Wikipedia's first sentence called it “forces of hell”. Today it says “the "wardens of hell"”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Zabaniyah ( Arabic : الزبانية , romanized : az-zabāniya ) is the name of a group of angels in Islam who are tasked to torture the sinners in hell. They are mentioned appeared in many verses in Quran , With various names such as "Nineteen angels of Hell", "Angels of punishment", "Guardians of Hell", "Wardens of hell" ( Arabic : خَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ , romanized : khazanati jahannam ), and "Angels of hell" or "The keepers". As angels, the Zabaniyah are, despite their gruesome appearance and actions, ultimately subordinate to God , and thus their punishments are considered in Islamic theology as just. According to Al-Qurtubi , Zabaniyah is a plural name a group of an angel. According to the Quran and the ahadith , the Zabaniyah are nineteen in number and Maalik is their leader. "Kampung Akhirat (2) : Penjaga-Penjaga Neraka" [Afterlife country (2) : Guardians of Hell]. muslim.or.id (in Indonesian and Arabic). Islamic University of Madinah ; Ministry of Religious Affairs (Indonesia) ; Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance . Muhammad Sulaiman Al Asyqar, mudarris tafsir Universitas Islam Madinah 8. تَكَادُ تَمَيَّزُ مِنَ الْغَيْظِ ۖ (hampir-hampir (neraka) itu terpecah-pecah lantaran marah) Yakni neraka hampir-hampir terpecah akibat besarnya kemarahannya terhadap orang-orang kafir. كُلَّمَآ أُلْقِىَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌ(Setiap kali dilemparkan ke dalamnya sekumpulan (orang-orang kafir)) Makna (الفوج) adalah sekelompok manusia. سَأَلَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَآ(penjaga-penjaga (neraka itu) bertanya kepada mereka) Yakni para malaikat penjaga neraka bertanya untuk memperolok mereka. أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ(Apakah belum pernah datang kepada kamu) Ketika di dunia. In Matthew 23:33: Comparison Study Of The Concept Of Hell And Suffering In The Bible And Quran" . A Dictionary of Islam Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs, Together with the Technical and Theological Terms, of the Muhammadan Religion . Angels A to Z (ebook) . There are <ref group=Quran> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ).
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1298282341.
The opening as it stood in 2020
In Islam the Zabaniyah ( ) (also spelled Zebani ) are the forces of hell , who torment the sinners , also called the Angels of punishment or Guardians of Hell . They are often identified with the Nineteen Angels of Hell mentioned in Quran 66:6 and 74:30 or as their subordinates. Namely they appear in Surah 96:18 . Traditionally they are contrasted with the angels of mercy by their creation from fire instead of light. Some scholars regard them, nevertheless, as created from light, along with other angels.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964326028.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Angels who torture sinners in hell according to Islam In Islam the Zabaniyah ( ) (also spelled Zebani ) are the tormentors of the sinners in hell .They appear namely in the Quran in verse 96:18 .Identified with the Nineteen Angels of Hell in 66:6 and 74:30 , they are further called " angels of punishment", the "Guardians of Hell", "wardens of hell", and "angels of hell".Some consider the zabaniya to be the hell's angels' subordinates.As angels, the zabaniyah are, despite their gruesome appearance and actions, ultimately subordinative to God ( Allah ), and thus their punishment is considered just.The etymological origin of the term is unclear.Some scholars consider zabaniyah to refer to a class of Arabian demons.Others argue that they designated a group of angels conducting the souls of the dead and throwing the sinners into hell.The idea of punishing angels goes back the Hebrew Bible and are further attested in apocrypha .Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177918284.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “forces of hell”. Today it says “the "wardens of hell"”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2020, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
forces of hell
Now
the "wardens of hell"
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
