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Do the angels record the reward of the heart's remembrance, such as "seeking forgiveness, glorifying God, exalting God, and sending blessings upon the Prophet," knowing that only God knows what is in the heart and intentions?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Remembering Allah with the heart is an act of worship for which a Muslim is rewarded, and the most complete form is to combine remembrance with both the heart and the tongue. Allah informs the angels of what is in a person's soul so that they may record for him what he deserves of reward or punishment. Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about how angels become aware of a servant's intention to do good or evil. He replied that Allah is capable of informing the angels of what is in a servant's soul however He wills. It has been said, in interpreting the verse: "And We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein," that what is meant are the angels. Furthermore, angels cast thoughts into a servant's soul. If an evil thought that a servant intends to act upon is from the casting of Satan, the angels know of it. And if a good thought is from the casting of an angel, they also know of it. This enables the guardian angels to know the deeds of human beings.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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