Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:97

It is narrated: That ‘Abd Allah ibn Suriya, one of the rabbis of Fadak, disputed with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and asked him who it was that descended upon him with the revelation. He replied, "Gabriel." He said, "That is our enemy. Had it been another, we would have believed in you. He has shown us enmity many times, the most severe of which was when he revealed to our Prophet that Jerusalem would be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. We sent someone to kill him, but he met him in Babylon as a poor boy. Gabriel defended him, saying, 'If your Lord has commanded his destruction, you have no power over him; and if it is not him, then by what right do you kill him?'" It is also said that they claimed Allah commanded him to place the Prophethood among them, but he placed it elsewhere.

It is also narrated: That ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had land in the upper part of Medina, and his path passed by the Jewish schools. He would sit with them and listen to their speech. They said, "O ‘Umar, we have come to love you, and we have hopes for you." He replied, "By Allah, I do not come to you out of love, nor do I ask you because I am in doubt about my religion. I only enter upon you to increase my insight into the affair of Muhammad (ﷺ) and to see his traces in your Book." Then he asked them about Gabriel, and they said, "That is our enemy; he informs Muhammad of our secrets, and he is the agent of every collapse and punishment, whereas Michael brings fertility and peace."

He asked them, "What is their status with Allah?" They replied, "The closest status; Gabriel is on His right, and Michael is on His left."

He said, "And Michael is an enemy to Gabriel?" ‘Umar said, "If they are as you say, then they are not enemies. You are more disbelieving than donkeys! Whoever is an enemy to one of them is an enemy to the other, and whoever is an enemy to both is an enemy to Allah." Then ‘Umar returned and found that Gabriel had preceded him with the revelation. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Your Lord has agreed with you, O ‘Umar."

‘Umar said, "I have seen myself in the religion of Allah after that, harder than stone."

Linguistic Notes:

• Gabriel (Jibril): Read as Jibra’il (like Qafshilil), Jibra’il (dropping the ya), Jibril (dropping the hamza), Jibril (like Qindil), and Jibral (with a heavy lam). Also Jibra’il (like Jabra’il) and Jibra’il (like Jabra’il). It is diptote (ghayr al-munsarif) due to definiteness and non-Arabic origin. Some say it means "Servant of Allah."

• "He has sent it down" (Nazzalahu): The pronoun refers to the Qur’an. This type of omission—referring to something not previously mentioned—bestows grandeur upon the subject, as if its fame makes it self-evident, rendering an explicit name unnecessary.

• "Upon your heart" (‘ala qalbika): Meaning, its preservation within you and your understanding of it.

• "By the permission of Allah" (bi-idhnillah): Meaning, by His facilitation and ease.

• If you ask: "It would have been more appropriate to say 'upon my heart'?" I reply: It came as a quotation of Allah’s speech as He spoke it. It is as if it were said: "Say: What I have spoken of my words—'Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel'—is because he has sent it down upon your heart."

• If you ask: "How does 'He has sent it down' serve as the consequence (jaza’) for the condition?" I reply: There are two aspects:
  1. If anyone from the People of the Book shows enmity to Gabriel, there is no basis for it, as he brought down a Book confirming the scriptures before it. Had they been fair, they would have loved him and thanked him for his act of revealing what benefits them.
  2. If anyone shows enmity to him, the cause is that he revealed the Qur’an to you, confirming their Book and agreeing with it, while they hate the Qur’an and its agreement with their Book. That is why they distort it and deny its agreement. It is like saying: "If so-and-so shows you enmity, you have harmed him and wronged him." The two angels are singled out for mention due to their superiority, as if they are of a different species; this is an example of how a change in description is treated as a change in essence.

• Michael (Mika’il): Read as Mikal (like Qintar), Mika’il (like Mika’il), Mikail (like Mika’il), Mika’il (like Mika’il), and Mika’il (like Mika’il). Ibn Jinni said: "When the Arabs speak a foreign word, they mix its forms."

• "An enemy to the disbelievers" (‘aduwwun lil-kafirin): He intended "an enemy to them," but used the explicit noun to indicate that Allah only showed them enmity because of their disbelief. If enmity toward the Prophets is disbelief, what then of the angels, who are more noble? The meaning is: whoever shows them enmity, Allah shows him enmity and punishes him with the severest punishment.