The Angels

All praise is due to Allāh. May Allāh raise the rank of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ and protect his nation from that which he feared for them.

---

Believing in the Angels

Believing in the angels is an obligation upon every Muslim. Allāh the Exalted said:

آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ

The Messenger believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and so did the believers. All of them believed in Allāh, His angels, His books, and His Messengers. [Sūrat al-Baqarah, 285]

The Prophet ﷺ said when asked about īmān:

الإِيمانُ أنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللهِ وَمَلائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَاليَومِ الآخِرِ وَتُؤمِنَ بِالقَدَرِ خَيرِهِ وَشَرّهِ

Īmān is to believe in Allāh, and His angels, and His books, and His Messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in destiny, its good and its evil. [Muslim]

---

The Creation of the Angels

The Prophet ﷺ said:

خُلِقَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ نُورٍ وَخُلِقَ الْجَانُّ مِنْ مَارِجٍ مِنْ نَارٍ وَخُلِقَ آدَمُ مِمَّا وُصِفَ لَكُمْ

The angels were created from light, the jinn were created from pure flame, and Ādam was created from what was described to you. [Muslim]

The angels were all created at once and are more numerous than any other creation. Allāh the Exalted said:

وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ

None knows the number of your Lord’s forces but He. [Sūrat al-Muddaththir, 31]

Al-Tirmidhiyy narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

مَا فِي السَّمَوَاتِ مَوْضِعُ أَرْبَعِ أَصَابِعَ إِلَّا وَفِيهِ مَلَكٌ قَائِمٌ أَوْ رَاكِعٌ أَوْ سَاجِدٌ

There is not in the sky a space of four fingers except that it has an angel standing, bowing, or prostrating. [Al-Tirmidhiyy]

---

The Attributes of the Angels

The angels have wings. Allāh the Exalted said:

جَاعِلِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ رُسُلًا أُولِي أَجْنِحَةٍ مَّثْنَىٰ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ يَزِيدُ فِي الْخَلْقِ مَا يَشَاءُ

Maker of the angels as messengers with wings, two by two, three by three, four by four. He adds to His creation whatever He wills. [Sūrat Fāṭir, 1]

It is confirmed from Saʿīd Ibnul-Musayyab, by consensus of the scholars, that the angels do not give birth, eat, drink, or sleep, and they are neither male nor female. They do not tire and they do not marry or have offspring. Whoever believes that the angels are female has contradicted the Qurʾān. Allāh the Exalted said:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ لَيُسَمُّونَ الْمَلَائِكَةَ تَسْمِيَةَ الْأُنثَىٰ

Surely those who do not believe in the Hereafter indeed designate the angels as females. [Sūrat al-Najm, 27]

---

The Impeccability of the Angels

Allāh empowered the angels to be inherently obedient. They have will, but they only choose to obey. Allāh the Exalted said:

لَا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ

They never disobey Allāh in what He commanded them, and they do what they are ordered to do. [Sūrat al-Taḥrīm, 6]

---

Iblīs Was Not an Angel

Their inherent obedience and the fact that they are created from light proves that Iblīs was not an angel. Allāh the Exalted said:

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ

And when We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Ādam,” so they all prostrated, except Iblīs. He was a jinn, and he disobeyed the command of his Lord. [Sūrat al-Kahf, 50]

Iblīs is from the jinn, a creation distinct from the angels. He disobeyed because disobedience is possible for the jinn, not for the angels. The angels are incapable of disobedience.

---

The Jobs of the Angels

Each angel has an assignment. Allāh the Exalted swore by them according to their tasks:

وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا

By those who violently yank out the soul of the blasphemer, and by those who gently slip out the soul of the believer, and by those who glide back and forth in the horizons on errands, and by those who race the believer’s soul forward to Paradise, and by those who administer tasks. [Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt, 1-5]

Jibrīl is the highest of the angels and their master. He is the Messenger of Allāh to the Prophets, entrusted with bringing the revelation. Allāh said about him:

مُطَاعٍ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍ

Obeyed in that far place, and trustworthy. [Sūrat al-Takwīr, 21]

Mīkāʾīl is entrusted with the clouds, the wind, and the plants.

Isrāfīl is assigned to blow the Horn on the Day of Judgment.

ʿAzrāʾīl is the Angel of Death, assigned to take hold of the souls of all creation. Allāh the Exalted said:

قُلْ يَتَوَفَّاكُم مَّلَكُ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِي وُكِّلَ بِكُمْ

Say, the Angel of Death appointed for you will make you die. [Sūrat al-Sajdah, 11]

He has assistants who take the soul from him: the Angels of Mercy and the Angels of Torture.

Riḍwān has charge of Paradise. Mālik has charge of Hellfire. The angels of Hell are called the Zabāniyah. They torture the blasphemers in Hellfire. Allāh the Exalted said:

سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ

We shall summon the Zabāniyah. [Sūrat al-ʿAlaq, 18]

---

The Angels Who Record the Deeds

The Ḥafadhah, also called the Kirām al-Kātibīn, are the honorable scribes appointed over every person to record their deeds. Allāh the Exalted said:

وَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ لَحَافِظِينَ كِرَامًا كَاتِبِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ

Certainly there are observers over you, honorable scribes. They know what you do. [Sūrat al-Infiṭār, 10-12]

And He said:

مَا يَلْفِظُ مِن قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ

One utters not a single statement but that it is recorded by Raqīb and ʿAtīd. [Sūrat Qāf, 18]

It is confirmed that these angels ascend with what they have written, compare it to what is in the Guarded Tablet, and find it an exact match.

---

Other Angels

There are also angels who carry the ʿArsh of Allāh, surrounding it in glorification. Allāh the Exalted said:

وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ

And eight angels will carry the ʿArsh of your Lord above them on that Day. [Sūrat al-Ḥāqqah, 17]

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

إِنَّ اللهَ مَلَائِكَةً فِي الأَرْضِ سِوَى الحَفَظَةِ يَكْتُبُونَ مَا يَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقِ الشَّجَرِ

Surely Allāh has angels who roam the earth other than the angels who record the deeds. They document the leaves that fall to the ground. [Al-Ṭabarāniyy]

There are also angels who deliver the supplications and salutations of the believers to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ when they are away from his honorable grave. The Prophet ﷺ said:

إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلَائِكَةً سَيَّاحِينَ يُبَلِّغُونِي عَنْ أُمَّتِي السَّلَامَ

Allāh has roaming angels who convey to me the salām of my nation. [Al-Nasāʾiyy]

For the questioning of the angels Munkar and Nakīr in the grave, see the IKF article on The Grave and the Barzakh.

---

This article is part of IKF’s Ilm al-Aqīdah series, drawn from the works of the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.