Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
There is no authentic text in the Qur’an or Sunnah that explains the fate of the angels assigned to record a person’s deeds after his death. Therefore, we do not know whether they remain in their task, are assigned another task, or what exactly happens to them afterward. This is one of the matters of the unseen, and we must restrict ourselves to what has been established through revelation.
The conditions of the angels and the details of their duties belong to the realm of the unseen. Therefore, they cannot be known through reason or speculation. Rather, we affirm only what Allah has told us or what has been authentically reported from His Messenger ﷺ.
It is established that Allah has appointed angels over human beings who preserve and record their deeds. Allah says:
“Indeed, over you are keepers, noble scribes, who know whatever you do.”
[Al-Infitar 82:10–12]
However, the texts do not tell us what happens to these angels after the life of the person whose deeds they were recording comes to an end.
There is no authentic evidence proving that the two angels die when the person dies. Likewise, there is no text specifying where they go or what task they undertake afterward.
For this reason, the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’ stated that there is no text concerning the death of the angels who record good and bad deeds when a person dies, nor is there any text explaining whether they remain or what their fate is afterward.
Therefore, it is not permissible to assert any of these details without evidence.
Because in matters of the unseen, what is required is to follow revelation, not to construct ideas about matters that Allah has not informed us of.
Knowing what happens to the two angels after a person’s death is not one of the matters upon which faith or religious practice depends. Therefore, it is better to focus on what benefits a person in his religion, including the deeds that these angels record throughout his life.
We do not know precisely what happens to the recording angels after a person dies because there is no authentic text explaining this. Therefore, we cannot say that they die when he dies, nor can we determine what they do after their task concerning him comes to an end.
The correct approach in such matters of the unseen is to remain within the limits of what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have informed us of, and not assert anything for which there is no evidence.
And Allah knows best.