We believe in the angels and know with certainty that belief in them is the second among the pillars of faith.
Belief in the angels comprises a number of aspects:
First: belief in their existence.
Second: giving them their due status and affirm that they are servants of Allah and part of His creation like humankind and jinn; and they are subject to Allah's commands and accountable to Him; they have no power to do anything except what Allah enables them to; they can die, but Allah Almighty gave them a long term of life and will not cause them to die before they reach their appointed term; they should not be given any description leading to being associated as partners with Allah, Exalted be He, and should not be called upon as gods, as the polytheists used to do.
Third: Acknowledging that the angels include messengers whom Allah Almighty sends to whomever He wills from among humankind, and He may send them to one another. We should also acknowledge that they include the bearers of the Throne, angels who stand lined up in rows, gatekeepers of Paradise, gatekeepers of Hellfire, scribes who record people's deeds, and angels who direct the clouds. The Qur’an mentions all of this, or most of it. [Shu‘ab Al-Īmān (1/296)]
Fourth: believing in angels both as a whole and individually. We believe in the existence of angels as a whole, and we also specifically believe in those angels whose names, traits, and actions are reported to us in the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
We believe in those of them we know and those we do not know, and we believe in their tasks and traits. We are aware that what we do not know about their numbers, actions, and traits is more than what we know. However, we believe in all this, as we are informed by the Almighty Lord and His Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), without trying to know its very nature, rejecting it based on our limited minds, imagining it through our opinions, or interpreting it by our personal reasoning. Rather, we say: We believe and submit!
We believe that Allah Almighty created the angels from light. So, they are among Allah's creation. He created them in a specific form whose reality is known to Him alone. They are devout servants, whom Allah, the Exalted, created to worship Him and carry out His commands. They worship Him and never disdain to do so.
Their acts of worship include glorification of Allah, prostration, fear and apprehension of their Lord. In spite of their earnest worship of Allah Almighty, they are severely fearful of Him. Among their worship is that they show loyalty and love for the sake of Allah, Exalted be He.
We believe that Allah Almighty created them in a specific form only known to Him, the Creator.
We believe that Allah, Glorified be He, created them with wings and allowed them to come to the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) in human form. Those polytheists who claimed that the angels are the daughters of Allah are declared liars by the Almighty Creator.
We believe that angels do not eat or drink, for they have no desires, and they are characterized by modesty and get hurt by the same things that hurt humans.
We believe that Allah Almighty created in them such tremendous power and strength that He alone encompasses, and they are too numerous to be counted, except by the One Who created them.
We believe that Allah, the Exalted, honored them and assigned them with various sublime tasks, the most noble of which is to be a messenger between Allah and His servants, conveying the revelation to them. The angel tasked with bringing down the revelation to the prophets and messengers of Allah is Jibrīl (peace be upon him). Allah Almighty may also send them to people other than the prophets as an affliction and test.
Among their tasks is bearing the Throne, writing down the destiny, taking care of wombs and their contents, in terms of creation, forming, and breathing of life, taking away people's life, breathing life into bodies in this world and in the Hereafter, conducting Jihad along with the believers, supplicating for the believers and seeking Allah's forgiveness for them, witnessing the believers' worship, raising their good words, and conveying their news to the Almighty Lord, though He is the All-Aware, All-Knowing, and He does not need anyone to tell Him.
Their tasks also include coming down to earth on worship occasions such as Fridays, the day of ‘Arafah, and the Night of Al-Qadr.
One of their tasks is to convey to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) his Ummah's invocations of Allah's blessings upon him.
Among their tasks is to protect people, record their good and bad deeds, guard Madīnah from the Anti-Christ, question the dead in the grave, give glad tidings to the believers at the time of death about their great attainment, receive them in the Hereafter, and enter their places through the gates of Paradise; they will also come along with Allah Almighty on the Day of Judgment, rank after rank.
Among them is the gatekeeper of Paradise and the gatekeeper of Hellfire.
We believe that Allah Almighty created angels with different ranks and positions. Angels of the highest status are Jibrīl, Mikā’īl, and Isrāfīl, and the noblest among them include the bearers of the Throne and also those angels who took part in the battle of Badr. In every heaven there are angels whose number is only known to Allah, Exalted be He. Each of them has a known station, and some of them are particularly brought close to their Lord.