Preaching By The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H)

The revelations stopped for some time. The Holy Prophet passed this time in restlessness and anxiety, until one day, he saw angel Jibrael again, in the sky seated on a chair. The Holy Prophet became frightened and rushed home. He asked Khadija to cover him up. She covered him up, after which he received another revelation which said:

     "O thou wrapped up (in a mantle)!

Arise and deliver thy warning!

And thy Lord do thou magnify." (74: 1-3)

    In obedience to the command of Allah, the Holy Prophet invited his friends and relatives to the religion of Islam. He preached to them the Oneness of Allah and warned them of the consequences of following their evil ways. But he did not, at this stage, make any public announcement. He confined his message only to those of his close friends and relatives that he thought would give a favourable response. The first person to believe in him was his wife, Khadija, who accepted his message without any hesitation. This was followed by the acceptance of Islam by ten year old, Ali, son of Abu Talib.

     The first freed slave to accept Islam was Zaid bin Haris. The first person to become a Muslim outside the Prophet's immediate family was his close friend, Hazrat Abu Bakr.

       Within a period of three years, while the Holy Prophet was preaching his message in secret, about forty righteous and God-fearing people accepted Islam. Among them were Usman, Talha, Zubair, Abdur Rehman bin Auf, Sa'ad bin Abi Waqas and Abdullah bin Masud.

         The early converts were the people who had witnessed the prophet's private and public life very closely and had arrived at the conclusion that such a gentle and honest person could not mislead the people.

         The came another revelation that said:

"And admonish thy nearest kinsmen." (26: 214)

         In order to carry out this command, the Holy Prophet invited his relatives to his house and said to them: "Allah has ordered me to call you to Him, so who amongest you will help me in this affair and be my friend, my adviser and may deputy?" No one responded to the message except Ali, who said: "O Prophet of Allah! I shall be your helper. I will fight him who fights you." The people laughed and dispersed making fun of the Holy Prophet.

         Soon afterwards he received another revelation through which the Holy Prophet was give the order to: "Expound openly what thou art commanded, and turn away from those who join false gods with Allah." (15: 94)

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Call to Prophethood - Life of Makkah

 With age and growing understanding Hazrat Muhammad became more aware of the corrupt society around him and it disturbed him greatly. He could not believe the polytheistic ideas of the pagans of Makkah and often thought of God of his forefathers, Ibrahim and Ismail. He did not follow any particular method of worship, beacuse he was not aware of any, but he realized that there is a force of truth beyond this world which must have power and control over the whole universe.

    A few years before the conferment of prophethood, he became more and more fond of solitude. He started retiring for days with a supply of dates, oatmeal and water into a cave in a nearby mountain, known as Hira. There he pondered and meditated over the condition of his people. These spells of loneliness and meditation because more frequent as he approached the age of forty.

    One day towards the end of Ramazan, he was at the mount of Hira, when angel Jibrael appeared before him and asked him to read. This was so sudden and unexpected that startled by the strange voice, he answered: " I cannot read ". Then he felt that he was being hugged and squeezed so hard that he thought that he would die of suffocation. He was then released and the request to read was repeated. "I cannot read", said Muhammad (P.B.U.H) again. The angel hugged him and asked him to read. Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was afraid of being squeezed a third time, So he asked: "What shall I read?" The angel the recited the following verses:

Proclaim (or read) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher,

Who created

Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood.

Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,

He who taught (the use of) the pen.

Taught man that which he knew not" (96: 1-5)

      Muhammad recited these verses after the angel and the words were imprinted on his mind. This was the first revelation and the beginning of prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad. He was then forty years old.

       Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was greatly shaken by this experience and he ran out of the cave. Suddendly, he heard a voice and raising his head in the sky, he saw the same angel in the form of a man filling the whole horizon and saying: "O Muhammad (P.B.U.H), you are the messenger of Allah and I am Jibrael." Whichever may he looked, he saw the same vision and heard the same voice. He stood there until the angel disappeared.

       After the experience, he came home a bit shaken at his selection for this great and noble mission. He feared the thought of the huge and tremendous task of this mission. He narrated the incident to Hazrat Khadija. She comforted him and assured him that no harm could come to a man of his nature and the Allah would perotect him from all evils. Then she look him to her cousin. Warqa in Naufal, who was a scholarlyn person and had embraced Christianity.

         After hearing what had happened to her husband at the mount of Hira, he said that it was the Angel Jibrael who had always brought revelations to previouse messengers of God. He also informed her that his enemies would turn the new Prophet out of his city.

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