Sahar-ul-Nisa Haroon
The six articles of faith sum up the basic theology of Islam: the belief in one God, His Angels, His Messengers, His Books, Divine Predestination, and the Day of Resurrection.
These are the basic tenets of Islam which one must believe without any doubt in order to be considered a believer.
Belief in Allah, the most high, is the basic foundations of Islamic personality; the Second is the belief in His Angels. Angels are one of Allah’s creations. They are God’s record keepers and Guardians of his glory. Angels are created by Allah, just as man and everything else.
Angels obey Allah. They carry out His will, and take great care that everything goes according to His will. They are the obedient servants of Allah. They are the creation from the world of Ghayb (unseen). We have a firm belief in them and there is no scope for any doubt.
The Noble Qur’an guides us through these blessed Ayats (2:177,285 and 4:136) that belief in angels is one of the Allah (Swt) Himself states in the early verses of Surah Baqra that one of the qualities of the Guided and Successful people in the world and hereafter is the belief in Ghayb (Unseen), which implicitly means belief in Angels.
Ghayb is the knowledge of that which is beyond the human perception. Allah alone possesses the keys to the knowledge of Ghayb, but he may release news of ‘Ghayb’ to the one He wills. But here, one must not confuse himself by the fact that Gyabh includes Angels alone rather it includes the knowledge about Allah, His Angels, the Heaven, Hell, Djinns, and events from the remote past or future and so on.
Now one might ask a question regarding the essence of Angels. Angels are created from light and they carry out Allah’s commands for which they are accountable. Being created from the light they don’t have physical attributes. The Pagans of Arabia considered Angels to be spouse/daughters of Allah, but their beliefs are refuted by the Quranic verse (43:19) which says: “And they make the angels who themselves are slaves to the Most Benficient (Allah) females. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be questioned!”
‘Quran’
We don’t know the exact date of their creation but from the traditions, Ahadeethes and verses of the Quran we come to know that they were created before mankind. “When your lord said to the angels, I am placing a Khalifa (i.e mankind) on the earth….”(Surah Baqra 2:30).
Angels are made of light and hence mankind cannot see them, only Messenger of Allah has seen Jibraeel(AS) twice in the form in which Allah created him. The text indicates that human beings are able to see the angels when they appear in human forms. The physical structure of Angles was described by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) “ I saw Jibraeel descending from heaven, and his great size filled the space between the heaven and the earth”.
In Quran they are described as “Praise belongs to Allah, the Bringer into bring of the heavens and the earth, the Maker of the angels into Messengers, possessing wings-two, three and four. He adds to creation in any way Allah wills. Allah is over all things powerful.”(surah Fatir 35:1).
Some angels have high ranking than others. Jibraeel (AS) is the leader of all angels. Allah said concerning Jibraeel (AS), “Verily, this is the word (this Qur’an brought by) a most honorable messenger (from Allah to Prophet). Owner of power, and high rank with Lord of the Throne.(Surah at-Takwir 81:19-20).
The best of angels are those who were present at the battle of Badr. In Saheeh al –Bukharee, it is narrated from Rafaa’ah ibn Raafi that Jibraeel came to Prophet (pbuh) and said, “what do you think of the people of Badr among you (i.e., those among you who were present at Badr)?”
He said, “They are among the best of Muslim” or similar words, Jibraeel (AS) said, “ the same is true about the angels who were present at Badr.”(Saheeh al –Bukharee (7/312),hadeeth no. 3992) isra wal-Miraj al-Bayt al-Ma’moor.
Angels don’t posses gender, “Verily, those believe not in the Hereafter, name the angels with female names (53:27). They don’t eat and drink. They celebrate Allah’s praises day and night and never feel tired.”(21:20).
Angels are very great in number and none knows their exact number except He, Who created them “None knows the hosts of your Lord except Him”(74:31).
The dwelling place of the angels is in the heavens. They come down to the earth by the command of Allah to fulfill the tasks they are entrusted with, as well as on special occasions such as “the night of al-Qadr.”
Allah has bestowed the angels with the ability to take on different forms. He sent Jibraeel to Maryam (19:16-19), Ibraheem (11:69) and Loot (11:77) in a human form.
Angels are free from sin “…angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not, (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded” (66:6).
Angels have a limited life period they too die just like humans and jinns “And the Trumpt will be blown, and all who are on earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah Wills. Then it will be blown at second time and behold, they will be standing, looking on (waiting) (surah az-Zamur)
Allah has described angels as being honorable and obedient: “in the hands of scribes (angels) (80:15-16). Angels are modest and shy, as narrated by Aisha (RA), “how could I not feel shy of a man of whom the angels feel shy”( Bukhari-8/691 hadith no,4937; Muslim 1/549)
The leader of angels is Jibraeel (AS) “The faithful spirit brought it down upon your heart for you to be one of the Warner in a clear Arabic tongue (26:193-195).” Jibraeel was endowed with strength and power. He secures the position with the Lord of the Throne and is obeyed by all
However, there is a mention of other Angels also in the in Quran, Meeka’eel, angel entrusted with rain and dispensing it wherever Allah commands him. Israfeel, Angel entrusted with Trumpet. Maalik, guard of hellfire. There are two more angels who have been mentioned in the Qur’an and these are Munkar and Nakeer.
‘Duties’
Different angels perform different duties. Jibraeel brought revealed messages of Allah to all prophets (Zaboor, Tawrah, Injeel, and Quran). Meeka’eel, have control of vegetation and rain through the command of Allah. Israfeel will blow the trumpt on Yawn al- Qiyamah (the Day of Ressurection). Azraeel the angel of death, Maalik( guard of hell fire).
Angels perform some duties with regard to humans also. An angel is entrusted with the fetus. Four guardian angels are with every son of Adam “For each (person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him, they guard him by the command of Allah (surah arRa’d 13:11).Angel keeps record of our intentions too. The Messenger of Allah said, Allah says,
“When My slave intends to do so an evil action, do not record it. if he doesit ,then write it down as one evil(evil deed), if he intends to do a good deed and does not do it ,then write down one (good deed), and if he does it, then write it down as ten” (Saheeh Muslim 1/117, hadeeth no.128). An angel companion to inspire is assigned for everybody (Saheeh Muslim 4/2168, Angels are in charge of capturing souls when man completes his time. “Say, The angel of death, who is set over you, will take your souls. Then to your Lord you will return (surah as-Sajdah 32:11).”
Angels will also question the son of Adam in the grave (Munkar and Nakeer). Angels love the righteous and pray for them ( Saheeh al- Bukhari, hadeeth no 66,vol 8). The angels send blessings on the person who seek ‘ilm and teaches it. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to say, “Verily, Allah and His angels sent salaat upon (the people of) the first row.
Angels also pray and send blessings for those who sit after the prayer, eat sahoor( pre dawn meal of fasting), who send salawat on Prophet, who visit sick, who stand on the right side of the imam in congregation, who perform Fajr and Asr prayer in congregation and, those who complete the recitation of the Quran.
Angels seek forgiveness for believers who repent (Surah al-Ghafir 40:7-9). However, there are also some unfortunate people who invoke the curses from Allah’s angels “ Verily, those who disbelieve, and die while they are disbelievers, it is they on whom is the curse of Allah and of the angels and of mankind, combined (2:161).”
There are angels that travel throughout the earth looking for gatherings where Allah is remembered. When they find a gathering of Allah’s remembrance, they say: “come quickly to As we learn from above”.
The angels are a grandiose creation of God, varying in numbers, roles, and abilities. God is in no need of these creatures, but having knowledge and belief in them adds to the awe that one feels towards God, in that He is able to create as He wishes, for indeed the magnificence of His creation is a proof of the magnificence of the Creator.
(The author is a research scholar at Aligarh Muslim University. This is the second part of her series of articles on Islam. Send you contributions to [email protected])
