Angel
Angels (Arabic: ملائكة, Malāʾikah; Turkish: Melek) are mentioned many times in the Qur'an and Hadith. Islam is clear on the nature of angels in that they are messengers of God. They have no free will, and can do only what God orders them to do. An example of a task they carry out is that of testing individuals by granting them abundant wealth and curing their illness. Believing in angels is one of the six Articles of Faith in Islam.
Some examples of angels in Islam:
- Jibrail: the archangel Gabriel and Jibrail is an archangel who serves as a messenger from God.
- Michael: the angel of nature.
- Darda'il: the angels who travel in the earth searching out assemblies where people remember God’s name. Harut and Marut are two angels mentioned in Qur'an, who were sent down to test the people at Babylon.
- Kiraman Katibin: the two angels who record a person's good and bad deeds.
- Mu'aqqibat: a class of guardian angels who keep people from death until its decreed time.
- Malak Al-maut: the angel of death.
- Munkar and Nakir: the angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves. They ask the soul of the dead person questions. If the person fails the questions, the angels make the man suffer until the Day of Judgement. If the soul passes the questions, he will have a pleasant time in the grave until the Day of Judgement.
- Israfil: the angel that will blow the trumpet on the Day of Judgement, or Al-Qiyama.
- Ridwan: the angel in charge of maintaining Jannah or Paradise.
- Maalik: the angel who keeps or guards hellfire.
Read more about Angel: Bahá'í Faith, Contemporary Belief in Angels
Famous quotes containing the word angel:
“And the angel in the gate, the flowering plum,
Dances like Italy, imagining red.”
—Louis Simpson (b. 1923)
“I askèd a thief to steal me a peach
He turned up his eyes
I askd a lithe lady to lie her down
Holy & meek she cries
As soon as I went
An angel came.
He winkd at the thief
And smild at the dame
And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree
And still as a maid
Enjoyd the lady.”
—William Blake (17571827)
“What angel wakes me from my flowry bed?”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)