Jibreel (Angel Gabriel)
According to Islamic scriptures, Jibreel (جبريل Gabriel) is the angel who first appeared to Muhammad in the cave of Hijra and taught Muhammad the Qur'an.
Jibreel, according to the Qur'an
The Qur'anic verses 21:91 and 66:12 in conjunction with the tafsir's, tell us he was sent to breathe Allah's spirit into Maryam's (Mary's) vagina.
(And Maryam, the daughter of `Imran who guarded her chastity (private part).) meaning, who protected and purified her honor, by being chaste and free of immorality,
[فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا]
(And We breathed into it (private part) through Our Ruh,) meaning, through the angel Jibril. Allah sent the angel Jibril to Maryam, and he came to her in the shape of a man in every respect. Allah commanded him to blow into a gap of her garment and that breath went into her womb through her private part; this is how `Isa was conceived.Jibreel, according to the Hadith
Gabriel sometimes came to Muhammad in the form of a man.
One day while the Prophet was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came...
...Then that man (Gabriel) left and the Prophet asked his companions to call him back, but they could not see him. Then the Prophet said, "That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion."...
Sometimes he would appear with six hundred wings.
During the first revelation, Gabriel was rather forceful with Muhammad and succeeded in terrifying him:
The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3)
Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me."
Gabriel is the medium through which Allah communicated with Muhammad.
Gabriel taught Muhammad how to pray.
According to the Hadith, Gabriel is the reason why Muhammad attacked the Banu Qurayza.
Gabriel opened Muhammad's chest and washed his innards with Zam-Zam water, and then he took Muhammad to heaven.
Analysis
Many verses like the following verse are indirect proofs that the people of Mecca used to call Muhammad mad.Otherwise why the Qur'an would contain statements like "Muhammad is not mad"?
Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing:
And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character.
Soon wilt thou see, and they will see,
Which of you is afflicted with madness.And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon.
Neither doth he withhold grudgingly a knowledge of the Unseen.
Nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed.Nobody is known to have seen Gabriel as he narrated the Qur'an to Muhammad. People instead had reactions like this:
"Or (Why) has not a treasure been bestowed on him, or why has he (not) a garden for enjoyment?" The wicked say: "Ye follow none other than a man bewitched."
See what kinds of comparisons they make for thee! But they have gone astray, and never a way will they be able to find!
"Why bringest thou not angels to us if it be that thou hast the Truth?"
We send not the angels down except for just cause: if they came (to the ungodly), behold! No respite would they have!
The above chapters are in chronological order. The summary is that no sane Meccan in pre-Islamic Arabia believed that Muhammad is receiving the word of God through an angel. People themselves were asking him to show an angel, which he was unable to show or he refused to show. They were rationalists who did not buy his claims of prophethood.
See Also
- Gabriel - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Gabriel