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Muhammad ( never felt fully
content to be part of a society whose values he considered to
be devoid of true religious significance. It became his habit
to retreat from time to time to
the cave of Hira', to meditate near the summit of Jabal al-Nur,
the "Mountain of Light", near Makkah.
At the age of 40, while engaged in one such meditative retreat, Muhammad received his first revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel. This revelation, which continued for twenty-three years, is known as the Qur'an, the faithful recording of the entire revelation of God. The first revelation read:
"Recite: In the name of your Lord Who created man from a clot (of blood). Recite: Your Lord is Most Noble, Who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know." [96:1-5]
It was this reality that he gradually and steadily came to learn and believe, until he fully realized that it is the truth.
His first convert was Khadijah,
whose support and companionship provided necessary
reassurance and strength. He also won the support of some of his
relatives and friends.
Three basic themes of the early message were the majesty of the
one, unique God, the
futility of idol worship, the threat of judgment, and the necessity
of faith, compassion and morality in human affairs. All these
themes represented an attack on the crass materialism
and idolatry prevalent in Makkah at the time. So when he began
to proclaim the message to others the Makkans rejected him. He
and his small group of followers suffered bitter
persecution, which grew so fierce that in the year 622 C.E., God
gave them the command to emigrate. This event, the Hijrah (migration),
in which they left Makkah for the city of Madinah, some 260 miles
to the north, marked the beginning of a new era and thus the beginning
of the Muslim calendar. During his suffering, Muhammad drew comfort
from the knowledge revealed to him about other prophets, such
as Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, each of whom had also been persecuted
and tested.
After several years and
some significant battles, the Prophet and his followers were able
to return to Makkah, where they forgave their enemies and established
Islam definitively. By the time the Prophet died, at the age of
63, the greater part of Arabia had accepted Islam, and within
a century of his death, Islam had spread as far west as Spain
and as far east as China.
It was clear that the message was not limited to Arabs; it was
for the whole of humanity.
The Prophet's sayings (Hadith),
are also believed to be revelation. The number of sayings
collected by his followers and scholars is about 10,000. Some
typical examples of his sayings
are as follows:
"To pursue knowledge is obligatory on every believing (man and woman)." [Ibn Majah]
"Removing a harmful thing from the road is charity." [Bukhari, Muslim]
"Those who do not show tenderness and love cannot expect to have tenderness shown to them." [Bukhari]"Adore Allah (God) as though you see Him; even if you do not see Him, He nonetheless sees you." [Bukhari, Muslim]
Although Muhammad is deeply loved, revered and emulated by Muslims as God's final messenger, he is not an object of worship .
