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).
