Revelations Begin

With the passing of years Muhammad became less and less interested in business and devoted more and more of his time to the search for truth by means of reflection and meditation. He would often go to mount Hira, three miles from Makkah, where he stayed in the cave there lost in thoughts for hours. He sought answers to the mysteries of life. What is man’s true role in life? What does the Lord require of us, as His servants? From where does man come and where will he go after death? This phase of Muhammad’s life is referred to in the Quran in this verse.

“Did He not find you wandering and give you guidance?” (Al-Duha, 93:7).

At the age of 40, the angel of the Lord appeared before him bringing the first message from God.

The angel said to him “Read.”

The Prophet replied, “I do not know how to read.”

Then Muhammad felt that his body was being squeezed hard. Then the angel released him and repeated the same command. Again Muhammad replied that he did not know how to read. Then the angel again squeezed him and then released him for the third time and said: “Read!”

Then the angel Jibril revealed to him the chapter Al-Alaq.

“Read! In the name of your Lord, who created: created man from a clot (of blood); Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.” (Al-Alaq, 96:1-5)

The Prophet trembled in fear at what he had seen and heard in the cave. The revelation had been a totally new experience for him. Immediately after the disappearance of the angel, he set off home.

On arrival, the Prophet asked Khadijah to wrap him in blankets. He was shivering with high fever. When he calmed down, he related the whole incident to her.

Khadijah, being very kind and understanding, tried her best to reassure him.

Khadijah then suggested that they should go and consult her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who had become a Christian hermit.

“Did He not find you wandering and give you guidance?”

(Al-Duha, 93:7)

Waraqa heard the whole account from Muhammad  and said:

“I am sure that the angel who descended on Moses has descended on you. You will be abused, and you will be pursued. I wish I could be alive to give you my support when your people will turn you out.”

“Will they turn me out?” The Prophet found this difficult to believe. Waraqa replied that people have always turned against those who are recipients of God’s messages.

The Quran—The Word of God

The Prophet Muhammad  faced many people in his lifetime who did not believe in him. They challenged him to work a miracle just as Jesus had done in order to prove that God had really sent him as His messenger. This he did not do. He retorted that it was quite unnecessary, as the Quran itself was the supreme miracle. If anyone doubted it, let them try to compose ten surahs that would bear comparison with it.

“If you are truthful, produce ten invented chapters like it, and call on whom you can besides God, to help you.” (Hud, 11:13).

In the pre-Islamic era, the Arabs excelled at poetry and tried to match the Quran. They were unable to do so. The matchless literary quality of the Quran is one of the proofs that it is the word of God.

He also pointed out that there were obvious signs of God everywhere—in the beauty of nature, in life-giving water, in the growth of crops and in the miracle of birth. The entire universe, in fact, was proof of His existence as the Creator and Sustainer.

There were two main ways in which the Quran came to The Prophet Muhammad. Sometimes the angel Jibril would reveal the verses of the Quran as one man to another. This way it was easy. But, at other times, it was like the ringing of a bell piercing his heart and tearing him apart. This method was very hard and painful. The revelation of the Quran started when the Prophet was 40 years old and continued intermittently throughout his life. The last revelation of the Quran came only a few months before his death, when the Prophet was 63 years of age.

The Prophet Muhammad declared that each prophet was sent with miracles and that the Quran was one of the Prophet’s miracles.

The First Believers

The Prophet’s wife, Khadijah, was the first convert to Islam. When the news of Muhammad’s prophethood reached his freed slave, Zayd bin Haritha, who was 30 years of age, and his cousin Ali, who was about eleven, both declared their faith in Islam. Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s friend from childhood, also professed his faith.

This small group of the faithful were the first believers of Islam. In the first stage, the Prophet was asked to spread the message of Islam quietly to avoid arousing any hostility. Abu Bakr, being an influential merchant, was able to bring some of his friends, also rich merchants, into the fold of Islam. But the majority of the conversions took place among the weak and the poor.

In the second stage, the Prophet received the command from God to spread the message publicly, but first to his own kin.

For this purpose, he invited his family members to a meal at his house. It was Ali who managed the food. After they had taken their meal, the Prophet put his message before them: that God had made him His messenger and that they should extend their cooperation to him so that he could fulfil this responsibility of prophethood. 

No one among the elders was ready to help the Prophet. Only Ali, who was a child of 10-12 years, stood up and said: “I take your responsibility, O Messenger of God!” On hearing Ali’s response, the Prophet smiled and said, “You O Ali, you O Ali!”

The First Public Call to Islam

According to Arab custom, people used to ascend a hill when they had to announce some important news. So the Prophet, with his all-important tidings, climbed up on a hillock called Safa, situated near the Kabah. He then called out to the people, who all gathered around him. Then he addressed them thus: “If I tell you that a big army is hiding behind that mountain and is ready to attack you, will you believe me?” They all chorused, “Of course, we will, for we trust you. We know you always tell the truth.” Then the Prophet said:

“God has commanded me to warn you, my kinsmen, that you should worship none but the one and only God. If you fail to do so, you will invite God’s wrath. And I will not be able to do anything to help you, even though you are my kinsmen.”

Abu Lahab, the Prophet’s uncle, became very angry and said:

“Woe to you on this day! Did you assemble us for this?”

Some remarked that he had gone mad. Soon they all dispersed without caring to give any thought to the words of the Prophet.