Angel Gabriel Appearing to Prophet Muhammad at the Mountain

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

Salutations and peace upon you, my master, Apostle of Allah

Only two Angels are mentioned in the Bible by name, and they are the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. In the Old Testament, they are only mentioned by name in the Book of Daniel. In the New Testament, the Angel Gabriel appeared to both Zechariah and the virgin Mary, as mentioned in the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, while the Angel Michael is mentioned in the Book of Revelation as the general who led the Angelic forces in battle against Satan and his minions, driving them out of Heaven. These two Archangels are mentioned by name in the Holy Quran too, for instance:

مَن كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّلَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجِبْرِيلَ وَمِيكَالَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِّلْكَافِرِينَ

Whoever is an enemy to Allah and His Angels and His Apostles and Gabriel and Michael—then indeed, Allah is an enemy to the disbelievers

(Surah 2, Ayah 98)

It is not a coincidence that these two Angels which alone are mentioned by name in the Bible are the two principal Angels in Islam too. They are strongly associated with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, during his prophetic ministry. They could be seen fighting on his right and on his left in battle, often clothed in pure white garments, looking radiant and majestic. When invoking Allah, the Prophet would often refer to Him as the "Lord of Gabriel and Michael".

But the antichrist and false prophet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, however, claimed to receive revelations, visions and visitations of Angels with strange names through which we come to know that he was a liar, and that those were not true Angels. Mirza spoke of Angels allegedly named "Tichi Tichi", "Darshani", "Khairati", "Mithan Lal" and "Sher Ali".

According to the Bible, when Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone" (Matthew 4:5-6; Luke 4:9-11).

This is quite similar to what reportedly happened to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him:

ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنْشَبْ وَرَقَةُ أَنْ تُوُفِّيَ وَفَتَرَ الْوَحْىُ فَتْرَةً حَتَّى حَزِنَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِيمَا بَلَغَنَا حُزْنًا غَدَا مِنْهُ مِرَارًا كَىْ يَتَرَدَّى مِنْ رُءُوسِ شَوَاهِقِ الْجِبَالِ فَكُلَّمَا أَوْفَى بِذِرْوَةِ جَبَلٍ لِكَىْ يُلْقِيَ مِنْهُ نَفْسَهُ تَبَدَّى لَهُ جِبْرِيلُ فَقَالَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ إِنَّكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ حَقًّا فَيَسْكُنُ لِذَلِكَ جَأْشُهُ وَتَقِرُّ نَفْسُهُ فَيَرْجِعُ فَإِذَا طَالَتْ عَلَيْهِ فَتْرَةُ الْوَحْىِ غَدَا لِمِثْلِ ذَلِكَ فَإِذَا أَوْفَى بِذِرْوَةِ جَبَلٍ تَبَدَّى لَهُ جِبْرِيلُ فَقَالَ لَهُ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ

Then, not long after Waraqah died, and the revelation ceased for a period, until the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, became so distressed, as we have been told, that he repeatedly considered throwing himself from the mountain peaks. Each time he reached the summit of a mountain to throw himself off, Gabriel would appear to him and say, "O Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of God," and his heart would be calmed and his soul would find peace. Then he would return, and if the period of revelation had been long for him, he would go again the next day for the same purpose. When he reached the summit of a mountain, Gabriel would appear to him and say the same thing to him (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Although the Devil was trying to convince our Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, to throw himself from the cliff of the mountain, he never did so as the Angel Gabriel would appear to him and reassure him.

Some people have objected to this account, saying it is not possible that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, could ever intend to commit suicide. While their objection bears merit, especially considering that it is in fact the irsal of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri and not the narration of Umm al-Mu'minin A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her.

Yet I do not necessarily find the story objectionable since it says that the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not throw himself from the mountain, but like Jesus was merely tempted to do so, a temptation he successfully resisted. 

And the story states that the Angel Gabriel would appear to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, when he reached the summit of the mountain, and would reassure him by saying "O Muhammad! You are truly the Messenger of Allah".

If the story is true, and there is a likelihood it is, I understand it to mean that during long pauses in the revelation, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, desirous to see the Angel, would climb the summit of the mountain but in reality he had no intention of committing suicide as he knew the Angel would appear to him, and surely he did appear to him. And Allah and His Apostle know best!