Gabriel: The compelling force

In divine scheme of things, whenever the events, happenings and situations pointed to gross deviation from natural run of events, the archangel—Gabriel came with a message to be delivered to Messengers (peace be upon them all). The archangel was chosen to deliver the message of course correction, as noted in the Holy Verse:

Say, "Whoever is hostile to Gabriel; it is he who revealed it to your heart by God's leave, confirming what preceded it, and guidance and good news for the believers." (2:97)

As related in Edward William Lane’s lexicography Gabriel has interesting root words, the words in vernacular are—Jeem, Bae and Rae. A study of the roots terms that emanate from these suggests a compelling, a corrective force... for example Jabr, Jabran. From this we are able to better appreciate why the term Jibreel was used for the angel/force that compelled the Messengers (peace be upon them all) to guide nations from darkness to light.

Further appreciation of the term could be had from its use in Al Jebra, which in essence means restoring the balance of equations. Mohammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (780-850 A.D) was obviously aware of the transdisciplinary connections. The great mathematician, astronomer, geographer of Abbasid era thus named it-- Al jabar Wal mukabala.

From the root words and its etymological nuances, it could be inferred that in different epochs, as and when a corrective force was needed, whenever the circu mstances compelled a change of course, it was designed by divinity to bring it about through the angelic agency of Gabriel. The prescription of course correction, the compelling message was passed to Messengers (peace be upon them all) to be delivered earnestly to restore the social balance and compel the human society to stay in tune with natural scheme of things. And, as the Holy Verse notes the messages confirmed the ones preceding from Adam (A.S) to last in the Prophetic trail-Prophet Mohammad (pbuh).