The Creation of the Angels
Muslim transmitted in his Sahih from 'A'isha, peace be upon her, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
"The angels were created from light. The jinn were cre- ated from fire. Man was created from what has been described to you."
Ibn Hajar said in the Fath and mentioned in Rabi al-Abrar that Sa'id b. al-Musayyab said, "The angels are neither male nor female. They neither eat nor drink. They do not marry nor have children." The angels are free of all animal appetites and are unadulterated by any selfish inclination.
Allah Almighty called the angels "slaves" and honoured them by the fact of their being connected to His name, the All-Merciful. He made it clear that those who think that they are female are not right because they say this with no knowledge. Allah says:
"They have designated the angels female, those who are the slaves of the Merciful. Were they present to witness their creation? Their witnessing will be written down and they will be asked about it." (43:19)
Allah glory be to Him! criticised those who described the angels as being female and stripped such people of the attribute of belief, saying:
"Those who do not believe in the Next World name the angels with the names of females. They do not have any
knowledge of it. They only follow supposition, and suppo sition is of no avail at all against the Truth." (53:27
The Wings of the Angels
The Almighty says:
"Praise belongs to Allah, the Bringer-into-being of the heavens and the earth, the Maker of the angels into mes- sengers, possessing wings two, three and four. He adds to creation in any way He wills. Allah is over all things powerful." (35:1)
Allah Glory be to Him! makes it clear that the angels have wings. Some of them have two wings, some three, some four, and some have more than that as has come in a hadith saying that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw Jibril, peace be upon him, on the Night Journey and he had six hundred wings, the distance between each wing being the same as that between the east and the west. This is why Allah - glory be to Him! says: "He adds to creation in any way He wills." (35:1) As-Suddi said, "He increases the number of wings and creates them as He wills." That is the position taken by most of the com- mentators.
The Magnitude of the Angels
The angels are immense in size, far and away bigger than any other of the creatures we normally see. That is indicated by the words of the Almighty:
"O you who believe, guard yourselves and your families against a Fire whose fuel is men and stones, and over which are harsh, terrible angels who do not disobey Allah
in anything He commands them and do what they are commanded." (66:6)
Imam Muslim reported that Ibn Mas'ud said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw Jibril dressed in a green robe and he completely filled all the space between heaven and earth."
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reported:
"I was given permission to speak about one of the Bear- ers of the Throne his two feet are resting on the lowest earth and the Throne rests on the top of his head. The dis- tance between his ear-lobes and his neck is that of the flight of a bird for seven hundred years. He (ie, the angel) says, 'Glory be to You wherever You are."
The angels vary in size, not being all the same, some of them having two wings, some three and some four, up to Jibril who has six hundred wings.