✨Beginning of the Revelation

All praise is due to Allah the Most High, The Exalted. He revealed to His messenger what he revealed. The Prophet’s heart did not deny what he saw. We praise Him for His great favors and blessings. And we thank Him for His grace and beneficence. He ordained for us our celebrations and our religious rites and perfected for us our religion and completed His favor upon us. His Prophet ﷺ is the best of those who prayed and fasted.

Be conscious of Allah and obey Him and perform righteous deeds for your hereafter which will be your salvation and elevation of your ranks. For the apprehension on that day is severe. And there is no loss equivalent to the loss of the hereafter.

Az Zumar (39) 15: Say, “Indeed, the losers are the ones who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Unquestionably, that is the manifest loss.”

When a believer contemplates over what he has been guided to of this great religion in spite of the straying of the misguided and the denial of the liars, he is eager to know about the emergence of the manifest light. And the beginnings of the revelation to the Prophet ﷺ. Especially since it is described with the greatest and best descriptions.

Al Maeda 15-16: (15) There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] (16) By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.

The emergence of this light is described in a great Hadith. As well as the beginnings of the Prophethood of its bearer ﷺ. It was narrated by a preserver of Islam, Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) the mother of the believers.

A’isha, the wife of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reported:
The first (form) with which the revelation started to the Messenger of Allah was the true vision in sleep. And he did not see any vision but it came like the bright gleam of dawn. Then solitude became dear to him and he used to seclude himself in the cave of Hira’, where he would engage in worship for a number of nights before returning to his family and getting provisions again for this purpose. He would then return to Khadija and take provisions for a like period, until the Truth came upon him while he was in the cave of Hira’. Then the angel came to him and said: Recite, to which he replied: I am not lettered. He (the angel) took hold of me and pressured me, until I was exhausted; thereafter he let go of me and said: Recite. I said: I am not lettered. He then again took hold of me and pressed me for the second time until I was exhausted and then let go of me and said: Recite, to which I replied: I am not lettered. He took hold of me and pressed me for the third time, until I was exhausted and then let me go and said: Recite in the name of your Lord who created, Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous – Who taught by the pen (al-Alaq (96) 1-4). Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned and his heart was trembling. He entered upon Khadija the daughter of Khuwailed and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So they wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija and informed her of the news: I feared for myself. Then Khadija replied: No, by Allah! Allah shall never humiliate you. You join the ties of kinship, you bear the burden of the disadvantaged, you support the destitute, you honor the guest and you help the people in what affects them of good and bad. Khadija then took him to Waraqa bin Nawfal bin Asad bin ‘Abd al-‘Uzza, and he was Khadija’s paternal cousin, And he was the man who had embraced Christianity in the Days of Ignorance (i. e. before Islam) and he used to scribe the Hebrew books, therefore, scribed from the Injil in Hebrew as much as Allah willed him to write. He was very old and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to him: O cousin! listen to the son of your brother. Waraqa bin Nawfal said: O my nephew! what did you see? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then, informed him what he had seen, and Waraqa said to him: It is Namoos (Jibreel) that Allah sent down to Musa. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out.” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ asked, “Will they drive me out?” Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, “Anyone 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. [al Bukhari 6982]

But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was paused for a time to the point that the Prophet ﷺ was saddened by it. Sadness day after day, over and over again, to the point he wished to fall from the heights of the mountain peaks. Whenever he reached the top of the mountain, Jibreel appeared to him, and said: O Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah. Then it would calm his agitation and he would relax. Then he would return. And as the time without revelation continued and prolonged similarly he went to the mountain peak and upon reaching it Jibreel appeared to him and addressed him like before.

And in the Hadith Narrated by Jabir bin ‘Abdullah Al-Ansari, he reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“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 Noble Verses (of Quran): O you enveloped in garments. Arise and warn. And your Lord glorify. And your clothing purify. And uncleanliness avoid. (74, 1-5) After this the revelation started coming strongly, frequently and regularly. [al Bukhari 4925]

Oh Muslims: Whoever reads the Hadith of the beginning of the revelation and the prophethood when there was no one on earth practicing Islam and then compares it to the number of Muslims currently on earth, he knows the greatness of Allah in submitting the hearts of millions to have Iman (faith) and worship Him and to magnify His symbols. And he will know Allah Almighty’s favor upon him of guidance, Iman (faith), and being affiliated with the best ummah (nation) produced as an example for mankind. So he praises, thanks and magnifies Allah. And he safeguards his heart from deviation. And he safeguards his Iman (faith) against loss and reduction by purifying and nurturing it through the righteous deeds.

Makkah, may Allah Almighty protect it, was devoid of true Iman (faith), guidance and the right way. Until Allah Almighty sent the Prophet ﷺ to it. Then Khadeeja (may Allah be pleased with her) believed in him and supported, assisted and fortified him. And the people followed in having Iman (faith). And this Hadith indicates the virtue of a righteous woman. And she helps her husband thru adversity. And many men were steadfast in the most difficult situations because of their righteous wives. And in this Hadith is that good works only guide the one performing them to goodness. That is why Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) deduced that what the Prophet ﷺ experienced of the beginning of revelation was good. And she evidenced that by citing his ﷺ good deeds such as joining the kinship, truthful speech , helping the impoverished, honoring the guest and helping the people in what afflicts them. And in this is encouragement to do good, perform acts of kindness and goodness to the people. For the consequence of that is good in this world and the hereafter.

And a benefit derived from the story of the beginning of the revelation is that if a person experiences a frightening matter, then he should turn to someone with wisdom, soundness of mind and who cares for him so that he advises and guides him to what is good. And it is incumbent upon the advisor to lighten the impact, reassure, provide hope that something good will come out of it.

And in this Hadith is the people of goodness wish to perform good even if they are not able to perform it and they will be rewarded for their intention. Just as Waraqa bin Nawfal (may Allah be pleased with him) wished to be a youth so that he could support the Prophet ﷺ. So it was as if he supported the Prophet ﷺ. Although he died in the beginning of the Prophet’s mission. And this indicates the value and virtue of the intention.

And how much good has passed us because of not remembering the intention? So we must be conscious of our hearts and strive to rectify our intentions.

And in this Hadith is what the Prophet ﷺ was on of perfect Iman (faith) and longing for the revelation from Allah. To the extent that he was deeply affected when the revelation was slow to come to him. Longing for the word of Allah Almighty. Despite the exhaustion and hardship that he went through while receiving the revelation. To the point that his forehead would be full of sweat on a winter night. And that is because of the weight and intensity of the revelation on him.

Al-Muzzammil (73) 5: Verily, We shall send down to you a weighty Word

So, who longs for the words of Allah Almighty, keeps reciting it with submission and humility and remembers the story of the beginning of the revelation and the revelation of the Quran? That Book by which we know our Lord Most Perfect and Exalted through his names, attributes and actions. And we learn what brings us closer to Him and what distances us from Him.

So a right upon us is that we must make a pact with the Noble Quran and not abandon reciting, memorizing, reflecting and acting on its verses. Otherwise, we would have neglected the greatest matter to which we have been guided and others have strayed:
Az Zumar (39) 23: Allah has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance [i.e., mention] of Allah. That is the guidance of Allah by which He guides whom He wills. And one whom Allah sends astray – for him there is no guide.We ask Allah Almighty to teach us what brings us benefit. And to grace us with acting upon what we learn. And to make us steadfast on Iman (faith) until we meet Him. Indeed, His is All Hearing, Answering.

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