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By the name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate
Quran Lessons
BE AN ANGEL
This lesson is about some of the creatures of Allah, the angels�
Believing in Angels� existence is one of he pillars of faith and in the Quran:
and believing in them have an effect in our lives.
Who are they?
They are creatures created from light and anyone who doesn�t believe in them is considered a Kafer (disbeliever). In the Quran:
O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger and the scripture, which He hath sent to His Messenger, and the scripture, which He sent to those before (him). Any who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day Of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray...
What are their characteristics?
They glorify Allah day and night without boredom or stopping. In the Quran:
They celebrate His praises night and day, nor do they ever flag nor are they intermittant.
In a Hadeeth the Prophet pbuh said, �The sky is full and is crowded because there is no place for four fingers in it but there is an angel prostrating for Allah��
They have complete obedience for Allah and would never disobey any of His orders. In the Quran:
O ye who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.
They have the ability for formation. In the Quran:
She (Mary) placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.
And it is known that Gabriel used to appear to the Prophet in various forms.
They come down to earth to give aid and help to believers. In the Quran:
But Allah did pour His calm on the Messenger and on the Believers, and sent down forces which ye saw not: He punished the Unbelievers: thus doth He reward those without Faith.
And when the believer knows that angels come down to help him, his condition changes from one state to another. In the Quran:
In the case of those who say, "Our Lord is Allah," and, further, stand straight and steadfast, the angels descend on them (from time to time): "Fear ye not!" (they suggest), "Nor grieve! but receive the Glad Tidings of the Garden (of Bliss), that which ye were promised!
but Angels don�t come down upon any one.
They just do that for a special kind of people. Those who are following the path that Allah has drawn for them not the path they desired to follow. In the Quran:
Therefore stand firm (in the straight path) as thou art commanded, thou and those who with thee turn (unto Allah); and transgress not (from the path); for He seeth well all that ye do,
and didn�t say as you desire.
So we should ask ourselves are we religious in the same way Allah wants or in the way that we want. From a glance at Muslims� conditions we can find that a lot of Muslims have a religion of their own tailored to their desires and wants. In the Quran:
Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)? Couldst thou be a disposer of affairs for him?
and these desires and whims are of the diseases that affects religious people.
But in addition to the Angels demons come down upon people too. In the Quran:
Shall I inform you, (O people!), on whom it is that the evil ones descend? They descend on every lying, wicked person,
And this means that any bad deed you make can cause a demon to come down upon you no matter how small or trivial it may seem.
The angels act as special guards for those who mention Allah to keep them safe from harms. In the Quran:
He is the Irresistible, (watching) from above over His worshippers, and He sets guardians over you. At length, when death approaches one of you, Our angels take his soul, and they never fail in their duty.
and if you want those body guard to come to your protection you have to keep mentioning Allah.
In a Hadeeth one of the Prophet�s companions said "Oh messenger of Allah the rules of Islam has become many over me so tell of one thing to take hold of." The Prophet pbuh said, �keep your tongue wet from mentioning Allah.�
The Angels have the role of asking Allah to forgive the believers and repent upon them. In the Quran:
The heavens are almost rent asunder from above them (by His Glory): and the angels celebrate the Praises of their Lord, and pray for forgiveness for all beings on earth: behold! verily Allah is He, the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
They keep believers away from falling into sins. Don�t you recall an incident when you were so close to committing a sin but something drove you away from it. If this happened to you then angels have intervened to keep you away from it.
They make Duaa for believers. In the Quran:
And preserve them from (all) ills; and any whom Thou dost preserve from ills that Day, on them wilt Thou have bestowed Mercy indeed: and that will be truly (for them) the highest Achievement.
So imagine how much you weigh and value that Allah created Angels to protect you, make Duaa for you and ask Allah for forgiveness for you.
We read in the Quran that sins are a cause for destroying nation. In the Quran:
Such were the populations We destroyed when they committed iniquities; but We fixed an appointed time for their destruction.
And
Let not the strutting about of the Unbelievers through the land deceive thee: Little is it for enjoyment: their ultimate abode is Hell; what an evil bed (to lie on)!
And
See they not how many of those before them We did destroy? - Generations We had established on the earth, in strength such as We have not given to you - for whom we poured out rain from the skies in abundance, and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): Yet for their sins We destroyed them, and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them).
A story:
One of the scholars and his name is Al-Awza�ie was aboard a ship which stalled at a distance from he beach. He was 60 or 70 years old. The ship was far from shore and no one was able to jump into the water and reach the shore except him. He was asked about the reason for his ability to do so. He replied, this limbs and senses that Allah gave me I used them for the obedience of Allah and preserved them from sins when I was young so Allah preserved them healthy and strong for me when I am old.
In Hadeeth the Prophet pbuh is advising one of the young companions by saying, �Oh young man preserve Allah (watch not to fall into disobeying Him) and He will preserve you��
And it is a common sense to say that when you preserve yourself from sinning Allah would give you the opposite of what He has promised the sinners. In the Quran Allah promises those who abstain from Allah:
But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment.
So the opposite of that in the Quran:
Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.
Angels might also trade with believers.
A story:
Once Ali bin Abi Taleb (the Prophet�s cousin and one of the four pious Caliphs) didn�t have any money but he had complete dependence on Allah and was so fearful of Him. He went to the Market and on the way he met a man with a she-camel to sell.
The man offered to sell the camel for a cheap price (six dirhams or more). So Ali went back and borrowed the money and came to the man and bought the she-camel from him. Ali took the camel and on the way he met another man who offered to buy the camel for 4 or 6 hundred dinars (one-dinar equals 10 dirhams) so Ali sold it.
He went back to the Prophet pbuh and asked him about that and he said, �The Angel Gabriel sold it for you and the Angel Michael bought it from you.�
To conclude we say that Man is in a middle state between Angels and animals the more he is attached to Allah the more angel-like he/she is and he farther away from Allah the more animal like he/she is.