What are the forms and names of the angels?

The general form of an angel is not as portrayed in Greco Roman Legends, with angels like cupid (a little baby with wings flying with a bow and arrow) or a man walking around with wings on his back. When the angel appeared in the form of a man, he was a man without wings. Allah has described the angels as having wings but we should not think of their wings in terms of our imagination, or comparing it to that of birds, etc.

As Allah has described them in the Quran, in Surah al-Fatir; “All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the [only] Originator [or the only Creator] of the heavens and the earth, Who made angels messengers with wings, two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills. Verily, Allah is able to do all things.” [1]

Abdullah ibn Masood reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had seen angel Jibreel in his natural state in which he had 600 wings each of which covered the horizon, and they were like multi-colored drops of pearls and rubies falling from his wings.[2]

So the angels in their natural state are quite huge, so much so that in another narration related by Jabir ibn Abdullah, with regards to the angels that carry the throne of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, “I have been granted permission to speak to one of the angels of Allah, one of the bearers of the throne. The distance from his earlobes to his shoulders is the distance like that of a bird flying for seven hundred years.” [3]

The angels, though when they appeared in human form, were as males, because the companions saw them, and one of them looked like Diyyah Al Kalbi, who was one of the companions among them. Another time, the angel appeared like an unknown Bedouin. Though they have been described in male forms, they are considered to be neither male nor female, nor is there any evidence in Islamic text to indicate that they reproduce.

In Surah as-Saffat, Allah says, rebuking the claims of Arab pagans, that angels were feminine. “Or did We create the angels female, while they were witnesses?” [4]

With regards to the names of the angels there are only 8 names which are authentically recorded in Islamic text. There are many in folklore.

• Jibreel: the angel of revelation
• Mikaa’eel: in charge of Al-Qatr i.e. rainfall and plants
• Israfeel: responsible for blowing of the Trumpet on the Day when the Hour will be established and creation will be resurrected.
• Malik: the name of the guardian of the Hell
• Malak al-Mawt: Assigned to pull out the souls at the time of death
• And 7 - The angel assigned to question the dead once they are buried: two angels come and ask him about the Rabb, his religion and his Prophet.

The Hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), states “When a dead person is buried, two black (looking) angels having blue eyes, one called Munkar and the other Nakeer, will come to him. They will ask about Allah, the Prophet and his religion.”[5]

     8- Haroot and Maroot : who are assigned to Babylonians

All the other names we hear like Israeel are based on either Israeeli traditions taken out of the biblical sources, or are based on weak and fabricated narrations or are simply folklore.

Other known Angels

• The angels appointed over the womb: when the embryo completes four months in the mother’s womb, Allah sends him an angel and orders him to record his provision, his life term, his deeds and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed ( in the Hereafter)
• The angels appointed to watch and keep records of the deeds of the children of Adam (mankind); one sitting on the right and one on the left of each person.

References:

[1] (Quran, 35:1)

[2] Musnad al-Imam Ahmad.  Ibn Katheer said in al-Bidaayah 1/47 that its isnaad is jayyid.

[3] (Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer, 3^rd edition, 1/208, no. 853)

[4] (Qur'an, 37:150)

[5] A Hadith related by At- Tirmidhee and Shaykh Al-Albanee said it is Hassan. Jaami’ at-Tirmidhi, Kitab al-Janaa’iz 3/383 and Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah, no. 1393