The Angels That Write Down Your Deeds

The Angels That Write Down Your Deeds

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today our khutbah is about the angels that write down your good and bad deeds. The first question is: since Allah knows everything, what is the need and the requirement for the angels to write down your actions and your words?

The scholars say, first and foremost, it is the complete justice of Allah that people will receive their records and they will have the date, the time, the place, and every detail of when and how they did it. People, when they see their records on the Day of Judgment, will believe — they will not contest what's in their records, until later on when they're being held accountable in front of Allah. But people will recognize their deeds and will recognize and admit that they did them. So that shows the complete justice of Allah.

The other thing that's interesting is that people also will forget. They will forget good deeds because they've done so many — they'll forget a charity they've given, and they will forget sins that they've committed. That's why Allah says, or one of the explanations of when Allah says in the Qur'an:

Allah enumerated their actions and they forgot it. So they will remember and they will see it written.

Do the Angels Write Everything Down?

But the question is: do the angels write everything down? In Surah Qaf, Allah says:

Allah describes the angels — one on the right and one on the left — then He says he does not utter a word except that it will be recorded. Raqeeb and Ateed are not the names of these angels; most of the mufassirin say they are not the names of the angels but descriptions. So raqeeb means "ever watchful" — yuraqib — and ateed, from al-udda, means he is ready, ever prepared.

The scholars then split into two groups. One group said the angels on your right and left only write down things that are either good deeds or bad deeds — things that deal with reward and punishment on the Day of Judgment. So they don't write down when you're talking about the stock market, the housing market, sports, or the prices of vegetables. The other group of scholars said the angels write everything down, whether you're talking about sports or politics — they write it all down.

And it seems that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, also held this opinion. Later on in her life, she was at Hajj in the tent at Mina. It was late at night and there were two young girls in the tent next to her talking deep into the night, non-stop. Aisha wanted to tell them to be quiet, but she did it in the way a companion — a sahabiya, a mother of the believers — would. She said to them: "Will you not give your two angels a rest? Give them a break." So the scholars said this indicates that she believed the angels were writing everything down.

Also from the great scholars of the tabi'een, like Ta'oos ibn Kaysan — the story is that Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, was on his deathbed, suffering from a very painful ailment. He would tell his son Salih — who was also a scholar in his own right — "Remind me of what Ta'oos says." His son Salih would tell him: Ta'oos used to say that the angels even write down the aneen — the moaning and groaning of the sick person when they are in pain. And so Imam Ahmad would become strengthened so that he would not continue to make those sounds.

The point is that there is this disagreement, but it was reconciled by the companion Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him. He said yes, the angels write down everything you say and do — even politics, the price of vegetables — but then he said the deeds, as we know from the hadith, are taken up to Allah every Monday and Thursday. As you know, that's the hadith that describes why the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would fast on Mondays and Thursdays — he said, "I love that my deeds are lifted while I am fasting." So he says, then Allah removes everything that has nothing to do with good and bad deeds, reward and punishment, and the Day of Judgment, and affirms and keeps only the things that are related to that. Then he recited the verse:

Allah erases what He wills, and even though there are a variety of different tafasir for this verse, there is no contradiction. Allah erases what He wills and He affirms what He wills, and with Him is the mother of all books — meaning the Preserved Tablet.

Beware of What You Say

Because of the fact that the angels write down what we say, one of the early Muslims — a righteous man — advised his brother, saying:

"Whatever you say and utter, the angel writes it down and then it is lifted up to Allah. So beware of what you say, and beware upon whom you are dictating — because what you say, it's as if you are dictating to the angel; they write down what you say, and then it will be lifted to Allah."

What he is referring to is how Allah says in the Qur'an:

Allah says that over you are guardians — and then He describes them: Kiraman Katibeen — they are noble, honorable, righteous creatures of Allah. So he is saying: beware of what you are making these honorable, righteous, noble angels of Allah write down. Those who use profanity, those who are lying all the time — the angel is just writing every bad word that comes out of your mouth, every lie, all the improper things being said. You are making an honorable angel write all of this down.

Because of that, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz used to say: whoever knows or is aware of the fact that his words — his speech — count as his actions, his speech will be very little, and he will only speak in that which benefits people. Because your speech is written down like it is one of your actions.

So a direct result of the belief in the angels and knowing that they write down our good and bad deeds is becoming mindful of the fact that they are writing the entire time. We always say: one of the differences between the righteous and other people is that the righteous behave as if they can see the unseen. They behave as if they can see these angels that are with them 24/7, writing down the deeds that they do.

And words, as we know, are very dangerous — they can destroy a person. In the hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6478)

A servant says a word that pleases Allah without giving it much thought, and Allah will raise him in ranks because of it. And a servant may say a word that angers Allah without giving it much thought, and he will fall into the Hellfire because of it.

And the scholars say it is not just speech that the angels record — they also record your texts, your comments online, and your posts. The dangerous thing, brothers and sisters, about texts, comments, and posts online is that the sins — if it is something negative — will multiply. When you say one bad thing to one person, that one person heard it. But when thousands of people have access to it, the sins will increase and increase.

Do the Angels Record Thoughts and Intentions?

So the angels write down your physical actions — your salah, your sawm, and all kinds of sins. They write down statements, whether spoken or written. But what about thoughts? Do the angels know what you think?

If you say they don't know what you think, then what about hasad — envy and jealousy — and hatred, and showing off, and arrogance, and pride? These are all actions of the heart. So how would the angels record these? And if you say yes, they do know what is in the heart — the majority of scholars said only Allah knows what is in the heart. They cite a lot of evidence, many verses in the Qur'an: only Allah knows what is in the hearts of people.

So how will the angels know what is in your heart? The deeds are according to intentions. If two people are standing — one of them looks like he is praying but he is not praying — and the angels don't know their thoughts, how will they know whether to record this as a good deed or a bad deed? Or how about the hadith where Allah instructs the angels:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6491; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 128)

If my servant intends to commit a bad deed, then don't write it down unless he does it — then write it down as one bad deed. If he intends to do a good deed, then write it down as one good deed. If he does it, write it down as ten.

So how will they know the intention? The scholars — like Ibn Hajar, al-Nawawi, and al-Qurtubi — said that Allah allows the angels to identify these types of deeds. Meaning they are not listening to all your thoughts throughout the day, but they can identify these kinds of deeds — actions of the heart — and when someone has the intention or does not have the intention, they are able to identify just those types and write them down accordingly.

The Angel on the Right and the Angel on the Left

So brothers and sisters, the point of this khutbah is that we become more aware of what we put in our books — aware of what comes out of our mouths: the bad words, the lying, the backbiting. If we could see these angels recording the entire time, would we continue with whatever sin we were about to commit? If we could see the angel open the book and take out the pen, would anyone continue to do the bad deed?

Ask Allah for His forgiveness. Indeed, those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

In Musnad Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, describes to us the relationship between the two angels — the one on the right and the one on the left. He says, peace and blessings be upon him: the angel on the right is in charge over the one on the left. When a servant does a good deed, the angel on the right records it as ten good deeds. When he does a bad deed, the angel on the left lifts his pen, and then the angel on the right says: wait for him — for seven sa'at (another narration says six sa'at).

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 11792; also referenced in al-Tabarani)

It is translated in English as "hours," but the linguist says that a sa'a refers to a portion of time — it does not mean 60 minutes as we count today. In the hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

"Give each one that has a right a portion of your time." And in another hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was performing a legal procedure known as li'an, involving the wife of Hilal ibn Umayyah, may Allah be pleased with him. When it was her turn to testify, the narrator says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5308; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1496)

"So she hesitated for a moment." So it is six or seven of these brief periods of time — moments — for people to repent. And if they repent, what is the advantage of the angel on the left delaying writing down the bad deed? It is to encourage people to repent immediately after committing a sin. Because if they rush immediately to repent to Allah before the angel writes it down, then there is no record of it. Then Allah will not ask you about it on the Day of Judgment. That is the incentive, that is the motivation for people to repent immediately.

The other thing is: when you repent immediately, the Shaytan doesn't have any time to come to you and make you feel unworthy and worthless, and encourage you to not pray Isha because you think Allah doesn't want Isha from someone like you who just finished committing a sin. He doesn't even have time to come and whisper to you and distance you from Allah. That is the encouragement, that is the wisdom behind the angel delaying writing down the bad deed or the sin.

With that, we ask Allah to make us of those who hear the truth as clear truth and follow the best of it, and to make us of those who recognize falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it.