Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is Wise in His creation and His command. He does not create anything without purpose, nor does He prescribe anything without wisdom, even though human minds may perceive some of these wisdoms while others remain hidden from them. Allah created the angels to worship Him and carry out His commands in His dominion, and He created them upon obedience, unlike humans and jinn, whom He made subject to trial and choice. Allah knew what would happen with Iblis before creating him, and He is capable of guiding him, but His wisdom decreed that He create His creation with differences among them and test humans and jinn through obedience and disobedience. Guidance is also of two types: guidance of explanation and direction, through which the proof is established against the servant, and guidance of enablement, through which Allah creates faith and uprightness in the heart of whomever He wills.
One of the Names of Allah is Al-Hakim (The All-Wise), and wisdom is among His Attributes. Therefore, all His actions take place with knowledge and wisdom.
A person may understand some of the wisdom behind Allah’s creation, while other wisdoms may remain hidden from him. The fact that a wisdom is hidden does not mean that the divine action is without wisdom.
Allah says:
﴿He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned.﴾
[Al-Anbiya: 23]
This does not mean that Allah’s actions are merely acts of power without wisdom. Rather, He is perfect in knowledge, power, mercy, and wisdom.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, stated that Allah is the Creator, Lord, and Owner of everything He has created, and that there is profound wisdom in what He has created. He is not questioned about what He does because of the perfection of His knowledge, power, mercy, and wisdom.
The angels differ from humans and jinn in the nature of their creation.
Allah created them upon obedience and submission to His command, and they do not disobey Him.
Allah says:
﴿They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and they do what they are commanded.﴾
[At-Tahrim: 6]
Therefore, their trial in this world is not like the trial of humans and jinn, who were created with desires and the ability to obey or disobey.
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that Allah created the angels with a nature inclined toward obedience, while He created humans and jinn with intellects and desires, making them subject to examination, trial, reward, and punishment.
Among the evident wisdoms behind the creation of the angels is that they are servants of Allah and carry out great tasks that Allah commands them to perform.
Among their most important duties are:
Worshipping Allah, glorifying Him, and declaring His greatness.
Allah says:
﴿They glorify Him night and day, never tiring.﴾
[Al-Anbiya: 20]
And He says about them:
﴿Indeed, we are those who stand in rows. And indeed, we are those who glorify Allah.﴾
[As-Saffat: 165–166]
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“There is not in it a place equivalent to four fingers except that an angel has placed his forehead there, prostrating to Allah.”
[Reported by At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]
Among their duties is carrying out what Allah commands in the universe.
Some of them carry the Throne, some descend with revelation, and some are the keepers of Paradise and the keepers of Hell. They have many other duties whose details are known only to Allah.
Some of them perform duties related to human beings.
Among the angels are those who record the deeds of servants, those who take souls by Allah’s permission, and those who seek forgiveness for believers. They also have other functions established by the revealed texts.
Thus, the creation of the angels is not without purpose. Rather, they are honored servants who carry out what Allah has entrusted them with.
Yes. Allah knows what was and what will be, and nothing is hidden from Him.
Allah says:
﴿Knower of the unseen; not even the weight of an atom in the heavens or on the earth escapes Him.﴾
[Saba: 3]
And He says:
﴿And that Allah has encompassed everything in knowledge.﴾
[At-Talaq: 12]
Therefore, Allah knew before creating Iblis that he would disobey and become arrogant, just as He knows everything that will occur before it occurs.
His prior knowledge does not mean that He forced Iblis into disbelief and disobedience. Rather, Iblis did what he did by his own choice and will, while Allah already knew that this would happen.
Yes. Allah is capable of everything.
Had He willed, He could have made all creation follow one form of obedience.
Allah says:
﴿Say: “The conclusive proof belongs to Allah. Had He willed, He could have guided you all.”﴾
[Al-An'am: 149]
Allah has demonstrated the perfection of His power through the diversity of His creation. He created the angels obedient and unable to disobey Him, while He created humans and jinn among whom are believers and disbelievers, obedient and disobedient.
The existence of disobedience among some of creation does not indicate any inability on Allah’s part to guide them. Rather, it occurs within what He has willed by His wisdom, while He has commanded them to obey and forbidden them from disobeying.
The guidance mentioned in the Qur’an is not of only one type.
This means showing a person the path, making the truth known to him, sending the Messengers, revealing the Scriptures, and explaining what Allah loves and what He dislikes.
Through this type of guidance, the proof is established against the servant.
A person may know the truth and be called to it, then refuse to follow it and become arrogant toward it.
Therefore, Allah says:
﴿The conclusive proof belongs to Allah.﴾
[Al-An'am: 149]
The Messengers, Scriptures, intellect, hearing, and sight are all means through which the proof is established and the path is made clear.
This is when Allah enables the servant to accept the truth, opens his heart to faith, and helps him follow the path of guidance.
This type of guidance belongs to Allah alone.
Thus, guidance and explanation may reach two people: one believes and accepts the truth, while the other rejects it, because merely knowing the path does not mean that a person will follow it.
No.
Allah sent the Messengers and explained to His servants the paths of good and evil. He also gave them the ability by which they are held accountable. Therefore, it is not valid for a person to use divine decree as an excuse to justify disbelief or disobedience.
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that Allah’s proof was established against His servants by sending the Messengers, revealing the Scriptures, and explaining what benefits and harms them. Allah then said:
﴿Had He willed, He could have guided you all.﴾
[Al-An'am: 149]
Therefore, Allah’s will and decree do not remove a person’s responsibility for his choices and actions.
Allah created the angels for a wise purpose. Among the greatest things we know about this purpose is their worship of Allah and their carrying out of His commands in His dominion. They were created upon obedience, and their trial is not like the trial of humans and jinn.
Allah, Glorified and Exalted, knew what would happen with Iblis before creating him, and He is capable of guiding him. However, His wisdom decreed that humans and jinn be beings of choice and trial, among whom faith and disbelief, obedience and disobedience would occur.
As for guidance, it has two important forms:
Guidance of direction and explanation: Making the truth known to a person and establishing the proof against him.
Guidance of enablement: Allah enabling the servant to accept the truth and act upon it.
Therefore, the truth may reach a person clearly and yet he may reject it by his own choice. This does not indicate that Allah was unable to guide him—exalted is Allah far above that. Rather, Allah possesses profound wisdom in His creation and His command.
And Allah knows best.