Quran (القرآن) and Quran Tafsir with Islamic Shaykh Ali Gomaa (على جمعة): The Angel Gabriel (Quran 6:8-9)
I have been studying chapter 6 of the Qur’an: The Cattle (Al-An’am). I have been learning from Ali Gomaa; a leading Islamic scholar – the second highest Sunni authority in Egypt. This is episode 15 of 19.
Ali Gomaa discusses in this episode Quran 6:8-9 and the angel Gabriel,
Quran 6:8
YUSUF ALI: They say: “Why is not an angel sent down to him?” If we did send down an angel, the matter would be settled at once, and no respite would be granted them.
PICKTHAL: They say: Why hath not an angel been sent down unto him? If We sent down an angel, then the matter would be judged; no further time would be allowed them (for reflection).
SHAKIR: And they say: Why has not an angel been sent down to him? And had We sent down an angel, the matter would have certainly been decided and then they would not have been respited.Quran 6:9
YUSUF ALI: If We had made it an angel, We should have sent him as a man, and We should certainly have caused them confusion in a matter which they have already covered with confusion.
PICKTHAL: Had we appointed him (Our messenger) an angel, We assuredly had made him (as) a man (that he might speak to men); and (thus) obscured for them (the truth) they (now) obscure.
SHAKIR: And if We had made him angel, We would certainly have made him a man, and We would certainly have made confused to them what they make confused.
Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa’s and Muslim Belief in Angels, Angel Gabriel, Quran 6:8-9:
The Hadith of Angel Gabriel (Jibril)
0:00-1:10
Ali Gomaa begins this episode relating the hadith tradition,
Abu Huraira reported: One day the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) appeared before the public that a man came to him and said: Prophet of Allah, (tell me) what is Iman. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, His meeting, His Messengers and that you affirm your faith in the Resurrection hereafter. He (again) said: Messenger of Allah, (tell me) what does al-Islam signify. He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Al-Islam signifies that you worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him and you establish obligatory prayer and you pay the obligatory poor-rate (Zakat) and you observe the fast of Ramadan. He (the inquirer) again said: Messenger of Allah, what does al-Ihsan imply? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, and in case you fail to see Him, then observe prayer (with this idea in your mind) that (at least) He is seeing you. He (the inquirer ) again said: Messenger of Allah, when would there be the hour (of Doom)? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: The one who is asked about it is no better informed than the inquirer. I, however, narrate some of its signs (and these are): when the slave-girl will give birth to he master, when the naked, barefooted would become the chiefs of the people – these are some of the signs of (Doom). (Moreover) when the shepherds of the black (camels) would exult themselves in buildings, this is one of the signs of (Doom). (Doom) is one of the five (happenings wrapped in the unseen) which no one knows but Allah. Then he (the Messenger of Allah) recited (the verse):” Verily Allah! with Him alone is the knowledge of the hour and He it is Who sends (down the rain) and knows that which is in the wombs and no person knows whatsoever he shall earn tomorrow, and a person knows not in whatsoever land he shall die. Verily Allah is Knowing, Aware. He (the narrator, Abu Huraira) said: Then the person turned back and went away. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Bring that man back to me. They (the Companions of the Holy Prophet present there) went to bring him back, but they saw nothing there. Upon this the Messenger of Allah remarked: he was Gabriel, who came to teach the people their religion.It was related by Muslim (صحيح مسلم).
1:11-3:09
“Whenever Jibril (Angel Gabriel) came, he used to come in the shape of Dehia al-Kalbi, who was one of the companions and the special people, who knew many languages and was good looking with a bright face, he also was a diplomat. That is why he was sent by the prophet to the kings, leaders, etc. Because of his languages and for his notability and the way of talking. Dehia -al-Kalbi was a notable man; Jibril (Angel Gabriel) used to come in the shape of that man. He came in a shape that was too similar to Dehia in hid shape. I heard the angel, but I have not seen him with his created shape, I saw him in another shape. This is how I hear him, but I see him in another shape. This happened in the Battle of Badr when Allah supported the believers with angels fighting with courage, defeating the disbelievers, encouraging the believers and strengthening them, but they were not in their angelic shape, but in a human shape. The companions saw that. This means that we can see the angel, but in the human shape only, and listen to him.”
3:10-4:50
“The second condition is to see him without hearing, or hear his voice without seeing him. It happened. As Omran Ibn-Hussayn used to hear the angels greeting him when he entered his house, until he started treating himself with ironing, he became unable to hear them. As angels hate this kind of treatment. This is a permitted treatment as many people believe that it is forbidden because angels hate it. Treatment with ironing is permitted, but angels do not like it.”
“They also do not like blood, neither stinky smell, they also do not like statues to be found at homes, they also do not like dogs to be at homes. The issue of permissible and forbidden different than…the issue of what angels do not love.”
“Al-Katani wrote an interesting book called “Recovery of the Sick by What Generous Angels Hate.” He gathered in it what’s been mentioned in the sunnah about what is proven to repel noble angels. People of intellect will realize that this is an issue and the Islamic laws are another issue.”
Angels, the Hadith, and Christianity
The more I learn about angels in Islam, the more I am beginning to think that a compelling arguments for the superiority of Jesus is His Lordship over the angels. I encourage you to read the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the relationship of Jesus to angels, both good and fallen (demons).
Related Quran Tafsir Posts:
Quran 6:7, The Miracle of the Quran cont’d. (#14)
Quran 6:8-9, Continued Discussion about Angels (#16)
Related Posts
See also:
Jesus’ Death on the Cross and the Qur’an
Trinity, Tawheed, and Monotheism
