Islam > Basic Beliefs > ANGLES AND THE LAST DAY
What is the Unseen?

The Unseen is quite a large part of our beliefs. There are some things that Allah has created that we can no see or hear but we believe in them These come under the category of the Unseen.
Give me an example

We believe that Allah created the Angels from light. We can not see them but we are told that Allah created them and so we must believe in them. Another example is the Jinn that were created by Allah out of smokeless fire. We can not see them but believe that they exist.
What are the angels?

The angels of Allah are the servants of Allah who carry out whatever Allah commands them to do. The angels do not have freewill like mankind - they have no choice in what they do.
What Jobs do the Angels do?

The Angel do all the commands Allah has set them. For example,
  1. Angel Jibrael is in charge of bring revelation down to Allah's prophets.
  2. .
  3. Angel Izrafeel (the angel of death) is in charge of death. He takes away the soul when a Human being dies.
  4. The Angel Mikael is in charge of rain and plantation. Munkar and Nakeer question a person in their graves when they die.
  5. Israfeel blows the trumpet on the day of Judgement.

The Angels of Allah never disobey Allah and do not have desires or needs like a human being. Allah has many millions of Angels.
Can we see Angels?

No, we can not see angels. Once the Angel Jibrael came to the prophet and the companions in the form of a man. They were able to see him them but generally humans never see Angels. The prophet Muhammed PBUH saw the Angel Jibrael once in his full form. The Angel had six hundred wings and was massive, filling the whole sky.

We have angels that sit on our left and right shoulders who record our good and bad deeds. We do not see them either and they are not so massive like Angel Jibrael.

So who or what are the Jinn?

The Jinns are the creations of Allah who were created to worship Allah. They are made of smokeless fire and have a free will like humans. We get good Jinns and bad Jinns like we get good and bad humans. The Jinns are living on Earth and will need to account for their deeds on the Day of Judgement just like us.
Can we see Jinn?

No we can not see Jinns unless they take the form of a human or of an animal. The Jinn however can see us.

Prophet Suliman was a prophet of Allah whom Allah had given control over the Jinns. From Suliman's story we learn that the Jinns are able to travel great distances in a split second and that they are very strong - they carried the throne of Sheba to Suliman in the blink of an eye.

Allah has given them great power.

When were the Jinn created

The Jinns were created before Mankind. Infact, we see in the story of Adam that Iblis was a Jinn and was in existence before Adam.
Who is Iblis?

Iblis was from the Jinn. He was a greater worshipper of Allah. He was made the leader of the Angels. They say that there is not a place on earth where the Iblis had not done Sajdah.

When Allah created Adam, Allah commanded the angels to bow before Adam. Iblis refused by saying that he was better than Adam - Iblis had pride inside his heart. He told Allah that I am better than Adam, you created Adam out of clay whilst I am created from smokeless fire!

Allah then banished Iblis from heaven. Iblis made a request to Allah to give him respite until the day of Judgement. Allah granted him this and Iblis promised that he would try his best to deceive and misguide mankind from the Path of Allah - Iblis became the enemy of mankind.

What is the Day of Judgement?

The Day of Judgement is the day when mankind will be brought forth from the Earth and will need to account for all their deeds they did whilst they were alive on the Earth. Every human that lived from the time of Adam until the Day of Judgement will be brought forth before Allah.
When is the Day of Judgement?

No one but Allah knows when the day of Judgement will be. When the prophet of Allah was asked by the angel Jibrael about when the day of Judgement will be, the prophet replied that the one who was is being asked the question knows as much as the one asking the question. This means that neither the prophet nor the Angel Jibrael knew when the day of Judgement will be.

We have been given some signs that will appear before the day of Judgement. These are of two types - Major and Minor.

What signs have taken place already?

Most of minor signs have taken place and the Major signs will take place just before Qiyamat. The Minor signs that have taken place include the wide spread of evil and Ignorance, The building of high buildings, usury (interest) will be common, disobedience to parents and many more.
What major signs are still to take place

Some of the major signs still to take place are: the coming of the Dajjal; the coming Gog Magog; the coming of Isa; the smoke; the coming of the beast that will speak to people; the earthquakes - there will be three major ones of which one will be in Medina. There have never been any earthquakes in Medina before. After this a breeze will come which will take away the souls of every believer and the day of Judgemnt will take place. No repentance will be accepted after this.