In Islam, angels (; plural: or ) are believed to be heavenly beings, created from a luminous origin by God.MacDonald, D.B. and Madelung, W., "Malāʾika", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Online, retrieved 4 January 2024 Erste Online-Publikation: 2012
Erste Druckedition: ISBN 9789004161214, 1960-2007 The Quran is the principal source for the Islamic concept of angels, but more extensive features of angels appear in hadith literature, literature, Islamic exegesis, theology, philosophy, and mysticism.Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik Routledge 2015 p. 22-23
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 Jewish and Christian traditions. The angels differ from other invisible creatures in their attitude as creatures of virtue, in contrast to evil devils ( or ) and ambiguous jinn ( or ).(Mahmoud Omidsalar) Originally Published: December 15, 2000 Last Updated: February 7, 2012 This article is available in print. Vol. X, Fasc. 4, pp. 418-422 Despite being considered to be virtuous beings, angels are not necessarily bringers of good news, as per Islamic tradition, angels can perform grim and violent tasks.Yazaki, Saeko. "Classes of Beings in Sufism." Sufi Cosmology. Brill, 2022. 68-88.
Angels are conceptualized as heavenly beings. As such, they are said to lack passion and bodily desires. If angels can nevertheless fail, is debated in Islam. Mu'tazilites and many Salafis usually hold the opinion that angels are always obedient and never fail to perform their tasks. In contrast, schools of theology (Kalām) often accept the fallibility of angels. Ashʿarites agree that angels have no free agency, but argue that they may still fail and then fall. Māturīdites say that the heavenly creatures are tested, and angels may fail such a test, whereupon they are dismissed from their duties.
In Islamic philosophy and 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 light (nūr). In contrast, the devils attempt to disturb the connection by diverging the mind to the lower spheres, thus associated with fire (nār).
Etymology
The Quranic word for angel () derives either from , meaning "he controlled", due to their power to govern different affairs assigned to them,Ali, Syed Anwer. 2010. Qurʼan, the Fundamental Law of Human Life: Surat ul-Faateha to Surat-ul-Baqarah (sections 1–21). Syed Publications. p. 121. or from the triliteral root , or with the broad meaning of a "messenger", just as its counterpart in Hebrew (). 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 instead.
In pre-Islamic Arabian culture, the term was also used by the Thamud for beings who deserve supplication.Al-Azmeh, Aziz. The emergence of Islam in late antiquity: Allah and his people. Cambridge University Press, 2014. p: 294
Quran and exegesis
The Quran describes angels in the context of earlier Middle Eastern cultural traditions, both monotheistic and polytheistic belief-systems.Kuehn, Sara, Stefan Leder, and Hans-Peter Pökel. "Introduction: Angels and Their Religious and Cosmological Contexts." The Intermediate Worlds of Angels. Ergon-Verlag, 2019. p. 18-19 Belief in angels is prescribed for the believer.Reynolds, G. S. (2009)- Angels, In K. Fleet, G. Krämer, D. Matringe, J. Nawas and D. J. Stewart (eds.), Encyclopedia of Islam Three Online. BrillPiras A. (2016) Angel. In Vocabulary for the stury of religion Brill Surah 35 is, in some manuscripts, named after them (al-malā’ikah). With a few exceptions, angels in the Quran are largely impersonal. They appear in stories about the mythic past, eschatological imagery (heaven/hell), and in discussions about prophecy and worship.
While in the Bible the term 'angel' refers to 'messengers' (mundane or divine) the Quran uses the term 'rasul' instead.Kuehn, Sara, Stefan Leder, and Hans-Peter Pökel. "Introduction: Angels and Their Religious and Cosmological Contexts." The Intermediate Worlds of Angels. Ergon-Verlag, 2019. p. 26S.R. Burge Journal of Qurʼanic Studies The Angels in Sūrat al-Malāʾika: Exegeses of Q. 35:1 Sep 2011. vol. 10, No. 1 : pp. 50–70 Angels are solely heavenly spirits. As in Biblical tradition, angels deliver the message to Zechariah (3:39) and Mary (3:45). In the Quran, angels are not limited to be messengers but are also part of the heavenly council. They serve as scribes (50:17-18), serve as God's warriors (9:26), and carry God's throne. God commands the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam, similar to the Syrian Cave of Treasures.
The Quran portrays the Jahiliyyah as worshipping angels as minor deities (Surah 53:19-22; 6:100; 16:57; 37:149), believed to function as intercessors (Surah 10:18). In the pre-Islamic Arabian religion, deities, jinn, angels, and demons are not clearly distinguished and shade into another.Izutsu, Toshihiko. "Revelation as a linguistic concept in Islam." Studies in Medieval Thought 5 (1962): 142.Kuehn, Sara, Stefan Leder, and Hans-Peter Pökel. "Introduction: Angels and Their Religious and Cosmological Contexts." The Intermediate Worlds of Angels. Ergon-Verlag, 2019. p. 28 Several angels in the Quran function as personified meteorological phenomena, and may root in polytheistic animistic beliefs.Kuehn, Sara, Stefan Leder, and Hans-Peter Pökel. "Introduction: Angels and Their Religious and Cosmological Contexts." The Intermediate Worlds of Angels. Ergon-Verlag, 2019. p. 29
When God creates Adam, he taught him the names of all things, knowledge the angels lack. Muslim exegetes read this as a demonstration of the a unique capacity (exercise of 'aql) whereas the angels are lacking. As such, angels are no longer objects of deserving worship and also become distinguished from God. According to Quranic exegesis, some angels refused to bow before Adam and became devils (šayāṭīn). This debate is closely related to a discussion regarding other verses about angels.
Prostration of angels and obedience
A key event regarding angels in the Quran is the command addressed to the angels to bow before the newly created Adam. According to the Quran, the angels object to the creation of mankind at first, arguing that they commit the sins the jinn committed previously. After the objection of the angels, Adam demonstrates his ability to "name all things" and whereupon all angels bow down, except Iblis.
That Iblis is a fallen angel was widely accepted among Classical scholars of Islam. Objection towards the concept of fallen angels, however, is attested as early as to the influential Hasan of Basra (d. 728), who is often considered one of the first who asserted the doctrine of angelic infallibility and he rejected that Iblis was an angel. While the arguments existed early on, opposition to fallen angels was not universal in early Islam, as Tabari (839–923 CE), for example, does not mention angelic infallibility, when discussing the nature of Iblis. The traditions of ibn Abbas (angels can sin), and Hasan of Basra (angels cannot sin), reflect two different interpretations of the Islamic conceptualization of angels.
Bulak al-Djurdjani opposes the ‘iṣmah (infallibility) of angels on the ground that the protest of the angels proves inevitably potential flaws in their character, such as slander, pride, malice, and finding fault with God.. 218 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."
Infallible Opposition to the concept of the fallen angel is mostly found among the Qadariyah and most Mu'tazilites.Basharin, Pavel V. (April 1, 2018). "The Problem of Free Will and Predestination in the Light of Satan's Justification in Early Sufism". English Language Notes. 56 (1). Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press: 119–138. doi:10.1215/00138282-4337480. S2CID 165366613. Many Salafis also agree with this view.Gauvain, Richard (2013). Salafi Ritual Purity: In the Presence of God. Abingdon, England: Routledge. ISBN 978-0710313560 p. 73 Those who oppose angelic fallibility refer to Surah at-Tahrim (66:6)Hoffman, Valerie J. The Essentials of Ibadi Islam. Syracuse University Press, 2012. p. 188 in favor of their position:
O believers! Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, overseen by formidable and severe angels, who never disobey whatever Allah orders—always doing as commanded.
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi is an exception to most Sunni mutakallimūn, and agrees that angels are free from any form of sin and includes angelic infallibility to the six articles of faith.Street, Tony. "Medieval Islamic doctrine on the angels: the writings of Fakhr al-Dīh al-Rāzī." Parergon 9.2 (1991): 111-127. Al-Razi argues that "except Iblis" (2:34, 18:50) is read as an "interrupted exception" (istithna munqathi), excluding Iblis from the group of angels and states that he hailed from jinn species instead.Teuma, E. (1980). The nature of" Iblis" in the Qur’an as interpreted by the commentators. p. 14 Ibn Taimiyya rejects any ambiguity on the nature of Iblis and portrays him as a satanic jinni in contrast to the obedient angels.Sela, R., Sartori, P., & DeWeese, D. (Eds.). (2022). Muslim Religious Authority in Central Eurasia (Vol. 43). Brill. p. 78 Following the opinions of ibn Taimiyya and his disciple ibn Kathir, many scholars of Salafism and Wahhabism agree on this.Sela, R., Sartori, P., & DeWeese, D. (Eds.). (2022). Muslim Religious Authority in Central Eurasia (Vol. 43). Brill. p. 81 Furthermore, many of them regard this as a major difference between Christianity and Islam.
A possible reconciliation of Iblis' fall and the doctrine of angelic impeccability is to say that God wanted Iblis to disobeyAbu-Zaid, Nasr. "The Perfect Man in Islam: A Textual Analysis." 大阪外国語大学学報 77 (1989): 123-124.Öztürk, Mustafa. "The Tragic Story of Iblis (Satan) in the Qur’an." Journal of Islamic Research 2.2 (2009): 139 or that Iblis' disobedience derives from a noble yet misguided motivation.Cole, Juan. "Infidel or Paganus? The Polysemy of kafara in the Quran." JAOS 140.3 (2020): 615-636. Mahmud al-Alusi resolves potential conflicts by iterating that ʿAzāzīl was first an infallible angel, but then God removed his angelic nature and replaced it with satanic attributes, whereupon he becomes Iblis and sinned.Iqbal, Muzaffar. "Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'ān." The center of Islamic Sciences (2013). p. 180
Fallible
According to those who accept the concept of fallen angels, the phrase "except Iblis" in 2:34 and 18:50 is understood as an uninterrupted exception (istithna' muttasil).Teuma, E. (1980). The nature of "Iblis" in the Qur’an as interpreted by the commentators p. 14 Therefore, Iblis is an exception from within number of angel and thus an angel himself.