In a chat room, an American girl was speaking about religion, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), and Jibreel (Gabriel), may Allaah exalt his mention. She said, “How do you Muslims know that Jibreel is an actual angel? He may be a devil in the form of an angel.” She tried hard to cast doubts into our hearts and indicated that we are mistaken in many matters. How can we argue with her? What should we do in such a situation?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Such dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims should be undertaken by people of knowledge and wisdom with a good style of speech. This is what Allaah The Almighty orders us to do; He The Almighty Says (what means): {Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided.} [Quran 16:125] The allegation concerning Jibreel that this woman mentioned can be refuted from three different angles:

1- All followers of the divinely-inspired religions agree on belief in the angels, their coming with revelation and their support to the prophets of Allaah The Almighty. This is a part of believing in the Unseen which we have not seen or witnessed, but we believe in it as we follow the instructions of the truthful and infallible Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

Believing in the coming of Jibreel to Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, or to any other messenger is a part of belief in that messenger. The prophethood of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, has been proved with indisputably established proof that leaves no room for doubt.

Among this proof is the amazing miracles with which Allaah The Almighty supported him with; the authenticity and truthfulness of such miracles continue to appear to Muslims until today. Such miracles include matters of the unseen and scientific facts that have only been discovered recently, in addition to the greatest miracle of all, namely the holy Quran. Whoever believes in the prophethood of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, has to believe that the angel came to him, and has to believe that he is infallible and protected against being led astray by devils.

2- Through Jibreel the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, received verses of guidance, light and great signs that are impossible for Satan to bring, to be satisfied with or to call others to. How could any sane person imagine that Satan invites people to believe in Allaah The Almighty and His Oneness, urges them to observe prayers, pay Zakah [obligatory alms], fasting, respecting kinship relations and other countless morals and good deeds, and warns them against bloodshed and immorality? How could a sane person imagine that Satan comes with revelation that involves cursing Satan, expelling him, disbelief in him and warning against following his way? Allaah The Almighty Says about this great Quran that was revealed through Jibreel (what means): {And indeed, the Qur'an is the revelation of the Lord of the worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down. Upon your heart, [O Muhammad] - that you may be of the warners - In a clear Arabic language.} [Quran 26:192-195]

Shortly after these verses, He Says (what means): {And the devils have not brought the revelation down. It is not allowable for them, nor would they be able.} [Quran 26:210,211] Try to ponder upon the Saying of Allaah The Almighty (what means): {And the devils have not brought the revelation down.} It is impossible that the devil would come up with the like of the Quran or even a chapter like it; if Satan had been able to do so, he would have helped the disbelievers to challenge the Quran and would have proved that Islam is false. Allaah The Almighty ordered His truthful Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to challenge the most eloquent Arabs, and this a challenge remains in effect until the Day of Resurrection. He further challenged them to bring the like of a chapter of the Quran but they declared their inability and despair at a time when they were fighting the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, with all their might and were offering their lives and wealth in an attempt to thwart people from the way of Allaah The Almighty. Had Satan been the one who came with the Quran to Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, he would have given the disbelievers one chapter of it at that time or would have revealed it to the current enemies of Islam who are unable to come up with something similar to the miraculous style of the Quran. All this indicates that it is not human speech. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Say, "If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants.”} [Quran 17:88]

3- We say to this girl whom Satan has tempted: the devils of humans and of the Jinn have been unable, for fifteen centuries, to come up with a chapter like the Quran, so how come it is said that the Quran was brought down by a devil?

Arousing doubts about Jibreel not only necessitates doubting Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, but also doubting all the prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention. An atheist may say that the angel who came to Moosa (Moses), ‘Eesa (Jesus) or to any other prophet was a devil. In such a case, a Jew or a Christian cannot refute that except through proving the prophethood of each respective prophet first, and then by the goodness brought by each prophet, which can never be imagined to be from a devil. Furthermore, a Muslim has more irrefutable proof, namely, the past, current and future challenge of the Quran that no one can come up with any thing like it. Moreover, we draw attention to the fact that any dialogue with a disbeliever should not begin from this subsidiary point; the dialogue should first of all be directed towards proving the basic issue, namely, believing in Allaah The Almighty and in His Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

Allaah Knows best.