Part 24

who trave l throughout th e earth in addition to the recorders

of ma nki nd and w hen they find peop le rememberin g Allah,

the A lmigh ty, th e A ll -Powe rful, they call out to one ano ther,

'Co llle to the object of yo ur des ire! ' And they take th em li p to

the lowest heaven. The ir Lord asks then, and He kn ows be tter

( I) Narrated by At-tlukhari (3237).

(2) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (780) and Muslim (78 t).

th an th em, ' What are My slaves sayin g?' They say: 'They are

glorifyi ng, magnifying, praising and extoll ing You.' He ask s,

' Have they seen Me?' They say, 'No, by Allah, they ha ve not

seen You.' He asks, ' And how wou ld it be if they saw Me?'

They say, ' They would be eve n more fe rvent and devoted in

their praise and wo rship.' He asks, ' What arc they askin g me

forT They say, ' Th ey ask You for Paradi se.' He asks, ' And

have th ey seen it?' They say, 'No, by All ah, Lord, th ey ha ve not

seen it.' He asks, 'A nd how would it be if they saw it?' Thcy

say: ' Th ey wo uld be even more eager for it and th ey would

beseech You even more earnestl y.' He asks, 'A nd what do th ey

seek My protec tion from?' They say, ' From th e Fire of Hell .'

He as ks, ' j-jave they seen it?' They say, ' No, by Allah, th ey

have not seen it.' He asks, ' And how woul d it be if they saw

it?' They say: 'They woul d be even more afraid and anxious

to escapc it.' Allah says: ' You arc My wi tnesses that I have

forgi ve n them.' One of the angels says: 'So-a nd-so is not reall y

one of th em; he ca me (to the ga thering) for SOme other reason. '

All ah says, ' Th ey were all in the gat hering, and onc of th em

will not be excl uded (frol11 forgiveness),." tI)

Imam Ahmad narrated on th e <lUthority o f Abu Hurairah ..;c,

that he said : The Messe nge r orA llah ~ said , " Whoever relieves

a believe r from a hardship in thi s li fe, All ah will re li eve him from

a hardship on the Day of Resurrection. Whosoever bri ngs ease to

a beli ever who is in d iffic ulty, Allah will bring ease to him in both

thi s life and the next. Whosoever concea ls the shortcomings of

a Muslim, All ah will concea l hi s shortcom ings in thi s world and

the nex t. All ah will always help a servant as long as that servant

helps his brother. And whoever follows a path by which he seeks

knowledge, All ah will make easy for him a path to Paradi se.

Those people who assembl e in a house from among the houses

( I) This is an authentic !wdeellt narrated by Imam Ahnmd (7376).

116 Mel/lion oj Ihe Crealion (ljllle Angels (/11(1 71,eir

of All ah (mosques) and reeite the Book of A llilh and learn and

teach the Q ur ' an, tranq uility will descend upon them and merey

will cover them and the angels will surround them. Allah makes

a ment ion of lhem in th e presence o rl ilose nca r Him, a nd hc who

is slow-paced in doi ng good deeds, his (exa lted) lineage will not

make him go faste r." (I)

Imam Ahmad narrated from' Abdullah Ibn Mas' ood ~ that

the Mcssenger of A lla h ~ said : " Veril y, All ah ha s angels who

travel in the ea rth. T hey convey to me Ihe peace greet ings

(sa/alii) from my V lllmob." (2)

Li kcw ise, when a slave leaves his house and says, " Bislllillalu'

Tawakka/fll 'A/aI/alii Hi-I La t-1awla IVa La QUII'II'ara ilia Billah

(In the Name of Allah, I have placed my trust in Allah and there is

no strength and no power except in Allah)," the ilngcl says to him,

" Your needs sha ll be fulfi lled, you shal l be saved from diffi culti es

and hardships. Satan , hearing thcsc words, leaves him," O)

The a/wdeerh in whic h the angels are mentioned are numerous

and we have me nti o ned from them what A ll ah has made casy

for liS, all prai se be to Him.

Section Regarding the Superiority ofAngels

Peopl e have differed rega rd in g th e superiority o f the an ge ls

( I) Narrated by Ahmad (7379) and ;"'llIsli111 (2699).

(2) This is an allthemic //{Ide!!'}' nlJrralcd by Imam Ahlllild (4198).

(3) This is an authentic har/eelh narrated by Abu D .. wood (5095) and 1\1-

Ti rmidhi (3426), on the authority of A nas Ibn M<1 li k ~.

Mel/riUII o/rhe e rea/ioll uf /he AI/gel,~ (/1/(1 Th eir 11 7

over mankind, hold ing a number of di ve rse opin ions : Most o f

what has bee n writte n re lating to this iss ue is recorded in the

book s of th e rational ists and the disagree ments there in w ith

the Mu ~azilires and th ose who agreed with the ir o pin io ns,

The o ldest di scourse tha t I have seen relating to th is issue is

that mentioned by A IHafiz Ibn ' A sak ir in h is Tareekh, in the

biography of Umayya h Ibn 'A nlr Ibn Sa'eed Ibn A I- 'As, in

which it was sta ted that he att ended a gathe ri ng he ld by ' Umar

Ibn ' Abdu l-Aziz and found wi th him a group of peopl e, ' Ulllar

sa id, "Th ere is no on e more noble in All ah's Sight than a nobl e

person from the children of Ada m," And he cited as evidence

for hi s claim th e Words of A llah , Most Hi gh: ( Ve ril y, those

who be li eve (in th c O neness o f A llah and in His Messe nge r,

Muhammad [peace be upon him] includ ing al l ob li gat ion s

orde red by Is lam) an cl do righteous good deeds, they arc the best

of crea tures. ) (Soorah AI-Bayyillall 98:7) Umayyah Ibn 'A mr

Ibn Sa'eed agreed w ith him in thi s, but 'lrak Ib;, Mal ik said,

"There is none more noble in Al lah's Sight than His angels:

they perpetua ll y se rve Hi m and they arc His messengers to hi s

Prophets." He c ited as ev idence fbr his claim the Words ofA llah ,

Most High: ( " Yo ur Lord d id not fo rbid you thi s tfce save you

should becom e an ge ls Of become of th e imll1 orta ls," ) (Soomh

AI-A 'raJ 7:20) 'U mar Ibn 'Abdu l-Aziz said to Muhammad

Ibn Ka ' b A I-QlIrazi, " What do you say, Abu I-I amzah?" He

sa id , "A llah has honored Adam and created him wit h His Hand

and He breathed into him of His Spi rit and caused the angel s

to pro stra te before him and I-Ie c reated from his progeny the

Prophets, th e Messengers and th ose whom the tIn gels visi!."

' Umar Ibn 'Abdul -A z iz agreed with this jlldgment, but he c ited

evidence othe r than that c ited by Muhammad Ibn Ka ' b and he

dec lared the li se of A ll ah's Words : ( Veri ly, those who be lieve

(in the One ness o f Alla h a nd in Il is Messe nge r. Muha mm ad

11 8 /IIellfioll offhe Creatioll of fhe Allgelol a/ld Their

[peace be upon hun ] includi ng all ob ligation s ordered by

Isla m) and do rigll1eous good deeds ... ) as evidence for man's

superiority to be weak, because the Verse is not ex clusive to

mankind; Alla h has described th e angel s as havi ng fa ith in

Hi s Words: ( And they (the angels) be lieve in Hi m. ) (SoOl·oll

Gllafir 40:7) and also the jinn: ( And indeed when we heard

the Guidance (th is Q ur 'a n), we believed therein (I slamic

Mo notheism) ) (Saarah AI-Jinn72: 13) and: ( And of us some

are Muslims (who have suhmilled to Allah , after listening to

Ihi s Qur 'a n), ) (SoO/'oil A/-Jillll 72: 14)

elftel': M eidi(fl7't' Cradi(f : f

Allah, Most High, says, ( He created man (Ada m) from

sounding clay like the clay of pottery. And thej inn did He create

from a smokeless flame offire. Then whic h of the Blessings of

your Lord will you both Uinn and men) deny? ) (SoO/'al1 Ar-

He, Most Hi gh , says, ( And indeed , We created ma n fro m

sounding clay of altered black smooth mu d. And the j illn, We

created afore ti mc from the smokeless fla me of fi re. ) (Soomh

'Abdullah Ibn ' Abbas ~ . ' Ikrimah , Mujahid, AI-Hasan and a

number of others said that th e meaning of th e Words of A ll ah,

Most High: ( fro m a smo ke less flame of fi re ) (SoOJ'all Ar-

Rahman 55 :15) is: from the tip of the flame, or in another

narration, from the purest and best part efit. We have mentioned

prev iously by way of Az-Zu hri , on the authority of ' Urwah,

who reported on Ihe authority of ' A' ishah Ihat she said: The

Messe nger of Alla h ~ sa id: " Th e an gels we re created from

120 Mel1liun oflhe Crealioll of lite Jil1ll and lite Sun:)' of..

li ght, the j inn were c reated from a smoke less fire and Adam

was created from what has been described (in th e Qur 'a n) to

you (i.e. from clay )." (I)

Ma ny of the schola rs of taj~'eer said that the jinn we re created

before Adam i:&9 and that the /tinn (2) and the bil1l1 lived in the

Ea rth bcfore ma nkind and Allah sent the ji nn against thcm and