Angels in Islam

Angels in Islam are light-based creatures, created by God to serve and worship him. Belief in angels is one of the beliefs in Islam or faith without which there is no faith. Whoever does not believe in any of these pillars is not a believer (mu’min). These pillars are belief in: Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and that predestination, both good and bad, comes from Allah.

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 or faster. 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 smokeless 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 that Muslims accept. He is mentioned specifically in the Qur'an. He is also leader of all Angels.

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. This archangel was mentioned in Qur'an.

Israfil (OR Israafeel OR Isrofil OR Raphael). Israfil is the Angel responsible for signalling the coming of Judgment Day by blowing a horn and sending out a "Blast of Truth". It translates to English as Azrael or one of the similar names. Blowing of the trumpet is described at many places in Quran. First time, it will destroy everything ^{[Quran 69:13]}. Second time, all human beings will come to life again ^{[Quran 36:51]}.

Other angels

Malik is the angel who is responsible for hell.
Ridwan is the angel who is responsible for heaven (Paradise).
Kiraamun kaatibeen are the angels who record the good and bad deeds of a person.
Munkar and Nakir are the angels who interrogate a person in the grave about his good and bad deeds.

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.

Referencing an Angel

Angels do not have any gender, God did not create them divided by gender since they are asexual and do not reproduce. But however, in the Qur'an and in the Bible, Archangels are referred to as 'he' or 'he is'. This is due to the language's use of nouns and designation of what is feminine or masculine. Such as in English, a warship is usually referred to as a feminine object, and thus referred to as 'her' or 'she'. This is not to personify the object and apply anthropomorphistic attributes, but merely as a designation of respect. This is the same case with Angels, and their references in the Qur'an. They are always referred to as 'he' or 'him', mainly due to the fact that the word for angel in Arabic is a masculine noun. It is convention, when you refer to an angel in any context, to use masculine guises.

Verses in the Qur'an that directly name Angels

Gabriel (Jibreel) and Michael (Mikaa'eel) are mentioned early on the Qur'an in the second sura:

"Say: Whoever is an enemy to Jibreel - for he brings down the (revelation) to your heart by Allah’s will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings to those who believe - Whoever is an enemy to Allah, and His angels and prophets, to Jibreel and Mikaa’eel - Lo! Allah is an enemy to those who reject Faith." [[[Al-Baqarah]] 2:97-98]

Another Angel, Malik is defined in the Qur'an as a being who is the Keeper of the Seven Hells. Malik also translates into "King" from Arabic, so it is assumed that Malik is "King" of Hell. However Malik is not an evil angel, nor a fallen one, a notion Islam rejects, rather Malik is merely doing what he is commanded to do by Allah.

"They [the people in Hell] will cry: ‘O Malik! Would that your Lord put an end to us!’..." [[[Az-Zukhruf]] 43:77]

Two other Angels are also mentioned directly in the Qur'an: Haaroot and Maaroot (OR Harut and Marut).

". . . and such things as came down at Babylon to the angels Haaroot and Maaroot . . ." [al-Baqarah 2:102]

Several Angels, Azrael, Isrofil and Nakir and Munkar are not mentioned directly in the Qur'an but are explained further in the Hadiths of Muhammad. They are also mentioned in traditional myth, however, seldom retain complete originality from the Hadith.