Twenty years before prophethood, Muhammad, may peace be upon him, participated in the Alliance. Twenty years after the prophethood he said, “I was present at the house of Abdullah bin Jud‘an at the time of the Alliance. I will not go back on it, even if I were to be given hundred red camels. Even after Islam has been established, I shall still be in favour of such treaty.’
During that period, there were other social treaties as well. Banu Abd al-Dar and his colleagues once gathered in the precincts of Kabah and vowed that they would not leave each other in time of need and they would not hand over anyone to other groups. Muhammad, may peace be upon him, did not rescind these treaties. However, he supported them. He even said that such treaties of mutual understanding and reconciliation have been further strengthened after the advent of Islam. Before the prophethood, Muhammad, may peace be upon him, was engaged in trading. Abdullah bin Abi al-Hamsa said:
“I had transacted some business with Muhammad, may peace be upon him, in those days and owed him money. I asked him to wait till I brought the required sum. When I reached home, I completely forgot about it. I remembered three days later and rushed to the spot where I had left Muhammad, may peace be upon him. He was there waiting for me.”
He did not upbraid me. All he said was ‘You caused me a great deal of inconvenience. I have been waiting for you here for the last three days.’ (Ibn Ishaq)
Abdullah bin Saib said that during the days of Ignorance, he was a partner in trade with Muhammad, may peace be upon him. Much later he went to Madinah and met him. Muhammad, may peace be upon him, said, “Do you recognise me?” He said, “Indeed, you were my partner in trade. And what a wonderful partner you were! You never indulged in deceit or quarrels.”
Even before his prophethood, Muhammad used to shun polytheism, idolatry and rude behaviour. During his second journey to Syria, a dispute arose between Muhammad and a man in the course of a transaction. The man said:
“I will accept your words if you swear in the names of Lat and Uzza. (The two of three main idols worshipped in Makkah, mentioned in the Quran 53:19-20).
Muhammad replied:
‘I have never sworn in the name of Lat or Uzza till today. Whenever I come by chance upon Lat or Uzza, I avoid them and carry on.”
With reference to such incidents, Ibn Hisham has rightly concluded that:
“The Messenger of God entered his adulthood as if God was protecting and watching over him. And He kept him safe from the evils of the time because, He wanted to confer on him honour and prophethood. Thus he reached a position of supremacy over all the men of his tribe. Of all of them, he was the best behaved. He was the noblest among them by his lineage and was the best neighbour. He was unparalleled in forbearance. He was honest in what he said, and the most trustworthy. He refrained from misconduct. Ultimately, he began to be called Al-Amin (the trustworthy) in Makkah.” (Sirat Ibn Hisham)
With his marriage with the wealthy Khadijah, Muhammad had access to all her wealth and property, he could expand his business as much as he desired. He had every opportunity to lead a successful and comfortable life. But with the passing of years he became less and less interested in business and devoted more and more of his time to the search of truth by means of reflection and meditation, instead of trying to establish himself in his society he took to the desert. He would often go to mount Hira, three miles from Makkah. He stayed there in the cave lost in thoughts for hours. When his supply of food and water were exhausted, he returned home for provisions and went back to the solitude of nature for prayer and meditations. He sought answers to the mysteries of life. What is man’s true role in life? What does the Lord require of us, as His servants? From where man comes and where will he go after death? It was to find answers to these perplexing questions that he betook himself to the stillness of the desert. With all these questions in mind, worldly gain and loss, comfort and distress did not concern him. He urgently wanted the answer to these important questions of truth. For nothing less than the truth could satisfy his soul. This phase of Muhammad’s life is referred to in the Quran in this verse.
“Did He not find you wandering and guide you?” (93:7).
He spent the whole of the month of Ramadan in the Cave of Hira. Finally after spending six long months in the cave, God turned in mercy to His Prophet, to guide him to the path of truth. At the age of 40, on February 12, 610 A.D., the Prophet was sitting all alone in his Cave. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in human form, bringing the first message from God. These words form part of the beginning of the ninety sixth chapter of the Quran. The Prophet’s quest had finally been rewarded. God granted him guidance and chose him as His Prophet.
The angel said to him “Read.”
The Prophet replied, “I do not know how to read.”
Then Muhammad felt that his body was being squeezed hard. Then the angel released him and repeated the same command. Again Muhammad replied that he did not know how to recite. Then the angel again squeezed him and then released him for the third time and said: Read!”
Then a change came over him and he was able to repeat the divine words. Then Gabriel revealed to him the chapter Al-Alaq.
“Recite in the name of your Lord, who created; who created man from a clot of blood; Recite, and your Lord is the most Gracious. It is He who has taught man by the pen that which he did not know.” (96:1-5)
Muhammad recited these verses repeating them after the angel. Then he found that these words were written on his heart (Ibn Ishaq).
The Prophet trembled in fear of what he had seen and heard in the cave. The revelation was totally a new experience for him. He set off for his house immediately after the disappearance of the angel.
On reaching home the Prophet asked Khadijah to wrap him in blankets. He was shivering from high fever. When he calmed down, he related the whole incident to her.
Khadijah, being very kind and understanding tried her best to assure him.
She said:
“By Him who dominates Khadijah’s soul, I pray and I hope that you will be the Prophet of this nation. By God, He will not let you down. You are kind to your relations. You speak the truth, you help the poor and bear their burden, you honour guests and help those in distress. Surely God will never let you fail.”
Khadijah then suggested that they should go and consult her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who had become a Christian hermit.
Waraqa heard the whole account from Muhammad and said:
“I am sure the angel that descended on Moses has descended on you. You will be abused, and you will be pursued. I wish I could be alive to give you my support when your people will turn you out.”
“Will they turn me out?” The Prophet found this difficult to believe. Waraqa replied that people have always turned against those who are recipients of God’s messages.
The Prophet’s wife Khadijah was the first convert to Islam. When the news of Muhammad’s prophethood reached a freed slave, Zayd who was 30 years of age, and his cousin Ali, who was about eleven, both declared their faith in Islam. Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s friend from childhood, was out of town. On his return he heard of the new experience of the Prophet. People said to him that his friend had taken leave of his senses, believing that angels brought him messages from God. But Abu Bakr trusted the Prophet completely. Not for one moment did he doubt his veracity. He immediately went to meet the Prophet to find out the truth for himself. Abu Bakr asked the Prophet whether an angel had really descended upon him from God and had given him a message. The Prophet said “Yes,” and without a moment’s hesitation Abu Bakr professed his faith. He did not require any arguments to be convinced that he was telling the truth.
This small group of the Faithful were the first believers of Islam. In the first stage, the Prophet was asked to spread the message of Islam quietly to avoid arousing any hostility. Abu Bakr, being an influential merchant, was able to bring some of his friends, also rich merchants, into the fold of Islam. But the majority of the conversions took place among the weak and the poor.
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