Cherubim Angels (Kurubiyyin)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأبياء والمرسلين

نبينا محمد وعلى اهل بيته الطيّبين الطاهرين المظلومين

There is a special category of Angels known as the Kurubiyyin (Cherubim), from the Hebrew word כְּרוּבִים Keruvim. These are the Angels which bear the Throne of Allah, Who says:

وَالْمَلَكُ عَلَىٰ أَرْجَائِهَا ۚ وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ ﴿١٧﴾

The Angels will be on its edges and will bear the Throne of your Lord above them, that Day, eight (of them).

(Sura 69:17)

Concerning this Verse, the eminent saint and mystic, Sahl al-Tustari (d. 283 H) wrote:

يعنى ثمانية أجزاء من الكروبيين لا يعلم عدتهم إلا الله

“This means eight regiments of Cherubim whose number no one knows except God.” (Tafsir al-Tusturi p.286):

 

The Hadith of strongest authenticity which speaks of the reality of the Cherubim is the narration in which the Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) verified the couplet of the poet Umayya b. Abi Salt:

رَجُلٌ وَثَوْرٌ تَحْتَ رِجْلِ يَمِينِهِ وَالنَّسْرُ لِلْأُخْرَى وَلَيْثٌ مُرْصَدُ

“A man and a bull are by its right foot, and an eagle and a watchful lion are by the other one.” (Musnad Ahmad)

This is a nod to the description of the Cherubim in the Bible:

“Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.” (Ezekiel 1:10) “Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.” (Ezekiel 10:14) “The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.” (Revelation 4:7)