Michael · Mikail
Michael in Islam
Michael is Mikail in Arabic, written مِيكَائِيل. The two names belong to the same person, and the two traditions tell his story differently enough to be worth reading side by side.
- English
- Michael
- Arabic
- مِيكَائِيل
- Read as
- Mikail
- Status
- Angel in Islam
- Where the English comes from
- Hebrew Mikhael, who is like God.
- What the Arabic carries
- Mikail, the Quranic form of the same name.
- Full name page
- Mikail on AsrNaam
Is Michael the same as Mikail? Yes. Michael is the English form and Mikail the Arabic form of one name. He is named once in the Quran, alongside Jibril, in Surah Al-Baqarah.
Mikail in the Quran
Mikail is named once in the Quran, in Surah Al-Baqarah, in a verse that says whoever is an enemy to God, His angels, His messengers, Jibril and Mikail, then God is an enemy to the disbelievers. Naming two angels in one verse is unusual, and the pairing has stayed.
Islamic tradition assigns him provision: rain, vegetation, the sustenance that comes down. Where Jibril carries revelation, Mikail carries what keeps bodies alive. Neither role is spelled out in the Quran itself, and both come from hadith and commentary.
Naming a child after an angel is permitted in Islamic law and is common in practice. Mikail, Mikael, Michael and Mikaeel are all in use among Muslim families, particularly in Britain and Turkey.
Using the name
The full entry for Mikail carries the Arabic spelling, the Urdu, the pronunciation, the lucky number and the letter-by-letter Ilm ul Huroof reading, along with every romanisation the name is written in.
Questions about Michael and Mikail
Is Michael the same name as Mikail?
Is Mikail the same as the archangel Michael?
Can Muslims name a child Mikail?
Can a Muslim family use the name Mikail?
Other names the two traditions share
Every one of these is one figure under two names.
Or start from the full list of Biblical names in Islam.