From the moment an individual is conceived in his or her mother’s womb, until death and beyond, angels play a part in human life. This volume draws on the sources of Islam to give us a comprehensive picture of who the angels are, their origins, their role in the universe and their interaction with humankind in this world and the next.

From the moment an individual is conceived in his mother’s womb, until death and beyond, angels play a part in human life. Angels accompany each human being, protecting him or her and keeping a record of all that person’s deeds. Angels bring forth the soul of the dying, and they bring comfort or inflict torment in the grave. An angel will sound the Trumpet on the Last Day, and angels will be present on the Day of Judgement until they accompany people to their ultimate destination in Paradise or Hell. Almost all human cultures, ancient and modern, have some kind of belief about angels. The pre-Islamic Arabs believed them to be daughters of the Almighty. Some philosophers thought that angels were the stars in the sky. In modern times there has been a resurgence of interest in angels, and they feature prominently in movies and other forms of popular western culture. However, these myths have no role to play in the belief of the Muslim. Our beliefs are based on the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, which tell us all we need to know about the reality of the unseen, including the world of the angels. In this second volume of the Islamic Creed Series, Dr. ‘Umar al-Ashqar draws on the sources of Islam to give us a comprehensive picture of who the angels are, their origins, their role in the universe and their interaction with humankind in this world and the next. This Islamic Creed Series of books has been translated into English by Nasiruddin al-Khattab.