Angels
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the nature, roles and importance of angels in Islam.
Key learning points
- In Islam, angels are immortal beings made of light, who are without sin.
- The belief in angels is known as 'malaikah' and is supported by Surah 2:97-98, 2:285, 32:11.
- Four key angels in Islam are Jibril, Mika’il, Israfil and Izrail, who have different roles and relationships to humans.
Keywords
Angels - beings of light delivering God’s messages and watching over humans
Izra’il - the angel of death taking souls to the afterlife (Azrael in English)
Jibril - the angel who revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad (Gabriel in English)
Malaikah - the Arabic word for angels
Mika’il - an angel providing spiritual and material help (Micheal in English)
Common misconception
Angels are male (e.g., Jibril is male).
In Islam, angels are genderless but can appear in a male form.
Teacher tip
In addition to this lesson, students can create a table of information on each of the four key angels in Islam: Jibril, Mika'il, Israfil and Izra'il, and their roles and importance for Muslims.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Muslims believe that the is the ultimate source of authority in Islam.
Q2.What is the significance of the Night of Power?
Q3.What makes the Qur’an unique compared to other religious texts in Islam?
Q4.Muslims believe that Prophet Musa received the , which was a holy book from Allah.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What is the belief in angels (malaikah) considered in Islam?
Q2.Angels in Islam are made of ...
Q3.How do angels influence a Muslim's behaviour?
Q4.The angel is responsible for blowing the trumpet to signal the Day of Judgement.
Q5.What is the belief regarding the creation of angels in Islam?
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Angels, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Angels, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 religious education lessons from the Muslim beliefs unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.