Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The basic account of an angel descending to the Prophet ﷺ and giving him the choice between being a king and a prophet or a servant and a messenger is established. However, the authentic narration does not name this angel. As for the narrations that explicitly identify him as Israfil, peace be upon him, they are weak. Therefore, it cannot be stated with certainty that the angel was Israfil. Likewise, it is not authentically established in the Sunnah that Israfil was among the angels sent to Ibrahim and Lut, peace be upon them.
What Is Authentically Established About the Prophet ﷺ Being Given This Choice?
It is reported from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that Jibril (Gabriel), peace be upon him, was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ when an angel descended. Jibril said:
“This angel has not descended since the day he was created until this moment.”
Then the angel said to the Prophet ﷺ:
“O Muhammad, your Lord has sent me to you: shall He make you a prophet-king or a servant-messenger?”
Jibril said:
“Humble yourself before your Lord, O Muhammad.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
“Rather, a servant and a messenger.”
This was narrated by Imam Ahmad and others, and Al-Haythami stated that the narrators of some of its chains are narrators of authentic hadith collections.
What is established here is that an angel descended with this message, but the narration does not mention his name.
Is It Established That This Angel Was Israfil?
Several narrations identify him as Israfil, peace be upon him, but they are not free from weakness.
One narration from Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, contains the words:
“And he was Israfil.”
However, its chain contains Ayyub ibn Nahik, whom hadith scholars declared weak. The narrator from him, Yahya ibn ‘Abdullah Al-Babilti, is also weak.
Another narration from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, explicitly states that Israfil descended to the Prophet ﷺ. However, its chain contains unknown narrators or narrators whose reliability has been criticized. Shaykh Al-Albani also stated that one of its objectionable additions is the identification of the angel as Israfil.
Another narration from Ibn ‘Abbas reports that Jibril said:
“This is Israfil.”
However, its chain contains Muhammad ibn ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, who is well known for his poor memory and frequent mistakes.
Therefore, the correct conclusion is:
The basic story is established, but identifying the angel as Israfil has not been authentically established.
Is There a Contradiction With the Angel Saying That He Had Never Descended Before?
There is no contradiction, because the authentic narration does not say in the first place that this angel was Israfil.
Even if another report authentically established that Israfil had previously descended to the earth, this would not contradict the authentic hadith, because we do not know that the angel mentioned in that hadith was Israfil.
It is therefore incorrect to construct a contradiction based on a weak narration identifying the angel as Israfil and then compare it with other weak reports.
Were the Angels Sent to Ibrahim and Lut Jibril, Mika’il, and Israfil?
Allah Almighty says concerning Ibrahim, peace be upon him:
“And certainly Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings.”
[Hud: 69]
The Qur’an establishes that those who came to Ibrahim were angels, and that they then proceeded toward the people of Lut.
However, the names of these angels are not authentically established in the Sunnah.
Some commentators transmitted various opinions identifying them. Some said they were Jibril, Mika’il, and Israfil, while others gave different names. They even differed regarding their number.
Some said there were three, others said nine, while others said eleven, and still other opinions were reported.
This disagreement itself indicates that there is no clear, authentic text conclusively establishing their names.
What Was Reported From the Early Scholars Regarding Their Names?
It has been transmitted from some scholars and commentators that the angels were Jibril, Mika’il, and Israfil. However, these statements have not been authentically established from the Prophet ﷺ, and some of them are not even authentically established from the Companions.
At most, what has been transmitted with chains of narration in some sources consists of statements from certain Tabi‘in (Successors), including one report saying that there were four angels: Jibril, Mika’il, Israfil, and Rafa’il.
Such reports are not sufficient to state these names with certainty in a matter belonging to the unseen.
Why Should We Refrain From Making Definitive Claims About Such Details?
The names and duties of the angels belong to matters of the unseen, and matters of the unseen cannot be established through speculation or merely because a report appears in some books of tafsir.
We should affirm what has been established by authentic evidence and refrain from making definitive claims about what has not been established.
Therefore, one should not state with certainty:
“Israfil was the angel who descended to give the Prophet ﷺ the choice,”
nor:
“Israfil was among the angels who came to Ibrahim and Lut, peace be upon them,”
because authentic evidence does not establish either claim.
Conclusion
It is established that an angel descended to the Prophet ﷺ and gave him the choice between being a king and a prophet or a servant and a messenger. The Prophet ﷺ chose to be a servant and a messenger. However, the name of this angel is not established in the authentic narration.
The narrations identifying him as Israfil, peace be upon him, are weak, so it is not correct to state this with certainty.
Likewise, it is not authentically established in the Sunnah that Israfil was among the angels sent to Ibrahim and Lut, peace be upon them. What has been reported regarding the specific identities of these angels consists of differing opinions that do not constitute conclusive evidence.
And Allah knows best.