Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Qibla.com » Are angels transcendent of time and space?   

Are angels transcendent of time and space?   

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Are angels transcendent of time and space?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Reliance of the Traveller, (u3.3):

To believe in His angels means in beings with bodies of light who are capable of changing form to assume various appearances. Believe means to be convinced that they exist, and are honored servants who do not disobey what Allah orders them to do, but do whatever they are commanded. Only Allah Most High knows how many there are, but a hadith relates there is not a foot of space in the seven heavens that does not contain an angel standing in prayer, bowing, or prostrating. We are obliged to know ten individual angels:

Jibril, Mika’il, Israfil, Azra’il, Munkar, Nakir, Ridwan, Malik and the two scribes who record one’s good and bad deeds, each of whom is called a “present observer”.

And in section (w22.2):

Angels live in the heavens and earth……

Angels like circles of religious learning and dhikr, and supplicate Allah to bless our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and us, and they ask forgiveness for those on earth. They rejoice at whoever visits the ill or seeks religious knowledge, out of pleasure with what he is doing.

Angels, like all created things, are limited by time and space. Only Allah, Most High, is transcendent beyond time and space. If angels live in the heavens and earth, enter homes to give mercy and protection and search for circles of dhikr, it means that they are necessarily bound by time and space.

And Allah alone knows best.

Shazia Ahmad

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.