Descriptions:
8- Angels are representatives of creatures that glorify Allah unconsciously.
Whoever leaves his personal thoughts aside and looks at the universe with attention he will see the universe as a huge mosque and find the creatures in it in worshipping peculiar to them. The sun is a lamp and stove of this mosque; the moon is its lampion and the stars are candles of it. The sky is the roof of this mosque and the earth is its floor. This is such a mosque that other than humans and some savage animals none go beyond their limits. They fulfill their tasks with utmost obedience. There are two kinds of creatures in this mosque. One of them is those who worship consciously using their wills like humans and jinn; the other group is those who are lifeless and who worship unconsciously like stones, mountains and the sun.
It should be known at first that when lifeless fulfill their duties that are assigned to them, they are regarded to worship. For example, the worship of chicken is laying eggs, the worship of sun is heating and giving light, the worship of a sheep is giving milk and the worship of a bee is making honey, and so on.
Besides, all of them have a peculiar way of dhikr and glorifying; they perform this unconsciously. A watch that shows the time but it is unaware of its function. Similarly, these creatures glorify Allah but they do not perform this with their will and conscious. It is possible that Allah Almighty who created them assigned to them the task of glorification and made them work unconsciously.
So, when someone looks at this realm carefully, he will see that both small and unimportant creatures and comprehensive and big creatures have a duty and a universal service. For example, a flower glorifies the names of Allah with its tongue of disposition by displaying the embroidery and art on it;, the garden of earth is also like a kind of a flower. It has a very orderly and comprehensive task of glorifying.
A flower has a declaration and glorification of Allah for its existence in its order. In the same way, a huge tree has an orderly duty and worship with all of its organs like its branches, leaves and flowers.
A tree glorifies with its leaves, fruits and flowers; similarly, the huge sea of skies glorifies Allah Almighty and praises its glorified artist with its sun, stars and moon, which are like its words. And so on…
As we can comprehend this situation of the world of creation with a careful look, we can also realize this by looking at the following verses of the Qur’an:
“The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft- Forbearing, Most Forgiving!” (Surah al-Isra-44)
“It was We that made the hills declare, in unison with him, Our Praises, at eventide and at break of day. And the birds gathered (in assemblies): all with him did turn (to Allah).” (Surah Sad -18-19)
“Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise. And Allah knows well all that they do.” (Surah an-Noor – 41)
So, from birds to flowers and from fish to the stars of skies and even lifeless things such as stones and rocks glorify Allah and praise Him. We can realize this either by careful contemplation of the universe or by paying attention to the Qur’an. Thus, angels are appointed with the task of representing the glorifying of the unconscious beings of the universe. That is, every created being glorifies and remembers their Creator, Allah, with a peculiar language and angels represent the unconscious worshipping of them in the inner world.
For this reason, it can be said that all unconscious beings that are in the state of glorification prove the existence of the angels who represent their own glorifications.
Along with this explanation, the meaning of the following hadith is properly understood. The prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) states the following;
“There are some angels who have forty thousand heads, and in each head are forty thousand tongues and with each tongue they utter forty thousand Divine glorifications.” Yes, since there is an appointed angel at the head of every creature that is either lifeless and unconscious and that angel represents the glorifications made by that being in the inner world and presents its worship to Allah, the existence of angels as the Prophet informed us is indispensable and reasonable. For example
– A tree has branches up to forty in the form of heads.
– In every head, that is, every branch, there are forty flowers in the form of tongues.
– Those flowers have orderly thin fringes, colors and art, as with every aspect, they show the manifestations of the names of Allah and read a name of Him and glorifies Allah with many different ways.
That is, this tree is an unconscious being with forty heads, forty tongues in every head and at least forty glorification in every tongue.
Is it at all possible that Allah, who is the wise artist of this tree, should assign it so many duties and glorifications and should not create an angel that is proportionate to the form of that tree knowing its meaning, expressing that meaning and declaring it to the universe consciously and presenting Allah its glorification? Since He will create and has created, that angel needs to be in a form that will represent the glorification of that tree. That is, he should have forty heads like the tree, forty tongues like branches in each head, hundreds of glorifications like flowers in each tongue so that it could perform the same glorification and present it to Allah.
Now, let us have a look at this lifeless and unconscious mountain:
There are one thousand trees on it. That is, this mountain has one thousand heads.
There are a hundred branches on each tree. That is, this mountain has one hundred thousand tongues in its one thousand heads.
There are hundreds of leaves and flowers on each branch of those trees. That is, this mountain has millions of glorifications.
Yes, if this mountain has one thousand trees, one hundred branches on each tree and one one hundred leaves and flowers on each branch, it is a creature with one thousand heads, one hundred thousand tongues and hundreds of glorification in each tongue; the angel that will represent the unconscious glorifications of this being in the inner world should be like that. That is, it should have one thousand heads and each head should have one hundred thousand tongues; and each tongue should have hundreds of glorification. Now think of the greatness of the angel that will represent the glorifications performed by the world. How many heads, tongues and glorifications should it have? And think of the greatness of the angel that will represent the glorifications performed by the milky way galaxy.
There are three hundred billion stars in our galaxy. That is, the angel that will represent our galaxy should have three hundred billion heads.
It should have as many tongues as the beings in each star.
It should have as many glorifications as the organs and parts of each being.
Can you imagine the greatness of this angel, whose greatness numbers cannot express? If our galaxy were an angel, it would be an angel with three hundred billion heads and trillions of tongues in each head and innumerable glorification in each tongue. The majestic Creator, who created our galaxy in such a magnificent form, definitely created the angels that will represent the glorifications of our galaxy in that magnificent form.
To sum up, the angels have been appointed to represent the glorification of these beings that have no consciousness. That is, every being mentions the name of Allah and remembers him, who is their creator, with a language peculiar to them. The angels represent their worship, which they perform without consciousness, in the realm of soul and angels.