Roles Of Angels In Islam

The role and existence of angels vary from religion to religion. Angels are one of the six articles of faith and therefore one must believe in angels to be considered muslim. In Islam, it is believed that angels are neither divine nor semi-divine but creatures that God has created who will eventually face death and always carry out his will. It is said that angels have no free-will and so they can only be obedient, therefore diminishing the belief of fallen angels. However, they have angels and jinn. Angels are created from light while jinn are created from fire, jinn can be bad or good depending on who they are. To them Shaytan (Satan) was a jinn not a fallen angel. Additionally, angels are not to be prayed to and there are very few pictures …show more content…
There are numerous angels and so an unofficial hierarchy was formed with each angel holding a different role. At the top of the hierarchy are the archangels Jibreel (Gabriel), Mika’eel (Michael), Israfel (Raphael) and Izrail. The greatest angel in the Islamic religion is Jibreel (Gabriel) since he is the one who met and spoke with the great prophet Muhammed on numerous occasions. He is also the angel who delivers divine messages to God 's chosen prophets and brings down blessings on Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Divine Destiny/fate which commemorates the night the Quran was revealed and on that night all their prayers will be answered) . Jibreel is described as having six hundred wings that cover the sky from the earth to the horizon and was believed to destroy the city of the Prophet Lot with the mere tip of his wing. The archangel Mika’eel is another top-ranking angel who is known for being merciful and ensuring human needs are being met. God has assigned him to reward people for their good deeds in addition to being in charge of rain, thunder and lightning. He also has helpers who deal with clouds and winds which had a great impact in the past as it affected necessities such as crops. Mika’eel and Jibreel were the first two angels who bowed down to Adam and are the only two angels actually named in the Quran. Another Archangel is Israfeel (Raphael) who will blow the horn 2-3 times …show more content…
Some other well known angels are Malik, Ridwan, Munkar, Nakeer, , Raqib and Atid. Malik is the leader of the nineteen guards of Jahannum (Hell) . In contrast, Ridwan is known as the Guardian of Paradise who is there to welcome people into Janna (Heaven). Munkar and Nakeer are both responsible for questioning people when they die about issues such as their relationship to God and the prophets, their deeds, faith and so forth. Additionally, Raqib and Atid are also known as the Kirama Katibeen (Honorable Scribes) who record a person 's deed throughout their life. Similar to the stereotypical angel and devil on a person 's shoulders, these two are present on a person 's shoulder but instead of convincing a person to do good or bad they simply record the person 's good or bad deeds. Raqib is in charge recording a person 's good deeds and sits on the right shoulder while Atid is in charge of recording a person 's bad deeds and sits on the left shoulder. There are also guardian angels who are responsible for protecting the believer at all times and wherever they go. In addition to that there are angels responsible for breathing the soul into fetuses to give them life and writing down what their life will turn out to be like. Other angels are travelers who are on the constant search to find believers who are gathered to remember God. There are also angels in