Allah The Glorified and Exalted decreed, which can be translated as, “They say: ‘The Most Compassionate Lord has taken to Himself a son.’ Glory be to Him! Those whom they so designate are only His honoured servants. They do not outstrip Him in speech and only act as He commands. He knows whatever is before them and whatsoever is remote from them and they do not intercede except for him, intercession on whose behalf pleases Him, and they stand constantly in awe of Him.” (Qs. Al Anbiyaa’/The Prophets: 26-28)
These are the people who the angels are praying for:
1. Those who sleep in a state of purity. Imam Ibn Hibban narrated from Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- , who said that The messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “Whoever sleeps while he’s in purity state, the angel will accompany him in his garment. He will not wake up until the angel pray, ‘O Allah, forgive your slave so and so since he is sleeping in purity state.'” (Classed sahih by Sheikh Al Albani in his work “Shahih At Targhib wat Tarhib”, I/37)
2. Those who are sitting, waiting for the prayer. Imam Muslim narrated from Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “If one of you sits waiting for the prayer, he is in a state of prayer so long as he does not commit Hadath, and the Angels pray for him, saying: ‘O Allâh, forgive him; O Allâh, have mercy on him.'” (See: “Sahih Muslim”, no. 469)
3. Men who pray in the front rows in congregational prayer. Imam Abu Dawud (and Ibn Khuzaima) narrated from Barra’ Ibn ‘Azib -may Allah be pleased with him-, that the Messenger of Allah said, “Indeed, Allah and His angels pray for those who fill the front rows.” (Classed sahih by Al Albani in his work “Shahih Sunan Abi Dawud” I/130)
4. Men who continue to fill the row (do not let any space left between men in a row). The Imams, that is Imam Ahmad, Ibn Maja, Ibn Khuzaima, Ibn Hibban, and Al Hakim narrated from ‘Aisha -may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “Indeed Allah and His angels always pray for those who continuing the row.” (Classed sahih by Sheikh Al Albani in his work, “Shahih At Targhib wat Tarhib” I/272)
5. The angels say “Amin” when an Imam finished reciting chapter Al Fatihah. Imam Bukhari narrated from Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him- said, “If an Imam said, “ghairil maghdhuubi ‘alaihim waladh dhaalinn’, then say ‘amin’, for if a person’s saying ‘amin’ coincides with that of the angels, his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Shahih Bukhari no. 782)
6. Men who stays in his prayer place after praying. Imam Ahmad narrated from Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him said that the Messenger of Allah said, “The Angels send Salât upon any one of you so long as he remains in the place where he prayed, saying: ‘O Allâh, have mercy on him; O Allâh, forgive him; O Allâh, accept his repentance.’ So long as he does not offend anyone or commit Hadath.” (Al Musnad no. 8106, and Sheikh Ahmad Shakir classed it sahih).
7. Men who perform the Fajr and Ashar prayer in congregation. Imam Ahmad narrated from Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him-, that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “The angels gather in the time of Fajr prayer, afterwards the angels (who accompany the slaves) at the night time (who has performed their duties from night time until dawn) ascend (to the sky), and the angels ordered to perform duty during the day stay. Later they’ll gather once again at the time of Ashr prayer, and the angels ordered to perform duty during the day (until the Time of Ashr prayer) ascend (to the sky) while angels ordered to perform duty during the night time stay. Then Allah will ask then, “In what state did you leave my slave?”, they reply, “We came while they were praying, and we left them while they were praying, so please forgive them in the Hereafter.” (Al Musnad no. 9140; classed sahih by Sheikh Ahmad Shakir)
8. Those who pray for their brothers without being known by them. It is narrated by Imam Muslim, from Ummud Darda’ -may Allah be pleased with her-, that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “A Muslim’s prayer for his brother in his absence will be answered. At his head there is an angel who is appointed, and when he prays for good for his brother, the angel who is appointed says: `amin’, and you will have something similar.” (Sahih Muslim no. 2733)
9. Those who spend their wealth in charity. Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim narrated from Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him- that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “There is no day on which people wake up, but two Angels come down and one of them says: O Allâh, give more to the one who spends, and the other says: O Allâh, send destruction upon the one who withholds.” (Shahih Bukhari in hadith no. 1442 and Shahih Muslim no. 1010)
10. Those who take Sahur (eating and drinking before dawn for someone intend to fast at that day, -transl.). Imam Ibn Hibban and Imam Ath Thabrani both narrated from Abdullah Ibn Umar -may Allah be pleased with him-, that the Messenger of Allah said, “Indeed, Allah and His angels pray for those who take sahur.” (classed sahih by Al Albani in his work ‘Shahih At Targhiib wat Tarhiib’ I/519)
11. Those who visit the sick. Imam Ahmad narrated from ‘Ali Ibn Abi Thalib -may Allah be pleased with him-, that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him said, “A believer doesn’t visit his sick brother, but Allah will send to him 70.000 angels who’ ll pray for him anytime during the day, until afternoon, and anytime during the night, until dawn.” (Al Musnad no. 754, Sheikh Ahmad Shakir commented, “The status is sahih.”)
12. Those who teach goodness to others. Imam At Tirmidhi narrated from Abu Umamah Al Bahily, -may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “Indeed Allâh, His Angels, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earths — even the ant in his hole, even the fish — say Salat upon the one who teaches the people to do good.” (classed sahih by Sheikh Al Albani, in his work “Sahuh At Tirmidhi” II/343)
Reference:
Summarized from the book titled “People Who The Angels Pray For” (Indonesian version), author Sheikh Fadhl Ilahi, published by Pustaka Ibn Katsir, Bogor, First Edition, February 2005.
Article from Irsan Zulistiawan (at the mailing list of Pengusaha Muslim Indonesia/Indonesian Muslim Entrepreneur)
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/pengusaha-muslim
JazakumLlahu khayran for this beneficial article.