Angels in Islam

In Islam, angels (Arabic: ملاك٬ ملك‎, romanized: malāk; plural: ملائِكة‎, malāʾik/malāʾikah or Persian: فرشته, romanized: firis̲h̲ta) are believed to be heavenly beings, created from a luminous origin by God. The Quran is the principal source for the Islamic concept of angels, but more extensive features of angels appear in hadith literature, Mi'raj literature, Islamic exegesis, theology, philosophy, and mysticism.

Generally, belief in angels is one of the core tenets within Islam, as it is one of the six article of faith. Angels are more prominent in Islam compared to Judeo-Christian tradition. The angels differ from other spiritual creatures in their attitude as creatures of virtue, in contrast to evil devils (Arabic: شَيَاطِين, romanized: šayāṭīn or Persian: دیو, romanized: dīv) and ambiguous jinn (Arabic: جِنّ or Persian: پَری, romanized: parī).

Angels are conceptualized as servants of God. As such, they are said to lack passion and bodily desires. If angels can nevertheless fail, is debated in Islam. Many Māturīdites say that the heavenly creatures are tested, and angels may fail such a test, whereupon they are dismissed from their duties. Some Ashʿarite likewise argue that angels can fail. In contrast, most Mu'tazilites, including some Asharis such as al-Razi, consider angels to be infallible. Though some Muslim scholars may accept a certain degree of angelic fallibility, these angels do not rebel on their own part against God but fail to complete their task properly.

In Sufism, angels are related to the nature of reason ('aql). According to Sufi cosmology, they connect the higher realms of the intellect with the lower world of matter. Thus, the human mind is conceptualized to form a connection with the heavenly spheres (malakūt) through such heavenly entities associated with (Nūr). In contrast, the devils attempt to disturb the connection by diverging the mind to the lower spheres, thus associated with fire (nār).