuhn2000"/>
According to nineteenth-century Orientalist [[Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman-era]] legends identify the hot "red wind" ''Samum'' as a ''[[div (mythology)|div]]'' (demon) who assisted Satan in his plots against the [[prophet]] [[Solomon in Islam|Solomon]].<ref name="Purgstall1813"/>
== Popular Culture ==
The 2008 [[Culture of Turkey|Turkish]] [[Horror film]] [[Semum]], is named after this type of fire. The movie relies on the interpretation of Iblis by ibn Abbas,<ref name="Erdagı-2024">{{cite journal | last=Erdağı | first=Deniz Özkan | title=Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in "Semum" | journal=SN Social Sciences | volume=4 | issue=2 | date=2024-02-01 | issn=2662-9283 | doi=10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w | page=| doi-access=free }}</ref> which depicts Iblis and his tribe as [[fallen angel|angels dispelled from the presence of God]], after they refused to prostrate themselves before Adam. In contrast to Islamic aggadic tradition, these angels/devils are named after the fire of their origin (''samūm'').<ref name="Erdagı-2024">{{cite journal | last=Erdağı | first=Deniz Özkan | title=Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in "Semum" | journal=SN Social Sciences | volume=4 | issue=2 | date=2024-02-01 | issn=2662-9283 | doi=10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w | page=| doi-access=free }}</ref> The author argues that the meaning of the Quranic term ''samūm'' lies in "torment" and these demons "torment the sinners in hell".<ref name="Erdagı-2024">{{cite journal | last=Erdağı | first=Deniz Özkan | title=Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in "Semum" | journal=SN Social Sciences | volume=4 | issue=2 | date=2024-02-01 | issn=2662-9283 | doi=10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w | page=| doi-access=free }}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Ghaddar]]
*[[Zabaniyya]]
==References==
<references>
<ref name="BeDuhn2000">{{cite book |author=Jason David BeDuhn |title=The Manichaean Body: In Discipline and Ritual |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0801871078 |page=74}}</ref>
<ref name="Heyse1853">{{cite dictionary |author=[[Johann Christian August Heyse]] |entry=Samiël, Samum |title=Allgemeines verdeutschendes und erklärendes Fremdwörterbuch |year=1853 |page=797 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_89hIAAAAcAAJ/page/797 |lang=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Lange-2016">{{cite book |author=Christian Lange |date=2016 |title=Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-50637-3}}</ref>
<ref name="Purgstall1813">{{cite book |author=[[Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall]] |title=Rosenöl, oder Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes |volume=1 |chapter=XXI. Suleiman |location=Stuttgart |year=1813 |page=216 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Og9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA216 |lang=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Seidenberg2015">{{cite book |author=David Mevorach Seidenberg |title=Kabbalah and Ecology |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-08133-8 |page=65}}</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Demons in Islam|s]]
[[Category:Fire in religion]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]
[[Category:Jahannam|s]]