MICHAEL

In Muḥammadan works generally, the Archangel Michael is called Mīkāʾīl ( ميكائيل‎ ), Heb. ‏מִיכָאֵל‎ ; but in the Qurʾān, in which his name once occurs, he is called Mīkāl ( ميكال‎ ). Al-Baiẓāwī says that a Jew named ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn Ṣūrīyāʾ, objected to Muḥammad’s a ertion that the Archangel Gabriel revealed the Qurʾān to him, because he was an avenging angel, and said that if it had been sent by Michael, their own guardian angel ( Daniel xii. 1 ), they might have believed. This a ertion called forth the following verses from Muḥammad in Sūrah ii. 92 :— “Whoso is the enemy of Gabriel—For he it is who by God’s leave hath caused the Qurʾān to descend on thy heart, the confirmation of previous revelations, and guidance, and good tidings to the faithful—Whoso is an enemy to God or his angels, or to Gabriel, or to Michael, shall have God as his enemy : for verily God is an enemy to the infidels. Moreover, clear signs have we sent down to thee, and none will disbelieve them but the perverse.”