Part 19

that thc angel s appeared in the form of handso me mcn as a test

and a tria l, so th at the evidence wo uld be establi shed aga inst the

94 Alenlion oflhe Crculioll o(,he , Ingels Clnd Their

peop le o f Lot ~ and Allah will infli ct upon them the se izure

of Alla h, the Almigh ty, Most Compete nt. Likewise, Gabriel ~

lI sed to come to the Prophet :f5 in dirrerent forms; sometimes he

wou ld come to him in the fo rm of Dihyah Ibn Kha lccfah AI-

Ka lbi, (I) so metim es in thc fo rm or a Bedouin man , (2) somc ti mes

in his true form. (3) He ha s six hundred w in gs and the distance

between eac h wing is lik e the distance be twee n the East and the

Wes t. The Pro ph et ~ saw him in this fo rm on two occas ions:

Ollce, when he was desce ndin g frolll the heaven to the Ea rth

and once, at Siclrah A I-MlIIllalw, {-I I which is near to JallllClh A /-

1\1/a 'wa. (S) A nd thi s is mentioned in the Words of Allah, Most

Hi gh: ( I Ie has been taugh t (t hi s Qur ' an) by one migh ty in

power (J ibrae l [Gabriel]), dJllIl1lirrah (free from any defect in

body and mind). /as/m\YI (then he [Jibrae lJ rose and became

stable) (Tafseer AfTubari) wh i Ie he (J ibrae l) was in the highest

part or the horizon. Then he (Jibrael) approached and came

closer. ) (Soo rah AII-Najm 53 :5-8). Tha t is, Gabriel ~ , as we

reponed on the aut hority of more than onc of the Companions,

in cl udin g' Abdullah Ibn Mas 'ood, Abu Hura ira h, Abu Oharr

and 'A'ishah (may A llah be pleased with all of them). (A nd

was at a d istance of two bows ' length or (even) nea rer, So did

(Allah) convey the Inspiration to II is slave. ) (Som'ail AII-Najm

53:9, 10) Tha t is, to the slave of All ah, M uh a m m ad ~ . Then

He says, ( And indeed hc (Muha mmad) saw him (J ibrael) at

a second descent (i.e. anothcr time) ncar Shirah Al-Mlllltaha

(the Late-tree of the Utmost Boundary [beyond w hic h none

can pass]) ) (SoO/-ali All-Nojill 53 : 13, 14)_The reference in all

(I) See: Sa/weh AI-Ellk/w/'i (3634) and Salleeh Muslim (2451).

(2) Sec: Sal/celt MII.\/im (8).

(3) Sec: Sa/well MII~1i1l/ (177).

(4) Sit/rahAI-M/lnta/lll: '!lIe Farthest Latc-tree.

(5) jWlI/(lh ,1I-lIIa'\\'a: The Garden of Refuge.

• /dell/ioll oj/he erell/ioll f~1 /he Angef,\ lIIul Their 95

! these is 10 Gab r iel ~' and we have mention ed in th e ahadeeth

! of A 1-1.\.,.0 . in SOOl'all SUb/lOll ( I) that Sidra" AI-Mlll/wha is

in the seve nt h heaven . In .molh er narratio n, it is men ti o ned

that it is in the sixt h heave n. That is, its trunk and its branches

arc in the sevent h hea ven. ( When that cove red the Lotc-tree

which d id cover it ) (Soora" III1-Nomj 53: 16). It was said thaI

it was covered by the Light o f the Lord , the Almi ghty, the AIl-

Powerful. It was also said that it was covered by go lden moths.

It was also said that it was covered by Ilumerou s di ffe rent

co lors, witholil limit. It was also said that it was covered by the

angels, like rave ns. It was also sa id that it wa s covered by the

Li ght o f A ll a h, Most Hi gh, and no one ca n desc ri be it, beca usc

o r it s beauty a nd it s spl cndor.

There is no contradi ction between th ese say ings. because all

oflhem arc possible al one lim e.

Sufyan Ath-Thaw ri , Shu ' ba h a nd Abul -A hwas narrated on

the authority of Simak Ibn I-Iarb , who reported frolll Khalid

Ibn 'A r'a ra h that Ibn AI-Ka wwa ' asked 'A li Ibn Abi Tal ib ...,.,

about AI-Bair AI-Ma'woor and he said: " It is a mosque in the

seventh heaven, whi ch is known as Ad-Du/'Oh, opposite the

Ko·boh from abovc. It s sac red ness in the heave n is like the

sacredness of the 1·lou se on Ea rth. Every day, seventy thousand

ange ls pray in it and they ncve r return to it." (2)

Others said that in cvery heaven therc is a 1·lousc wh ich is

fi ll cd with a ngels, who come the re in order to worship. They

visit it in shift s, just as the people or th e Ea rth visil the Sac red

1·louse in orde r to per fo rm Hajj every year and 10 per form

'VII/rail a1 all timcs and to make fOll'cljand orIcr praye rs.

(2) Narrntcd by AI-Baihaqi ill Asil-S/III·ab (3/437). It also has support in the

Sa/we/will. A/-Bllk/wr; (3207) and Mlls/im (164).

T he name of th e House whi ch is in the heave n is Bair AI-

'I=zah and th e name of the ange l who leads the ange ls in it is

Isma'eel Accordin g to thi s. the seve nty thousand ange ls who

e nter Bail AI-Ma '1I100r every dny and they do not return to it

ngain - i.e. , they wi ll neve r return to it until the end of tim e -

are from the inhabitants of the seve nth heaven a lone. Th is is

why A lIah , Most High , says, ( And none ca n kn ow the hosts o f

your Lord but l ie )t (SOOl-(l" AI-klllddalluhi,. 74:3 1)

Imam Ahmad narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr .:.Go that

he said: The Messenger of A llah ~ sa id, " Veri ly, I see what

yo u do not see and I hear what you do no t hear. Th e heaven

c ri ed out and it was entitled to cry out. Th ere is no place larger

tha n the space of four fin gers whi ch does not ha ve a prostrating

ange l on it. If you knew what I know, you would laugh littl e

and weep mu ch, a nd you wou ld not take pleasure in women

on your beds - YOll woul d go out to the he ights and raise you r

vo ices to All ah, the Almi ghty, the A ll-Powerful. " Abu Dharr

..t;.. said , "By All ah, I wished that I was a firm supported tree." ( I )

AI-H.afiz Abul-Qasim At-Tabara lli narrated on the aut hority

of Jabir fbn 'A bdullah *

that he sa id: The Messenger of A llah

1k sa id, "Th ere is not in the sevc n heavens the space of a foot , or

cven a finger jo int. or a hand whi ch does not have a prost rati ng

a nge l or a bow ing ange l in it. Whe n the Day of Res urrect ion

comes, they will a ll say, 'We would not ha ve worshipped You

as You deserve to be worshipped if we had not done so without

ascribing part ne rs to you. '" (2)

Th ese two narrations prove that there is no place in the seven

(I) A sound (hllsall) hadeelh, narrated by Ahmad (2 1005), AI-Tinn idhi

(23 12). Ibn Majah (4 190). AI-Hakim in AI-MII5flldrak(4/622. No. 8724)

in a 111(fIl'Qooj ronn .

(2) Narrated by A I -l~1baraJli in AI-MII}lIlII Ai-K(lbeer (2/ 184, no. 1151 ).

Melliion oJlhe Crelliion oJlhe Angels lind Their 97

heave ns whi ch is no l occup ied by the ange ls engaged in all

kinds of worsh ip. So me of them are co ntinuously standing,

othe rs are continuously bow ing and others are continuou sly

prostrati ng. Ot hers are involved in ot her fon11 s o f worship

and Allah knows beller what thcy arc. They are conti nuously

occup ied in wo rshi p, glorification and remembrance of All ah;

deeds which Allah has com manded them to do and they have

places near to th eir Lord. All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( There is not

one or us (ange ls) bu t has his known place (or position); Ve rily,

we (ange ls), we sta nd in rows for the prayers (as you Muslims

stand in rows for you r prayers); Ve ril y, we (angels), wc are

those who glorify (A ll ah's praises, i.c. ofTer prayers) (SoO/'oli

The Prophet ~ said: "Why don ' t you draw yourse lves

up in rows as angels do in the presence of th eir Lord?" Th c

Companions said , "Messenger of All ah, how do th e angels

draw themselves up in rows in the presence of their Lord'!"

He ~ said , "They make th e first row comp lete and keep close

together in the row. " (I)

He said: "We have been fa voured over the rest of the mankind

in three matters: the earth has been made as a mosque (i.e.

a place in whi ch to pray) for us and its du st has been made

a means of purificati on for us and our rank s (in prayer) have

been made like those of the angel s." (2)

Thus they will corne on the Day of Resurrecti on in fro nt of

their Lord, the All-Powerfu l, in ranks, as Allah, Most Hi gh,

says, ( And yo ur Lord comes wilh th e ange ls in rows ) (Som'all

(I) Narrated on the authority of Jabir Ibn Samurah .l;o. by Muslim (430), Abu

Dawood (66 1), An-Nasa'j (8 16), Ibn Mtljah (992) tlnd Ahmad (20519).

(2) Narrated on the authority of Hudhai fah Ibn AIYaman ..;-. by Muslim

98 Mel/liOI/ oflhe Crealioll oflhe AI/gels (I II(/ Their

They w ill stand in rows before their Lord , the A lmi ghty, the

All -Powerfu l on the Day of Res urrec tion , as He, Most Hi gh,

says, ( T he Day th at Ar-Rovh and th e ange ls w ill sland forth in

rows, none sha ll speak except him whom the Mosl Benefi cent

(A llah) allows, and he w ill spea k what is right ) (Soorah AI1-