Part 23

“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught (the writing) by the pen [the first person to write was Prophet Idrees (Enoch) #]. He has taught man that which he knew not.” (Qur’an 96: 1-5)

‘Aishah % continued to say, “His heart trembling, the Messenge: of Allah 2x returned with them (i.e., with these revealed Verses it his heart). He #% entered upon Khadeejah bint Khuwailid % anc said, ‘Cover me! Cover me!’ And so they covered him and, wher the terror (of what had happened) left him, he informec Khadeejah % about what had taken place, (after which he # said), ‘I fear for myself (ie. I fear that I have gone mad). Khadeejah % said, ‘Never! By Allah, Allah will never forsake you for you join ties of family relation, you bear the burdens of thi weak, you give to people what no one else is able to give (in term of benefits and good manners), you hospitably entertain you guests, and you help people who are afflicted with calamities. Khadeejah % took him to her cousin, Waragah ibn Naufal ibi Asad ibn ‘Abdul-’Uzzah, for he was a man who had embrace: Christianity during the days of ignorance and was able to write i the Hebrew language. In Hebrew, he had transcribed from th

Revelation descends to the Prophet for the first time 131

By contemplating this Hadeeth, we can infer a number of lessons that relate to the life of the Prophet #y. Here are the most important of those lessons:

"0 Saheeh Bukhaaree, The Beginning of Revelation.’”” Hadeeth number: 3.

through the miraculous ‘true dreams’ he was seeing. And so if he wasn't literally waiting for Jibreel 3 to come to him, he # at least wasn’t totally shocked when Jibreel #% did come; after all, everything that was happening to him # was leading up to that moment, which is why he #% was able to give clear answers to Jibreel’s requests. Therefore, during the stage in which the Prophet #% was seeing ‘true dreams,’ he #8 was being prepared and trained for the next phase of revelation: receiving revelation from Jibreel 4 while being fully awake.

In another Hadeeth, we learn that the true, good dream is one of forty-six parts of Prophethood. Al-Baihagee mentioned that the scholars say, “The period during which the Prophet 2 was seeing ‘good dreams’ lasted for six months.” It is important to note here that nothing from the Qur’an was revealed to him in his sleep, but rather the entire Qur’an was revealed to him while he #8 was awake.

The ‘good dream’ is a form of glad tidings that those other than the Prophet #8 might also see, for it is related that the Prophet 2 said, “O people, nothing remains from the glad tidings of Prophethood except for the good dream: A Muslim may see it, or it can be seen for him (i.e., someone else can see it for him).”"]

Before Jibreel 3 descended upon the Prophet #¥ with revelation in the cave of Hira, the Prophet # would see beautiful dreams, from which he # would awaken in a state of bliss, open in mind and spirit to all of the beautiful things in life. What he # would see in these dreams would occur in real life in exactly the same manner. ‘Aishah % expressed this phenomenon beautifully when she said, ‘like the light of the morning,’ so that one can clearly understand that just as the light of the morning is glaringly clear, so too was the manner in which the Prophet’s dreams were taking form in real life.

"I Ibn Manjah, "The Book of Dream Interpretations.” Hadeeth number 3899. Its chain is Hasan (acceptable), and Aj-Albaanee ruled that it is authentic in Saheeh Ibn Maajah (3161/3968).

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Isolation Having Been Made Beloved To Him, The Prophet # Would Seek Out Solitude In The Cave Of Hira

Shortly before the Prophet 2% received revelation for the first time, solitude was made beloved to his soul. Freeing himself and his heart from the worries of life and thoughts of mundane day-today dealings with other people, the Prophet 2 was able to concentrate his mind, his thoughts, and his emotions on more important matters: reflecting on the purpose of life, contemplation the creation, and most important of all - worshipping Allah 3. The cave of Hira thus became a place of worship for the Prophet #. Alone and stationed high up in the cave of a mountain, the Prophet # was able to have a clear and fresh perspective on what he saw around him: the beautiful clear sky, the majestically constructed mountains, the wonder of created beings - all attesting to the greatness and might of Allah 4%. The long hours of solitude were a kind of specific training for the Prophet #, for his heart was being purified from excessive attachment to worldly things. From his perspective high up in the cave of Hira, and with a contemplative frame of mind, the Prophet ## appreciated the wonderful signs of Allah’s creation, all of which point to Allah’s almightiness and perfection.

In recent centuries, some ascetic orders have considered isolation to be one of the stages cne must go through in order to achieve a higher level of spirituality. To be sure, moderate stints of isolation can be useful in illuminating one’s heart, in removing darkness from one’s soul, and in turning away from evil desires and lusts. One of the Sunan (plural of Sunnah) of the Prophet # is to perform I'tikaaf (to isolate oneself in a Masjid, in order to worship Allah 3¢) during Ramadan. This form of isolation is something that every Muslim should strive to apply, regardless of whether he is a leader, a scholar, a businessman, or anyone else for that matter. The period of I’tikaaf is an ideal time for one to remove the blemishes that, through the continual perpetration of sins, become attached to one’s soul and heart. And while we perform

I'tikaaf, we should avail ourselves of the opportunity of judging ourselves, of seeing where we stand - of taking account of ourselves before we are taken to account for our actions (after we die). Scholars and Du’‘aat should especially make it a point to perform I’tikaaf and to use at least part of the time spent in I’tikaaf on studying the situation of the Da’wah and reflecting on how to better spread the teachings of Islam.

Finally, in regard to ‘Aishah’s saying, “He # would worship (in the cave) for a number of nights,” Shaikh Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah Daraaz said, “This expression means that the number of nights was neither very small nor very large. Therefore, even before the Prophet #% received revelation for the first time, he was a paragon of moderation and justness in action. And this signaled the Prophetic guidance that was to come after Allah 3 would send him as a mercy to all that exists."

When The Truth Came To Him In The Cave Of Hira

The Angel Jibreel 3 came and said, “Read.” The Prophet #% said, “Tam not of those who can read,” and he #¢ later described what happened next: “He took me and embraced me with a strong embrace for a third time, and then he released me and said:

4 Lh & wh

“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught (the writing) by the pen.” (Qur'an 96: 1-4)

These blessed Verses were revealed before any other part of the Qur'an. In them, Allah 4 informs us that man was created froma clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood) and that He 3 has taught man that which he knew not.

"1 Al-Mukhtaar Min Kunooz As-Sunnah (pg. 19).

Revelation descends to the Prophet for the first time 135

This first meeting between Jibreel # and the Prophet #% was, to put it mildly, grand and momentous. We can scarcely perceive just how important it was, especially in terms of its far-reaching implications for all of mankind. The momentous moment during which the Prophet # received revelation through Jibreel # for the first time is - without exaggeration - the greatest moment that has taken place on earth through its long history. What is the reality of the event that took place in this moment? It is that Allah - the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the King and Creator of all that exists - had mercy on and honoured, from above the seven heavens, creatures called human beings who live on a planet called earth, which is an infinitely small speck in the universe. Allah 3 honoured human beings by choosing one of them - one who would receive divine inspiration, one to whom His Words would descend, and one who would represent His Will on earth."