In Christian mythology, the Devil is an angel who disobeyed God. But, in Islamic mythology, angels do not disobey God. Creatures of light, they have no free will, and they bowed to Adam when God told them to. For them the Devil, Iblis, is a djinn, hence capable of disobedience. Like Christians, angels are a part of Islamic lore, but we don’t know much about them as Muslims forbid their depiction in art. When one goes to a mosque, one sees geometric art, never human forms, as depicting human forms is forbidden in Islam. But, not so in a Church. Hence, we don’t get to visualise Islamic angels as we visualise Christian angels such as seraphim, cherubs and archangels.

Very few angels are mentioned in the Quran. Most names come from later Middle Eastern folklore. The Christian Gabriel becomes Jibra’il, Michael becomes Mika’il. The former is the messenger, who Prophet Muhammad first encountered, who guided the Prophet in many ways, and who led angels in war at the Battle of Badr, that enabled the Prophet Muhammad to defeat his enemies and return to Mecca. The latter is the angel of mercy, linked to righteous conduct and justice.