The Enmity of the Jews to Jibril
At-Tirmidhi reports that the Jews said about the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "He is not one of the Prophets unless one of the angels comes to him from the presence of his Lord with the message and revelation. 'Who is your com- panion that we should follow you?" He said, "Jibril." They said, "He is the one who brings down war and fighting. He is our enemy! If you had said Mika'il who brings down the rain and mercy, we would have followed you." So Allah sent down His words:
"Say, "Anyone who is an enemy of Jibril he was the one who brought it down upon your heart, by the authority of Allah, confirming what came before it, as guidance and good news for the believers. Anyone who is an enemy of Allah and His angels and His Messengers and Jibril and Mika' il, Allah is an enemy of the rejectors." (2:97-98)
The Jews claim that Jibril, peace be upon him, was their enemy and that this enmity is what prevented them from believing in the prophethood of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, since the one who brought him the revelation was Jibril, peace be upon him. The truth is that their enmity to him stemmed
from rancour and envy since they disliked the fact that prophet- hood had moved from them to this middle community and that Jibril, peace be upon him, had descended with the firm deen which abrogates all other deens.
Allah glory be to Him! made it clear that the affair was not Jibril's. Rather the affair was Allah's entirely. That is why Allah says, "He was the one who brought it down upon your heart, by the authority of Allah." i.e. Jibril the Trustee brought this Qur'an down on your heart, O Muhammad, by the command of Allah Almighty, "confirming what came before it," of the divine books, and "as guidance and good news for the believers," i.e. it contains perfect guidance and delightful good news of the Gardens of Bliss for the believers
Al-Qurtubi said, "The ayat indicates the honour of Jibril, peace be upon him, and the censure of all who oppose him. The words of the Almighty, "Anyone who is an enemy of Allah and His angels and His Messengers and Jibril and Mika' il, Allah is an enemy of the rejectors," is a threat and a rebuke to all opponents of Jibril, peace be upon him, and it informs us that enmity to some things necessarily entails Allah's enmity in return. The enmity of the slave in respect of Allah is to disobey Him and to avoid obeying Him, and to be hostile towards His friends. Allah's enmity to the slave is to punish him and to cause the effects of enmity to appear on him.
"If it is said: "Why did Allah single out Jibril and Mika'il for mention, when the mention of the angels included them in any case?" the answer is that He singled out the mention of the two of them to honour them and also because the Jews had mentioned them in particular. They were therefore the direct cause of the ayat being sent down and it was necessary to mention them so that the Jews could not then say, "We did not oppose Allah and all His angels. Thus Allah mentioned them both to counter the interpreta- tion that they might make."