Muhammad) includes the Hadith of Gabriel, which describes how
archangel Gabriel (also known as Jibril in Islam ) quizzes Muhammad
about Islam to test how well he understands the religion.Gabriel
appeared to Muhammad over a 23-year period to dictate the Qur'an word
by word,Muslims believe.
In this Hadith, Gabriel appears in disguise, checking to make sure
that Muhammad has received his messages about Islam correctly. Here's
what happens:
Answer:
The Hadith of Gabriel
The Hadith of Gabriel's tells the story: "Umar ibn al-Khattab (the
second rightly guided caliph) reported: One day when we were with
Allah's [God's] messenger, a manwith extremely white clothing and very
black hair came to us. No tracesof travel were visible on him, and
none of us recognized him. Sitting down before the Prophet, (peace and
blessings be upon him) leaning his knees againsthis, and placing his
handson his thighs, the stranger said, 'Tell me, Muhammad, about
Islam.'
The Prophet replied, 'Islam means that you should bear witness that
there is no god but God and that Muhammad is Allah's messenger, that
you should perform the ritual prayer , pay the alms tax, fast during
Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the Ka'aba at Mecca if you are
able to go there.'
The man said, 'You have spoken the truth.' (We were amazed at this
man's questioning the Prophet and then declaring that he had spoken
the truth).
The stranger spoke a second time, saying, 'Now tell me about faith.'
The Prophet replied, 'Faith means that you have faith in Allah, His
angels , His books, His messengers and the Last Day, and that you have
faith in fate as it is measured out, both its good and evil aspects.'
Remarking that the Prophet again had spoken the truth, the stranger
then said, 'Now tell me about virtue.'
The Prophet replied, 'Virtue — doing what is beautiful — means that
you should worship Allah as if you see Him, for even if you do not see
Him, He sees you.'
Yet again the man said, 'Tell me about the Hour (that is, the coming
of the Day of Judgment).'
The Prophet replied, 'About that he who is questioned knows no more
than the questioner.'
The stranger said, 'Well, then tell me about its signs.'
The Prophet replied, 'The slave girl will give birth to her mistress,
and you will see the barefoot, the naked, the destitute, and the
shepherds vying witheach other in building.'
At that, the stranger wentaway.
After I had waited for a while, the Prophet spoke to me: 'Do you know
whothe questioner was, Umar?' I replied, 'Allah and His messenger know
best.' The Prophet said, 'He was Jibril [Gabriel]. He came to teach
you your religion.'"
Thoughtful Questions
In the preface to the book Questions And Answers About Islam by
Fethullah Gülen, Muhammad Cetin writes that the Hadith of Gabrielhelps
readers learn how to ask thoughtful spiritual questions: "Gabriel knew
the answers to these questions, but his purpose of disguising himself
and posing these questions was to help others attain this information.
A question is asked for a certain purpose. Asking a question for the
sake of displaying one's own knowledge or asking merely to test the
other person is worthless. If a question is asked for the purpose of
learning in order to let others find out the information (as in the
example of Gabriel above, the questioner may already know the answer)
it can be considered a question that has been posed in the correct
manner. Questions of this kind arelike seeds of wisdom."
Defining Islam
The Hadith of Gabriel summarizes Islam's majortenets. Juan Eduardo
Campo writes in the book Encyclopedia of Islam : "The Hadith of
Gabriel teaches that religious practice and belief are interrelated
aspects of the Islamic religion – one cannot be accomplished without
the other."
In their book The Vision of Islam , Sachiko Murata and William C.
Chittick write that Gabriel's questions and Muhammad's answers help
people Islam as three different dimensions working together: "The
hadith of Gabriel suggests that in the Islamic understanding, religion
embraces right ways of doing things, right ways of thinking and
understanding, and rightways of forming the intentions that lie
behindthe activity. In this hadith, the Prophet giveseach of the three
right ways a name. Thus one could say that 'submission' is religion
asit pertains to acts, 'faith' is religion as it pertains to thoughts,
and 'doing the beautiful' is religion as it pertains to intentions.
These three dimensions of religion coalesce into a single reality
known as Islam."
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