Angels: Made of Light or Made of Flesh?
- philhoraia
- Sep 30, 2022
- 2 min read
The clear and detailed Quran doesn't tell us what angels are made of. But we are told in non-Quranic hadith that they were made from light.
'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
The Angels were born out of light and the Jinns were born out of the spark of fire and Adam was born as he has been defined (in the Qur'an) for you (i. e. he is fashioned out of clay).
'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Angels were created from light, jinns were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and 'Adam was created from that which you have been told (i.e., sounding clay like the clay of pottery)." [Muslim].
But we are told that Musa knocked out the eye of the Angel of Death.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The angel of death was sent to Moses and when he went to him, Moses slapped him severely, spoiling one of his eyes. The angel went back to his Lord, and said, "You sent me to a slave who does not want to die." Allah restored his eye and said, "Go back and tell him (i.e. Moses) to place his hand over the back of an ox, for he will be allowed to live for a number of years equal to the number of hairs coming under his hand." (So the angel came to him and told him the same). Then Moses asked, "O my Lord! What will be then?" He said, "Death will be then." He said, "(Let it be) now." He asked Allah that He bring him near the Sacred Land at a distance of a stone's throw. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) said, "Were I there I would show you the grave of Moses by the way near the red sand hill."
This suggests that it is a physical being for Allah has to restore the eye. The angel doesn't simply dematerialise.
The concept of an Angel of Death can be found in Jewish literature and also of an encounter between it and Moses. From Legends of the Jews 3:7
The people now came to Moses and said, "The hour of thy death is at hand," and he replied: "Wait until I have blessed Israel. All my life long they had no pleasant experiences with me, for I constantly rebuked them and admonished them to fear God and fulfil the commandments, therefore do I not now wish to depart out of this world before I have blessed them." Moses had indeed always cherished the desire of blessing Israel, but the Angel of Death had never permitted him to satisfy his wish, so shortly before dying, he enchained the Angel of Death, cast him beneath his feet, and blessed Israel in spite of their enemy, saying, "Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: feed them also, and bear them up for ever." Legends of the Jews 3:7:27 with Connections
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