Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
It has not been established in the Noble Qur’an or in the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ that the name of the Angel of Death is “Azrael.” This name became well known through some reports, whose origin may be from the Isra’iliyyat (reports originating from the traditions of the Children of Israel). Therefore, it is preferable to call him by the name Allah gave him in the Qur’an: “the Angel of Death,” without asserting that his name is Azrael.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿Say: “The Angel of Death who has been entrusted with you will take your souls; then to your Lord you will be returned.”﴾
[As-Sajdah: 11]
Thus, the Qur’an establishes the existence of an angel entrusted with taking souls and calls him “the Angel of Death.” It does not mention another personal name for him.
The Angel of Death has been called “Azrael” in some reports, but no authentic hadith attributed to the Prophet ﷺ has established this name.
Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“As for the Angel of Death, his name is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an or in the authentic hadiths. He has been called Azrael in some reports, and Allah knows best.”
As-Sindi also stated that no marfu‘ hadith has been reported establishing this name. Al-Manawi, after mentioning the widespread use of the name Azrael, said that he had not found any report establishing this name.
Shaykh Al-Albani held that this name has no basis in the Sunnah and that it comes from the Isra’iliyyat.
The more precise approach is not to assert that this is his name, because it has not been established by authentic evidence. At the same time, there is no need to categorically reject details about which revelation has not informed us.
Therefore, we should restrict ourselves to the name or description mentioned in the Qur’an and say: “the Angel of Death.”
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, stated that the name “Azrael” is well known among people but has not been authentically established. Therefore, we should call the angel entrusted with taking souls “the Angel of Death,” as Allah, the Almighty, called him.
There is no authentic evidence from the Qur’an or Sunnah establishing that the name of the Angel of Death is “Azrael.” This name has only been mentioned in some reports and may originate from the Isra’iliyyat.
The established name we should use is “the Angel of Death,” as Allah تعالى says:
﴿Say: “The Angel of Death who has been entrusted with you will take your souls.”﴾
And Allah knows best.