{"id":1313,"date":"2021-04-07T23:11:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T20:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/belief-in-angels\/"},"modified":"2021-04-07T23:11:15","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T20:11:15","slug":"belief-in-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/belief-in-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"Belief in Angels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reality of Angels<\/h2>\n

In common folklore, angels are thought of as good forces of nature, hologram images, or illusions.\u00a0 Western iconography sometimes depicts angels as fat cherubic babies or handsome young men or women with a halo surrounding their head.\u00a0 In Islamic doctrine, they are real created beings who will eventually suffer death, but are generally hidden from our senses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They are not divine or semi-divine, and they are not God\u2019s associates running different districts of the universe.\u00a0 Also, they are not objects to be worshipped or prayed to, as they do not deliver our prayers to God.\u00a0 They all submit to God and carry out His commands.<\/p>\n

In the Islamic worldview, there are no fallen angels: they are not divided into \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018evil\u2019 angels.\u00a0 Human beings do not become angels after death.\u00a0 Satan is not a fallen angel, but is one of the\u00a0jinn<\/em>, a creation of God parallel to human beings and angels.<\/p>\n

Angels were created from light before human beings were created, and thus their graphic or symbolic representation in Islamic art is rare.\u00a0 Nevertheless, they are generally beautiful beings with wings as described in Muslim scripture.<\/p>\n

Angels form different cosmic hierarchies and orders in the sense that they are of different size, status, and merit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The greatest of them is Gabriel.\u00a0 The Prophet of Islam actually saw him in his original form.\u00a0 Also, the attendants of God\u2019s Throne are among the greatest angels.\u00a0 They love the believers and beseech God to forgive them their sins.\u00a0 They carry the Throne of God, about whom the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been given permission to speak about one of the angels of God who carry the Throne.\u00a0 The distance between his ear-lobes and his shoulders is equivalent to a seven-hundred-year journey.\u201d (Abu Daud<\/em>)<\/p>\n

They do not eat or drink.\u00a0 The angels do not get bored or tired of worshipping God:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey celebrate His praises night and day, nor do they ever slacken.\u201d (Quran 21:20)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Number of Angels<\/strong><\/h2>\n

How many angels there are? Only God knows.\u00a0 The Much-Frequented House is a sacred heavenly sanctuary above the Kaaba, the black cube in the city of Mecca.\u00a0 Every day seventy thousand angels visit it and leave, never returning to it again, followed by another group.[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The Names of Angels<\/h2>\n

Muslims believe in specific angels mentioned in the Islamic sources likeJibreel<\/em> (Gabriel),\u00a0Mika’eel <\/em>(Michael),\u00a0Israfeel<\/em>,\u00a0Malik<\/em> – the guard over Hell, and others.\u00a0 Of these, only Gabriel and Michael are mentioned in the Bible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Angelic Abilities<\/h2>\n

The angels possess great powers given to them by God.\u00a0 They can take on different forms.\u00a0 The Muslim scripture describes how at the moment of Jesus\u2019 conception, God sent Gabriel to Mary in the form of a man:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.\u201d (Quran 19:17)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Angels also visited Abraham in human form.\u00a0 Similarly, angels came to Lot to deliver him from danger in the form of handsome, young men.\u00a0 Gabriel used to visit Prophet Muhammad in different forms.\u00a0 Sometimes, he would appear in the form of one of his handsome disciples, and sometimes in the form of a desert Bedouin.<\/p>\n

Angels have the ability to take human forms in some circumstances involving common people.<\/p>\n

Gabriel is God\u2019s heavenly messenger to mankind.\u00a0 He would convey the revelation from God to His human messengers.\u00a0 God says:<\/p>\n

\u201cSay: whoever is an enemy to Gabriel – for he brings down the (revelation) to your heart by God\u2019s will…\u201d (Quran 2:97)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tasks of the Angels<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some angels are put in charge of executing God\u2019s law in the physical world.\u00a0 Michael is responsible for rain, directing it wherever God wishes.\u00a0 He has helpers who assist him by the command of his Lord; they direct the winds and clouds, as God wills.\u00a0 Another is responsible for blowing the Horn, which will be blown byIsraafeel<\/em> at the onset of the Day of Judgment.\u00a0 Others are responsible for taking souls out of the bodies at the time of death: the Angel of Death and his assistants.\u00a0 God says:<\/p>\n

\u201cSay: the Angel of Death, put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls, then shall you be brought back to your Lord.\u201d (Quran 32:11)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then there are guardian angels responsible for protecting the believer throughout his life, at home or traveling, asleep or awake.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Others are responsible for recording the deeds of man, good and bad.\u00a0 These are known as the \u201chonorable scribes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two angels,\u00a0Munkar<\/em> and\u00a0Nakeer<\/em>, are responsible for testing people in the grave.<\/p>\n

Among them are keepers of Paradise and the nineteen \u2018guards\u2019 of Hell whose leader is named \u2018Malik<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n

There are also angels responsible for breathing the soul into the fetus and writing down its provisions, life-span, actions, and whether it will be wretched or happy.<\/p>\n

Some angels are roamers, traveling around the world in search of gatherings where God is remembered.\u00a0 There are also angels constituting God\u2019s heavenly army, standing in rows, they never get tired or sit down, and others who bow or prostrate, and never raise their heads, always worshipping God.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Footnotes:<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Saheeh Al-Bukhari<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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In common folklore, angels are thought of as good forces of nature, hologram images, or illusions. Western iconography sometimes depicts angels as fat cherubic babies or handsome young men or women with a halo surrounding their head. In Islamic doctrine, they are real created beings who will eventually suffer death\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[465,2],"tags":[1222,2337,2503,234,6,2510,1832,490,1223,6206,23,1497,6207,2526,6208,6209,1499,265,145,732,6210],"class_list":["post-1313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-of-faith","category-new-muslims","tag-allah","tag-angel-gabriel","tag-angels","tag-articles-of-faith","tag-belief","tag-believers","tag-creation","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-heaven","tag-hereafter","tag-islam","tag-jibreel","tag-jinn","tag-light","tag-mankind","tag-muslims","tag-pillars-of-islam","tag-prophet-muhammad","tag-quran","tag-scripture"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/594_god-athiest.png?fit=312%2C230&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ZvKT-lb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quran-for-all.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}