Shaykh Omar Suleiman: Story of Jibreel

Gems from “Story of Jibreel” 

Shaykh Omar Suleiman

3/30/15

MCA Santa Clara, CA

Part 1: Physical Description of Angel Jibreel (AS) 

• Jibreel (AS) was the first being that was given a soul and brought to life - the first creation of Allah.

• He is the angel that Allah speaks to directly. He delivers messages to the other angels.

• He was the first and greatest of the angels. He is the chief of all the angels. 

• He was lovingly obeyed by all the angels because he was trustworthy.

• His residence is under the throne of Allah.

• The name Jibreel means the servant who has been given great strength from Allah. The word Jibra comes from Jabr which means strength and ‘eel’ means ‘of Allah’.

• Allah would refer to him in the Qur’an as: Al-Ruh, the spirit. Because Jibreel brought the Qur’an, which is the essential thing that has given us life. Also referred to as ‘Shadeed al quwa’ - ‘Having mighty powers’, ’Thu Quwa’ - ‘possessor of power’ and ‘Ruhana’ - ‘Our spirit’. 

• When the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) spoke about Jibreel, he would say Jibreel Salla Allahu Alaihi Wassalam - he invoked peace on him. The only other person he did that for is Prophet Ibrahim (AS), which shows his high status. He would refer to him as ‘man ‘inda Rabbi’ - ‘the one who is with my Lord’.

• One form the angel Jibreel (AS) came down is in full form. In that form he is so large that he fills up the entire horizon. Only a few were able to witness Jibreel (AS) in this form. The Prophet (SAW) only saw him twice in that form. He has 600 wings that were so beautiful that rubies, peals, diamonds, and jewels were constantly falling from them. Some of his wings glowed with a green colored light, so he was not made from only white light.

• The second form Jibreel (AS) would take, which is the most common form, is his angelic form - an angelic presence of light and a distinct voice. 

• The third form Jibreel (AS) sometimes came in is human form. When Allah sent him to a Prophet, he would send him in a form where he would resemble the most beautiful person in that area. 

• When Allah sent Jibreel (AS) to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Makkah in the form of human, he resembled the Sahabi Dihya bin Khalifa (RA), who was the most beautiful in form of Makkah. A little about Dihya - He was a companion that had attended all the battles. He was called the Yusuf of his tribe because of how beautiful he was. And for that reason, the Prophet (SAW) used him as an ambassador to other nations. When he was sent to Heraculus, it caused a stir as everyone came out to see who this man was that was sent from the Muslims. 

Part 2: Jibreel (AS) in the life of the Prophets

• The angel Jibreel (AS) is ‘Nasir al Anbiya’ - the supporter of the Prophets: he loves them, defends them, lives with them. He is mentioned in detail in every Prophet’s life.

• Jibreel is mentioned in Adam’s (AS) story. Jibreel is the one that Allah sent to the earth to collect the dirt that would make Adam. Then when Allah sent Adam (AS) to earth, He would send Jibreel to him. When Adam (AS) passed away, Allah sent Jibreel and he along with some angels took his body, shrouded him, prayed no him, and buried him. This was the first lesson for people in how to bury their dead.

• Jibreel is mentioned in the story of Idrees (AS), also known as Enoch. Idrees (AS) was the grandson of Adam (AS). Allah says on him in the Qur’an “Make mention in the book Idrees, he was a man of truth and a Prophet and We raised him to a high level.” Idrees (AS) led an ambitious dawah effort. He loved to call people to Allah and to goodness. One day Idrees (AS) wanted to know how much time he had left on Earth. Idrees asked the angel Jibreel to take him to the angel of death so he could ask him how much longer he has left. So Jibreel takes him and he ascends with him to the heavens unit they reach the fourth heaven where Malak al Mawt, the angel of death, is. The angel of death said, “I was amazed when Allah told me to take the soul of Idrees in the fourth heaven.” We don’t know of any person who died in the heavens. He never came back to Earth and was never buried. On the night of Isra and Miraj journey, the Prophet (SAW) met Idrees (AS) in the fourth heaven where he still was. 

• Jibreel is mentioned in the story of Ibrahim (AS). When Hajar was with her baby running between Safa and Marwa, calling out for help. Suddenly she heard a sound, she said “Come forth if you have something good to offer.” She looked and Jibreel was in front of her. He struck the ground with his heel and zamzam came bursting out of the ground, and he said “May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismail.” Then she carved out the well of Zamzam. Till today we are still drinking from that well of Zamzam. It doesn’t dry up, even though it’s only 8’ x 3’. It’s a wonder of the world. The pumping rate is 691 million liters per day! 

• Jibreel (AS) came with Mika’il and the angel of death to give Ibrahim (AS) glad tidings of a child. When Ibrahim (AS) makes du’a to Allah ‘O Allah show us the way to do the rituals (manasik)’, Allah sent Jibreel to Ibrahim and he walked him through each step in the process of Hajj. So when we make Hajj, we are doing the same rituals that Jibreel taught Ibrahim (AS). 

• Jibreel is mentioned in the story of Yusuf (AS). When Yusuf’s brother threw him in the well, Jibreel was waiting at the bottom of the well so that Yusuf would not hit the bottom - he landed in the hands of Jibreel. 

• Jibreel is mentioned in the story of Musa (AS). Allah sent Jibreel to Musa many times while revealing to him the Tawrat, which was a very extensive and large revelation. When Pharown was drowning, Jibreel went to him at the bottom of the sea and kicked dirt in his mouth. He said “I was afraid he would say La ilaha illa Allah and Allah would have mercy on him’. When evil people die, the angels kick them in the face. But Jibreel gave an extra kick to Pharoah, who was the worst human being to ever live. 

• Jibreel is mentioned in the story of Maryam. When Maryam was worshipping Allah, food would mysteriously appear - that was from the angels. Maryam used to leave the masjid once a month and watch the sun rise and devote herself to Allah. She used to put up a curtain because she wanted to be alone. One time Allah sent angel Jibreel to her. He appeared as a perfect human being. This beautiful man comes up to her, but she does not look at him. She doesn’t even let him talk - she immediately says ‘I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you. Leave me if you have fear of Allah.’ Then he assumed an angelic form of light and tells her “I am a messenger that has been sent to you from your Lord to give you news of a pure boy.” She asks how - and he says ‘kathaalik’ - Allah said so. Then when she was giving birth, Jibreel came and comforted her telling her - ‘Don’t be sad, you will be remembered as the greatest woman of mankind, you don’t know what Allah has prepared for you, look he has already prepared for you a stream and a date, just shake the tree and eat and be refreshed. And when someone asks you about the baby, do not speak, Allah will defend you.’

• Jibreel is mentioned in the story of Easa (AS) - Jibreel carried him up the the heavens and protected him.

Part 3: Jibreel (AS) in the life of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

• Jibreel’s relationship with Muhammad (SAW) did not start out nice and smooth and rosy, it started off traumatically. When the Prophet was a young boy, after losing his father and mother, he was playing with some some children. Then Jibreel came down as a man, he comes and grabs him, pins him to the ground, and cuts his chest. The other kids went running to their parents saying Muhammad is being killed. Then he removed the heart of the prophet and took something from it and said ‘this day, he had a line of stitching on his heart - even though there was no open heart sur is the portion of evil within you’. Then he washed the heart in a vessel of zamzam, puts it back in the chest of the prophet, sows up the chest and leaves. The kids come back and the man is gone and the prophet’s face is blue. Since that gery back in those days. 

• At the age of 40, Muhammad (SAW) started to see true dreams. For six months he would see a dream and the next day it would actually happen. Every night for 6 months this went on. True dreams are 1/46 th of prophethood. 

• Then Allah bestowed on the Prophet a love of seclusion - he would go to the cave of Hira. It was a very difficult climb, at least 2 hour climb. It has a beautiful view of Makkah. The prophet would go up there and he would worship God in the monotheistic way of Abraham - calling upon Allah and remembering Him, for no reason except for Allah. He would have no desire to come down for days, weeks, even a month at one point.

• He went there only seeking an answer from Allah. He was not going there to run away from his problems. He had no marriage troubles - His wife Khadija (RA), who was 55, would climb up there and take him food and drink. He had no financial troubles - he was at his wealthiest point. He had no status/fame troubles - he was known as Al Sadiq Al Ameen - the trustworthy and truthful and everyone spoke highly of him.

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Part 4: Angels in our daily life

• For every jinn that Allah created, Allah has created billions of angels. You choose whether to surround yourself with angels or devils.

• When they see a place where Allah is mentioned and remembered, they will come.

• Every morning when you wake up, an angel comes to you saying ‘start it with good’. So start your day with prayer and thikr. Then that angel will spend the day with you praying for you and protecting you.

• Every night when you go to sleep, an angel comes to you saying ‘end your night well’ because angels know you might die tonight. So end it with think, prayer - something good. And if you do that, that angel will spend the night with you praying for you and protecting you.

• You don’t know when you’ll leave this world. And the greatest test is that the angels are concealed from us. But the last thing we will see in this world is the angels.  When you pass away, as a righteous believer, your wali from the angels will come and say to you ‘don’t be afraid, don’t grieve, Allah will fulfill His promise to you, You will have in paradise everything you were promised and want’.

• Our three winners in NC, the last class they took was this one. I taught this class in North Carolina before they died. They are living what we are talking about. You never know when YOU will live it. 

• We ask Allah for the companionship of the Prophet in Jannah. we ask Allah to make us a people who surround themselves with angels. We ask Allah that we be from those that Allah says to them ‘stand and be forgiven’.