Thread by @aaolomi

Belief in angels is an article of faith in Islam. While the Qur’an only mentions a handful, Muhammad meets many angels during his night journey, a spiritual experience in which he traverses the heavens and is shown paradise and hell.

A thread on the angels of the night journey

The Isra and Miraj describe an event in which Muhammad is guided from Mecca to Jerusalem and then raised up into the heavens where he meets the prophets of old and scores of angels.

Alluded to in the Qur’an, the narrative is filled out in the hadith and later commentary.

The night begins with the angel Jibrail coming to Muhammad. The angel purifies his heart and brings him before the celestial steed, buraq. Together they travel to Jerusalem and from there to the heavens.

In some narrations, Mikail assists in the purifying of Muhammad’s heart.

One of the first angels they meet is Ridwan, guardian of heaven. Some narrations name the angel Ismail.

Described as a great being sitting on a throne of light, surrounded by praying angels, Ridwan greets Muhammad warmly and welcomes him.

In the first heaven he meets Habib, an angel fashioned of ice and fire whose voice is like lightning.

Habib prays for the forgiveness of humanity and offers spiritual counsel to the faithful.

Here he also sees the rooster-like angel, Khuroos with feathers as white as snow and large beyond reckoning. Khuroos crows the arrival of dawn prayers for all the universe to hear and spends the day glorifying God.

In the second heaven, Muhammad finds Mikai’l surrounded by thousands upon thousands of Karrubiyum angels.

Together they mind every single drop of water and sustenance on Earth. While Mikai’l is warm and friendly, Muhammad finds the angel’s face sorrowful.

Jibrail reports that Mikai’l has not stopped crying for humanity since the creation of hell.

In the 3rd heaven Muhammad meets Malik the dour guardian of Hell. While all the angels smiled upon meeting Muhammad, Malik did not for Malik never smiles

The countenance of Malik terrifies him as the angel is described with as many fingers as there are ways to punish the wicked

At one point in his journey Muhammad asks to see hell and Malik has the angel Sarhail, guardian of the gate guide him.

He meets Sukhail who is described has having tongues of fire flash from ears and nose and Susai’l one of the Zabaniyya, or punishing angels that assist Malik

Despite Muhammad’s entreating for mercy, Malik is unmoved.

The harrowing encounter is lessened by the angel Artiyail, who removes sorrow and anxiety from the hearts of all humankind

Appearing as a beautiful green bird, when humanity is paralyzed by fear and anxiety, Artiyail lifts the pall with a gentle touch.

In the third heaven Muhammad also finds Arinail the guardian of the gate who is prostrate in prayer

When Muhammad arrives in the fourth heaven, he is greeted by Salsail guardian of the silver paradise whose wings are said to gleam.

In the 5th and 6th heaven Muhmmad finds Kalqai’l & Shamkha'il respectively who have perfected prayer kneeling and oversee the heavenly companions.

Shamkhail is described as having hundreds of wings.

In the seventh heaven, Muhammad finds Azrai’l angel of death sitting under a tree with a mighty tome. The angel is said to be covered in eyes, all affixed the tree.

Upon every leaf is written the name of every living creature. When a leaf falls it signals the time has come

Afrai’l the guardian of the seventh heaven greeted Muhammad warmly though never ceased in praising God.

It is in the seventh heaven Muhammad also finds the abode of Jibrai’l and Israfil the Trumpeter and a vast ocean of light where Jibrai’l bathes and from the drops new angels are formed

Heaven is described as full of angels all who praise and glorify God every second of every day

Finally Muhammad sees hamlat al-arsh, or the Bearers of the Throne. Described as having animal features of a bull, eagle, human, and lion.

There are also minor references, often even less reliable, to other angels like Sohail, who has seventy wings and heads and punishes tyrants and oppressors, an angel of vengeance, and an angel of provisions.

There is also Harqaeel of the tens of thousands of wings who flew for tens of thousands of years to see the span of the Throne, but did not make it past even a single pillar.

The narrations also vary, for example in some, Mikail and the Karrubiyum are in the seventh heaven, though others say the sixth.

The Qur’an only briefly mentions a few angels and so much of the lore comes from later compilations of hadith, tafsir/exegesis, and narrations of the Isra and Miraj.

The accounts of the angels are particularly useful for historians of religion for they help us see the dynamic and flexible relationship between Islam and other religions.

The structure of Muhammad’s journey as traveling through each heaven meeting angels in layers as well as the description of the bearers of the throne indicates a deeper relationship with older Jewish angelology

Angels like Khuroos the rooster are absent from most commentaries, but appear in Persian translations indicating a Zoroastrian connection perhaps

Angels are an understudied but fascinating aspect of Islamic cosmology and I’ll continue to expand on them in future threads.