Angels and Human Beings

The relationship between angels and human beings in the Islamic tradition is one of the most theologically rich and practically meaningful topics in Al-Ashqar's work. Angels interact with humans at virtually every significant juncture of life, from before birth to after death, and their proximity to human beings is a constant spiritual reality that the believer is encouraged to remain conscious of.

Before a child is born, an angel is sent to breathe the soul into the fetus at 120 days (or 40 days in other narrations) of gestation, and at that moment writes the decree concerning the child's provision, lifespan, deeds, and eternal fate. This angelic appointment of destiny at the beginning of life establishes that no human being enters the world without divine attention — each person's existence is individually acknowledged and decreed by the Lord before they take their first breath.

Angels accompany human beings continuously throughout life. The Quran reveals that 'there are appointed watchers over you, noble, recording angels who know what you do' (Al-Infitar: 10-12). This awareness is meant to generate a form of modesty and conscientiousness in behavior — knowing that one is never unobserved, even in solitude. The Prophet said that when a person remembers Allah in a gathering, the angels surround that gathering with their wings, mercy descends upon them, and Allah mentions them to those in the assembly above. This beautiful image of angelic participation in human circles of dhikr makes the spiritual atmosphere of such gatherings palpably real.

Angels also attend the Friday prayer, the daily prayers, and the circles of knowledge. Hadith describe angels descending at the time of prayer, filling the rows of worshippers and praying alongside the believers. Circles of Islamic knowledge are reported to be surrounded by angels seeking that knowledge, so beloved is such activity to the Lord of the angels.

At the moment of death, angels are present in one of two manifestations. For the believer, angels of mercy descend with white garments from Paradise and the fragrance of the Garden, inviting the soul gently to depart. For the disbeliever, angels carrying iron rods appear, and the soul resists its extraction until it is forcibly removed. The two experiences described in hadith literature are deliberately contrasted to motivate the living toward the path that leads to the merciful death.

In the grave, two angels — Munkar and Nakir in some narrations — question the deceased. These three questions (about one's Lord, religion, and prophet) complete the connection between the angelic world and the lived content of Islamic belief: how one answers in the grave reflects how one actually lived. Al-Ashqar's discussion of angels and human beings thus amounts to a comprehensive spiritual atlas of the invisible reality that surrounds every human life from before birth to beyond death.