What does Israfil do until he blows the Trumpet (Sur)?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The angels have regular dhikr and tasbih (glorification) duties in addition to their special duties. Therefore,  Hz. Israfil always mentions Allah and glorifies Him with his magnificent state.

Angels do not have only one duty. Blowing the Trumpet is only one of the duties of Israfil. Angels can do several things simultaneously. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi explains the issue as follows:  

"Moreover, just as in this dense and dark narrow world the sun is present in the same way at the same time in numerous mirrors, so too, as is proved in the Sixteenth Word, a luminous being may be present in many places in the same way at the same time. For example, Gabriel (Peace be upon him) being on a thousand stars simultaneously, and at the Divine Throne, and in the presence of the Prophet (PBUH), and in the Divine Presence; and the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) meeting with most of the righteous of his community at the resurrection of the dead at the same time and appearing in this world in innumerable places simultaneously; and a strange group of the saints known as abdal, appearing at the same time in many places; and ordinary people sometimes carrying out as much as a year’s work in one minute in a dream and observing this; and everyone being in contact with and concerned with numerous places at the same time in their hearts, spirits, and imaginations – all these are well-known and may be witnessed. Most certainly, in Paradise, therefore, which is luminous, unrestricted, broad, and eternal, the people of Paradise, whose bodies have the strength and lightness of the spirit and the swiftness of imagination, being in hundreds of thousands of places at the same time, and conversing with hundreds of thousands of houris, and receiving pleasure in hundreds of thousands of ways, is fitting for that eternal Paradise, that infinite mercy, and as told by the Bringer of Sure News (PBUH), is reality and the truth." (Sözler, Yirmi Sekizinci Söz)

Besides, it is not possible for the scales of our small minds to weigh those immense realities. Some of the duties of the angels end in the hereafter but the others continue. For instance Jibril’s duty of bringing revelation, Azrail's duty of removing people’s souls and Israfil's duty of blowing the Trumpet will end in the hereafter but their duties of worshipping Allah, watching and meditating on Allah’s creatures, who were created eternally in the eternal realm, and contemplating Allah's majesty will continue.

Questions on Islam