Creation and Nature of Angels

The angels (mala'ikah) occupy a unique position in the Islamic cosmology as beings of light, created before humanity, who exist in continuous proximity to Allah and serve as the primary agents of divine administration in the universe. Al-Ashqar's treatment of the angelic world draws comprehensively on Quranic verses and authentic hadith to present what Muslims are obligated to believe about these noble beings.

Angels were created from light (nur). This is established in the authentic hadith: 'Angels were created from light, jinn were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from what has been described to you.' Their creation from light is consistent with their nature: beings of pure spiritual energy, free from the biological drives and material limitations that characterize the human being. They have no need for food or drink, no sexual nature, no sleep as humans experience it, and no disobedience to Allah built into their nature.

The number of angels far exceeds human comprehension. The Prophet described the heavens as groaning under the weight of angels performing prostration — so densely populated are they that 'there is no space of four fingers in the heavens except that an angel is standing, bowing, or prostrating in worship of Allah.' The celestial realm is thus depicted as a universe of worship in which angels constitute the primary worshippers, preceding humanity in the praise of their Lord.

Angels possess forms and wings. The Quran describes them as 'messengers with wings, in pairs of two, three, and four' (Surah Fatir). The angel Jibril — the greatest and most frequently described — appeared to the Prophet in his original form with six hundred wings, filling the entire horizon. When angels appear in human form for their missions (as they did with Ibrahim and Lut), they take on the appearance of humans but retain their angelic nature.

Angels are fundamentally characterized by perfect obedience. The Quran says: 'They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and they do what they are commanded.' Unlike human beings who struggle with moral agency, the angels have no capacity for disobedience built into their nature. This is not because they are constrained against their will, but because their will is entirely in alignment with their Creator's — a condition that the Islamic tradition presents as the highest form of freedom, not the absence of it. Their entire existence is worship, and they neither tire of it nor fall short in it.