المعنى الاصطلاحي :

Names of two angels whom Allah the Almighty sent as a test and trial for people.

الشرح المختصر :

"Harut and Marut": According to the preponderant opinion of scholars, are the names of two angels whom Allah the Almighty sent as a test for the people at a time when practicing magic was widespread. Allah brought them down to the earth in the Iraqi town of Babylon and gave them permission to teach magic as a test for people. The angels would first advise and warn people from learning magic so that there would be no excuse of ignorance for them. Many myths were concocted about these two angels in the books of Tafsir and history, but none of them is confirmed in the Qur"an or Sunnah. Therefore, what is mentioned in the Qur"an in verse 102 of Sūrat al-Baqarah is sufficient to know about them. Many statements have been introduced regarding the definition of "Harut and Marut", but all of them are weak and groundless. It is said, for instance, that they are the names of two tribes of Jinn, or two human kings, or the angels Gabriel and Michael.