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Belief in the Angels
The angles are a matter of the unseen. They are created
by Allah and they worship Him. They have no attributes
that qualify them to be gods or lords. Allah created
them from light, and He bestowed on them the bounty
of obeying Him at all times. He gave them the power
to carry and implement His orders, (And those who are
near Him (the angels) are not too proud to worship Him,
nor are they weary (of His worship). They glorify His
praises night and day, (and) they never slacken (to
do so).) [21:19-20]. They are so numerous that only
Allah can count their numbers. Al-Bukhari and Muslim
related that Anas said, while narrating the story of
the Prophet's ascension to heaven, that Al-Bait Al-Ma'amoor
(the House in heaven that is always inhabited. It is,
for the inhabitants of heaven, like the Kaa'bah for
the people of earth) was raised for the Prophet in heaven
so he can see it. Each day, seventy thousand angles
pray in this House, and when they exit from it, they
will never get back into it (this shows how numerous
the angels are).
Belief In The Angels Has Four Parts
1 - Belief in their existence
2 - Belief in what we were told of their names, such
as Gibreal, and also belief in other angels whom we
were not informed of their names.
3 - Belief in what we were told of their attributes.
The example to this is the description of Gibreal. The
Prophet told us that he saw Gibreal in the shape that
Allah created him, having six hundred wings and larger
than the horizon.
The angels may change their shapes, by the order of
Allah. They may take the shape of men. Allah sent Gibreal
to Mariam (Mary) and he came to her in the shape of
a man. He was also sent to Prophet Mohammad, while he
was sitting down with his companions, in the shape of
a man, wearing very white clothes with very dark hair,
a stranger to the companions, yet no evidence of traveling
was apparent on him. He sat next to the Prophet and
laid his knees next to the Prophet's knees and put his
hands on the Prophet's thighs. He asked the Prophet
about Islam, Iman, lh'san (excellence in the .religion)
and the Last Hour and its signs. The Prophet answered
him. Then, Gibreal left. The Prophet said to his companions,
"This was Gibreal. He came to you to teach you
your religion." [Muslim]. Also, Allah sent the
angels to Ibrahim (Abraham) and Lut in the shape of
men.
4 - Belief in the tasks that they perform, by the order
of Allah. They praise Allah and worship him at all times
without the slightest boredom or fatigue. Some angels
may have special tasks to fulfill:
Gibreal is the honorable angels whom Allah sends down
with revelation to the Prophets and Messengers.
Mikaeel is the angel who is controlling rain and vegetation,
by the order of Allah.
Israfil is the angel who must blow in the Horn when
the Hour (Last Day) has started and when it is time
to resurrect the dead.
Malik is the keeper and supervisor of Hell.
The angel of death captures the souls at death.
There are angels who supervise fetuses in the wombs.
When a fetus is four months old, Allah sends down an
angel and orders him to record the fetus's sustenance,
maximum age, deeds and if miserable (destined to Hell)
or happy (destined to Paradise).
There are angels who record deeds of mankind. They
have a record of everyone's deeds. There are two angels
for each person, one to the right and the other to the
left.
There are other angels who question the dead when they
are in their graves. Two angels come to all dead persons
and ask each of them about the Lord he worshipped, the
religion he followed and the Messenger he obeyed.
Benefits of Believing In The Angels
1 - Knowing Allah's Might, Strength and Power. All
the strength of creation is a sign of the Strength of
the Creator.
2 - Thanking Allah because He takes care of mankind.
He appointed angels to protect them, record their deeds
and other beneficial tasks.
3 - Loving the angels because they are true worshippers
of Allah.
Some misguided people reject that the angels exist in
a physical form. They claim that the angels are the
potential for good that creation possesses. This is
a direct rejection to the Book of Allah, the Sunnah
of His Messenger and the ljmaa' (consensus) of Muslims.
Allah said, what translated means, (All the praises
and thanks be to Allah, the (Only) Originator of the
heavens and the earth, Who made the Angels messengers
with wings, two or three or four.) [35:1], (And if you
could see when the angels take away the souls of those
who disbelieve (at death), they smite their faces and
their backs.) [8:50], (And if you could but see when
the unjust (disbelievers) are in the agonies of death,
while the angels are stretching forth their hands (saying):
"Deliver your souls.") [6:93], (Until when
fear is banished from their (the angels') hearts, they
(the angels) say. "What is that your Lord has said?"
They say: "The Truth." And He is the Most
High, the Most Great.) [34:23] and, (And angels shall
enter unto them from every gate (saying): "Peace
be upon you for that you preserved in patience! Excellent
indeed is the final Home (Paradise).") [13:23-24].
The Messenger of Allah said, what translated means,
"When Allah likes a slave, He calls on Gibreal,
saying: 'Allah loves so and so (person), therefore,
love him.' Then, Gibreal loves him. Afterwards, Gibreal
calls on the inhabitants of heaven, saying: 'Allah loves
so and so (person), therefore, love him.' Then, the
people of heaven love him. Afterwards acceptance (among
the community of believers) will be granted for him
in earth." [Al-Bukhari] and, "When the day
of Friday comes, there stand angels at each of the Masjid's
doors. They record the first then the next (one to come
to the Masjid). When the Imam sits down (waiting for
the call to prayer to end so he can start the speech),
they close the books and they come to listen to the
Thikr (the remembrance of Allah contained in the Friday
speech)." [Al- Bukhari].
The above texts are clear in their meaning that the
angels have physical forms and are not a state of the
mind, as the misguided claim. The true meaning of these
texts, which states that the angels exist in a physical
form, is accepted by the entire Ummah.
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