Enmity of the Jews to Jibreel

The Jews said about the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam): “He is not one of the Prophets unless one of the angels comes to him from the presence of his Lord with the message and revelation. ‘Who is your companion that we should follow you?’” He (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Jibreel.” They said: “He is the one who brings down war and fighting. He is our enemy! If you had said Mika’eel who brings down the rain and mercy, we would have followed you.” [Tirmidhi]

The Jews claimed that Jibreel (alaihis salam) was their enemy and that this enmity is what prevented them from believing in the prophethood of Muhammad (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). The truth is that their enmity stemmed from rancour and envy since they disliked the fact that prophethood had moved from them to this middle community. So Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) sent down the following ayat:

“Say, ‘Anyone who is an enemy of Jibreel - he was the one who brought it down upon your heart, by the authority of Allah, confirming what came before it, as guidance and good news for the believers. Anyone who is an enemy of Allah and His angels and His Messengers, and Jibreel and Mika’eel, Allah is an enemy of the rejectors.” [Quran 2:97-98]

Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) made it clear that the matter was not Jibreel’s. Rather, the affair was Allah’s entirely. That is why Allah says, “He was the one who brought it down upon your heart, by the authority of Allah.” Jibreel (alaihis salam) brought the Quran down by the Command of Allah Almighty.

The great Mufassir, Al-Qurtubi (rahimahulla), said: “This ayat indicates the honour of Jibreel (alaihis salam) and the censure of all who oppose him. The words of the Almighty, ‘Anyone who is an enemy of Allah and His angels and His Messengers and Jibreel and Mika’eel, Allah is an enemy of the rejectors,’ is a threat and rebuke to all opponents of Jibreel (alaihis salam), and it informs us that enmity to some things necessarily entails Allah’s enmity in return. The enmity of the slave in respect of Allah is to disobey Him and to avoid obeying Him, and to be hostile towards His friends. Allah’s enmity to the slave is to punish him and to cause the effects of enmity to appear on him.”

“If it is said: ‘Why did Allah single out Jibreel and Mika’eel for mention, when the mention of the angels included them in any case?’ the answer is that He singled out the mention of the two of them to honour them and also because the Jews had mentioned them in particular. They were therefore the direct cause of the ayat being sent down and it was necessary to mention them so that the Jews could not then say, ‘We did not oppose Allah and all His angels.’ Thus, Allah mentioned them both to counter the interpretation that they might make.” [The World of the Angels by Sheikh Abdul-Hamid Kishk]