Who Brought the Revelation to the Prophet - Jibrael, the Trustworthy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, or Allah?
Brief description of the dubiety
In the Quran there is a variation as to who brought the revelation to the Prophet. Surah al-Baqarah, verse 97 introduces the intermediary of the revelation as Jibrael. Surah al-Nahl, verse 102 mentions it as being the Holy Spirit (Ruh al-Qudus); and Surah al-Shuara, verse 193 mentions it as being the Trustworthy Spirit (Ruh al-Ameen). Surah Yusuf, verse 3 mentions Allah sending the revelation to Prophet Yusuf, without any intermediary. Is it possible for all of these to be the giver of the revelation, or is there a controversy in the Quran with regards to this topic?
Detailed description of the dubiety
Contradictory Verses
Verse which mentions Jibrael as being the intermediary of the revelation
In Surah al-Baqarah, verse 97 it says: “Say, ‘Whoever is an enemy of Jibrael [should know that] it is he who has brought it down on your heart with the will of Allah, confirming what has been [revealed] before it, and as a guidance and good news to the faithful.’” In this verse, Jibrael is mentioned as being the intermediary of the revelation.
Verse which mentions the Holy Spirit as being the intermediary of the revelation
Surah al-Nahl, verse 102 says: “Say, ‘The Holy Spirit has brought it down duly from your Lord to fortify those who have faith and as a guidance and good news for the Muslims.” In this verse, it is clearly mentioned that the intermediary of the revelation is the Holy Spirit.
Verses which mentions the Trustworthy Spirit as being the intermediary of the revelation
In Surah al-Shuara, verses 192-193 the Quran says: “This is indeed [a Book] sent down by the Lord of all the worlds, brought down by the Trustworthy Spirit.” This verse indicates that the intermediary of the revelation is the Trustworthy Spirit.
Verses which mention Allah as the One giving the revelation
In Surah Yusuf, verse 3, Allah says: “We will recount to you the best of narratives in what We have revealed to you of this Quran, and indeed prior to it you were among those who were unaware [of it].” In this verse, Allah is mentioned as the One who gives the revelation, without any intermediary being mentioned. Many other verses with similar meanings also exist. For example, Surah al-Nisa, verse 163 says: “We have indeed revealed to you as We revealed to Nuh and the Prophets after him, and [as] We revealed to Ibrahim and Ismael, Ishaq, Yaqoob, and the Tribes, Isa and Ayyub, Yunus, Haroon, and Sulayman - and We gave Dawood the Psalms.” In Surah al-Shura, verse 7 Allah says: “Thus have We revealed to you an Arabic Quran that you may warn [the people of] the Mother of the Towns and those around it, and warn [them] about the Day of Gathering, in which there is no doubt, [whereupon] a part [of mankind] will be in paradise and a part [of them] will be in the Blaze.”
Summary
The verse in Surah al-Baqarah mentions Jibrael as the intermediary of revelation. This has been attributed to the Holy Spirit in Surah al-Nahl; and Surah al-Shuara states that it was the Trustworthy Spirit. Alongside these verses, Surah Yusuf mentions Allah Himself as sending revelation without any intermediary. In conclusion, there appears to be contradictions from two different angles. Firstly, in some verses it mentions that the Prophets received revelation without any intermediary, while the other set of verses mention that there were intermediaries. Secondly, there are different angels who are introduced as being the liaison. Based on these different verses of the Quran, there appears to be contradictions about who gave the revelations to the Prophets.
A summarized response
The first step in response to these queries is that Jibrael, the Holy Spirit, and the Trustworthy Spirit, are all names for one angel (i.e. the angel Jibrael) who has been mentioned by various names in different verses of the Quran, and therefore there is no contradiction regarding the intermediary who brought the revelation. The second step is to show that there is no contradiction between the verse which attributes revelation, without any intermediary, to Allah and the verses which do not. If for one action there exists a number of agents which have a vertical relationship, then that action can be attributed to all of them. The relationship between Allah and Jibrael is a vertical one, therefore the sending of revelation can be attributed to both Allah and Jibrael, and there is no contradiction in doing so.
A detailed response
Pre-requisite Introduction (The different types of relationships between multiple agents)
The relation between two agents that both have a role in an action taking place can be split into two categories
The first case: Individuals carry out action together and with one another. For example, a number of people lift something and carry it together. The relationship between these agents is called a horizontal relation. Here, it cannot be said that each individual in and of himself is an agent for the action. The second case: A number of individuals have an impact on an action taking place, as if they were in a chain. The relationship between these agents is called a vertical relation. For example, the relation between a coach and the football players in a football team - their actions can be attributed to both of them separately, and the winning or losing of the team can be attributed to both of them separately. By keeping the above in mind, we will now respond to the query.
The Holy Spirit, the Trustworthy Spirit, and Jibrael, are different names for the same angel
The different names that have been mentioned in the Quran with regards to the angel that brought the revelation, are all names for the same angel, in other words, the Holy Spirit, the Trustworthy Spirit, and Jibrael are three names for one angel. [1] [2] These different names were used to point towards the quality of truthfulness and trustworthiness of this intermediary. The name “the Trustworthy Spirit” and “the Holy Spirit” describes the reliability and purity of this angel. The Quran used these names when the polytheists denied that the Quran was a revelation, thus Allah emphatically gave these names for the angel in order to make clear the honesty and faithfulness of the intermediary of revelation. In addition to this, in Surah al-Nahl, verse 102, after using this name, Allah explicitly mentions that this Quran was brought down duly and that it is from Him. Furthermore, the author of Tafseer al-Qummi mentions a narration in his book from Imam al-Baqir where he affirms that the Holy Spirit is Jibrael. [3] Until now, we have shown that there is no contradiction between the verses on who the intermediary for the revelation of the Quran was. Now we will explain how there is no contradiction between the verses which attribute revelation to Allah Himself, and those which attribute it to an intermediary.
Relation between Allah and the intermediary of revelation is a vertical relation
Jibrael brought down the revelation by the order and will of Allah, he did not bring it down independent of Allah. As was mentioned previously, verse 97 of Surah al-Baqarah explicitly mentions that revelation was sent to the Messenger by the permission of Allah. “Say, ‘Whosoever is an enemy of Jibrael [should know that] it is he who has brought it down upon your heart with the will of Allah.” In this verse it is explicitly mentioned that the revelation was sent to the Prophet through Jibrael by the permission and order of Allah. As well, keeping in mind the pre-requisite introduction that was given, the act of revelation can be attributed to both Allah and the angel who was the liaison of revelation. If Allah did not give the order and permission, then the Quran would not have been revealed, thus we can attribute the actual revelation of this Holy Book to Allah.
Common Example
Imagine the CEO of a company gives instructions to his son – who is the Finance Manager of the company – to tell the deputy CEO that he will not be coming in to work today. The son of the CEO gives this news to his father’s deputy. The deputy tells the secretary of the CEO’s office that: “The son of the CEO has said that his father will not be coming in to work today.” The deputy tells the CEO’s chauffeur: “The Finance Manager said that the CEO will not be coming in to work today.” He tells the Sales Manager the following: “The CEO said that he will not be coming in to work today.” These three sentences do not contradict each other because the “Son of the CEO” and the “Finance Manager” are one and the same person. Also, there is no contradiction between the “Son of the CEO” and the “CEO” here, because if the CEO had not given his son the instruction of sending his message, then the message would not have reached the deputy; therefore the deputy can say that the CEO sent this message without mentioning the intermediary of the message. In the same way, the verses regarding who sent the revelation to the Prophet are not contradictory, because it was Allah who sent the original revelation, but through the angel Jibrael.