B U S I N E S S N A M E
Reflections
From the Glorious Qur’ān
I S S U E N O . 1 1
The Nature of Angels
‫أَ ْم َخل َ ْقنَا الْ َمالئِ َك َة إِان ًاث َو م ُْه شا ِه مدون‬
Or did We create the angels females
while they were witnesses?
(al-Sāffāt [37]:150)
POINTS TO
Angels are celestial beings that are
PONDER
mentioned in the texts of various
UPON world religions and described in differ-
ent ways. In some religions, they are
 What do other
believed to play the role of messen-
religious tradi-
gers and intermediaries between God
tions believe
and mankind. According to the Ency-
about angels?
clopedia Britannica, the literal mean-
ing of the word ‘angel’ (from the
 What are the
Greek aggelos, meaning “messenger”)
different roles
points more towards the function and
that the angels
status of such beings in a cosmic hier-
are said to play?
archy rather than towards their es-
 What are the sence or nature. However, the nature
attributes of the of angels has been discussed in great
angels men-
detail in different religious traditions.
tioned in the
Qur’an? The ancient Greeks believed that there
is a close connections between angels
and souls since, they said, the best
souls become angels. Hence a person
who has been trained in spiritual per-
fection becomes in essence similar to
angels. In Zoroastrianism, angels play
a fundamental part in the perception
of the divine. In the early sections of
the Avesta, Ahura Mazdā is described
as being accompanied by an entou-
rage of spiritual beings called Amesha
Spentas (the Beneficent Immortals)
who are similar to angels.
In Judaism, angels (malachim) are
messengers of God who help carry out
His work and plans. Some angels are
said to intervene directly in the life of
Please send your human beings by rescuing them from
comments and danger and distress, watching over
suggestions to:
them in their travels and even causing
devastation and destruction. After the
tridhaj@yahoo.co.uk
Babylonian exile (597-538 BC), Jewish
thought about angels was considera-
bly altered. Drawing on Mesopota-
mian iconography, artists and writers
began to provide details for anthropo-
morphic angels, and an interest devel-
oped in the angels' garments, names,
and relative ranks.
Angels are immaterial spiritual entities
In Christianity, angels play the role of
intervening in central events involving
the coming of the Messiah. In Paul’s
letter to the Colossians, the hierarchy
of the angels is discussed and one of
the central tenets of Christian theol-
ogy is described as avoidance of idola-
try and the worship of angels (Col
1:16, 2:10, 2:18). In the sixth-century
work of Dionysius, another hierarchy
of angels is mentioned based on their
closeness to God.
In Islam, the belief in angels is an
important tenet of faith and is listed
alongside belief in the Day of Resur-
rection, the Prophets and the Qur’ān
(Q 2:177). Angels surround the Throne
of Allāh, they praise and worship Him
constantly and obey His every com-
mand (Q 39:75). They are ‘infinite’ in
number and some are assigned spe-
cific tasks like Munkar and Nakir who
are responsible for the questioning in
the grave, Izrā’il who is the angel of
death and Jibrā’il who occupies the
1 S T M A Y 2 0 0 9
highest rank among the angels.
Over the ages, there has been some
debate about the nature of angels.
Some schools of thought think of
angels in anthropomorphic terms
since many traditions describe them
in such terms mentioning, for exam-
ple, how large they are or how
many wings they have. Others hold
the opinion that such descriptions
are only metaphorical and used to
describe something that is in reality
beyond our comprehension.
The pagan Arabs at the time of the
Prophet (s) used to believe that
angels were daughters of God, while
themselves seeking only male off-
spring. In this verse, their belief is
questioned by pointing to the evi-
dent fact that they were not present
when the angels were created.
Similar themes can be found in
numerous other places in the
Qur’an including the verses: 43:19,
53:27, 16:57 and 37:149.
The majority of scholars are in
agreement that angels are non-
physical genderless entities that
perform the tasks assigned to them
without question. There are numer-
ous traditions that describe the
nature of angels and many of their
attributes can also be deduced from
Qur’anic verses. Some of these
attributes include:
i) They possess intelligence (Q 2:31)
ii) They bring and news to the
Prophets and others (Q 3:39, 3:42...)
iii) They are worshipped by some
misguided people (Q 3:80)
iv) They are sent to help the right-
eous believers in battle (Q 3:124)
v) They take the souls (Q 4:97)
vi) They punish evildoers (Q 8:50)
vii) They bring glad tidings to believ-
ers. (Q 16:32)