Prophet realised

Muhammad had made his mark as a respectable gentleman in a society in ‘‘which traditional tribal ways were strained by Mecca’s transition from a semi-Bedouin to a commercial, urban society’’. But so rampant were the moral ills of this thriving commercial centre that a model of a completely developed man had become a rarity. Muhammad’s impeccable moral conduct and sobriety of judgement did not go unnoticed among the citizens of Mecca who, out of love and respect, popularly called him al-Amin, ‘‘trustworthy’’. One of Muhammad’s serious engagements was to retreat regularly to a cave on Mount Hira…Here he contemplated and reflected in solitude on the idolatry, moral degeneration, and factious rivalries of his people. Here at the age of forty during a night of the month of Ramadan, called ‘‘The Night of Power and Excellence’’ , he first received the divine answer to the yearning of his soul and mind. ‘‘Recite’’, commanded the angel Gabriel. Muhammad responded in bewilderment that he was ‘‘unlettered’’. The heavenly intermediary insisted twice more, and each time the ‘‘unlettered’’ seeker after the Truth expressed his inability to read. Then Light dawned upon Muhammad, and the words of Allah came to him: Read in the name of your Lord who created. He created man out of a germ-cell….

Muhammad repeated the words with a frightened heart. Returning home from the cave, he asked Khadija. ‘‘Wrap me up, wrap me up’’. And he was wrapped up in a garment; until his fear vanished, he told his wife about the experience at the cave. Fearing that he was possessed, Khadija, who had intimately known her husband, responded to Muhammad’s remark — ‘‘I was afraid I should die’’ — in these words: ‘‘No, it will not be so, I swear by God, He will never make thee melancholy or sad. For you are kind to your relatives, you spread the truth, you are faithful in trust, you bear the afflictions of the people, you spend in good works what you gain in trade, you are hospitable, and you assist your fellowmen.’’

Khadija took her husband to her Christian cousin, Waraqa ibn Naufal. When the sage heard of Muhammad’s experience, the reassurance poured forth: ‘‘Surely, by Him in whose hand is Waraqa’s soul, thou art the prophet of this people…Like the Hebrew prophets, thou wilt be called a liar, and they will use thee despitefully and cast thee out and fight against thee.’’ Thereupon Muhammad believed himself to be the Prophet…

Extracted from ‘Experiencing Islam’