Christians tend to regurgitate the same rhetoric and can come across as quite patronising. Take, for example, the hadith of the first revelation. Some Christians ask, ‘Why didn’t the angel introduce himself?’ which is, indeed, a rather awkward question. Why would an introduction be necessary?
This low tier Christian polemic
has truly baffled me, as I don’t understand why such a question would be asked,
considering that no such criteria are presented anywhere in the Bible.
This question can be answered
using verses from the Qur’an:
Say:
“Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel (should know that) he revealed this (Qur’an) to your heart by
Allah’s leave: it confirms the Scriptures revealed before it, and is a
guidance and good tiding to the people of faith. (2:97)
Tell
them: "It is the spirit of holiness that has brought it down, by stages, from your Lord so that it
might bring firmness to those who believe, and guidance to the Right
Way, and give glad tidings of felicity and success to those who submit to
Allah." (16:102)
Indeed
this is a revelation from the Lord
of the Universe; which the truthful spirit has carried down to
your heart that you might become one of those who warn (others on behalf of
Allah), (a revelation) in clear Arabic language, (26:192-195)
Note that Allah Swt explicitly
tells us that the revelation of the Qur’an was brought down by Gabriel Pbuh.
This effectively shuts down their
polemic regarding who was the Angel in the cave. Now, before we move to the
Christian Bible, let us examine this argument more closely and demonstrate how
desperate this failed attempt is.
A'isha,
the wife of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), reported:
The
first (form) with which was started the revelation to the Messenger of Allah
was the true vision in sleep. And he did not see any vision but it came like
the bright gleam of dawn. Thenceforth solitude became dear to him and he used
to seclude himself in the cave of Hira', where he would engage in tahannuth
(and that is a worship for a number of nights) before returning to his family
and getting provisions again for this purpose. He would then return to Khadija
and take provisions for a like period, till Truth came upon him while he was in
the cave of Hira'. There came to him the angel and said: Recite, to which he
replied: I am not lettered. He took hold of me [the Apostle said] and
pressed me, till I was hard pressed; thereafter he let me off and said: Recite.
I said: I am not lettered. He then again took hold of me and pressed me for the
second time till I was hard pressed and then let me off and said: Recite, to
which I replied: I am not lettered. He took hold of me and pressed me for the
third time, till I was hard pressed and then let me go and said: Recite in the
name of your Lord Who created, created man from a clot of blood. Recite. And
your most bountiful Lord is He Who taught the use of pen, taught man what he
knew not (al-Qur'an, xcvi. 1-4). Then the Prophet returned therewith, his heart
was trembling, and he went to Khadija and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So they
wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija: O Khadija!
what has happened to me? and he informed her of the happening, saying: I fear
for myself. She replied: It can't be. Be happy. I swear by Allah that He shall
never humiliate you. By Allah, you join ties of relationship, you speak the
truth, you bear people's burden, you help the destitute, you entertain guests,
and you help against the vicissitudes which affect people. Khadija then took
him to Waraqa b. Naufal b. Asad b. 'Abd al-'Uzza, and he was the son of
Khadija's uncle, i. e., the brother of her father. And he was the man who had
embraced Christianity in the Days of Ignorance (i. e. before Islam) and he used
to write books in Arabic and, therefore, wrote Injil in Arabic as God willed
that he should write. He was very old and had become blind Khadija said to him:
O uncle! listen to the son of your brother. Waraqa b. Naufal said: O my nephew!
what did you see? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), then, informed him what he had seen, and Waraqa said to him:
It is namus that God sent down to Musa. Would that I were then (during your
prophetic career) a young man. Would that I might be alive when your people
would expel you! The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Will they drive me out? Waraqa said: Yes. Never came a
man with a like of what you have brought but met hostilities. If I see your day
I shall help you wholeheartedly.[ Sahih Muslim 160a]
The above
hadith is also found in Bukhari. I have highlighted the key wording that
Christians use as part of their polemic namely, “the angel.” They argue: why
didn’t the angel introduce himself?
Firstly, one must understand that
the hadith is a concise narrative of an event and experience that happened to
the Prophet Pbuh, so not every detail will be recorded word for word; rather,
the key and relevant information is conveyed. We have already shown from the
Qur’an that the angel who brought down the revelation to the Prophet Muhammad Pbuh
was none other than Gabriel Pbuh. As mentioned earlier, not every detail is
recorded word for word. It is possible that Gabriel Pbuh did introduce himself,
but this was not included in the narration, as the narrator already knew who
the angel was, as did the companions to whom it was related.
Consider
this, the Prophet Muhammad Pbuh had already made it known to the companions RA
that the revelation brought to his heart was from Gabriel Pbuh. This was common
knowledge among the companions, and even non-Muslims living at that time whether
Arab pagans or Jews were aware that Gabriel Pbuh was the angel who brought down
the Qur’an.
In fact, when some of the Jews
came to know that Gabriel Pbuh was the messenger angel who delivered the
Qur’an, they rejected it, and verse 2:97 of the Qur’an was revealed. Thus, not
mentioning the name of the angel, Gabriel Pbuh, was not necessary, as it was
already common knowledge that the only being who would directly bring down the
Qur’an was Gabriel Pbuh. This polemic carries no weight and only demonstrates
how weak Christian arguments have become, and how they ultimately backfire, as
we shall see.
That said, we do have other
hadith in which the name of Gabriel (PBUH) is mentioned.
Yahya reported:
I asked Abu Salama what was
revealed first from the Qur'an. He said:" 0, the shrouded one." I
said: Or" Recite." Jabir said: I am narrating to you what was
narrated to us by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said: I stayed in Hira' for one month and when my stay was
completed, I come down and went into the heart of the valley. Somebody called
me aloud. I looked in front of me, behind me, on the right of my side and on my
left, but I did not see any body. I was again called and I looked about but saw
nothing. I was called again and raised my head, and there on the Throne in the
open atmosphere he, i. e. Gabriel (peace be upon him) was sitting. I began to
tremble on account of fear. I came to Khadija and said: Wrap me up. They
wrapped me up and threw water on me and Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, sent
down this: you who are shrouded! arise and deliver warning, your Lord magnify,
your clothes cleanse."
وَحَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرُ بْنُ
حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَوْزَاعِيُّ، قَالَ
سَمِعْتُ يَحْيَى، يَقُولُ سَأَلْتُ أَبَا سَلَمَةَ أَىُّ الْقُرْآنِ أُنْزِلَ
قَبْلُ قَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ . فَقُلْتُ أَوِ اقْرَأْ . فَقَالَ
سَأَلْتُ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَىُّ الْقُرْآنِ أُنْزِلَ قَبْلُ قَالَ يَا
أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ . فَقُلْتُ أَوِ اقْرَأْ قَالَ جَابِرٌ أُحَدِّثُكُمْ
مَا حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " جَاوَرْتُ
بِحِرَاءٍ شَهْرًا فَلَمَّا قَضَيْتُ جِوَارِي نَزَلْتُ فَاسْتَبْطَنْتُ بَطْنَ
الْوَادِي فَنُودِيتُ فَنَظَرْتُ أَمَامِي وَخَلْفِي وَعَنْ يَمِينِي وَعَنْ
شِمَالِي فَلَمْ أَرَ أَحَدًا ثُمَّ نُودِيتُ فَنَظَرْتُ فَلَمْ أَرَ أَحَدًا
ثُمَّ نُودِيتُ فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي فَإِذَا هُوَ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ فِي الْهَوَاءِ -
يَعْنِي جِبْرِيلَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ - فَأَخَذَتْنِي رَجْفَةٌ شَدِيدَةٌ
فَأَتَيْتُ خَدِيجَةَ فَقُلْتُ دَثِّرُونِي . فَدَثَّرُونِي فَصَبُّوا عَلَىَّ
مَاءً فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ { يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ * قُمْ
فَأَنْذِرْ * وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ * وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ} " .
(Sahih Muslim Book 1, Hadith
316)
The hadith clearly states that
Gabriel Pbuh was the angel who came to Cave Hira. It even uses his name, جِبْرِيلَ. One may wonder why Christians would make the claim that the
name of the angel was unknown. I have intentionally included the Arabic wording
in case it is argued that the Arabic text does not mention the name.
“When I was midway on the mountain, I heard a
voice from heaven saying, 'O Muhammad! Thou art the Apostle of God and I am
Gabriel.' I raised my head towards heaven to see, and lo! Gabriel in the form
of a man, with feet astride the horizon, saying, 'O Muhammad! Thou art the
Apostle of God, and I am Gabriel.' I stood gazing at him, moving neither
forward nor backward; then I began to turn my face away from him, but towards
whatever region of the sky I looked, I saw him as before.” (Seerah Ibn Hishām
p. 62-63)
Ibn Hishām, in his Sīrah, reports
that Gabriel Pbuh introduced himself to the Prophet Muhammad Pbuh. Their entire
argument has completely collapsed. If self-introduction is taken as a
criterion, then the Christian position falls apart by its own standard.
Who spoke
from heaven during the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22, Matthew 3:17)?
None of these accounts explicitly identify whose voice it was. By that logic,
can we conclude that it was Satan?
If the speaker does not introduce
himself, then by the same standard used by Christians, one could argue it was
Satan. This exposes the inconsistency of that criterion.
Did the
angel who visited Mary, the mother of Jesus, introduce himself? Did the angel
who appeared in Joseph’s dream identify himself? I challenge Christians to show
where, in their own scripture, such an introduction is explicitly mentioned this
is an open challenge.
If the
angels did not identify themselves, then by that same standard, must we
conclude they were the devil?
Furthermore, according to
Deuteronomy 28:68, one of the punishments for disobedience is being sent back
to Egypt. Yet Joseph is instructed by an unidentified angel to take his family
to Egypt the very place God had warned against. Is this not, by that logic,
something one could attribute to Satan?
This polemic is utterly baseless,
and it is difficult to see how any serious argument could be built upon it. By
their own standard, there is no consistent evidence of self-identification in
these instances whether by their God or by an angel. By that logic, the
argument completely collapses and exposes its own inconsistency.