When the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, saw Jibreel in his real form

18-11-2012 | IslamWeb

Question:

when and where did prophet muhammed(pbuh) see jibreel in his real form

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Answer:

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 is His slave and Messenger.

It is confirmed in Saheeh Muslim that ‘Aa’ishah narrated that the Prophet said: ''I did not see him – meaning Jibreel (Gabriel) – in the form that he was created in except twice.”

Besides, according to the Hadeeth of Ibn Mas‘ood the first time the Prophet saw Jibreel was when he asked him to show him his form in which he was created, and the second time was on the night of Mi‘raaj (the night of Ascension). [Ahmad]

Moreover, Masrooq narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that she said: ''(The Prophet) Muhammad did not see Jibreel in his (real) form except twice: once at the Lote Tree of the utmost boundary and once in Ajyaad (in Makkah).” [At-Tirmithi]

The narration by At-Tirmithi is from Abu Al-Aswad from ‘Urwah from ‘Aa’ishah who said: “At first, the Prophet used to have visions, and the first time he saw Jibreel was in Ajyaad, and Jibreel shouted: “O Muhammad!”, so the Prophet looked right and left and he did not see anything. Then he [the Prophet] looked up and Jibreel was in the sky and said: “O Muhammad: “(This is) Jibreel.”; so the Prophet fled and entered into a crowd of people and did not see anything, and then he left the crowd and again Jibreel called him and the Prophet fled away. Then, Jibreel showed himself up to the Prophet  from the direction of Hiraa’, and then the narrator mentioned the story when Jibreel ordered the Prophet to recite [{Recite in the name of your Lord who created}]. This narration was from Ibn Lahee‘ah who is a weak narrator. However, the other narration by At-Tirmithi strengthens this narration as stated by Ibn Hajar in Fat'h Al-Baari. He [Ibn Hajar] then said: “So, this time is other than the two afore-mentioned times, but he (the Prophet) did not mention it along with them for the probability that he did not see Jibreel then in his real form; Allaah knows best.”

Based on this, the number of times in which the Prophet saw Jibreel in his real form is three times.

Allaah Knows best.