The Magic of the Babylonians in Islam: Discussion in the Context of al-Baqara 2:102

Magic (siḥr) has constituted a significant point of theological, exegetical, and legal discussion within Islam. Although the Qurʾān refers to magic and related phenomena in several contexts, Q 2:102 has become the central locus of debate because of its references to Babylon, Solomon, the devils, and the two figures Hārūt and Mārūt. This article examines the debates surrounding Q 2:102 by situating the verse against the background of Babylonian magical culture and by tracing its reception in tafsīr, kalām, fiqh, and later Islamic cultural materials. It argues that discussions surrounding Babylonian magic do not merely preserve a collection of disagreements; rather, they reveal how different Islamic disciplines classified, restricted, and interpreted magic in accordance with their own epistemological and theological concerns. In tafsīr, the verse generated debates over the occasion of revelation, lexical interpretation, variant readings, and the identity of Hārūt and Mārūt. In kalām, the same verse became connected to divine permission, God’s creative act, causality, the reality of magic, the distinction between magic and miracle, and the impeccability of angels. In fiqh, it raised questions concerning the legal ruling on magic and the punishment of the magician. The study further shows that reports concerning Hārūt and Mārūt were often treated as Isrāʾīliyyāt and rejected as lacking creedal value, even as they continued to circulate in the Islamic literature and art. The article concludes that Q 2:102 functioned as a meeting point where Islamic disciplines negotiated the boundaries between revelation, transmitted reports, theology, law, and cultural imagination.