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1,001 Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet

Angels

Angels are everywhere in the Koran and in the hadiths. You cannot call yourself a Muslim if you do not believe in angels, the second Pillar of Faith, and everything Allah and Muhammad revealed about them.

Pillars of Faith:

1. Belief in God;

2. Belief in the angels;

3. Belief in the Koran (revealed Books of God);

4. Belief in God's prophets;

5. Belief in the Last Day;

6. Belief in the divine measurement of human affairs;

7. Belief in life after death.

Not to be confused with the Pillars of Islam:

1. Shahadah, declaring allegiance to God;

2. Salat, daily prayers;

3. Zakat, annual charity;

4. Saum, month-long fasting;

5. Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Allah is not a god who gets bored easily. Every day, a billion or more believers pray five (Sunnis) and three (Shias) times a day and every day, Allah has the same conversation with his angels.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah has some angels who look for those who celebrate the Praises of Allah on the roads and paths. And when they find some people celebrating the Praises of Allah, they call each other, saying, "Come to the object of your pursuit.'"

He added, "Then the angels encircle them with their wings up to the sky of the world."

He added, "(after those people celebrated the Praises of Allah, and the angels go back), their Lord, asks them (those angels) - though He knows better than them - 'What do My slaves say?'

The angels reply, 'They say: Subhan Allah, Allahu Akbar, and Alham-du-lillah (Glorious is God, Allah is greater, Praise to God)'.

Allah then says, 'Did they see Me?'

The angels reply, 'No! By Allah, they didn't see You.'

Allah says, 'How it would have been if they saw Me?'

The angels reply, 'If they saw You, they would worship You more devoutly and celebrate Your Glory more deeply, and declare Your freedom from any resemblance to anything more often.'

Allah says (to the angels), 'What do they ask Me for?'

The angels reply, 'They ask You for Paradise.'

Allah says (to the angels), 'Did they see it?'

The angels say, 'No! By Allah, O Lord! They did not see it.'

Allah says, 'How it would have been if they saw it?'

The angels say, 'If they saw it, they would have greater covetousness for it and would seek It with greater zeal and would have greater desire for it.'

Allah says, 'From what do they seek refuge?'

The angels reply, 'They seek refuge from the (Hell) Fire.'

Allah says, 'Did they see it?'

The angels say, 'No By Allah, O Lord! They did not see it.'

Allah says, 'How it would have been if they saw it?'

The angels say, 'If they saw it they would flee from it with the extreme fleeing and would have extreme fear from it.'

Then Allah says, 'I make you witnesses that I have forgiven them.'

Allah's Apostle added, "One of the angels would say, 'There was so-and-so amongst them, and he was not one of them, but he had just come for some need.'

Allah would say, 'These are those people whose companions will not be reduced to misery.'"

Bukhari 75.417

Angels don’t like those who don’t spend to further Allah’s plans for world domination.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"

Bukhari 24.522

A lot of praying going on, of which Allah will be kept diligently informed by his angels.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "(A group of) angels stay with you at night and (another group of) angels by daytime, and both groups gather at the time of the Asr and Fajr prayers. Then those angels who have stayed with you overnight, ascend (to Heaven) and Allah asks them (about you) - and He knows everything about you. 'In what state did you leave My slaves?' The angels reply, 'When we left them, they were praying, and when we reached them they were praying.'"

Bukhari 93.525

Try to avoid farting while praying if you want Allah to accept your prayer and the angels to keep interceding with Allah on your behalf.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "Allah does not accept prayer of anyone of you if he does hadath (passes wind) till he performs the ablution (anew)."

Bukhari 86.86

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "The angels keep on asking Allah's forgiveness for anyone of you, as long as he is at his Mu,salla (praying place) and he does not pass wind (hadath).

They say, 'O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! be Merciful to him.'"

Bukhari 8.436

Say "Amin" at just the right time, and it will be as if you died in Allah’s Cause.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "When the Imam says 'Amin', then you should all say 'Amin', for the angels say 'Amin' at that time, and he whose 'Amin' coincides with the 'Amin' of the angels, all his past sins will be forgiven."

Bukhari 75.411

It is an angel who informs Allah of a fetus' progress, and takes down Allah's instructions and predictions as to what the future holds for the growing embryo.

Narrated Anas bin Malik:

The Prophet said, "Allah puts an angel in charge of the uterus and the angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now) a clot (a glob of blood)! O Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.'

And then, if Allah wishes to complete its creation, the angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or a female? A wretched (an evil doer) or a blessed (doer of good)? How much will his provisions be? What will his age be?'

So all that is written while the creature is still in the mother's womb."

Bukhari 77.594

In another hadith, Muhammad is clearer as to what timeframe we are talking about here.

Narrated 'Abdullah:

Allah's Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, "Each one of you collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, and then turns into a clot for an equal period (of forty days) and turns into a piece of flesh for a similar period (of forty days) and then Allah sends an angel and orders him to write four things, i.e. his provision, his age, and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed (in the Hereafter).

Then the soul is breathed into him. And by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it."

Bukhari 77.593

Allah taught His angels how to write your good and bad deeds; therefore, I think it is safe to assume that in the following hadith, it is His angels who do most of the scribbling, not Allah personally.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

The Prophet narrating about his Lord said, "Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write). If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed (in his account with Him); and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times to many more times: and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him, and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed (in his account)."

Bukhari 76.498

Perhaps the most important thing angels ever did was showing Muhammad around Paradise and Hell. Allah’s spokesperson’s vivid reports about what he saw during these guided tours would not have been possible without the assistance of these selfless, fearless guides. One hadith among more than a hundred about these informative out-of-this-world excursions.

Narrated Jabir:

The Prophet, said, "I entered Paradise and saw a palace and asked whose palace is this? They (the Angels) said, "This palace belongs to 'Umar bin Al-Khattab.' I intended to enter it, and nothing stopped me except my knowledge about your sense of Ghira (self-respect (O Umar)."'

Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you! O Allah's Prophet! How dare I think of my Ghira (self-respect) being offended by you?"

Bukhari 62.153

In another hadith about about Umar’s palace in the sky, Muhammad does not enter the dwelling because near it, a woman, assumed to belong to Umar, is performing ablution.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

We were sitting with Allah's Apostle, he said, "While I was sleeping, I saw myself in Paradise. Suddenly I saw a woman performing ablution beside a palace. I asked, ‘For whom is this palace?’

They (the angels) replied, ‘It is for 'Umar bin Al-Khattab.’

Then I remembered 'Umar's ghira (self-respect) and went back hurriedly."

On hearing that, 'Umar started weeping and said, "Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. O Allah's Apostle! How dare I think of my ghira being offended by you?"

Bukhari 87.150

Angels have been known to quarrel among themselves.

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:

The Prophet said, "Amongst the men of Bani (tribe of) Israel there was a man who had murdered ninety-nine persons. Then he set out asking (whether his repentance could be accepted or not). He came upon a monk and asked him if his repentance could be accepted.

The monk replied in the negative and so the man killed him. He kept on asking till a man advised to go to such and such village. (So he left for it) but death overtook him on the way.

While dying, he turned his chest towards that village (where he had hoped his repentance would be accepted), and so the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment quarreled amongst themselves regarding him.

Allah ordered the village (towards which he was going) to come closer to him, and ordered the village (whence he had come), to go far away, and then He ordered the angels to measure the distances between his body and the two villages. So he was found to be one span closer to the village (he was going to). So he was forgiven."

Bukhari 56.676

The angels who joined Muhammad at the battle of Badr were the best of the bunch, as their commander reminded him.

Narrated Rifaa (who was one of the Badr warriors):

Gabriel came to the Prophet and said, "How do you look upon the warriors of Badr among yourselves?"

The Prophet said, "As the best of the Muslims." or said a similar statement.

On that, Gabriel said, "And so are the Angels who participated in the Badr (battle)."

Bukhari 59.327

Beware of those who witness you refusing sex.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "If a man invites his wife to sleep with him and she refuses to come to him, then the angels send their curses on her till morning."

Bukhari 62.121

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "If a woman spends the night deserting her husband's bed (does not sleep with him), then the angels send their curses on her till she comes back (to her husband)."

Bukhari 61.122

If you want angels to show up at your place, get rid of any pictures, including cushions embroidered with them.

Narrated Aisha:

I purchased a cushion with pictures on it. The Prophet (came and) stood at the door but did not enter. I said (to him), "I repent to Allah for what (the guilt) I have done."

He said, "What is this cushion?"

I said, "It is for you to sit on and recline on."

He said, "The makers of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to them, 'Make alive what you have created.' Moreover, the angels do not enter a house where there are pictures."

Bukhari 72.840