•٠· Reality of Angels •٠·

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 Islam they are real created beings who will eventually suffer death, but are generally hidden from our senses. They are not divine or semi-divine, and they are not Allah’s associates running different districts of the universe. Also, they are not objects to be worshipped or prayed to, as they do not deliver our prayers to Allah.
They all submit to God and carry out His commands. In the Islamic worldview, there are no fallen angels: they are not divided into ‘good’ and ‘evil’ angels. Human beings do not become angels after death. Satan is not a fallen angel, but is one of the jinn, a creation of Allah parallel to human beings and angels.
Angels were created from light before human beings were created, and thus their graphic or symbolic representation in Islamic art is rare.
Nevertheless, they are generally beautiful beings with wings as described in Muslim scripture. Angels form different cosmic hierarchies and orders in the sense that they are of different size, status, and merit. The greatest of them is Jibra’eel (Gabriel) Aliyhis salam.
The Prophet of Islam actually saw him in his original form!

Angels do not eat or drink. They do not get bored or tired of worshipping God: “They celebrate His praises night and day, nor do they ever slacken.” (Qur’an 21:20)

Q. How many angels are there?
Only God knows.
No one except Allah knows the exact number of Angels, we know only of those mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith

The Names of Angels

Muslims believe in specific angels mentioned in the Islamic sources like Jibra’eel (Gabriel), Mika’eel (Michael), Izra’eel & Israfeel.
Of these, only Jibra’eel (Gabriel), Mika’eel (Michael) are mentioned in the Bible.

•٠· Jibra’eel (Alayhis Salaam)

brought Allah’s Books, and messages to all the Prophets. He was also sent to help the Prophets at times and fight against their enemies.

•٠· Mika’eel (Alayhis Salaam)

is in charge of food and the weather (Angels work under him) He gets the order from Allah and then orders the others under his command. He has helpers who assist him by the command of his Lord; they direct the winds and clouds, as God wills.

•٠· Izra’eel (Alayhis Salaam)

He is the “Angel of Death”, who extracts the peoples soul at the time of death with the permission of Allah. Numerous Angels work under him. Some take away the lives of a good person whilst others looking very fearful take away the lives of sinners and bad.
taking souls out of the bodies at the time of death: the Angel of Death and his assistants. God says: “Say: the Angel of Death, put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls, then shall you be brought back to your Lord.” (Quran 32:11)

•٠· Israfeel (Alayhis Salaam)

will blow the Soor (Trumpet) on the Day Of Judgement. The sound will destroy everthing that is on the earth and in the skies. When he blows for the second time all will come to life with the order of Allah.

Angelic Abilities

The angels possess great powers given to them by Allah. They can take on different forms. The Muslim scripture describes how at the moment of Esaa (A.S)(Jesus’) conception, Allah sent Jibra’eel (A.S) to Mary in the form of a man: “…Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.” (Quran 19:17)

Angels also visited Ibrahim (A.S) in human form. Similarly, angels came to Lut (A.S) to deliver him from danger in the form of handsome, young men. Jibra’eel (A.S) used to visit Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him in different forms. Sometimes, he would appear in the form of one of his handsome disciples, and sometimes in the form of a desert Bedouin. Angels have the ability to take human forms in some circumstances involving common people.
Jibra’eel (A.S) is Allah’s heavenly messenger to mankind. He would convey the revelation from Allah to His human messengers.

Allah says: “Say: whoever is an enemy to Jibra’eel – for he brings down the (revelation) to your heart by God’s will…” (Qur’an 2:97)

Then there are guardian angels responsible for protecting the believer throughout his life, at home or traveling, asleep or awake. Others are responsible for recording the deeds of man, good and bad. These are known as the “honorable scribes.”

Two angels, Munkar and Nakeer, are responsible for testing people in the grave. Among them are keepers of Paradise and the nineteen ‘guards’ of Hell whose leader is named ‘Malik.’

Some angels are roamers, traveling around the world in search of gatherings where God is remembered. There are also angels constituting God’s 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. As we learn from above, the angels are a grandiose creation of God, varying in numbers, roles, and abilities. Allah is in no need of these creatures, but having knowledge and belief in them adds to the awe that one feels towards Allah, 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… SUBHANALLAH!

– What Angels Are Made Of

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “The angels were created from light. The Jinn were created from fire. Man was created from what has been described to you.” [Sahih Muslim]

Saeed bin al-Musayyab (radi Allahu anhu) said: “The angels are neither male nor female. They neither eat nor drink. They neither marry nor have children.” [Fath-al-Bari by Ibn Hajar] The angels are free of all animal appetites and are unadulterated by any selfish inclination. We do not know when the angels were created, for Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has not informed us about that. But we do know that they were created before Adam (alaihis salam), the father of mankind.

A man once asked an Alim, “If the Jinn are made from fire, then how is the fire of Jahannum going to hurt them?” The Alim threw a hard ball of earth at him. When he raised a ruckus the Alim asked, “When you are made of (the same elements as) earth, then how did the earth hurt you?”