1. THE SECOND PILLAR OF FAITH
The Six Pillars of Faith
In the first book of this series (Knowing Allah), we discussed the Six Pillars of Faith, They were mentioned in the hadith of Jibril (s)—when he came to the Prophet (pbuh) and asked him about Islam, Iman, Ihsdn, and the Last Hour. The Six Pillars are:
1. Belief in Allah
2. Belief in the angels
3. Belief in the books
4. Belief in the messengers
5. Belief in the Last Day
6. Belief in the gadar.
We must believe in all of these pillars. Allah (swt) mentions the first four of them in the following ayah:
«The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in what was sent down to him
from his Lord, and so do the believers. They all believe in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers.» (Al-Baqarah 2:285.)
Allah (swt) also mentions five of them in the following:
«Righteousness does not (only) mean that you turn your face toward east or west (in the prayer); righteousness is to believe in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the books (of Allah), and the prophets …» (Al-Baqarah 2:177.)
Anyone who does not believe in every single one of these pillars is not a true believer. Allah (88) says:
«Anyone who does not believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers,
or the Last Day, is surely greatly misguided.» (An-Nisa’ 4:136)
Belief in the Angels
A true believer must believe in all of Allah’s angels. Believing in the
angels is the second pillar of belief. This is our subject of study in this book.
The angels are beings that we cannot see. We only know about them as much as Allah told us in His Book (the Quran), or His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh) told us in his Sunnah.
We should learn some of the angels’ qualities, the tasks that Allah (swt) gave to them, and how they perform their tasks. By learning about the angels, we can answer many important questions, and can know what to do to deserve their help and friendship.
When Were the Angels Created?
We do not know exactly when the angels were created. All we know is that Allah (swt) created them before humans. When Allah (swt) wanted to create humans and place them on Earth, He told the angels about this, and they had a serious concern. Allah (swt) says:
«And (mention) when your Lord said to the angels, “I will surely place successors on earth.” They said, “Will You place on it those who will cause corruption and shed blood, while we glorify You with praises and honor You? He said, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.”» (Al-Baqarah 2:30.)
This shows that the angels were created before Adam (pbuh). From what Allah (swt) taught them, they knew that humans are creatures that can cause evil and killing on Earth. They mentioned this to Allah very politely. But Allah knew better. He knew that some of the humans, such as the prophets and sahaba, will be good individuals who will obey Allah and strive for His cause.
Number of the Angels
There are numerous angels, and only Allah (swt) knows their exact number.
Allah (swt) says about the angels who guard hell:
«I will throw him (This refers to al-Walid Bin al-Mughirah, one of the most
stubborn disbelievers from the Quraysh. ) into hell. And what will make you know exactly what is hell? It does not leave a thing (but burns it), and it turns the skins black. It has nineteen guards. We have not placed as the guards of the Fire except
angels, and We have fixed their number only as a trial for the disbelievers.» (Al-Muddaththir 74:26-31.)
These nineteen angels are enormous and have many helpers. When this dyah was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh), Abi Jahl made fun of it and said, “Muhammad has only nineteen helpers!” Allah (swt) then revealed:
«No one knows the number of your Lord’s soldiers except Him.>> (Al-Muddaththir 74:31.)
This means that the angels are among Allah’s soldiers, that they are very large in number, and that He alone knows their count. Also, ‘Abdullah Bin Mas’ud reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said:
<Hell will be pulled on the Day of Judgment with seventy thousand ropes, each rope held by seventy thousand angels.> (This was recorded by Muslim (2842) and at-Tirmithi.)
This means that a total of about five billion powerful angels will be in charge of hell.
There are many other hadiths telling about the great number of angels. For example, the
Prophet (pbuh) said that the heavens are completely filled with angels praying to Allah. He also said that every day seventy thousand additional angels make hajj to al-Bayt-al-Ma’mur (“Al-Bayt-ul-Ma‘mur” means the “The Full House of Worship”.
It is similar to the Ka‘bah on earth. Angels go to it to worship Allah.) in the seventh heaven. And he mentioned that there are angels with every human being: two of them write all what he does, others tell him to do good deeds, others protect him, and so on. (These hadiths will be presented later in the book.)
Also, Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said:
<Laylat-ul-Qadr (the Night of Decree) is the night of the twenty-seventh or
twenty-ninth (of Ramadan). Surely, during it, the number of angels on earth is more than that of pebbles.» (This was recorded by Ahmad and Ibn Khuzaymah, and was
verified to be hasan by al-Albant (as-Sahihah 2205).)
Therefore, the number of angels is far more than what we can imagine.
Names of the Angels
We only know the names of very few angels. In this book, we only accept the names that are mentioned in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah. Thus, even though many people think that “Radwan”, “Izra’il’, and “Raqib” and ”Atid” are names of angels, we do not adopt this because of the lack of evidence.
ANGELS THAT WE KNOW
In the Quran, Allah mentions the names of five angels: Jibril, Mika’il (or Mikal), Malik, Harut, and Marut.
Among the angels that are mentioned by name in the hadiths of the Prophet (pbuh) are Israfil, Munkar, and Nakir.
Some angels are mentioned in the Qur’an or the Sunnah, but we are not told their names. For example, we are told about the Angel of Death, and the Angel of Mountains.
IS SATAN AN ANGEL?
Some people think that Iblis! is an angel or that he used to be an angel because Allah (swt) says:
«And (mention) when We said to the angels, “Make sujud before Adam.” They all made sujud—except for Iblis, who refused.» (Al-Baqarah 2:34 and Taha 20:116.)
But this dyah only tells us that Iblis used to be with the angels. Another dyah clearly tells us that Iblis was never an angel, but is actually from the jinns:
«And (mention) when We said to the angels, “make sujud before Adam.” They all made sujud, except for Iblis who was from the jinns and he disobeyed his Lord’s order.» (Al-Kahf 18:50.)
CARRYING AN ANGEL’S NAME
Is it permissible to carry an angel’s name, such as Jibril, Mikal, or Israfil? Many of the ‘ulama’ (scholars) dislike this because the salaf (the early Muslims) did not name their children such names, and we should always follow their example. For the same reason, it is disliked to name a girl Malak or Malak, both of which mean “angel”.
However, it is permissible to use names that are not specific to angels, such as Malik, which means “owner”.
Where Are the Angels?
The angels usually stay in the heavens. They come down to Earth when Allah orders them. They also take things up to the heavens, like the good deeds of the people, and the souls of the dead. They sometimes come down in large numbers, as on Laylat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree). Allah (swt) says about this:
«The angels and the Spirit (Jibril) descend during it (Laylat-ul-Qadr) with
all sorts of orders—by their Lord’s permission.» (Al-Qadr 97:4.)
Do the Angels Die?
We do not know if the angels die during this life. Allah did not tell us anything about this, and we may not say anything without knowledge.
But we know that at the end of time, the Last Day or the Dooms Hour, Allah will make everyone die. He will remain by Himself. He will then give life back to everyone on the Day of Resurrection. Allah (swt) says:
«Everything will perish except Allah’s Face.» (Al-Qasas 28:88.)
Therefore, even the angels will die at that time.
Are the Angels Better than the Believers?
Who are better, the angels or the righteous believers? This is a controversial question that is of no real consequence. We present it here only because it is often raised by the scholars when discussing the angels.
The correct answer to this question is:
a) In this life, humans continually sin and disobey Allah, but the angels never sin and
they always obey and worship Allah. Because of this, we say that the angels are better than most people.
b) In the hereafter, the righteous people will be better than the angels because they had
passed the trial of this life. Allah (4) has prepared for them great rewards in Jannah.
When they enter it, large numbers of angels will welcome and serve them. Allah (swt) says:
«(The righteous believers) will enter everlasting gardens of ‘Adn’(This is a name for the gardens of paradise.), together with those who were righteous of their fathers, wives, and children. The angels will come to them from every gate saying “Salamun ‘Alaykum—peace be upon you, because you were patient! Your final home is surely excellent!”» (Ar-Ra‘d 13:23-24.)
By Muhammad Al-Jibaly
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