The Advent of ProphecyUNREST
Muhammed (r) was approaching his fortieth year. He felt a mystifying internal unrest, yet
he did not know the rationale behind it. He was himself not aware what the inexplicable
confusion meant to him; nor did the idea that God was about to honor him with revelation
and Prophethood ever crossed his mind. This was how the Prophet (r) felt, as has been
attested by God in the Qur’an:
“And thus We have inspired in thee (Muhammed) a Spirit of Our Command. You
knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light
whereby We guide whom We will of our bondmen. And Lo! You verily dost guide unto
a right path.” [Qur'aan 42:52]At another place, the inability of the Prophet (r) to know the reason for his internal un-
rest has been demonstrated in these words:
“You hast no hope that the Scripture would be inspired in thee; but it is a mercy from
Your Lord, so never be a helper to the disbelievers.” [Qur'aan 28:86]
It pleased the Will of God, All-wise and All-knowing, that His Prophet (r) should remain a
stranger to the arts of reading and writing. His contemporaries could thus never accuse him
of himself editing the divine revelations. This, too, has been subverted by the Qur’an to
settle the matter as evidenced by the following verse:
“And You (O Muhammed) was not a reader of any Scripture before it, nor didst You
write it with Your right hand, for then might those have doubted, who follow false-
hood.” [Qur'aan 29: 48]That is why the Qur’an calls him an 'unlettered Prophet (r)'.
"Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom
they will find described in the Torah and the gospel (which are) with them—He com-
mands them for Al-Maruf (monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) and forbids
them from Al-Munkar (disbelief and all that Islam forbids)” [Qur'aan 7:157]IN THE CAVE OF HIRA
Often Muhammed (r) preferred the solitude of Cave Hira where he remained for as many
days as the provision with him required, spending his nights in vigils and prayers, in the
manner he thought reminiscent of the way of Ibrahim (u).