Jibril and the Naked Maryam
In this post we shall be looking at Al-Baghawi's tafsir on S 19:17. And she took without them a screen. Then we sent to her our spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a regular man.
(And she took) And she set up (without them a screen), Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: a covering.
And it was said: She sat behind a wall. And Muqatil said: Behind a mountain.
And Ikrimah said: Maryam would be in the mosque and when she menstruated move to her maternal aunt's house, until when she was purified, returned to the mosque, and while she was washing after menstruation stripped, when Jibril presented himself to her in the image of a beardless handsome youth with curly hair, regular in creation, and that was his speech:
(Then we sent to her our spirit), that is: Jibril, peace be upon him (and it assumed for her the likeness of a regular man), and it was said: The intended meaning of 'the spirit' is Isa, peace be upon him; he came in the image of a human being and she conceived him, and the first is more accurate, and when Maryam saw Jibril heading towards her, she called to him from afar. So.
Now, 'it was said' that the spirit was Isa. In the Epistula Apostolorum chapter 14, we read:
For ye know that the angel Gabriel brought the message unto Mary. And we answered: Yea, Lord. He answered and said unto us: Remember ye not, then, that I said unto you a little while ago: I became an angel among the angels, and I became all things in all? We said unto him: Yea, Lord. Then answered he and said unto us: On that day whereon I took the form of the angel Gabriel, I appeared unto Mary and spake with her. Her heart accepted me, and she believed (She believed and laughed, Eth.), and I formed myself and entered into her body. I became flesh, for I alone was a minister unto myself in that which concerned Mary (I was mine own messenger, Eth.) in the appearance of the shape of an angel. For so must I needs (or, was I wont to) do. Thereafter did I return to my Father (Copt. After my return to the Father, and run on).
Both Allah and Jibril here appear in the form of a beardless youth with curly hair.
“I saw my Lord in the most beautiful form like a youth with abundant hair.” (al-Daraqutni, Kitab al-Ru’ya, 332-333; 356-357; similar reports from Umm al-Tufayl, Anas b. Malik, Mu’adh b. ‘Afra, Ibn ‘Umar, ‘A’isha, Ibn ‘Abbas; Reported by Tabarani; Ibn Abi ‘Asim; al-Bayhaqi; al-Suyuti; al-Haythami; Ibn ‘Adi, al-Baghdadi)
I saw my Lord in the form of a young man, beardless (amrad) with short curly hair (ja’d) and clothed in a red garment. (Narrated by Ahmad b. Hanbal in Tabarani; AUTHENTICATED BY AHMAD B. HANBAL in Creed 3 citing isnad, ‘Abd al-Samad b. Yahya in Tabaqat al-Hanabila, 1:218, al-Marrudhi (d. 888) in Tabaqat, 3:81, Ibn ‘Aqil in Makdisi, Ibn ‘Aqil, 130; Ibn ‘Adi al-Qattan, al-Kamil fi du’afa’ al-rijal, 3:49-50, al-Daraqutni, Kitab al-Ru’ya, 332-333, 356-357; al-Tabarani, al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, 25:143; SAHIH BY ABU L-HASAN B. BASHSHAR in Ibn Abi Ya’la, Tabaqat, 2:59; Abu Ya’la, al-Muta’mad, 85; ACCEPTED BY IBN TAYMIYYA in Bayan Tablis al-Jahmiyya, 7:192-198, 290)
In the Al-Baghawi quotation above, Jib appears to show up when Maryam was in a state of undress. In the Sirah, when Khadijah is doing her lap dance, she declares that it must have been an angel present. Why? Because of her 'uncovering herself'?
Khadijah's test: the proof of prophethood
In Vol. 1 p. 239 we read:
Ibn Ishaq said: Isma'il bin Abi Hakim, freed slave of the Al-Zubayr family: told me: that he had told [p. 239} From Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her. She said to Allah's messenger, may Allah pray for him and salute him: Cousin, can you tell me about this companion of yours who comes to you when he comes? He said: Yes. She said: So if he comes to you, tell me about him. So Jibril, peace be upon him, came to him as he was wont to do: And the messenger of Allah, may he pray for him and salute him, said to Khadijah: Khadijah, this is Jibril who has come to me. She said: Get up, cousin, and sit on my left thigh. He said. Then Allah's messenger, Allah pray for him and salute him, got up and sat on her. She said, Do you see him? He said, Yes. She said, Then turn around and sit on my right thigh. She said. Then Allah's messenger, Allah pray for him and salute him, turned around and sat on her right thigh. Then she said, Do you see him? He said, Yes. She said, So turn around and sit in my bosom. She said, So Allah's messenger, Allah pray for him and salute him, turned around and sat in her bosom. She said, Do you see him? He said, Yes. He said, She uncovered herself and threw off her khimar and Allah's messenger, Allah pray for him and salute him, sat in her bosom, then she said to him, Do you see him? He said, No. She said, Cousin, be steadfast and rejoice, for by Allah, it is certainly an angel and this is certainly not a devil.
I have translated حجر ḥujr/ḥajr as 'bosom' rather than 'lap' as the founder of Islam has just been hopping from thigh to thigh. Wiktionary defines it as : bosom, embrace, lap
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