The Angels of Ibrahim

Ibrahim's angels are the guests who gave him glad tidings of the birth of Ishaq and then of the birth of Ya'qub, as in Hud 69, Al-Hijr 51, and Adh-Dhariyat 24. They are among the clearest of what came of meetings of angels with humans in the Qur'an ^{1 2}.

• Hud 69: "And indeed Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings. They said: Peace" — and in it the coming of God's messengers to Ibrahim with the glad tidings ¹.
• Hud 70: "But when they saw their hands did not reach it, they found them strange and felt fear of them; they said: Do not fear" — and in it the faces of the guests ¹.
• Hud 71: "And his wife was standing, so she laughed, and We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq and after Ishaq, Ya'qub" — and in it the glad tidings of the birth of Ishaq and the birth of Ya'qub expressly ¹.
• Al-Hijr 51, Al-Hijr 52, and Al-Hijr 53: the repetition of the story in Al-Hijr, and in them "the honored guests of Ibrahim" and "We give you glad tidings of a knowing boy" ¹.
• Adh-Dhariyat 24 to Adh-Dhariyat 30: in Adh-Dhariyat, and in them "the honored guests of Ibrahim" and "We gave him glad tidings of a forbearing boy" and "Thus said your Lord: He is the Wise, the Knowing" ¹.
• Al-'Ankabut 31: "And when Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings" — and in it another context of Ibrahim's glad tidings ¹.

• In al-Bukhari's narration that Ibrahim hosted his guests and slaughtered for them a fat calf, and that the guests gave him glad tidings of a birth ³.
• In the narrations of tafsir that Jibril was among those who descended upon Ibrahim with the glad tidings of the birth of Ishaq ².
• In the Sahih that Ibrahim received angels, and that they gave him glad tidings of a birth ⁴.

• "A forbearing boy" and "a knowing boy" in Al-Hijr and Adh-Dhariyat, and "Ishaq" expressly in Hud ^{1 2}.
• "And after Ishaq, Ya'qub" in Hud 71 — that is, the glad tidings covered the newborn and the one born after him ¹.
• And in tafsir "a forbearing boy" is Ishaq, and "Ya'qub" is of his offspring ².

Ibn Kathir details that the guests were angels, and that they gave him glad tidings of the birth of Ishaq and then of the birth of Ya'qub, and that "a forbearing boy" is Ishaq ². And al-Qurtubi held that the angels descended upon Ibrahim in human form ⁵.

• The most famous view: they are angels, because the Qur'an called them "Our messengers" in Hud 69 ².
• Another view: they are humans carrying a message from God, and in it is a problem ⁶.
• And the principle in tafsir is that they are angels because God sends to the prophets only from the angels ².

• The story is repeated in three surahs: Hud, Al-Hijr and Adh-Dhariyat, and in them are the details of hospitality and glad tidings ¹.
• Their companion in the glad tidings is Zakariya on the angels of Zakariya page.
• What is narrated about the details of their hospitality is from the books of seerah, and the principle is that their glad tidings is established in the Qur'an ².