Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic tradition the two ''kiraman katibin'' ( ar, كراماً كاتبين ‘honourable scribe’), are two

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

s called Raqib and Atid, believed by Muslims to record a person's actions. Whether a person is sent to ''

Jannah In Islam, Jannah ( ar, جَنّة, janna, pl. ''jannāt'',lit. "paradise, garden", is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of f ...

'' (

paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

) or ''

Jahannam In Islam, the place of punishment for unbelievers and other sin in Islam, evildoers in the afterlife, or hell, is an "integral part of Islamic theology",#ETISN2009, Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009: p.401 and has "occupied an important p ...

'' (

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

) is not, however, dependent on whether good deeds outweigh bad deeds; but is ultimately up to

God's In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

mercy upon a believer. The

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

refers to them in two places, in 50:16-18 and by name as ‘Noble Recorders' in 82:10-12. The work of the ''kiraman katibin'' is to write down and record every action of a person each day. One angel figuratively sits on the right shoulder and records all

good deeds ''Good Deeds'' is a 2012 American romantic drama film written, co-produced, directed by and starring Tyler Perry with the rest of the cast consisting of Thandiwe Newton, Brian White, Rebecca Romijn, Jamie Kennedy, Phylicia Rashad, and Gabrielle ...

, while the other sits on the left shoulder and records all bad deeds. The book in which the angels are writing is the cumulative record of a given person's deeds. After that person's death, it is said that on the Day of Judgement each person will be confronted with this record, and the two angels will be present to tell God of what the person did.

Relation to the "followers"

These angels are not

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...

s, called in Islamic tradition the ''

mu'aqqibat The Arabic term ''al-mu'aqqibat'' (commonly encountered in the definite plural, Arabic معقبات "those who follow one upon another") is a term occurring in the Quran (Q.13:11) which some Islamic commentators consider to refer to a class of gu ...

'' "followers" (Q.13.10-11). According to many Muslims (see below), each human has two guardian angels, in front and behind him, while the two recorders are located right and left. Muhammad said: "There is no one among you but he has with him a constant companion (qareen) from among the jinn and a constant companion from among the angels." They said, "You too, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Me too, but Allah has helped me against him (the devil-companion) and he has become Muslim.""

References

{{Angels in Abrahamic Religions Angels in Islam Classes of angels Individual angels Islamic eschatology

Relation to the "followers"

See also

References