Summary of the Study Circle 30 October 2016:
*The Revelation Starts*When Prophet Muhammad* was nearly forty, he had been wont to pass long hours in retirement meditating and speculating over all aspects of creation around him. This meditative temperament helped to widen the mental gap between him and his compatriots. He used to provide himself with Sawiq (barley porridge) and water and then directly head for the hills and ravines in the neighbourhood of Makkah. One of these in particular was his favourite resort — a cave named Hira’, in the Mount An-Nour. It was only two miles from Makkah, a small cave 4 yards long and 1.75 yard wide.
He used to devote most of his time, and Ramadan in particular, to worship and meditation on the universe around him. His heart was restless about the moral evils and idolatry that were rampant among his people; he was as yet helpless because no definite course, or specific approach had been available for him to follow and rectify the ill practices around him. This solitude attended with this sort of contemplative approach must be understood in its Divine perspective. It was a preliminary stage to the period of grave responsibilities that he was to shoulder very soon.
*Gabriel Brings Down The Revelation:*
The Prophet* had true visions/dreams he used to experience for six months prior to revelation. The period of Prophethood was 23 years; so the period of these six months of true visions constituted an integral part of the forty-six parts of Prophethood.
In Ramadan, in his third year of solitude in the cave of Hira’, Allah’s Will desired His mercy to flow on earth and Muhammad* was honoured with Prophethood, and the light of Revelation burst upon him with some verses of the Noble Qur’an.
As for the exact date, careful investigation into circumstantial evidence and relevant clues point directly to Monday, 21st. Ramadan at night, i.e. Aug10, 610 A.D.
‘Aishah, gave the following narration of that most significant event that brought the Divine light which would dispel the darkness of disbelief and ignorance: Forerunners of the Revelation assumed the form of true visions that would strikingly come true all the time. After that, solitude became dear to him and he would go to the cave, Hira’, to engage in Tahannuth (devotion) there for a certain number of nights before returning to his family, and then he would return for provisions for a similar stay. At length, unexpectedly, the Truth (the angel) came to him and said, “Recite (Iqra).” “I cannot recite,” he [Muhammad*] said. The Prophet* described: “Then he took me and squeezed me vehemently and then let me go and repeated the order ‘Recite.’ ‘I cannot recite’ said I, and once again he squeezed me and let me till I was exhausted. Then he said: ‘Recite.’ I said ‘I cannot recite.’ He squeezed me for a third time and then let me go and said:
*1. Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created, 2. Has created man from a clot. 3. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, 4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen, 5. Has taught man that which he knew not. [96:1-5]*
The Prophet* repeated these verses. He was trembling with fear. At this stage, he came back to his wife Khadijah, and said, “Cover me, ... cover me.” They covered him until he restored security. He apprised Khadijah of the incident of the cave and added that he was horrified. His wife tried to soothe him and reassured him saying, “Allah will never disgrace you. You unite uterine relations; you bear the burden of the weak; you help the poor and the needy, you entertain the guests and endure hardships in the path of truthfulness.”
No comments:
Post a Comment