Why all the posts about angels?

Why all the posts about angels?  As many people do, I have a long standing interest in everything mystical and spiritual.  And this interest has been restrained by my conversion to Islam because of its austere nature in the sense that investigation into the esoteric mystical is somewhat discouraged.  But the belief in angels is part of the Islamic creed, and thus it makes sense to indulge my love for the mystical by contemplating the mysterious subject of angels.

How can we say that any investigation into the esoteric is forbidden in Islam?  I think it depends on how traditional the person is who you talk to.  The Wahhabis definitely and the Islamists definitely want to detroy even farily mainstream Islamic faith observances.  Destroying sufi tombs, banning Maulid, the celebration of the Prophet's PBUH birthday and other things.  This is wrong and fitna.  

But what about other Muslims search into things that are mystical?  Angels are a topic of a mainstream sufi inquiry. There is a not a lot of doubt that it is an acceptable topic to discuss because it is an article of faith, unlike something like telepathy or talking to jinn, or vibraturgy.

A more Islamic post about angels

Angels posts in Islamic blog

 

"Wa Malaaa-ikatehee" (And I believed in [Allah's] angels).

Q 1: What are Angels?
A. Angels are the obedient, worshipping and chosen servants of Allah. They have "Noori" (ethereal, luminous) existence. They are innocent and commit no sin. They do what they are commanded. They neither eat nor drink but subsist on worship and remembrance of Allah.

Q 2: Why are the angels called "innocent"?
A. Because Allah has created them free of the instinct of committing sins thus they can not disobey Allah. The Prophets of Allah are also innocent like the angels.

Q 3: What is the exact number of angels?
A. Of all creatures of Allah, the angels are the most plentiful. Their exact number is known to Allah Almighty or to His Beloved Prophet (whom Allah has endowed with such knowledge). Their creation is a continuous process. Innumerable angels are created daily. Saints and sages say that the good words and good works of the believers are transformed into angels which take off to the skies, heavens.

Q 4: How many "prominent angels" are there?
A. Four angels of Allah are very prominent and choicest ones:
a. (Hadrat) Gibrail who conveyed Allah's messages to His Apostles, Messengers and Prophets.
b. (Hadrat) Michael who is detailed to provide subsistence and rain to His creatures.
c. (Hadrat) Israfeil, he will make "Soor" i.e. blow trumpet on Doomsday.
d. (Hadrat) Izraeel, his duty is to take soul of humanbeings. A countless number of angels work under his supervision to this effect.

Q 5: What are the duties of other angels?
A. All angels have their (respective) assigned jobs. Some angels are posted in paradise and some in Hell. Some record good and bad actions of humanbeings. Some angels develop and shape foetus in mothers' wombs. Some question the dead ones in graves and some torment unbelievers and sinners. Some angels are stationed on the hallowed grave of Allah's choicest Prophet Hadrat Muhammad (may Allah's choicest blessings & peace be upon him) and some convey or carry "Salaat-o-Salaam" (invocation of Allah's blessings on the Holy Prophet) of the believers and present to the Holy Prophet. Some angels are detailed to attend Islaamic meetings and gatherings where remembrance of Allah is made or "Meelaad Shareef" is held i.e. where the greatness and excellences of the Holy Prophet are explained.

Q 6: What is the name of those angels who record good and bad deeds?
A. They are called "Kiraaman Kaatibeen". The angels of goodness are separate from those who record evil deeds and the angels for night and day are also separate.

Q 7: Which are those angels who question the dead in grave?
A. Questioning angels are called "Munkar" and "Nakeer". They have dreaded appearance.

Q 8: Can human beings see angels?
A. We can not see angels but those ones can see whom Allah wills like His Prophets who also speak to them. However, at the time of death the believers may see the angels of goodness and unbelievers see the angels of torment.

Q 9: What is about he who does not believe in angels?
A. He who denies the existence of angels or says that "will power of doing good deeds" is angel otherwise there exists no angel, is a disbeliever.

Don't be so certain 3

The Cartoon Laws of Physics

Law I
Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation.
Daffy Duck steps off a cliff, expecting further pastureland. He loiters in midair, soliloquizing flippantly, until he chances to look down. At this point, the familiar principle of 32 feet per second per second takes over.

Law II
Any body in motion will tend to remain in motion until solid matter intervenes suddenly.
Whether shot from a cannon or in hot pursuit on foot, cartoon characters are so absolute in their momentum that only a telephone pole or an outsize boulder retards their forward motion absolutely. Sir Isaac Newton called this sudden termination of motion the stooge’s surcease.

Law III
Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter.
Also called the silhouette of passage, this phenomenon is the speciality of victims of directed-pressure explosions and of reckless cowards who are so eager to escape that they exit directly through the wall of a house, leaving a cookie-cutout-perfect hole. The threat of skunks or matrimony often catalyzes this reaction.

Law IV
The time required for an object to fall twenty stories is greater than or equal to the time it takes for whoever knocked it off the ledge to spiral down twenty flights to attempt to capture it unbroken.
Such an object is inevitably priceless, the attempt to capture it inevitably unsuccessful.

Law V
All principles of gravity are negated by fear.
Psychic forces are sufficient in most bodies for a shock to propel them directly away from the earth’s surface. A spooky noise or an adversary’s signature sound will induce motion upward, usually to the cradle of a chandelier, a treetop, or the crest of a flagpole. The feet of a character who is running or the wheels of a speeding auto need never touch the ground, especially when in flight.

Don't be so certain 2

Being certain about the outcome of your life is foolish.  We can tell from common sense that we actually don't lnow what the future holds.




Surat Al-'A`rāf (The Heights) - سورة الأعراف

 

7:99

Sahih International

Then did they feel secure from the plan of Allah ? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.

Muhsin Khan

Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allah. None feels secure from the Plan of Allah except the people who are the losers.

Pickthall

Are they then secure from Allah's scheme? None deemeth himself secure from Allah's scheme save folk that perish.

Yusuf Ali

Did they then feel secure against the plan of Allah?- but no one can feel secure from the Plan of Allah, except those (doomed) to ruin!

 

What! do they then feel secure from Allah's plan? But none feels secure from Allah's plan except the people who shall perish.

Angels

Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

“The aayah (interpretation of the meaning): ‘For him (each person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the Command of Allaah’ [al-Ra’d 13:10-11] means: each person has angels who take turns in guarding him by night and day, who protect him from evil and from accidents, just as other angels take turns in recording his deeds, good and bad, by night and by day.

Two angels, on the right and the left, record his deeds. The one on the right writes down his hasanaat (good deeds) and the one on his left writes down his sayi’aat (evil deeds).

Two other angels guard him and protect him, one from behind and one from in front.

So there are four angels by day and four others by night.”

(Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 2/504)

Smiling- Thich Nhat Hanh

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh

Smiling- Mother Theresa

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

“Peace begins with a smile..” 

 
― Mother Teresa

Smiling 3

Smiling creates happiness.  You don't have to be happy to smile- You can  be sad and just want to be happy and smile to feel better. Try it and see how much it helps!

Smiling 2

Inner Smile

Feel what happens when you smile to yourself.

Smiling 1

Prophet Muhammad PBUH said "Your smile for your brother is charity."

Goodwill 3

The Boddhisatva Vow is an ideal mindset for Buddhists.  When someone takes this vow they promise to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings and to work for the enlightenment of all beings. They vow not to enter Nirvana until all beings enter Nirvana together. This is the heights of good will- never to rest until all beings are happy.

Goodwill 2

This Hadith is from Imam Nawawi's 40 Hadith.  This enjoins goodwill by prohibiting harming other people.

On the authority of Abu Saees Saad ibn Maalik ibn Sinaan al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “There is not to be any causing of harm nor is there to be any reciprocating of harm.”

(Recorded in ibn Maajah)

Goodwill 1

The following Hadith is a positive encouragement to have an attitude of goodwill toward others.




It was related on the authority of Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu ‘anhu, that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said:

“Whosoever relieves from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah will relieve from him some grief pertaining to the Hereafter. Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the Hereafter. Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the Hereafter. Allah will aid a servant (of His) so long as the servant aids his brother. Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them, and Allah makes mention of them amongst those who are in His presence. Whosoever is slowed down by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage.”
[Muslim]