Angels
Angels are
faithful and honourable slaves of Allah ﷻ. They never disobey Allah ﷻ. They are
divinely protected from committing sins. Their bodies are made of light. They
do not eat or drink. They are always busy in worshipping Allah ﷻ.
Allah ﷻ has
granted them the power to assume any shape they want. They are appointed to
carry out various tasks such as:
- Guarding
Paradise - Guarding Hell
- Writing the
deeds of men - Delivering
sustenance - Causing
rainfall - Fashioning the
faces of children in their mothers’ wombs - Protecting
humans - Seizing souls
[i.e., administering death] - Interrogating
the dead in their graves - Administering
punishment
Delivering the
greetings and prayers of blessings upon our Master, RasulAllah ﷺ invoked by
Muslims Bringing revelation to Prophets عليهم السلام.
Allah ﷻ has
given immense strength and incredible powers to angels. They can perform feats
which a hundred thousand humans put together will not be able to do. The
following four are the greatest among all angels:
2. Sayyiduna Mika’il عليه السلام
3. Sayyiduna Israfil عليه السلام
4. Sayyiduna Azra’il (30) [the Angel of Death]
عليه السلام
Questions IV:
Angels
angels?
Answer: Even
though we do not [commonly] see angels, there are people whom Allah ﷻ has given
the power to see angels. Prophets عليهم السلام can see angels and talk to them
[in this world]. Dead people see angels in their graves. Also, all others whom
Allah ﷻ allows can see them (31).
angel who writes down the deeds of a human during his entire life, or will
there be many?
Answer: Various
angels are given these duties; [among those we know] there is one angel who
records good deeds and another who notes down bad deeds; also, the angels in
the day time are different from those who write deeds in the night.
3. How many
angels are there in all?
Answer: There
are numerous angels. Their number is not known (32).
(30) The names
Mikaiyl, Jibril are mentioned in the Qur’an: the name of Israfil is mentioned
in hadith and the name Azrail is not mentioned in either the Qur’an or the
sunnah, where he is only referred to as: Malak al- Mawt [the Angel of Death].
However, the angel is commonly known by this name: some have said that it is
probably derived from Jewish narrations. Allah tadlo knows best. Also, the name
is pronounced both with fat’hah and kasrah – Azrail and Izrail. [Taj al-Arus]
(31) If Allah
so wills, some common people can also see angels.
(32) Only Allah
taala who has created them, or those whom Alloh has granted knowledge, know
about the number of angels that exist.