Angels الملائكة

Overview

Angels (الملائكة, al-mala'ika) are beings of light created by Allah to glorify Him and execute His commands without disobedience. Belief in them is the second of the six articles of iman, alongside belief in Allah, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine decree.

Etymology

The singular مَلَك (malak) derives from a root signifying message-bearing and authority. Angels are described in the Quran with various functions: messengers, scribes, guardians, soul-takers, and bearers of the Throne. The mudabbirat, nashitat, sabihat, and sabiqat mentioned in Surah An-Naziat are classes among them.

Quranic references

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:285 — 'The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers.' Surah Fatir 35:1 — '[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, [who] made the angels messengers having wings, two or three or four.'

جَاعِلِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ رُسُلًا أُولِي أَجْنِحَةٍ مَّثْنَىٰ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ

Surah At-Tahrim 66:6 — 'Over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.' Surah Al-Anbiya 21:19-20 — 'They exalt [Him] night and day [and] do not slacken.'

Hadith and tradition

Aishah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The angels were created from light, the jinn were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from what has been described to you."— Sahih Muslim 2996

The Prophet ﷺ said regarding the Bayt al-Ma'mur in the seventh heaven: "Every day seventy thousand angels enter it and do not return to it."— Sahih al-Bukhari 3207

Named angels include Jibril (revelation), Mika'il (sustenance and rain), Israfil (the Trumpet), Malik (keeper of Hell), and Munkar and Nakir (the questioners in barzakh).

Significance

Angels mediate every act of divine governance: they record deeds (Surah Qaf 50:18), receive souls at death, descend with mercy on Laylat al-Qadr, surround circles of remembrance, and will fill the ranks at the Reckoning. Denial of their existence, or attributing divinity to them as the polytheists did, is a violation of tawhid.

See also

Jibril · Israfil · Munkar and Nakir · Naziat · Iman

References

1. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Quran al-Azim, exegesis of Surah Fatir 35:1 and the angelology of the Quran.
2. al-Tabari, Jami al-Bayan, on the ranks and functions of the angels.
3. Ibn al-Qayyim, I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in and references in al-Ruh regarding angelic agency.
4. al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, chapters on belief in the angels.