Angels, Books and Prophets

The angels (mala’ika) are unseen beings created by Allah from light, who do not disobey what He commands and carry out the tasks He assigns them. Belief in the angels is the second article of faith named in the Hadith of Jibril, alongside belief in Allah Himself. The Qur’an describes several angels by name or role: Jibril, who carried revelation to the prophets; Mika’il; Isrāfīl, associated with the Trumpet blown at the coming of the Hour; and the angels traditionally described as recording a person’s good and bad deeds throughout their life.

Muslims believe that Allah revealed scriptures to a number of His messengers before the Qur’an, including the Suhuf given to Ibrahim, the Tawrat given to Musa, the Zabur given to Dawud, and the Injil given to Isa. The Qur’an, revealed to Muhammad ﷺ, is held to be the final of these revelations, and Allah describes Himself as its guardian: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian” (15:9). Muslims believe the earlier scriptures were altered or lost in their original form over the centuries that followed them, which is part of why the Qur’an’s own preservation is considered significant within this belief.

Belief in the prophets and messengers (rusul) means accepting that Allah sent guidance to every nation through chosen individuals, without singling out some for belief and rejecting others: “We make no distinction between any of His messengers” (2:285). The Qur’an names twenty-five prophets explicitly, while stating that others were sent whose stories were not related: “Among them are those We have related to you, and among them are those We have not related to you” (40:78). Scholars traditionally identify five messengers — Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa and Muhammad — as Ulul Azm, “those of firm resolve,” based partly on verses such as 33:7, which names them together in a single covenant, and 46:35, which speaks of the patience shown by “those of determination among the messengers.”

These three beliefs sit alongside belief in Allah, the Last Day and Qadr as the six articles of faith set out in the Hadith of Jibril. Believing in the angels shapes how a Muslim thinks about being observed and accountable even in private; believing in the earlier books and the Qur’an’s preservation shapes how a Muslim relates to other scriptures without needing to study each in depth; and believing in the full chain of prophets is part of why Islam is presented not as a new religion but as a continuation of the same message brought by earlier messengers.