The Hadith of Gabriel

Sachiko Murata, and William Chittick cite a version of the Hadith of Gabriel in their book, The Vision of Islam - here is a section of this hadith attributed to our Prophet.


'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: One day when we were with God's messenger, a man with very white clothing and very black hair came up to us. No mark of travel was visible on him, and none of us recognized him. Sitting down before the Prophet, leaning his knees against his, and placing his hands on his thighs, he said, "Tell me, Muhammad, about Islam." (Chittick/Murata use the word submission)

The Prophet replied, "Islam means that you should bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messanger, that you should perform the ritual prayer, pay the alms tax, fast during Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the House if you are able to go there."

The man said, "You have spoken the truth." We were surprised at his questioning him and then declaring that he had spoken the truth. He said, Now tell me about faith (Iman)"

The Prophet replied, "Faith means that you have faith in God, the angels, the Books, the messengers, and the Last Day, and that you have faith in the measuring out, both its good and its evil."

Remarking that he had spoken the truth, he then said, "Now tell me about doing what is beautiful (Ihsan).

The Prophet replied, "Doing what is beautiful means that you should worship God as if you see God, for even if you do not see God, God sees you."

SOURCE = http://ihsan-net.blogspot.com/2004_11_01_ihsan-net_archive.html

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In this Haddith "No mark of travel was visible on him, and none of us recognized him." - this means, that they all knew eachother. There were no strangers amongst them, however they did not recognise him, so he must have travelled from somewhere to be with them. However, there was no mark of travel upon him. Anyone who travels through any desert, especially the Sahara, would know what is meant by 'mark of travel'. You can not look clean and well, having travelled even in a jeep across the Sahara.

Gibril sits like a student would traditionally sit to a teacher. Hands upon thighs means no harm, as he was a stranger, the gathering had to be shown that no bad intentions is meant here.

Key to Heaven, is Faith. The Teeth of the Key are the Pillars.

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The first thing to note and IMPORTANT to note. Is that its not just to testify, La Ilaha Il-Allah, but to WITNESS! So there is already an idea of Ihsan. To Witness. To have Emaan is to believe, but real belief comes from Witnessing and Experiencing. We have to get to a state, in which we truly WITNESS that there is NOTHING, but ALLAH. Then, we must WITNESS, that Muhammad (saw), is his Slave & Messenger.

In what ways, can you see Allah? Witness Allah? How can you beautify your Emaan and Islam? Would these questions not be asked by some Sahaba, surely these are questions that one would ask today.