Allah announces in the Quran:

قُلْ یَتَوَفّٰىکُمْ مَّلَکُ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِیْ وُکِّلَ بِکُمْ  ثُمَّ   اِلٰی رَبِّکُمْ تُرْجَعُوْنَ (۱۱)

Say, “The angel of death, who has been appointed over you, takes your souls, then you will be returned to your Lord.”^[1]

The scholar, al-Qurṭubī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه writes:

ʿIzrāīl is so huge that his head is in the heavens and his feet are on earth. He has a host of helper angels; Allah knows best their number. Narrations explain how the other angels are in awe of him, such that when the angels carrying the ʿArsh see him, they become filled with fear.^[2]

The angel of death has a very long life. Imam al-Qurṭubī says he will be the final one to pass away (after all of creation in the heavens and the earth die, even after Jibrīl, Mīkāˈīl, and the angels carrying the ʿArsh). Allah will declare, یَامَلَکَ الْمَوْتِ مُتْ  – “O angel of Death! You too now die.” The angel of death will then let out a powerful scream and pass away.^[3]

The angel of death’s ability

Dear Islamic brothers! Allah has blessed the angel of death with great ability. A narration explains how Prophet Ibrāhīm عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلاَم once asked him:

O angel of death! If an epidemic has spread across the earth with people dying in quick succession, and one person is dying in the