Angels in Islam

Angels in Islam are light-based creatures, created by Allah to serve and worship him. Angels are technically incorporeal, but can manifest themselves in visible form. Their existence is sometimes described as ethereal.

Qur'an, Sura 17. Al-Isra verse 95. [Isra, The Night Journey, Children of Israel]

"If there were angels on the earth I would send them an angel as a Prophet from heaven"

017.095 قُلْ لَوْ كَانَ فِي الأرْضِ مَلائِكَةٌ يَمْشُونَ مُطْمَئِنِّينَ لَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَلَكًا رَسُولا

Attributes of angels

The attributes of an Angel described in Islam are very similar to the Christian version as described in the Bible. They are intangible, sentient entities, who, while being intelligent, have no free will of their own. Their purpose is to serve God and worship Him. Being made of light, they can assume almost any form, completely real to the human eye, and traverse a distance just as fast as light. However, contrary to Christian beliefs in which Angels have free will, Angels in Islam cannot fall from their status as a servant of God's will, since they were made completely obedient and it is impossible for them to override or disobey a command from God. Thus, the belief of the Christian doctrine that the Devil (Iblis) himself is an angel is unacceptable to Muslims.

Iblis

While Iblis did disobey God, was expelled from Heaven, and became the avowed enemy of man, he was a Jinn not an angel, which is not angelic in any way, since they are made of fire, not light, have free-will, and can disobey or openly defy God.

Angel hierarchy

There is no standard hierarchical organization in Islam that parallels the division into different "choirs" or spheres, as hypothesised and drafted by early medieval Christian theologians. Most Islamic scholars agree that this is an unimportant topic in Islam, especially since such a topic has never been directly mentioned or addressed in either the Qur'an or Bible. However, it is clear that there is a set order or hierarchy that exists between Angels, defined by the assigned jobs and various tasks to which angels are commanded by God.

The general consensus agrees that Archangels are the highest order of Angels, as those are the ones named the most in the Qur'an (Gabriel, Michael, etc.); these are considered to be closest to God in terms of servitude, as their meaning and purpose is more detailed than any other angel.

Archangels

There are four Archangels whom Muslims are required to acknowledge as part of their conversion to Islam. (Due to varied methods of translation from Arabic and the fact that these Angels also exist in Christian contexts and the Bible, several of their Christian and phonetic transliteral names are listed.)

Jibra'il (OR Jibreel OR Geebril OR Jibril OR Djebril OR Gabriel in English and the Bible). Jibra'il is the Archangel responsible for revealing the Qur'an to Muhammad, sura by sura. Jibra'il is known as the angel who communicates with (all) the Prophets Muslims accept. He is mentioned specifically in the Qur'an.

Azra'il (OR Azrail OR Izrael OR Azrael). Azrael is the Angel of Death who along with his helpers is responsible for parting the soul of the human from the body. The actual process of separating the soul from the body depends on the person's history or record of good or bad deeds. If the human was a bad person in life, the soul is ripped out very painfully. But if the human was a righteous person, then the soul is separated like a 'drop of water dripping from glass'.

Mika'il (OR Mikael OR Mikaa’eel OR Michael). Michael is the Archangel charged with bringing thunder and lightning onto the Earth. He is also responsible for the rewards doled out to good persons in this life.

Israfil (OR Israafeel OR Isrofil OR Raphael). Israfil is the Angel responsible for signalling the coming of Judgement Day by blowing a horn and sending out a "Blast of Truth". It translates to English as Azrael or one of the similar names.

The Qur'an also mentions angels who occupy the realms of the Seven Hells. A verse stipulates this:

"O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a Fire (Jahannam) whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern and severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded." [[[At-Tahrim]] 66:6]

The Qur'an also mentions that angels have qualities that may be typified by the word wings. Another ayat (verse) stipulates this:

"Praise be to Allah, Who created (out of nothing) the heavens and the earth, Who made the angel messengers with wings - two, or three, or four (pairs) and adds to Creation as He pleases: for Allah has power over all things." [[[Fatir]] 35:1]

The preceding sentence does not imply that all angels have two to four wings. Most notably, archangels (namely Gabriel and Michael) are described as having thousands of wings. Tradition also notes that certain angels, created solely for the purpose of praising Allah, have 70 thousand heads, each with 70 thousand mouths that speak 70 thousand languages solely to sing praises for the Almighty. This type of angel, whose type is nameless, accompanied Muhammad up to Jannah (Heaven) when he received commands from Allah. Instead of riding on an angel, Muhammad rode a creature called a Buraq whose stride spans from horizon to horizon.

Other important angels

The following are angels important to Islam, but are not mentioned directly (except for Harut and Marut, they are mentioned directly but none is said of them after surat two (al-Baqara)).

Nakir and Munkar interrogate the deceased on their way of life prior to their deaths. They ask three main questions (but it is known that they do ask certain other questions if the deceased do not answer correctly the first time): Who was your god? Who was your prophet? What was your way of life? A true Muslim would answer: My God was no other God than Allah. My Prophet was Muhammad, sent by Allah. My way of life was surrenderring to Allah's will (Islam).

Nakir and Munkar are described as being blue and black angels in the Hadiths, usually appearing friendly to Muslims, but frightful to non-Muslims who are especially sinful.

See also: Nakir and Munkar

Harut and Marut (Haroot and Maroot) are mentioned directly in the Qur'an as two angels sent to test mankind. They were to teach and coach encountered men on the secrets of dark magic and sorcery. They were angels who had manifested themselves as scholars and normal people to test mankind on whether they would reject the teachings as blasphemy or follow them and reject faith. According to the Qur'an, Harut and Marut were sent before Prophet Muhammad, apparently during the time of Moses. In some Islamic traditions, they are concerned with a completely different story. As the alternate story goes, Harut and Marut were sent to Earth after the Angels derided and criticized mankind for their corruption, negligent rule and faulty ethics. As God said: "If thou were in their place, you would be doing the same thing...I have given mankind ten carnal pleasures, it is through these pleasures that they disobey me." God then challenged the angels to do better in mankind's condition. They accepted it: "O Lord ,if you give us these carnal desires we would descend and judge with justice." So the two angels, Harut and Marut were sent to see if they could do any 'better' in the same position as normal humans. Harut was sent as scholar and Marut as judge. It's currently indefinite whether they fulfilled or failed their challenge and kept their angelic nature, as consensus lies on a stalemate, since this tradition is not directly linked with the texts of the Qur'an. It's also stated in some traditional stories that they became fully human and joined the ranks of 'fallen angels'. However, this claim is contradictory to the fact that angels do not disobey God, and thus cannot 'fall' from their angelic nature. This incident is the only case in the Qur'an of two angels apparently disobeying God and forgetting their angelic heritage. However, such a claim can only be established as a quasi-myth, as such verification of it is yields indefinity.

Hafaza Angels are also mentioned in the Qur'an (not by name however) as a class of angels that are each appointed to a human to keep a record of his or her good or bad deeds. Not a single good or bad deed or thought is forgoed in their record of each individual. In a sense they are considered the Guardian Angels. In truth, however, Islam teaches there are four different angels that guard us each. Two in the day and two in the night. They protect us from the assaults of Shaitan. It is written that you should best be on your guard during the evening and dusk time as that is the time when the two angels switch positions as guardians, and their protective barrier over us is at its weakest then. Reference to these angels is of only one of many particular verses such as one at sura al-Anaam, verse 61: "...and He sets guardians over you.".