The Beginning of Revelation

The beginning of the divine revelation to Muhammad, peace be upon him, marks one of the most consequential moments in human history. Mubarakpuri's treatment of this event draws on the most authentic hadith narrations — particularly the famous account narrated by Aisha in Bukhari and Muslim — to reconstruct the experience as faithfully as the sources permit, while maintaining the reverence and theological seriousness that the subject demands.

The Prophet, in his fortieth year, had increasingly retreated to Cave Hira on the mountain known as Jabal al-Nur (Mountain of Light) outside Makkah for extended periods of solitary reflection. These retreats reflected a profound spiritual restlessness — a soul unsuited to the idolatry and moral corruption around him, reaching toward a truth he could not yet name. It was during one of these retreats, in the month of Ramadan, that the Angel Jibril appeared and commanded: 'Read!' (Iqra!).

The Prophet's response — 'I cannot read' — and the angel's repeated command accompanied by a powerful embrace, three times in succession, before the recitation of the first five verses of Surah al-Alaq, is preserved in extraordinary detail through Aisha's narration. The Prophet returned from the cave trembling, his heart beating powerfully, and was wrapped in a garment by Khadijah as he sought comfort. His description of the experience — the fear, the physical intensity, the certainty that something utterly transformative had occurred — is one of the most humanly vivid moments in the entire seerah literature.

Khadijah's response is itself a model of faith and support. She consoled her husband with words that reveal both her intelligence and her knowledge of his character: 'By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You uphold the ties of kinship, speak the truth, help the poor and destitute, serve your guests generously, and assist those afflicted by calamity' (al-Bukhari). Her certainty that a man of such character could not be afflicted by evil, only by divine grace, became the first implicit affirmation of the prophetic mission. Khadijah is honored in Islamic tradition as the first to believe in Islam.

Mubarakpuri also narrates the visit to Waraqa ibn Nawfal, Khadijah's elderly cousin, who was knowledgeable in the earlier scriptures. Waraqa's recognition of the visitation as the same angel who had come to Moses, and his prediction that Muhammad would be driven out of his city, provides a poignant link between the prophetic tradition and its new expression.

The period of interruption of revelation (fatra) that followed, during which the Prophet experienced distressing anxiety about its cessation, and the eventual resumption with Surah al-Muddaththir, is also treated with care. This interval prepared the Prophet's soul for the long, arduous, and glorious mission that was beginning — a mission that would last twenty-three years and reshape human history.