In Islamic traditions, the Hamalat al-Arsh are a group of angels whose sole task is to bear the Throne of God.[5] According toMuqatil ibn Sulayman, the angels of the throne are the first angels God created.[6]
Ibn Abbas is reported as saying, that the number of this angels are four but atDay of resurrection, they will increase to eight.[7]
They are often portrayed inzoomorphic forms.Al-Suyuti who quotedWahb ibn Munabbih, andAl-Bayhaqi in book ofal Asma' wa al Sifat, that each of those different anthropomorphic angels has four faces of a human, bull, vulture, and lion.[8] Otherhadiths describe them with six wings and four faces.[9] Meanwhile, al-Suyuti narrated the Hamalat al-Arsh has four wings.[8]
According to a hadith transmitted fromAt-Targhib wat-Tarhib authored by ʻAbd al-ʻAẓīm ibn ʻAbd al-Qawī al-Mundhirī, the bearers of the throne shaped like arooster, with their feet on the earth and their nape supporting theThrone of God in the highest sky.[Notes 1] a number modern Islamic scholars fromImam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, and other institutes in Yemen and Mauritania also agreed the soundness of this hadith by quoting a commentary fromIbn Abi al-Izz, a classical era scholar.[10]
These four angels are also held to be created from four different elements: light, fire, water, and mercy.[11] in his commentary aboutAl-Aqida al-Tahawiyya, Ibn Abi al-Izz has quoted a hadith regarding the physical size of the angel which authored byAbu Dawud al-Sijistani, It is also said they are so large that a journey from their earlobes to their shoulders would take seven hundred years.[12][13]
According to al-Suyuti who quoted a Hadith transmitted byIbn al-Mubarak, archangelIsrafil is one of the bearers of the throne.[14]
^The hadith were: "...Allah, the most exalted, has permitted me to speak of a rooster whose legs have separated the earth, and its neck is bent under the throne..." through the narration ofAbu Hurairah by Abd al-Qawi al-Mundhiri throughAl-Qadi Abu Ya'la. The Hadith were judged as authentic and sound by numerous hadith scholars such as byNur al-Din al-Haythami in his work,Majma al-Zawa'id,Al-Tabarani in his work,Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, Mustafa al-Adawi inSahih Al-Ahadith Al-Qudsi and also byMuhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani in his workSilsalat al-Hadith as-Sahihah[10] It also commented as safe as it is also supported by other Hadith from another chain fromJabir ibn Abd Allah in theSunan Abu Dawood.[10]
^Cyril Glassé (2001).The New Encyclopedia of Islam(Paperback). AltaMira Press. p. 168.ISBN9780759101906. Retrieved8 December 2023.Cyril Glassé. HAMĀLAT AL - ARSH - HAMMURABI Ḥamālat al - Arsh ( lit. " bearers of the throne " ) . The eight Angels whom the Koran mentions as the bearers of the throne of God
^Gimaret, Daniel. "The Psalms of Islam. Al-ṣahīfat al-kāmilat al-sajjādiyya, Imam Zayn al-‛ Abidin‛ Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, translated with an Introduction and Annotation by William C. Chittick. The Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (London, England 1988; distributed by Oxford University Press)." Bulletin critique des Annales islamologiques 7.1 (1991): 59–61.
^Matthew Aaron Bennett (2020). "What are the Six articles of the Faith of Islam?".40 Questions about Islam(Paperback). Kregel Publications. p. 115.ISBN9780825446221. Retrieved8 December 2023.hamalat al-'arsh who bear up the throne of God
^Tottoli, Roberto. "The Carriers of the Throne of God: Islamic Traditions Between Sunnī Angelology and Shīʿī Vision." The Intermediate Worlds of Angels. Ergon-Verlag, 2019. p. 277
^The Asiatic Journal. Black, Parbury, & Allen. 1839. p. 195. Retrieved8 December 2023.
^Stephen Burge (2015).Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi Akhbar al-malik. Routledge. p. 265.ISBN978-1-136-50473-0.
^abcAbdullaah Al-Faqeeh; Fatwa centers & Islamic educational institutes in Yemen and Mauritania (2013)."رتبة حديث: أذن لي أن أحدث عن ملك من ملائكة الله من حملة العرش..." [The rank of hadith: Permit me to narrate on the authority of one of the angels of God from among the bearers of the Throne... Fatwa Number: 205000].Islamweb (in Arabic). Saudi Arabia: Al-Imaam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University. Retrieved3 March 2022.
^Syrinx von Hees (2002).Enzyklopädie als Spiegel des Weltbildes: Qazwīnīs Wunder der Schöpfung: eine Naturkunde des 13. Jahrhunderts (in German). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 283.ISBN978-3-447-04511-7.
^Ibn Abi al-Izz (1969).Al-Albani, Muhammad Nasir al-Din (ed.).مختصر شرح العقيدة الطحاوية [A brief explanation of the al-Tahawiyya creed] (in Arabic). دار النذير للطباعة والنشر،. p. 145. Retrieved17 March 2024.- أُذِن لي أن أُحَدِّثَ عن ملَكِ من ملائكةِ اللهِ عز وجل من حملةِ العرشِ ، إن ما بين شحمةِ أذنِه إلى عاتقِه مسيرةَ سبعمائةِ عامٍ
^Al-Suyuti (2021). Muhammad as Said Basyuni, Abu Hajir; Yasir, Muhammad (eds.).Misteri Alam Malaikat (Religion / Islam / General) (in Indonesian). Translated by Mishabul Munir. Pustaka al-Kautsar. pp. 29–33, 172.ISBN9789795929512. Retrieved6 February 2022.Quoting Ibnul Mubarak from a book ofaz-Zuhd; ad Durr al-Manshur, chain narration from Ibnul Mubarak to Ibn SHihab (1/92)
^Bruno Becchio; Johannes P. Schadé (2016). "Hierarchy of angels".Encyclopedia of World Religions. Foreign Media Group.ISBN9781601360007.
^Schöck, Cornelia (1996). "Die Träger des Gottesthrones in Koranauslegung und islamischer Überlieferung" [The bearers of the throne of God in the interpretation of the Koran and Islamic tradition].Die Welt des Orients (in German).27:104–132.JSTOR25683589.OCLC6015512997.INIST2883962.
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