Waraqa ibn Nawfal

Waraqa ibn Nawfal was a Christian scholar of Mecca and a cousin of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the Prophet's first wife. He had converted to Christianity in the pre-Islamic period and had become highly learned in the scriptures — able to write in Hebrew and had transcribed portions of the Gospels. When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received his first revelation in the cave of Hira and returned home deeply shaken, Khadijah took him to Waraqa. The Prophet described his experience — the being that had come to him, commanded him to recite, and had squeezed him until he could bear no more. Waraqa's response was immediate and certain: 'This is the Namus (the angel of revelation) whom Allah sent to Musa AS. Oh, would that I were young and could live until the time when your people will drive you out!' The Prophet ﷺ was surprised: 'Will they drive me out?' Waraqa said: 'Yes. Never has a man come with what you have brought except that he was treated with hostility. If I should remain alive till the day you are expelled, I will support you strongly.' Waraqa died shortly after this encounter — he was already an old man. His recognition of the revelation validated what Khadijah already believed: that the man she married was indeed a prophet. He is one of the Hunafa — those who had rejected idolatry and sought pure monotheism before the Prophet's call — and scholars debate his ultimate fate, with some holding he died a believer based on his clear recognition of the revelation. He represents the bridge between the earlier Abrahamic revelations and the final message of Islam.