Gabriel is Not the Holy Spirit


UI – Part 276 – Gabriel is Not the Holy Spirit

Islamist Fundamentalist Thinking

This is a topic of interest and concern.  I heard a presentation by a Muslim, a convert from Christianity, Khalid Yasin, who made statements that I have come to expect of fundamentalist Muslims, but one was new.  He claimed:

  • Jesus was not divine.
  • Allah was not the Father of Jesus, although Mary was a virgin.  The birth was enabled by Allah, but there was no conjugal visit.
  • Muhammad was forecast in the Bible as the Comforter that would follow Jesus.
  • Father, Son and Holy Spirit equals polytheism.
  • “They crucified Him (Jesus) not; They killed Him not – as revealed in the Quran.

Holy Spirit

What was new was: Gabriel was the Holy Spirit.  (listen to lecture)

The commentary was that Gabriel appeared in the Bible announcing each Prophet and Gabriel was present to announce Mary’s pregnancy, carrying Jesus in her womb when still a virgin. Thus Gabriel, by this presenter’s account, was the Holy Spirit. Gabriel was an angel.  An angel is often referred to as a Spirit. But as to being the Holy Spirit I have trouble finding such a reference in the Bible.   Given Gabriel’s Biblical presence one can understand how Muhammad used Gabriel as the angel that spoke to him on god’s (Allah’s) behalf.  The use of Gabriel was to be consistent with the Bible and the angel that often appeared.

Even the Quran fails to distinguish Gabriel as the Holy Spirit.

Is Khalid alone in coming up with such claims as a spokesperson, a scholar and educator, of Islam?  Is he using Muhammad as his example?  What of other scholars, the ulema of Islam?

Muhammad and Waraqah

Muhammad, as I have written before, was greatly influenced by his first wife’s, Khadija’s, cousin Waraqah. He was a Biblical scholar, especially as to the Old Testament having translated the O.T. into Arabic.  One can readily assume Waraqah and Muhammad conversed on many, many occasions.  Muhammad’s interest in God would have been a stimulus to learning more from one with great knowledge, the cousin, and hearing Bible stories.  It was the area of Waraqah’s expertise and a subject upon which he could relate for lengthy periods.  Muhammad was not a reader as he was illiterate, but probably a fine listener.  He heard the stories from creation to Jonah and beyond.  He learned about the Biblical prophets and knew Gabriel as an angel that relayed God’s messages on many occasions.  This new knowledge could well influence dreams Muhammad had while sleeping.  He became a part of his own story, fabled to a great extent, from the discourse he enjoyed with Waraqah.

As to Gabriel, Muhammad claimed it was Gabriel who gave him the words of Allah in revelations that he shared with his Companions, words that were eventually recorded in part (much was lost as memorizers died or were killed before their recall was obtained) in the Quran.

Caliph’s Inputs in Quran

I have suggested, and believe, the Quran comprises not just verses passed on by Muhammad, but also considerations by the early Caliphs who controlled the final scriptural document. Muhammad does not claim Gabriel as more than an angel. References in the Quran have Allah imparting his Spirit in Adam and Jesus, coming to Mary in a human form, and suggests His spirit can come to whom he pleases. The Bible is similar.  However the Bible does say the Holy Spirit will follow Jesus as the ‘counselor to follow’ and indwell in humans who believe.  The Bible also says Mary conceived Christ through the Holy Spirit, thus God. (Matt 1:18-20).

Good Intensions

There is much contradiction, but not as a correction of the Bible. The Quran is more a reflection of the desire of Muhammad to place himself as a spokesperson for God to the people on the Arabian Peninsula. His good intensions have become an ideology of denial of the divinity of Christ. Those who proclaim for the Quran, as Khalid, continue to make false claims.  Such claims are protected by a demand that Muslims strictly adhere to the Quran and the claims of the scholars, having no doubts, not even to question, what they say.

Gabriel is Not The Holy Spirit

Gabriel is not the Holy Spirit.  If you believe in Christ, the saving Grace of the Lord, you know that, as you feel the Spirit within you, your guide, your reminder, and the light of God shining within you.  The Holy Spirit within is God.

Understand Islam.  Understand Christ.  Who is your example – Christ or Muhammad.  Which provides for a peaceful way of life?

Thanks Be to God.

Grace and Peace.

15 thoughts on “Gabriel is Not the Holy Spirit”

  1. “Given Gabriel’s Biblical presence one can understand how Muhammad used Gabriel as the angel that spoke to him on god’s (Allah’s) behalf.” FALSE!
    Muhammad (PBUH) could not read nor write. So he never read the bible and would have no knowledge of the angel Gabril. He only knew of angel Gabril through divine revelation.

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    1. Khadija’s cousin Warraq was a Bible, Old Testament, scholar. He knew well the New Testament too. He and Muhammad were close and had frequent discussions related to the Bible, the history, the prophets and more. He did not have to read or write to know of Gabriel. It was not divine revelation at all that enabled him to know about Gabriel. In fact it was a Christian.

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  2. I’d LOVE to say this that your website is a clickbait. You misrepresent, misinterpet and mistraslate the Gospels and try to establish a new Law with a law that does not exist (Gospel is not a book of Law). LITERALLY I haven’t seen anybody lying on an article this much. Likes of you, I call ‘those who murder the truth with a crusade’. I didn’t find ANY coginitive point in this whole article. Then you bashed on of a Muslim who came to this article through a clickbait site name. I know that according to a Chrisitian perpsective it is not easy to digest this fact (or maybe a misinterpretation) that Gabriel and Holy Spirit are the same entities. Here’s another possibility : Because Yahweh/God The Father is not a nepotist who ONLY sent his messengers to the “supreme and great” Israel, he decided there should be given a last chance to these people. He blew His Spirit inside Jesus Christ AND created or given this task of sending revelations to Jesus Christ through this entity known as the Holy Spirit because in Quran it says “..And he strenthen him (Jesus Christ) with a Holy Spirit”. Now countering the “fact” that Muhummad was an impostor or altruistic, he was given this chance to be the “king or marry the fairest women in the whole Arabia” and such stuffs back in the days when he was JUST about to get the Boycott of Hashim, his WHOLE tribe back in those days. If I were an impostor and was given a chance to become a King, it either means the same. Why? Because the King serves as the role model or he has the authority to amend new stuffs in social beliefs etc. We all allegdly know that a King HAS the authority to create ANYTHING in his kingdom and that INCLUDES a new “impostor” religion. Well since Muhummad didn’t do that, your crusade was MURDERED by the voice of truth. Let me revert your statement “Wake up! Wake up! Christianity is more Xtianity.”

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    1. Your comments suggest I have misrepresented the Gospels. Tell me the gospels to which you refer. Thanks. I did not discuss the first 4 chapters of the New Testament (the Gospels) in this article. The focus was on the angel Gabriel and a claim made by a Muslim scholar, the lecture available on the website, that he was the Holy Spirit. You appear to agree with this claim, even though that is not reflected in the Bible nor the Quran.

      I do appreciate comments, mostly those that remain on topic and provide enlightenment and clarification for the readers. Some commentators take the opportunity to just rant, but even then valuable elements may be presented once the personal invectives or platform settles down to reality. You referred to ‘law,’ which was never discussed. Are you trying to promote Sharia? Not sure.

      The cognitive point of the article was a disagreement that Gabriel is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, indwelling in those who believe in the saving Grace of the Lord.

      Your ending statement about Muhammad as a King, with the authority to create anything, even an ‘imposter’ religion, is interesting, even as you note “since Muhammad didn’t do that.” Just what did Muhammad do? Allah has never appeared to humans. Why the intermediary Gabriel? Was that a reference to the Bible to provide credibility for Muhammad’s claim to be a Prophet? There are those who suggest Muhammad made up Allah, from the moon god his family revered, to aide his programs, his self-directed campaign to have a people focus on him. After all the Quran, the Hadiths, the make-up of Islamic Law are derived from him, his recall, that of his Companions (those that survived to relate what they remembered), his sayings, his habits, his practices, and his punishment of others. Where is the Love of God in all that?

      And who did I ‘bash’ on, as you said?

      Blessings.

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  3. There is also the Holy Spirit/Shekhina in Judaism who operates in conjunction with Metatron but I wonder why it is that this blogger doesn’t mention that the Jews have a Holy Spirit and don’t believe in Trinity or dual gods.

    Only Christians claim Monotheism and that they are not polytheist idolaters while believing their system is superior to the Hindus Trinity and the knowledge of the nonsensical nature of Christianity with Paul having nothing to do with the 12 Apostles other than as enemy and infiltrator it is now that instead of preaching the (non-existent) virtues of their religion their only strategy is to make every religion look evil by comparison because it doesn’t worship the Nazarene Prophet and Messiah who denied being God as he said “Only God is good” sternly rebuking a fellow who merely called him good.

    Now you have the chutzpah to claim he is GOD!

    Well I love my Christian Abrahamic pbuh brethren as I do all people but they just need to shut up about other religions and resign themselves to the fact that scholarships and academia has ruined the “inspired” lie about the anonymous Gospels and pseudepigraphal epistle for all time but couldn’t do so with the Qur’an being the True Word of God Most Merciful, Allah/Hashem/God, who is the only God we worship and who guides us to the straight path of the blessed.

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    1. God is One. That is a correct statement. It is God in Spirit, when you feel his presence within, God the heavenly supernatural, and as only God can do, God came to earth so man could know him better, God-incarnate. They are ONE. Just as Allah can Be and Do as he pleases, infusing in a virgin, Mary, a son, Jesus.

      God created humans in his image. He gave them free choice. They turned on him. They were all, and remain so, sinners. Bad apples each. God had two choices, kill them all, or come to earth and die for them, taking the punishment they deserve for their disobedience towards God, making them right with God. Those that believe in his saving grace are saved.

      Blessings.

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  4. I got one question if the Prophet Peace and Blessings be upon him stole from the bible ? Why he didnt stole the mistakes and contradications ?
    I mean not even one , and the bible has tousands.
    Intresting not?
    May Allah Azza Wa Jal lead you to Islam Inshallah.

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    1. Having researched historical evidenced the Bible is well supported. Architectural evidence, witnesses, miracles, Jesus death on the cross and the Resurrection. Have the freedom to use God’s gift to you of discernment and discover the saving grace of the Lord. The realities will lead you to faith in Jesus and an eternal life, your sins having been forgiven and your eyes opened. Blessings.

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    2. Right?

      If the Messiah (p)was a Christian Trinitarian why in Mark did he say:

      The Lord OUR God is ONE God worship Him….

      And not “and me and Gabriel/Holy Spirit too?”

      If worshipping a human and an angel isn’t idolatry, what IS?

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      3. God is one god, comprised of 3 essences.

        The Father is God, as the head of the family and the one willing to go to great lengths to save us all from damnation. Could the father bear a son – yes. Even the Quran suggests, never admitting Allah as a father, that Mary gave birth to Jesus. She was a virgin. Allah made that possible. He chose Mary (Sura 3.42). Allah gave thee ‘good news’ (Sura 3.45) naming her son, Jesus, the Messiah. When Mary asked Allah, how can this be, the response, “Allah creates what He pleases. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, He, and it is.” (Sura 3.47)

        One is that of the Son, god-incarnate, that enabled God to live on earth so humans could get to know him and have a relationship with him. He is both son of God and son of man. He led a perfect life, so confirmed by the Quran referring to Jesus as Isa. During his life he never struck another person, never wielded a sword and never led an army against non-believers. He lived serving others, always humble, and prepared to sacrifice himself and be punished for the sins we all commit. We are criminals in God’s eyes; we are weak and easily tempted, even to swear. When Satan entered the picture in the Garden we were told we would not die if we disobeyed God. That was not so as man died spiritually and his sin nature has prevailed. To be made right with God, God provided Jesus to rescue us from our spiritual death, physical death and death to an eternal life with Him.

        The last is the Holy Spirit, which is God dwelling in the hearts of those who believe in Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection, proof of his divinity, overcoming sin and death. You are included in the saving grace of Christ, if you believe. In so doing the spirit of the Lord will fill you as a reminder of your purpose in serving god and an assurance of Salvation.

        Think of this Oneness as the the Sun and the earth relationship. There is but a single, one, powerful formation that makes all on earth work. The Sun is as the father from which all emanates, to include the sun’s Ray. It is almost impossible to look directly into the sun. The Ray is as Jesus, connected and never separate from its source. We can see the rays and know them. Finally what the sun produces, the warmth on our faces, the ability to aid in the growth of plants and life, is as the Holy Spirit, unseen and yet vital.

        The Trinity, as such, is not mentioned in the Bible, but the relationships are. The Quran reflects a lack of understanding by referring to the trinity as the Father, Son and Mary, as a family. This can be understood and provide a reason why Muslims, and others, fail to fully comprehend that Christians are a monotheistic group and see God and his essence are One.

        The Bible has stood the test of time and is supported historically and architecturally. The people, places and events, even Jesus life, death, the cross, the resurrection is well documented. You too can find hope and joy in your life if you pursue with an open and objective mind the example and sacrifice of Jesus. After all he was God, not just any human.

        Blessings

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      4. The idea of trinity is a complete fallacy. Nowhere can it be found in any bible. I am a Christian but I do not believe in Trinity. I worship the one GOD, Jehovah.

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