was the Prophet that Ibn al-Hayyabān had told them about. Their people disagreed with them, but those young men were determined that he was indeed the Prophet about whose appearance they had been informed. They therefore came out of the fort of Quraithah and declared their acceptance of Islam, thereby sparing themselves and their families the fate of the people of Qurayẓah. Among these were Thaʿlabah ibn Saʿyah, Usayd ibn Saʿyah and Asʿad ibn ʿUbayd.11 That Christian and Jewish theologians should know in advance of the coming of the Prophet is not surprising, because both the Gospel and the Torah include references to Muhammad as the last of God’s messengers and Prophets.
NOTES
1. Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Ḥasanī Nadwī, Muhammad Rasulallah, (English translation by Muhiuddin Ahmad), Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, Lucknow, India, 1979, pp. 78-79.
2. Amīn Duwaydār, Ṣuwar Min Ḥayāt al-Rasūl, Dār al-Maʿārif, 4th Edition, Cairo, pp. 106-113.
3. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Dār al-Qalam, Beirut, Vol. 1, pp. 214-216.
4. Ibid., pp. 237-240.
5. Amīn Duwaydār, op.cit., pp. 106-115.
6. Ibn Hishām, op.cit., pp. 244-247.
7. Ibid., p. 240.
8. Ibid., pp. 246-247.
9. Ibid., p. 217.
10. Ibid., pp. 225-226.
11. Ibid., pp. 226-228.
LITTLE IS REPORTED about how Muhammad lived after his marriage, up to the time when he started to receive Divine revelations. It is certain, however, that his marriage was a very happy one. Moreover, his marriage provided him with a comfortable life. Although there is no direct reference to the type of work Muhammad did in this period, it is reasonable to assume that he continued to manage his wife’s business. Since the work was mainly done through the caravan trade, the work itself was not very demanding. None of the old biographers of the Prophet mentioned that he travelled on Khadījah’s trade missions after their marriage but, most probably, he spared her the need to attend to the business herself. He might have selected the men to travel on her behalf and supervised the preparations of the shipment before the caravan set off and the sale of the imported goods when it came back.
Nor are there detailed reports on Muhammad’s social activity in Makkah. It is known that the Arabs of Makkah had their meeting places round the Kaʿbah where they spent some time in the morning and the afternoon in a pleasant atmosphere. Although Muhammad had a likeable personality and everyone seemed to enjoy his company, he did not appear to care much for such gatherings, most probably because the chatting would inevitably have turned to the worship of idols and promiscuous pursuits. These were normal topics of conversation, unless something more serious imposed itself on such meetings. But neither topic interested Muhammad. He had disliked idols since childhood. Moreover, he was protected by God against indulging in wanton pleasures. Indeed there was clearly a wide intellectual gap between Muhammad and the people of Makkah. This gap continued to increase as the years went by. It did not deprive him, however, of enjoying his people’s respect for his honest, serious and amiable character.1
It was probably because of this gap that Muhammad began to take himself away from Makkah for a period of total seclusion. In the month of Ramaḍān, each year, he went to a mountain called Ḥirā’, which was only a few miles away, but offered him complete seclusion. Up there in the mountain there was a little cave where Muhammad stayed for several days at a time. When his supply of food and drink was exhausted he would go back home for a fresh supply and come back for another few days. When the month was over, he went back home, starting with a visit to the Kaʿbah, where he did the ṭawāf, walking round the Kaʿbah seven times before he went home to his wife.
To get to the cave, Muhammad had to climb right to the top of the mountain and descend a short distance down the other side. The cave is a small one with an entrance that is wide enough to admit one person comfortably, but does not easily accommodate two people standing to pray. The entrance narrows at the top and is just about two metres high. Although the ground of the cave is flat, the ceiling slopes down as you go inside until it becomes very low towards the end, where there is a little opening which ensures good ventilation. There is not much space in the cave altogether. It has just about enough room to accommodate one person to sit, stand or sleep. What is worth mentioning is that if one stands to offer prayers at the entrance of the cave and looks through the opening at its end, one can see the Kaʿbah on the far horizon. Just before the entrance there are two great rocks shielding the cave and giving the place an air of complete isolation. Alongside it, the great rocks form a little open space looking over an almost vertical side of the mountain. Only mountaineering experts with full equipment can attempt to climb that side. That little space next to the cave must have given Muhammad all that he needed to be absorbed in contemplating human life nearby and the universal expanse all around him.
Muhammad spent his days and nights in contemplation and worship. He addressed his worship to the Creator of the universe. He did not follow any particular method of worship because he was not aware of any, but he realized that the beliefs of his people were absurd. In those days of seclusion, Muhammad found comfort which lasted him through the rest of the year. He realized that there is a force of truth beyond this world which must have power and control over the whole universe. The world around him could not have come into being by coincidence. But how that truth manifested itself, he could not tell.2
It is easy to read too much into Muhammad’s period of seclusion and his contemplation. Modern authors and biographers in particular have tried to show him trying to find a way out of the total darkness that enshrouded his people. This may bring us very close to saying that Muhammad was in search of an idea or a belief. This is true only in as much as it means that Muhammad rejected all beliefs which were known to him and were practised in Makkan society. He certainly did not aspire to the role that was later assigned to him. Addressing the Prophet, God says in the Qur’ān: “You had not entertained any hope that Scriptures would be given you, but this was an act of grace by Your Lord.” (28: 86) Nevertheless, this regular period of seclusion helped to prepare Muhammad for receiving God’s revelations.
There were other aspects of preparation. It was necessary that Muhammad should understand and realized that the unique relationship which was soon to be established between him and the Angel Gabriel is both real and truthful. He was soon to realized that every dream in his sleep was soon to come true exactly. When he was alone, he might see a light or hear a sound, someone invisible might address him by his name. Yet these matters did not worry him much. When he felt such worry, he told his wife Khadījah, expressing his fears to her. She would reassure him and say that God would not allow anything evil to happen to him. “By God,” she said, “you are faithful to your trust, kind to your kinsfolk and you always tell the truth.” She, however, went to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, the old Christian scholar, asking him about what Muhammad saw and heard. He also reassured her and sent Muhammad word telling him to be reassured.
The First Revelation
Then the moment had to come. It was in the month of Ramaḍān, in the year AD 610 when Muhammad was 40 years old, spending the month in the mountain of Ḥirā’, as had been his habit for several years. Suddenly, Muhammad had a most fascinating experience, an account of which is given by his future wife ʿĀ’ishah.
The
