قُلْ مَنْ كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِجِبْرِيلَ فَإِنَّهُ نَزَّلَهُ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ

بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُدًى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

مَنْ كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِلَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجِبْرِيلَ

وَمِيكَالَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِلْكَافِرِينَ

"Say, whoever be an enemy to Jibra'il (Gabriel) - it is he who has brought it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah, confirming what has been before it, and a guidance and good tidings to the believers. Whoever be an enemy to Allah, His angels, and His messengers, and to Jibra'il and Mika'il, surely Allah is enemy to the disbelievers." (2:97-98)

The perversity of the Jews was very fertile, and gave them ever-new excuses for denying the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). When they learnt that it was Archangel Jibra'il (Gabriel (عليه السلام)) who brought the Glorious Qur'an to the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), they said that the Archangel was their enemy, as it was through him that rigorous commandments or catastrophic punishments had always descended on them,, and that for this reason they would not accept a Book which had been revealed through his agency. They also added that they could have accepted the Holy Qur'an, if the Archangel Mika'il (Michael (عليه السلام)) had brought it down, for he is connected with rain and with divine mercy.

In refuting this argument, the Holy Qur'an points out that Jibra'il (عليه السلام) is only a messenger, and has, acting only as a messenger, brought down the Holy Qur'an under a divine command to the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So, why should the Jews be so particular about the messenger, and not look at the Book itself? As for the Book, it confirms the earlier Books of Allah, provides guidance to men, and gives good tidings to the believers. This being what the Divine Books are meant for, the Holy Qur'an is evidently enough a Divine Book, and must, as such be obeyed. To deny it on account of one's hostility to Jibra'il (عليه السلام) is sheer stupidity or outright perversity. Now, as for the attitude of the Jews towards Jibra'il (عليه السلام), the Holy Qur'an declares that to be hostile to the angels (including Jibra'il and Mika'il (عليه السلام) or to the prophets is tantamount to being hostile to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself. Verse 98 puts down the enemies of angels and prophets as infidels (Kafirin) in saying that Allah is the enemy of the infidels. In other words, those who deny or oppose the angels and the prophets will have their due punishment in the other world.

Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanavi (رحمه الله) has, in his "Bayan al-Qur'an", warned against the possibility of very grave error that may arise with regard to the statement in Verse 97 that the Archangel Jibra'il (Gabriel (عليه السلام)) has "brought down the Book on the heart" of the Holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The error would lie in drawing from this phrase the conclusion that Allah has not revealed the words of the Holy Qur'an but only the meanings. Such a supposition is quite baseless, because many verses of the Holy Qur'an itself mention the Arabic language as the vehicle of revelation in the case of this particular Book of Allah. That should leave no room for any doubt.

Moreover, the "heart" perceives words as much as it does meanings; in fact, the perceiving agent is the "heart", while the ears etc. are only its instruments. Specially, in the state of revelation, the external organs of the senses become dormant, and the heart receives even the words directly without the intervention of the ears. Although we cannot understand the nature of revelation properly, yet, choosing a mundane analogy, one can say that while dreaming in our sleep we do hear words and remember them afterwards, in spite of our external sense of hearing having been suspended while we dreamt. This example should make it easy to see that the revelation of meanings to the heart does in no way preclude the revelation of words as well. Anyhow, it is a sin - and an intellectual dishonesty - to rely on one's own conjectures in defiance of a clear and definite statement in the Holy Qur'an.

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 12th April 2011

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