Part 23

So Allah made them honorable in th eir being and in their

behavior. A part of the ir honorableness is demon strated in the

hadeelll narrated in the books of authentic alladeelll and in the

Sunon II) and MasQneed (2) on the aut hority of a number of the

Companions 4 , who reported from th e Messenge r of Allah 3%'

that he said, "The ange ls do not enter a house in which there

is a picture or in wh ich there is a dog or in which there is a

person in a state ofjanaball. (3)" (4) In the narration of' Asim Ibn

([) Sill/an : Collections of ahadeerh arranged according to subject matter.

(2) /v/a!i(llleed: Collee lions of (lhadeelh arranged according to their (lsullf.'ed

(3 ) JU/Jabah: Ritual impurity.

(4) With the add ilioll ur the words: "or where there is a person in a state of

jal/abah,"th is is a weak narration . II was narrated by Abu Dawood (227),

by AnNasa'i (26 1), by Ahmad ( 1292) and by Ibn Hibban in his Sahedt

(5/4, No. 1205). As for Ihe hadeeth narraled on the aUlhorily of ' Abdullah

----__o/lhe Crealioll o/lile Angels (JIlt! 71leir

Damrah, who reported on the authority of 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib

.:;c, is th e addition "or urin e." (1) In the narration of Rafi' , on

the authority of Abu Sa'eed AI-Khudri ~ , in a lIlaljoo' form, it

was stated: "The ange ls do not enter a house in which there is

a picture or a statue." (1) And in the narration of Mujahid on the

authority of Abu I-Iurairah ~ , in a l/1a1foo' form , it was stated:

"The angels do not enter a house in which th ere is a dog or a

statue." (3) In a narration on the authority of Abu I-I urairah .f,..., it

was stated that he said: The Messe nger of Allah ~ said, "The

an ge ls do not accompany travelers who have with them a dog

or a bell." (4) It was narrated by Zurarah Ibn Aw fa, who reported

on the authority or the Messenger of Al lah ~ that he said, "The

angel s do not accompany travelers who have with them a bell."

(5) AI-Bazzar narrated on the authority of Abu Hura irah 4> that

he sa id: The Messe nge r of Allah ;s sa id, "Verily, the angels of

Allah know t~'l e children of Adam," and I thi nk he said, "and

they know thei : deeds, so if they see a slave performing an

act of obedience to All ah, they speak o f it among themse lves

ilnd they name it and say, 'So-and-so has succeeded this night.

So-and-so has been saved thi s night. ' But if they see a slave

committing an act of disobedience to Allah, they speak of it

among themselves and they name it and say, 'So-and-so is

Ibn 'Abbas ~ , which states that: "Angels do not en ter a house in which

there is a dog or a picture," it was narrated by Muslim (3929).

( I) This is an extremely weak fwdeelh. It was narrated by Imam Ahmad .;..

and it contains in its chain of narrators one 'Arm Ibn Khalid, who is a liar.

(2) Thi s is an authentic hac/eelll narrated by Imam Ahmad ( 11448), Malik

( 180 I) and 1\1-Tinnidhi (2805).

(3) Th is hadeelh is authentic in meaning; it was narrated by Abu D,l\vood

(4 158) and I\t-Timlidhi (2806).

(4) Narrated by Muslim (21 13), I\bu Dawood (2555), At-Tirm idhi (1703),

Ahmad (75 12) and Ad-Darimi (2676).

(5) An authentic hadeelll narrated by Ahmad (8772).

11 2 Memin/l n/llle Crealioll o/llie til/gels and 71leir

destroyed th is night '." (I)

AI-Bukhari narrated on the au thority of Abu Hurairah 4;, that

he said: The Messe nge r of Allah j1f; said, "The ange ls keep on

descending from and ascending to the heaven in turn, some at

ni ght and somc by day, and all of them assemble toge the r at

the time of the Fa)r and ' Asr prayers. Then those who have

stayed with yo u ove rn ight asccnd unto Alla h, Who asks them,

and He knows the answer belter than th ey, ' How have you

left My slaves?' They reply, 'We have left them pray ing as we

fo und the m praying' ." (2) This is th e wording in the Book a/the

What is mea nt is that every person has two protect ing angels,

one before him and the other behind him. They protect hi m

fro m Allah 's Co mmand, by Allah 's Command. And there are

two recording ange ls, one on hi s right and one on hi s left; and

the recording ange l on the right commands the ange l on the

left. The one on the right reco rds hi s good deed s, wh ile the

one on the lert record s hi s bad deeds. When the ange l on the

left intends to record a bad deed, the angel on the ri ght says

to him, "G ive him a re spi te, that haply, he may repent or seek

forgiv eness." If he. performs a good deed, th e ange l on the

right records it without hes itation , as Allah, Most High, says,

« Remember) that the two receivers (recording angel s) rece ive

(each human be ing after he or she has att ained the age of

puberty), one sitt ing on the right and one on the left (to note hi s

or her actions). Not a word docs he (or she) utter, but the re is

a wa lcher by him ready (10 record il ). ) (Soara" Qa[SO: 17, 18)

( 1) This was mentioned by AlHaitharni in Majma' A::-Zawa 'it! (I 0/226) and

he said orit, "Narfilled by AlBazzar; it contains (in its chain o f narrators)

people whom I do not know,"

(2) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (3223).

Mel/lioll oflhe Crealion of lhe AI/gels and Tlteir II J

As fo r the hac/eelh narrated by Imam Ahm ad on the auth ority

of' Abdull ah Ibn Ma s'o od ~ , in whi ch he sa id: Th e Messcnge r

of Allah ~ said, "There is not a sin gle one of you but has hi s

qarecn fro m amo ng th ej inn and his qareen (companion) from

among the angels." They sa id, "And you al so, Messenger of

Alla h?" I-Ie repli ed, " Yes, I also, but All ah has helped me again st

him so that he does not command me exce pt in that whic h is

(ru e and good." (II It is possib le that this qareell from the ange ls

is unlike th e qareen that protec ts mankind. He is on ly cha rged

with guidi ng [md directi ng him by Allah's Perm ission to the way

of goodness a nd the path o f righteousness. Li kewise, the qareell

from amo ng the devi ls has been charged to spare no effo rt in

ca using con fusion and mi sguidance. Th e one who is prot ected

is the one w hom A Ilah, the Almighty, the All -Powe rful protec ts

- and Alla h is th e One from Whom protection is so ught.

Al-Bukhari narrated on the au thority of Abu Hurairah ~ that

he sa id: Th e Messenge r of A ll ah ~ sai d, "Every Friday the

an ge ls take their stand at every gale of the mosq ues 10 write Ihe

nam es o f the people chron ologica ll y (i.e. accord in g to the tim c

of thei r arriva l for the Friday prayer) and whcn the IlIIalll sit s

(o n the pu lpit) they fold up their sc roll s and gel ready to li sten

to the sermon. " (1) Al-B ukhari narrated in this from th is so urce

and it is na rrated in the Saheehain from anothe r so urce. (3)

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And recite thc Qu r'a n in the

ea rl y dawn (i.e. the morn ing prayer). Veri ly, the reci tation o f

the Qur'nn in the early daw n is ever witnessed (atte nded by

the ange ls in cha rge of manki nd of the day and the nigh t). )

(SoO/-ail AI-Ism' 17: 78 )

([) Narrated by Muslim (28 [ 4) and Imam Ahmad (3770).

(2) Narrated by Al-Bukhari (3211 ).

(3) Narrated by AI-I3ukhari (929) and Muslim (850).

114 Mellfio/l (ljthe Creatioll ojthe AI/gels (/Ild 71Ieil"

A I-Bllkha ri narrated on the auth ority of Abu Hll rai rah

.t;r. from the Prop h ~t ~ that he said , "A prayer perfo rmed in

congrega tion is tw ~ nty-five times more superior in reward to

a prayer pe rformed by a single person. The angel s of the nigh t

and the angels of the day are assemb led at the lime or the Fajr

prayer." Abu I-Iurairah ..;o add ed, " If you wish, you can recite:

( And rec ite the Qur'an in the ea rly dawn (i.e. pra yer. Verily,

the rec itat ion of the Qur ' an in the carly dawn is ever witnessed

(attended by the ange ls in charge of mank ind of the day and the

night). ) (Saara" AI-Isra ' 17:78)

Al-Bukhari narrated , on th e authority of Abu I-Iuraira h ~,

that he sa id: The Messenger of A ll ah ~ sa id , "When a man

calls his wife to his bed (to have sex ual relat ion s w it h her) and

she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the a nge ls curse

It has bee n narrated in the Saheehail1 that the Messenger of

A ll ah ~ sa id, " When the l//tam says Ameell (in th e prayer),

says Ameen, beca use if a nyo ne's {(I'meen (sayi ng Ameen)

co inc ides with that of the angel s, all of his previous sin s w ill

Ima m Ahmad narrated, on th e aut hori ty of Abu J-Iura ira h ..tc.

or on the aut hori ty of Abu Sa'eed AI-Khudri ~, - A I-A ' mash

(o ne of the narra tors) was un sure which of them it was - sa id:

T he Messenger of A ll ah ;is said, "Veril y, A llah has angel s