The Angels

 The Angels

From the book
"The Pillars of Faith" by Dr. Ja`far Sheikh Idris

 These are beings of a different nature from
man. While man is created from soil they are created from light.
[Sahih Muslim, Kitab az-Zuhd, 1227] And thus human beings-except
Prophets--cannot see them in their original nature, but may see
them if they take a physical form. Our knowledge of them is
therefore almost entirely based on What Cod and His Prophets tell
us about them. But why should we bother to know about them?
Because they play a very big role in conducting our affair. To
know about them could Perhaps be said to be useful to us in the
same manner as knowledge of the working of natural causes and
other people's behaviour is useful.

We are told that these almost innumerable
beings who are extremely powerful are created in such a way that
they always obey and never go against Divine commands, and
continuously server and never tire of serving the Lord. [Anbiya',
XXI, 19-20; Tahrim, LXVI:6].

But in spite of this they are--as a species--in
a lower degree than the human species, and this is symbolized in
the fact that when Adam was created they were ordered to
prostrate themselves before him as a sign of greeting and
respect.[This verse - Isra, XVII:70] has been given (by some) as
evidence or the fact that the human species is better than the
species of angels. Ibn Kathir in his tafsir of al-Qur'an
al-`Azim].

Here are some of their activities in connection
with human beings.

Their main task, the one from which their name
is derived is that of conveying God's messages to His chosen
prophets. This great honor is assigned mainly to their leader
Gabriel (or Jibril as the name is pronounced in Arabic).

"A noble messenger having power, with the
Lord of the Throne, secure, obeyed there (in heaven) and
trusty."

[Takwir, LXXXI: 19-21]

A message carried by beings of such a nature is
sure to reach its destination intact.

They attend to and watch over us. They keep a
record of our good and bad deeds, and never a word we mention
passes without being registered by them either for or against us.
[Qaf, L: 17-18]

They play a role in the causation and happening
of seemingly purely natural phenomena, like wind and rain and
death. [Nazi'at, LXXIX: 1-5]

And to them is assigned the role of helping the
believers to the extent of fighting on their side in times of
war. ['Al 'lmran, 11: 124], and of protecting them [Ra'd, XIII:
11], and praying for them [Ghafir, XL: 7].

 

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