Narrated
'Aisha:
(the
mother of the faithful believers) The commencement
of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was
in the form of good dreams which came true like
bright day light, and then the love of seclusion
was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion
in the cave of Hira where he used to worship
(Allah alone) continuously for many days before
his desire to see his family. He used to take with
him the journey food for the stay and then come
back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food
like-wise again till suddenly the Truth descended
upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The
angel came to him and asked him to read. The
Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read.
The
Prophet added, "The angel caught me
(forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could
not bear it any more. He then released me and
again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not
know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again
and pressed me a second time till I could not bear
it any more. He then released me and again asked
me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how
to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he
caught me for the third time and pressed me, and
then released me and said, 'Read in the name of
your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has
created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is
the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3) Then
Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and
with his heart beating severely. Then he went to
Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me!
Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was
over and after that he told her everything that
had happened and said, "I fear that something
may happen to me." Khadija replied,
"Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace
you. You keep good relations with your Kith and
kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your
guests generously and assist the deserving
calamity-afflicted ones."
Khadija
then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin
Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, who, during the
PreIslamic Period became a Christian and used to
write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would
write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah
wished him to write. He was an old man and had
lost his eyesight. Khadija said to Waraqa,
"Listen to the story of your nephew, O my
cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew!
What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle
described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said,
"This is the same one who keeps the secrets
(angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I
wish I were young and could live up to the time
when your people would turn you out." Allah's
Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?"
Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said,
"Anyone (man) who came with something similar
to what you have brought was treated with
hostility; and if I should remain alive till the
day when you will be turned out then I would
support you strongly." But after a few days
Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also
paused for a while.
Narrated
Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari while talking about
the period of pause in revelation reporting the
speech of the Prophet "While I was walking,
all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I
looked up and saw the same angel who had visited
me at the cave of Hira' sitting on a chair between
the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and
came back home and said, 'Wrap me (in blankets).'
And then Allah revealed the following Holy Verses
(of Quran):
'O
you (i.e. Muhammad)! wrapped up in garments!'
Arise and warn (the people against Allah's
Punishment),... up to 'and desert the idols.'
(74.1-5) After this the revelation started coming
strongly, frequently and regularly."
Narrated
'Abdullah bin 'Abbas:
Abu
Sufyan bin Harb informed me that Heraclius had
sent a messenger to him while he had been
accompanying a caravan from Quraish. They were
merchants doing business in Sham (Syria,
Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan), at the time when
Allah's Apostle had truce with Abu Sufyan and
Quraish infidels. So Abu Sufyan and his companions
went to Heraclius at Ilya (Jerusalem). Heraclius
called them in the court and he had all the senior
Roman dignitaries around him. He called for his
translator who, translating Heraclius's question
said to them, "Who amongst you is closely
related to that man who claims to be a
Prophet?" Abu Sufyan replied, "I am the
nearest relative to him (amongst the group)."
Heraclius
said, "Bring him (Abu Sufyan) close to me and
make his companions stand behind him." Abu
Sufyan added, Heraclius told his translator to
tell my companions that he wanted to put some
questions to me regarding that man (The Prophet)
and that if I told a lie they (my companions)
should contradict me." Abu Sufyan added,
"By Allah! Had I not been afraid of my
companions labeling me a liar, I would not have
spoken the truth about the Prophet. The first
question he asked me about him was:
'What
is his family status amongst you?'
I
replied, 'He belongs to a good (noble) family
amongst us.'
Heraclius
further asked, 'Has anybody amongst you ever
claimed the same (i.e. to be a Prophet) before
him?'
I
replied, 'No.'
He
said, 'Was anybody amongst his ancestors a king?'
I
replied, 'No.'
Heraclius
asked, 'Do the nobles or the poor follow him?'
I
replied, 'It is the poor who follow him.'
He
said, 'Are his followers increasing decreasing
(day by day)?'
I
replied, 'They are increasing.'
He
then asked, 'Does anybody amongst those who
embrace his religion become displeased and
renounce the religion afterwards?'
I
replied, 'No.'
Heraclius
said, 'Have you ever accused him of telling lies
before his claim (to be a Prophet)?'
I
replied, 'No. '
Heraclius
said, 'Does he break his promises?'
I
replied, 'No. We are at truce with him but we do
not know what he will do in it.' I could not find
opportunity to say anything against him except
that.
Heraclius
asked, 'Have you ever had a war with him?'
I
replied, 'Yes.'
Then
he said, 'What was the outcome of the battles?'
I
replied, 'Sometimes he was victorious and
sometimes we.'
Heraclius
said, 'What does he order you to do?'
I
said, 'He tells us to worship Allah and Allah
alone and not to worship anything along with Him,
and to renounce all that our ancestors had said.
He orders us to pray, to speak the truth, to be
chaste and to keep good relations with our Kith
and kin.'
Heraclius
asked the translator to convey to me the
following, I asked you about his family and your
reply was that he belonged to a very noble family.
In fact all the Apostles come from noble families
amongst their respective peoples. I questioned you
whether anybody else amongst you claimed such a
thing, your reply was in the negative. If the
answer had been in the affirmative, I would have
thought that this man was following the previous
man's statement. Then I asked you whether anyone
of his ancestors was a king. Your reply was in the
negative, and if it had been in the affirmative, I
would have thought that this man wanted to take
back his ancestral kingdom.
I
further asked whether he was ever accused of
telling lies before he said what he said, and your
reply was in the negative. So I wondered how a
person who does not tell a lie about others could
ever tell a lie about Allah. I, then asked you
whether the rich people followed him or the poor.
You replied that it was the poor who followed him.
And in fact all the Apostle have been followed by
this very class of people. Then I asked you
whether his followers were increasing or
decreasing. You replied that they were increasing,
and in fact this is the way of true faith, till it
is complete in all respects. I further asked you
whether there was anybody, who, after embracing
his religion, became displeased and discarded his
religion. Your reply was in the negative, and in
fact this is (the sign of) true faith, when its
delight enters the hearts and mixes with them
completely. I asked you whether he had ever
betrayed. You replied in the negative and likewise
the Apostles never betray. Then I asked you what
he ordered you to do. You replied that he ordered
you to worship Allah and Allah alone and not to
worship any thing along with Him and forbade you
to worship idols and ordered you to pray, to speak
the truth and to be chaste. If what you have said
is true, he will very soon occupy this place
underneath my feet and I knew it (from the
scriptures) that he was going to appear but I did
not know that he would be from you, and if I could
reach him definitely, I would go immediately to
meet him and if I were with him, I would certainly
wash his feet.' Heraclius then asked for the
letter addressed by Allah's Apostle
which
was delivered by Dihya to the Governor of Busra,
who forwarded it to Heraclius to read. The
contents of the letter were as follows: "In
the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful
(This letter is) from Muhammad the slave of Allah
and His Apostle to Heraclius the ruler of
Byzantine. Peace be upon him, who follows the
right path. Furthermore I invite you to Islam, and
if you become a Muslim you will be safe, and Allah
will double your reward, and if you reject this
invitation of Islam you will be committing a sin
by misguiding your Arisiyin (peasants). (And I
recite to you Allah's Statement:)
'O
people of the scripture! Come to a word common to
you and us that we worship none but Allah and that
we associate nothing in worship with Him, and that
none of us shall take others as Lords beside
Allah. Then, if they turn away, say: Bear witness
that we are Muslims (those who have surrendered to
Allah).' (3:64).
Abu
Sufyan then added, "When Heraclius had
finished his speech and had read the letter, there
was a great hue and cry in the Royal Court. So we
were turned out of the court. I told my companions
that the question of Ibn-Abi-Kabsha) (the Prophet
Muhammad) has become so prominent that even the
King of Bani Al-Asfar (Byzantine) is afraid of
him. Then I started to become sure that he (the
Prophet) would be the conqueror in the near future
till I embraced Islam (i.e. Allah guided me to
it)."
The
sub narrator adds, "Ibn An-Natur was the
Governor of llya' (Jerusalem) and Heraclius was
the head of the Christians of Sham. Ibn An-Natur
narrates that once while Heraclius was visiting
ilya' (Jerusalem), he got up in the morning with a
sad mood. Some of his priests asked him why he was
in that mood? Heraclius was a foreteller and an
astrologer. He replied, 'At night when I looked at
the stars, I saw that the leader of those who
practice circumcision had appeared (become the
conqueror). Who are they who practice
circumcision?' The people replied, 'Except the
Jews nobody practices circumcision, so you should
not be afraid of them (Jews).
'Just
Issue orders to kill every Jew present in the
country.'
While
they were discussing it, a messenger sent by the
king of Ghassan to convey the news of Allah's
Apostle to Heraclius was brought in. Having heard
the news, he (Heraclius) ordered the people to go
and see whether the messenger of Ghassan was
circumcised. The people, after seeing him, told
Heraclius that he was circumcised. Heraclius then
asked him about the Arabs. The messenger replied,
'Arabs also practice circumcision.'
(After
hearing that) Heraclius remarked that sovereignty
of the 'Arabs had appeared. Heraclius then wrote a
letter to his friend in Rome who was as good as
Heraclius in knowledge. Heraclius then left for
Homs. (a town in Syrian and stayed there till he
received the reply of his letter from his friend
who agreed with him in his opinion about the
emergence of the Prophet and the fact that he was
a Prophet. On that Heraclius invited all the heads
of the Byzantines to assemble in his palace at
Homs. When they assembled, he ordered that all the
doors of his palace be closed. Then he came out
and said, 'O Byzantines! If success is your desire
and if you seek right guidance and want your
empire to remain then give a pledge of allegiance
to this Prophet (i.e. embrace Islam).'
(On
hearing the views of Heraclius) the people ran
towards the gates of the palace like onagers but
found the doors closed. Heraclius realized their
hatred towards Islam and when he lost the hope of
their embracing Islam, he ordered that they should
be brought back in audience.
(When
they returned) he said, 'What already said was
just to test the strength of your conviction and I
have seen it.' The people prostrated before him
and became pleased with him, and this was the end
of Heraclius's story (in connection with his
faith).
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