Aristotle was the minister of Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian—so called after Macedonia, the island of these Greek philosophers known as the Peripatetics. Today it lies in ruins or has been submerged by water. Alexander is the one from whom Christians and Jews reckon their Roman chronology, and he lived about three hundred years before the Messiah. Those who venerate these philosophers suppose that Aristotle was the minister of Dhū al-Qarnayn mentioned in the Quran, seeking thereby to enhance his standing. This is ignorance, for Dhū al-Qarnayn lived long before this Alexander. Dhū al-Qarnayn built the barrier against Gog and Magog, whereas this Macedonian went to Persia and never reached China, let alone the barrier.
As for the angels of whom Allah and His Messenger have told us, only Allah Most High knows their number; they are not ten or nine. They are servants of Allah, living beings endowed with speech, who descend to earth and ascend to heaven. They act only with their Lord’s permission, as Allah has told us concerning them:
“They say, ‘The Most Merciful has taken a son.’ Glory be to Him! Rather, they are honoured servants.”
“They do not precede Him in speech, and they act at His command.”
“He knows what is before them and what is behind them. They intercede only for those whom He approves, and they tremble in fear of Him.”
And He Most High says:
“How many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession avails nothing, except after Allah gives permission for whom He wills and approves.”
There are other texts like these. Yet these philosophers claim that the intellects are eternal and without beginning, and that the Active Intellect is