The First Revelations
Solitude had always been very dear to The Prophet Mohammad(pbuh&hf). He would go for spiritual retreats to a secluded cave on top of Mount Hird not far from the outskirts of Mecca.
There was nothing in this that would have struck Quraysh as particularly strange, for retreat then, had been a traditional practice amongst their descendants of the Prophet Ishmael(as), and in each generation there had been one or two who would withdraw to a solitary place from time to time so that they might have a period that was uncontaminated by the world of men.
The Mountain Retreat
In accordance with this age old practice, Mohammad would take with him provisions and consecrate a certain number of nights to the worship of God. Then he would return to his family, and sometimes on his return he took more provisions and went again to the mountain.
The Archangel Jibraeel
It was now the month of Ramadan. It was the traditional month of retreat, for even in those ugly pagan days, and it was one night towards the end of Ramadan, in his fortieth year, when he was alone in the cave, that there came to him an Archangel of God, in the form of a man.
The Holy Archangel said to him,
"Recite!"
And he said,
"What should I recite for thee?"
Then the Archangel again said:
"Recite!"
Again he replied,
"What should I recite for thee?"
And then for a third time the Holy Archangel said to Mohammad:
"Recite in the name of thy Lord who created! He createth man from a clot of blood. Recite; and thy Lord is the Most Bountiful, He who hath taught by the pen, taught man what he knew not."
Mohammad then recited these words after the Archangel, who thereupon left him. So he left the cave, and when he was just about half-way down the slope of the mountain. He heard again a voice above him saying:
"O Mohammad. Thou art the Messenger of God,
and I am Jibraeel."
He raised his eyes heavenwards and there was his visitant, still recognisable but now clearly an Archangel, filling the whole horizon and sky, and again the Archangel Jibraeel(as) repeated saying to him.
"O Mohammad. Thou art The Messenger of God,
and I am Jibraeel."
The Prophet then stood gazing at magnificent sight of The Holy Angel before him, and he turned from him. But in which ever way he turned and looked, the Angel was always standing before him astride on the horizon. Whether it was to the north, to the south, to the east or to the west.
Finally the Archangel turned away, and The Prophet continued his descend down the slope and and unseen by anyone went directly to his house.
"Cover me, Khadeejah."
He said, to his faithfull and loving wife Khadeejah as he laid himself down. She brought a cloak and spread it over him. He then began telling her what the Archangel Jibraeel had spoken to him.
The Second Revelation
This second time, began with a single letter, the earliest instance of those cryptic letters with which several of the Koranic messages begin. The letter was followed by a Divine Oath, sworn by the pen which had already been mentioned in the first Revelation as the primary means of God's teaching men His wisdom.
When questioned about the pen, the Prophet said:
"The first thing God created was the pen. He created the tablet and said to the pen: "Write!" And the pen answered: "What shall I write?" He said: "Write My knowledge of My creation till the day of resurrection. Then the pen traced what had been ordained."
The oath by the pen is folled by a second oath, by that which they write; and amongst what they, that is the Angels, write in Heaven with lesser pens on lesser tablets is the Koran's celestial archetype, which subsequent Revelations refer to as a glorious recitation of The Koran on an inviolable tablet and as the mother of The Book. The two oaths are followed by the Divine reassurance:
"Noon. By the pen, and by that which they write, no madman art thou, through the grace of thy Lord unto thee, and thine shall be a meed unfailing, and verify of an immense magnitude is thy nature."
After the First Messages had come there was a period of silence
Then the silence was broken, and there came a further reassurance, and with it the first command directly related to his mission:
"By the morning brightness, and by the night when it is still, thy Lord hath not forsaken thee. Nor doth He hate thee and the last shall be better for thee than the first, and thy Lord shall give and give unto thee, and thou shalt be satisfied. Hath He not found thee an orphan and sheltered thee, and found thee astray and guided thee, and found thee needy and enriched thee? So for the orphan, oppress him not, and for the beggar, repel him not, and for the bountiful grace of thy Lord, proclaim it!"
Khadeejah and Ali - The first to enter Islam
The religion was now established on the basis of the ritual purification and prayer; and His faithful wife Khadeejah and His cousin Ali Ibin Abe Taleb then at the age of only ten years old were the first to embrace Islam.
All three would be seen praying in front of the Holy House, The Kabah. With the Holy Prophet standing in front of the two leading the prayers and Ali just behind him and just behind the younge Ali, was the ever faithful Lady Khadeejah.
They all prayed and prostrated themselves and pressed their faces into the sandy ground before them in sincere and sacred devotion to Allah The Creator(swt).
The ignorant unbeliving people passing, would laugh and jeer at them, at the way of their prayer posture and of it's movements. In their wicked eyes it was a dishonourable behaviour in for any person to bury their face's into the sandy ground.
Personal observation
Sadly even till this day some Muslims steadfastly refuse to posture by letting their forehead touch the earth in humbleness during their prayer of worship to God.
Eventhough it is the same earth that their Creator made them from!
But arrogantly, in spite of all persuasion, these Muslims still insist to pray and posture on man made carpets!
"May God Forgive them!"
The Prophet received another revelation from The Heavens
"If we sent down this Koran upon a mountain, thou wouldst see it prostrate in humility, rent asunder through fear of God."
One night when he was lying wrapped in his cloak. There broke in upon his seclusion a Divine Command more stern and urgent than any he had yet received, bidding him to warn the people of the Day of judgement:
"O thou who art wrapped in thy cloak. Arise and warn! Thy Lord magnify! Thy raiment purify! Defilement shun! For when the trumpet shall be blown, that shall be a day of anguish, not of ease, for the disbelievers."
Another night soon after this, he was aroused by further commands telling him of the intensity of worship expected from his followers, now numbering a few.
"O thou who art wrapped in thy raiment. Keep vigil all the night save a little, half the night or lessen than half a little,
or add to it, and with care and clarity chant the Koran. Verily We shall load thee with a word of heavy weight."
In the same passage was also the command:
"And invoke in remembrance the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself unto Him with an utter devotion. Lord of the east and of the west. No God but He, Him therefore take, on Him place thy reliance!"
Special Greetings to Khadeejah from the Archangel Jibraeel
There came also other Revelations, more gentle in tone. On one occasion, visible to him alone, as was normally the case, the Archangel said to him,
"Give unto Khadeejah. Greetings of Peace from her Lord."
So he said to her,
"O Khadeejah. Here is, Jibraeel, who is siteth before me, and who greeteth thee with Peace from thy Lord."
The faithfull Lady Khadeejah was quite overwhelmed and taken back by The Divine Honour that was bestowed upon her. To be so blessed by her Lord God Allah(swt). And when she could find the words to speak, she bowed her head and answered softly,
" God is Peace, and from Him is Peace, and on Jibraeel be Peace!"
The Holy Prophet(pbuh&hf) smiled warmly at his loyal and faithful honoured wife. He looked upon Khadeejah with great affection and love.
The Revelations now began to come more copiously
The Revelations were immediately transmitted by the Prophet to his faithfull and close companion cousin Ali and those of the companions, who were now with him, then it was passed from person to person, memorised and recited.
Which told of the living nature of all earthly things, of death and of the certainty of the Resurrection and of the Last judgement, followed by the promise of eternal Hell for the unbelivers and evil dooers or by the promise of eternal Paradise for the belivers and good dooers.
But above all it told of 'The Glory of God' and of:
1.His Indivisible Oneness
2.His Greatness
3.His Truthfulness
4.His Wisdom
5.His Goodness
6.His Mercy
7.His Love
8.His Compassion
9.His Generosity
10. His Forgivness
11. His Justice
12. His Bounty
13. His Knowledge
14. His Power
By extension it continually referred to His Signs:
The marvels of nature, and to their harmonious working together which testified so eloquently to the Oneness of their Sole Originator.
Harmony is the imprint of Oneness upon multiplicity, and The Holy Koran draws attention to that harmony as a theme for man's meditation.
When uninhibited by the presence of hostile disbelievers, the believers greeted each other with the words of.
'AS-SALAAMU ALAY'KUM'
To mean: 'Peace be on you'.
To which the answer is,
'WA AL'LAY'KA AS-SALAAM'
To mean: 'And on you be Peace'.
The Holy Koran Al-Kareem
The revealed verses of consecration and of thanksgiving also played an increasingly significant part in their lives and their outlook. The Holy Koran Al-Kareem insists on the need for gratitude, and the sacrament of thanksgiving is to say,
Praise be to God the Lord of all the worlds. Whereas that of consecration or dedication is to say:
BISMILLAH AL-RAHMAN AL-RAHEEM
"In The Name Of Allah, The Most Compastionate and The Most Merciful"
This was the first verse of every Surah of the Koran, and following the example of the Holy Prophet Mohammad(pbuh&hf) they used it to inaugurate every Koranic recital, and by extension every other rite, and by further extension every act or initiative.
The new religion of Islam admitted of nothing profane.
