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Heavenly beings found in the Islamic tradition

In Islam, angels (; plural: or فرشته) are believed to be heavenly beings, created from a luminous origin by God. The Quran is the principal source for the Islamic concept of angels,

Generally, belief in angels is one of the core tenets within Islam, as it is one of the six articles of faith. Angels are more prominent in Islam compared to Judeo Christian tradition. The angels differ from other spiritual creatures in their attitude as creatures of virtue, in contrast to evil devils (شَيَاطِين or دیو) and ambiguous jinn (جِنّ or پَری). Angels are conceptualized as servants of God. As such, they are said to lack passion and bodily desires. If angels can nevertheless fail, is debated in Islam. Many Māturīdites say that the heavenly creatures are tested, and angels may fail such a test, whereupon they are dismissed from their duties. Some Ashʿarite likewise argue that angels can fail. In contrast, most Mu'tazilites, including some Asharis such as al Razi, consider angels to be infallible. Though some Muslim scholars may accept a certain degree of angelic fallibility, these angels do not rebel on their own part against God but fail to complete their task properly. In Sufism, angels are related to the nature of reason ('aql). According to Sufi cosmology, they connect the higher realms of the intellect with the lower world of matter. Thus, the human mind is conceptualized to form a connection with the heavenly spheres (malakūt) through such heavenly entities associated with (Nūr). In contrast, the devils attempt to disturb the connection by diverging the mind to the lower spheres, thus associated with fire (nār).

The Quranic word for angel (ملك) derives either from Malaka, meaning "he controlled", due to their power to govern different affairs assigned to them, or from the triliteral root ' l k, l ' k or m l k with the broad meaning of a "messenger", just as its counterpart in Hebrew (malʾákh). Unlike the Hebrew word, however, the term is used exclusively for heavenly spirits of the divine world, as opposed to human messengers. The Quran refers to both angelic and human messengers as rasul instead.

In Islam, angels are heavenly creatures created by God. They are considered older than humans and jinn. Although Muslim authors disagree on the exact nature of angels, they agree that they are autonomous entities with subtle bodies. Yet, both concepts of angels as anthropomorphic creatures with wings and as abstract forces are acknowledged. Angels play an important role in Muslim everyday life by protecting the believers from evil influences and recording the deeds of humans. They have different duties, including their praise of God, interacting with humans in ordinary life, defending against devils (shayāṭīn) and carrying on natural phenomena. Angels might accompany aspiring saints or advise pious humans. Angels are believed to be attracted to clean and sacred places. One of the Islamic major characteristic is their lack of bodily desires; they never get tired, do not eat or drink, and have no anger. According to a Hadith tradition recorded by Muslim ibn al Hajjaj on the authority of Anas ibn Malik, angel is solid creatures which doesn't have any cavity or hollow space within their body. Various Islamic scholars such as Ibn Kathir, Ibn Taymiyya, Al Tabari, Fakhr al Din al Razi, and Umar Sulaiman Al Ashqar also quoted that angels does not need consuming food and drinks. They are also described as immortal, unlike jinn. Ahmad Sirhindi, a 17th century Indian scholar, has added, that Angels can take various shapes. Some scholars assert that such circumstances might interfere with an angels' work and thus impede their duty. For example, dogs, unclean places, or something confusing them might prevent them from entering a home.

As with other monotheistic religions, angels are characterized by their purity and obedience to God. Groups of modern scholars from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Yemen and Mauritania issued fatwa that the angels should be invoked with blessing Islamic honorifics (ʿalayhi as salāmu), which is applied to human prophets and messengers. This fatwas were based on the ruling from Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyya. Angels usually symbolize virtuous behavior, while humans have the ability to sin, but also to repent. Humans are considered to be able to reach a higher level than angels due to their ability to choose to avoid sin. Angels are free from such inferior urges and therefore superior, a position especially found among Mu'tazilites and some Asharites. A similar opinion was asserted by Hasan al Basri, who argued that angels are superior to humans and prophets due to their infallibility, originally opposed by both Sunnis and Shias. This view is based on the assumption of superiority of pure spirit against body and flesh. Maturidism generally holds that angels' and prophets' superiority and obedience derive from their virtues and insights to God's action, but not as their original purity. The al Sahifa al Sajjadiyya, a book of prayers attributed to Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al Abidin, contains a chapter praying for blessings for the angels.

Angels believed to be engaged in human affairs are closely related to Islamic purity and modesty rituals. Many hadiths, including Muwatta Imam Malik from one of the Kutub al Sittah, talk about angels being repelled by humans' state of impurity. It is argued that if driven away by ritual impurity, the Kiraman Katibin, who record people's actions, Hasan of Basra (d. 728) is often considered one of the first who asserted the doctrine of angelic infallibility. Others accepted the possibility of fallible angels, with most debated topic in Islam were the story about competing angels and humans in the tale of Harut and Marut, who were tested to determine, whether or not, angels would do better than humans under the same circumstances, a tradition opposed by some scholars, such as Ahmad ibn Taimiyya, but still accepted by others, such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal. In a comment by Gibril Haddad on Qadi Baydawi's defense on angelic fallibility in his Tafsir al Baydawi it is said that the angels' "obedience is their nature while their disobedience is a burden, while human beings' obedience is a burden and their hankering after lust is their nature."

Islamic scholars which supported the notion that angels were infallible and rejected the entire concept of the fallen angel, as they based Quran describes angels in At Tahrim "not disobeying", Al Anbiya of "not acting arrogant", and in Al Anbiya of "not presumptuous", which served as a base for the doctrine of angelic impeccability. This notion of angel absolute obedience to fulfill their duties based on that verse were supported by Fethullah Gülen. Aside from the narration al Kahf, similar narration from Al Hijr also quoted by Muhammad Sulaiman Al Asyqar, Quran exegesis expert from Islamic University of Madinah, and Salih bin Abdullah al Humaid, Imam of Masjid al Haram, to interpret the similar case about the exclusion of Satan and the purity of angels. One of the prominent scholar who reject the fallen angel concept is Hasan al Basri, who brought out his argumentation based on Hadith from Sahih Muslim which authored from Aisha, wife of Muhammad, where Muhammad stated that the angels created from light while djinn were created from fire. Furthermore, Hasan al Basri said that the doctrine of angelic impeccability, Hasan al Basri interpreted verses implying fallen angels differently, and argued that Harut and Marut were human kings but not angels. Likewise, he was a strong advocate for rejecting Iblis' angelic origin. However, the approach of Hasan al Basri interpretation were not universally accepted among Muslim scholars who defend the infallibility of angels, as this interpretation of Hasan al Basri, which followed by Tabari, were rejected by Muhammad ibn Kathir who wrote his interpretation In Tafsir Ibn Kathir, that he argues, on the authority of Mujahid ibn Jabr and Qatada ibn Di'ama, that Harut and Marut were not humans, but they were indeed an angels which are sent by God with a mission to test the mankind. Thus by this interpretation, Ibn Kathir argued about this verse of Al Baqara that actually Harut and Marut were simply carrying noble task from God to test whether or not the mankind would fall into temptation of sins and black magic which brought by Harut and Marut, not the angels can be tempted to commit sin or error. and choosing the interpretation of Ibn Kathir in defending Harut and Marut innocence in this case. On the other hand, unlike philosophers, who accepted view to a certain degree that angels might commit error, most mutakallimūn such as Fakhr al Din al Razi is an exception and agrees with the Mu'tazilites that angels cannot commit sin. He goes further and includes to the six articles of faith not only belief in angels, but one must also believe in their infallibility. Other scholars, such as Atharist Muhammad Al Munajjid, Abdul Rahman al Sa'di, and Wahbah al Zuhayli, also reviewing the Al Kahf as another proof about the creed of Angels infallibility according to Quran, while also asserted the notion that Iblis (Satan) was not an angel. Ibn Taymiyya also supported this opinion in his book, Majmu' al fatawa, that he quoted the verse:

[50] And (remember) when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command. Will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you? Calamitous is the exchange for evil doers. Ibn Taymiyya interpreting it lexically the letter "fa'" (so) in the verse above indicates causality, which according to Ibn Taymiyyah, if the devil were an angel like the other angels who bowed down to Adam, of course the devil would not disobey the order to bow. ibn Taymiyya also further considered the verse as Istithna Munqathi in Arabic linguistic form, or the form of exclusions of the subject from the main grouping, which indicating the verse meant the exclusion of Iblis from angel as species, as Iblis were considered from jinn species. "By calling the stars adornment of the heavens, we can deduce another meaning: that is, the inhabitants of the heavens themselves are put to the test to see which of them is the best in deeds, exactly as the inhabitants of the earth were put to test by these very adornments, for don't you see that God has said in Sūrat al Kahf [Q. 18:7], We have made what is on earth an adornment for them, that they be tested which of them is best in deeds. Thus, God in this verse is stating that adornment is there for testing here for testing. (anna'l zīna li'l imtihãn). Asharite scholar al Baydawi also added that "certain angels are not infallible even if infallibility is prevalent among them — just as certain human beings are infallible but fallibility is prevalent among them." This verse is generally associated with Iblis (Satan), who is generally thought of as an angel in these reports. In response to the reference to Iblis as "one of the jinn" somewhere else in the Quran, an alternative translation reads "became one of the jinn", indicating that took away his angelic qualities. Yet others say that the term doesn't refer to the (genus of) jinn at all, but calls Iblis and his angels "al jinn" due to their origin in jannah. The presence of two fallen angels referred to as Harut and Marut, further hindered their complete absolution from potentially sinning. İsmail Hakkı reports that only the "angels of the earth" (ملائكة الارض), who battled the jinn, were the ones disputing the creation of Adam. Among them were also Harut and Marut, as well as Iblis, known as ʿAzāzīl at that moment. Due to their abode on earth, their perception of heavenly wisdom is veiled, unlike that of the angels in the "higher realms". İsmail Hakkı concluded that the angels in the higher heavens are considered infallible, but the angels of the earth are subject to misguidance, along with the jinn and devils. Abu Hanifa (d. 767) also supported the fallibility of angels as he ranked angels based on their examples in the Quran and distinguishes them from the devils and jinn. Al Taftazani (1322 AD –1390 AD) accepted that angels might slip into error and become disobedient, like Harut and Marut, but agrees with al Basri that angels wouldn't become unbelievers, like as Iblis did.

Inspired by Neoplatonism, the medieval Muslim philosopher Al Farabi developed a cosmological hierarchy, governed by several Intellects. For al Farabi, human nature is composed of both material and spiritual qualities. The spiritual part of a human exchanges information with the angelic entities, who are defined by their nature as knowledge absorbed by the Godhead. A similar function is attested in the cosmology of the Muslim philosopher Ibn Sina, who, however, never uses the term angels throughout his works. For Ibn Sina, the Intellects have probably been a necessity without any religious connotation. Islamic Modernist scholars such as Muhammad Asad and Ghulam Ahmed Parwez have suggested a metaphorical reinterpretation of the concept of angels. According to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, human and angels. Muslim philosophers usually define angels as substances endowed with reason and immortality. Humans and animals are mortal, but only men have reason. Devils are unreasonable like animals, but immortal like angels. However, Muslim theologians, such as al Suyuti, rejected the philosophical depiction on angels, based on hadiths stating that the angels have been created through the light of God (nūr). Thus, angels would have substance and could not merely be an intellectual entity as claimed by some philosophers. This view is similar to the Salafi methodology of Muhammad ibn al Uthaymin. He puts emphasis on that the belief in angels as literal, physical, and sentient creatures, is one of the pillars of faith.

Just as in non Sufi related traditions, angels are thought of as created of light. Al Jili specifies that the angels are created from the Light of Muhammad and in his attribute of guidance, light and beauty. Influenced by Ibn Arabi's Sufi metaphysics, Haydar Amuli identifies angels as created to represent different names/attributes of God's beauty, while the devils are created in accordance with God's attributes of Majesty, such as "The Haugthy" or "The Domineering". Andalusian scholar ibn Arabi argues that a human generally ranks below angels, but developed to Al Insān al Kāmil, ranks above them. While most earlier Sufis (like Hasan al Basri) advised their disciples to imitate the angels, Ibn Arabi advised them to surpass the angels. The angels being merely a reflection of the Divine Names in accordance within the spiritual realm, humans experience the Names of God manifested both in the spiritual and in the material world. This reflects the major opinion that prophets and messengers among humans rank above angels, but the ordinary human below an angel, while the messengers among angels rank higher than prophets and messengers among humans. In later Sufism, angels do not appear as merely models for the mystic but also their companions. Humans, in a state between earth and heaven, seek angels as guidance to reach the upper realms. According to a common belief, if a Sufi can not find a sheikh to teach him, he will be taught by the angel Khidr. The presence of an angel depends on human's obedience to divine law. Dirt, depraved morality and desecration may ward off an angel. Ahmad al Tijani, founder of the Tijaniyyah order, narrates that angels are created through the words of humans. Through good words an angel of mercy is created, but through evil words an angel of punishment is created. By God's degree, if someone repents from evil words, the angel of punishment may turn into an angel of mercy. The Sufi Muslim and philosopher Al Ghazali (–19 December 1111) divides human nature into four domains, each representing another type of creature: animals, beasts, devils and angels. According to al Ghazali, humans consist of animalistic and spiritual traits. From the spiritual realm (malakut), the plane in which symbols take on form, angels and devils advise the human hearth (qalb). However, the angels also inhabit the realm beyond considered the realm from which reason ('aql) derives from and devils have no place. While the angels endow the human mind with reason, advices virtues and leads to worshipping God, the devil perverts the mind and tempts to abusing the spiritual nature by committing sins, such as lying, betrayal, and deceit. The angelic natures advices how to use the animalistic body properly, while the devil perverts it. In this regard, the plane of a human is, unlike whose of the jinn (here: angels and devils) and animals, not pre determined. Humans are potentially both angels and devils, depending on whether the sensual soul or the rational soul develop.

Contemporary Salafism continues to regard the belief in angels as a pillar of Islam and regards the rejection of the literal belief in angels as unbelief and an innovation brought by secularism and Positivism. Modern reinterpretations, as for example suggested by Nasr Abu Zayd, are strongly disregarded. Simultaneously, many traditional materials regarding angels are rejected on the ground, they would not be authentic. The Muslim Brotherhood scholars Sayyid Qutb and Umar Sulaiman Al Ashqar reject much established material concerning angels, such as the story of Harut and Marut or naming the Angel of Death Azrail. Sulayman Ashqar not only rejects the traditional material itself, he furthermore disapproves of scholars who use them.

Angels in Islamic art often appear in illustrated manuscripts of Muhammad's life. Other common depictions of angels in Islamic art include angels with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, angels discerning the saved from the damned on the Day of Judgement, and angels as a repeating motif in borders or textiles. Islamic depictions of angels resemble winged Christian angels, although Islamic angels are typically shown with multicolored wings. Nevertheless, later depictions of angels in Islamic art are more feminine and androgynous. While some angels are referred to as "Guardians of the Kingdom of God," others are associated with hell. An undated manuscript of The Wonders of Creation from the Bavarian State Library in Munich includes depictions of angels both alone and alongside humans and animals.

A narrative transmitted from Abu Dharr al Ghifari, audited and commented by two hadith commentary experts in the modern era, Shuaib Al Arna'ut. and Muḥammad 'Abd ar Raḥmān al Mubarakpuri, has spoken a hadith that Muhammad said the number of angels were countless, to the point that there is no space in the sky as wide as four fingers, unless there is an angel resting his forehead, prostrating to God. considered to rank above the other angels in Islam. They have proper names, and central tasks are associated with them:
Jibrīl/Jibrāʾīl/Jabrāʾīl (جِبْرِيل; also جبرائيل or Jabrāʾīl; derived from the Hebrew ) (English: Gabriel), is venerated as one of the primary archangels and as the Angel of Revelation in Islam. Mīkāl/Mīkāʾīl/Mīkhāʾīl (ميكائيل)(English: Michael), the archangel of mercy, is often depicted as providing nourishment for bodies and souls while also being responsible for bringing rain and thunder to Earth. Some scholars have pointed out that Mikail is in charge of angels who carry the laws of nature. Isrāfīl (إسرافيل) (frequently associated with the Jewish and Christian angel Raphael), is the archangel who blows into the trumpet in the end time, therefore also associated with music in some traditions. Israfil is responsible for signaling the coming of Qiyamah (Judgment Day) by blowing a horn. However, علي حسن الحلبي (a student of Muhammad Nasiruddin al Albani), Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen, and Al Suyuti, have given commentary that all the hadiths that describe Israfil as the horn blower are classified as Da'if, although given the multitude of narrative chains that support this concept, they state that it is still possible. These four angels were specifically regarded by Abd ar Rahman ibn Sabith, a Tabi'un as regulator of natural orders such as windblow, rain, plants growth, death, and tasks from God about aforementioned. However, modern Saudi scholar. Muhammad ibn al Uthaymin, and Ibn Abi al Izz has written their respective commentaries of Al Aqidah Al Waasitiyyah, that the archangels who led the angels were only consisted of three angels, which is Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil.

Dhul Qarnayn, believed by some to be an angel or "part angel" based on the statement of Umar bin Khattab. Khidr, sometimes regarded as an angel which took human form and thus able to reveal hidden knowledge exceeding those of the prophets to guide and help people or prophets. Azazil, considered the name of Satan before his fall by those who agree that he was an angel once.