al-Haqq al-Mubin fi Marifat al-Malaika al-Muqarrabin
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- Maṭba‘at al-Salām
al-Haqq al-Mubin fi Marifat al-Malaika al-Muqarrabin (The Manifest Truth Concerning the Knowledge of the Near Angels) is a contemporary Arabic treatise on Islamic angelology by the Egyptian author Muhammad Ali Muhammad Imam . The book focuses on the second pillar of Islamic faith—belief in the angels—detailing their nature, creation, attributes, and roles according to scriptural texts .
Background and Purpose
The author, Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Imam, compiled the treatise to provide believers and Islamic preachers with an accessible guide on faith in the unseen world of angels . He emphasizes that firm belief in God's angels is essential for fulfilling faith and cultivating obedience, righteousness, and imitation of their upright conduct in submitting to divine commands .
Contents and Themes
The work gathers relevant Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, and scholarly citations regarding angels and organizes them into themed discussions:
- Creation and Origin: It explains that angels are light-created beings ( خُلقت الملائكة من نور , "The angels were created from light"), created prior to Adam, endowed with long lifespans, and mortal only when God decrees the end of all creation .
- Attributes and Nature: It outlines their incorporeal and moral characteristics, noting that they are purified from animalistic desires, neither male nor female, do not marry, propagate, sleep, eat, or drink physical food, and that their sustenance consists of continuous glorification, praise, and sanctification of God .
- Categories and Duties: The work discusses the duties assigned to various angels, including the messengers among them, the archangels (such as Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and the Angel of Death), the bearers of the Throne (حملة العرش), and other categories .
Sources and Publication
The author draws upon classical and modern references across Quranic exegesis, hadith, and theology, including al-Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman, Ibn Kathir's tafsir, al-Razi's Mafatih al-Ghayb, and al-Suyuti's specialized angelological work al-Haba'ik fi Akhbar al-Mala'ik, alongside works by contemporary scholars such as Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz and Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin .
The book was registered with the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dar al-Kutub) under legal deposit number 25036 in November 2007 and published in Mit Ghamr, Egypt, in a first edition comprising 134 pages .
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