بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Now is time to learn about the second pillar of faith. Belief in Allah’s angels. Why is it important we believe in Allah’s angels?

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا
O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray. (4:136)

So we can see that belief in Allah’s angels is very important. If you believe in Allah but deny He has angels then you are not a true believer.

What are the angels? The angels are beings that we cannot see. They are part of the unseen world around us. The angels were created before the creation of humans

How many angels are there? There are many more angels than humans. There are 70,000 angels pulling on 70,000 ropes connected to Hell fire. That’s nearly 5 billion angels. Every day there are 70,000 angels that enter bayt al mamour (the kabaa of the 7th heaven) which is located in the 7th heaven. They enter and then leave, never returning to it.

At-Tirmidhi narrated, in a report which he classed as hasan (sound), that Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Verily I see what you do not see and I hear what you do not hear. The heaven is creaking and it should creak, for there is no space in it the width of four fingers but there is an angel there, placing his forehead in prostration to Allah.”

Also Aboo Hurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet PBUH said: “Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Decree) is the night of the twenty-seventh or twenty-ninth (during Ramadan). Surely, during it, the angels on earth are more than the number of pebbles.”

And Allah says in the Quran:

وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ
No one knows the number of your Lord’s soldiers except Him. (74:31)

So the number of Angels is HUGE. Much greater than the number of humans.

Do we know their names? In the Quran Allah mentions the names of five angels: Jibreel, Meekaal, Maalik, Haaroot, and Maaroot. In the hadiths Israafeel, Munkar, and Nakeer are mentioned. Other angels are mentioned but their names are not given such as the Angel of Death, and the Angel of the Mountains.

Christians believe that Satan is a fallen angel, but Muslims do not have this belief. Angels follow the commands of Allah perfectly without error and always obey Allah. There is no such thing as fallen angels, or angels that disobey Allah, because angels do not have free wills. Allah says in the Quran: