Raphael the angel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions

One of the important theological issues in many religions - and most importantly in Abrahamic religions - is ‘angelology’, especially the recognition of ‘archangels.’ This study focuses on one of the angels called ‘Raphael’ and compares his significance and duties in the three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In addition, it is examined whether Raphael equals the Islamic angel ‘Israfil’ or not. The result is that in some Christian and Jewish traditions Raphael is considered as an archangel and his role in the two religions is closely similar. In Islam, however, Israfil is not as important and his role differs greatly with Raphael’s role in Judaism and Christianity. There are no convincing reasons to consider Israfil in Islam as an equivalent for Raphael.