Chapter 5

A sound like a bell’s ringing reverberated through the heavens, shaking them to their core. The inhabitants therein recognized it as they fell unconscious. It—the sound of revelation—had finally arrived. They awoke to their hearts trembling, finding the Messenger among the angels, Sayyiduna Jibrīl, standing before them. They inquired, “What did our Lord say?” Sayyiduna Jibrīl responded, “The Truth.”

Meeting of Two Friends

Allah, the Exalted, created the heavens and the Earth for humans, and He created humans, in turn, for His submission. It was decreed that humanity could only climb the mountain of complete submission in stages. Our father Sayyiduna Ādam began the trek up this mountain when humanity was still nascent. At times, people made great strides by following the leadership provided by expert guides Allah sent. At other times, humanity fell, until another guide arrived with a light to lead them again up the mountain. However, the deepest chasm along the climb was near the top, and mankind had fallen into it as dark clouds gathered over them. Tawḥīd was lost. Immorality became the norm. “Allah” was a name known but not effectual. People pulled away from Him, their Sustainer, and alienated themselves from the guidance of His past prophets. The names of Ibrāhīm, Ismaīl, Mūsā, and Īsā still echoed, but the core of their messages had been perverted. As humanity lay in the chasm’s darkness, its final ascent to the peak was prepared by the meeting of two Messengers.

Our beloved Muhammad ﷺ sat engulfed within the shade of Ḥirā’, contemplating his Lord. It was the month of Ramadan, the month of mercy. Suddenly, a magnificent being, an angel, presented itself in a form both awe-inspiring and ethereal. Its radiance was otherworldly, filling the cave with a light that seemed to emanate from the heavens themselves. The angel’s countenance bore an expression of divine authority tempered with compassion, its presence overwhelming yet strangely reassuring. Every movement exuded a celestial grace, and its voice, when it spoke, resonated with a power that seemed to echo through the very fabric of creation. Having neither seen, heard, nor experienced anything like it, the Prophet ﷺ was immediately overcome with awe and trepidation. His heart quivered, and his voice abandoned him. How does one prepare for such an encounter? Even a heart so pure is still bound by human limitations. The angel, after addressing him with salām, bid him, “Recite.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “I am unable to recite.” The angel now embraced him forcefully and, upon release, said, “Recite.” Visibly affected, he responded, “I am unable to recite.” The angel brought him closer and tighter this time and again said, “Recite.” The word felt heavy, like a weight on every cell of his body. “I am unable to recite,” he repeated. The third embrace grew even tighter, as if to complete the transference of angelic qualities from one heart to another:

“Recite with the name of your Lord who created everything. He created man from a clot of blood. Recite, and your Lord is the most gracious, Who imparted knowledge by means of the pen. He taught man what he did not know.” (Al-`Ālaq 1-5)

With this first revelation, the Messenger ﷺ would never be the same. From the beginning, he was born with a pure soul and inclined toward only good. Just as Allah, the Exalted, said in a ḥadīth qudsī, “I have created my servants as true Believers (ḥunafā’),” the Prophet ﷺ was the truest of them. The revelation, at once, shook his being and cemented his nature. Not knowing what else to do, he mustered what strength was left, and with a pounding in his chest, he returned home. “Cover me, cover me,” he weakly responded as he entered his abode. His family rushed to him, fearing his collapse, wrapped him, and awaited his recovery. A short while later, his body salvaged itself from the event. He opened his eyes, turned to his wife, and said, “O Khadījah, what happened to me?”

They finally came together like two waves traveling from two ends of the Earth. It was the first meeting between Muhammad ﷺ, the Messenger among men, and Jibrīl, the Messenger among angels. The Earth touched the Heavens. The Seen encountered the Unseen. The two would pray together, recite the words of their Lord to one another, and even fight alongside one another. The Prophet ﷺ looked forward to their meetings, so much so that if Sayyiduna Jibrīl did not arrive at his scheduled time, the Prophet ﷺ grew concerned and restless. No doubt, the angel reciprocated this love and attachment. The created universe had never seen the likes of this bond.

The Supporting Spouse

With trepidation that was fully human, the Prophet ﷺ confided to Sayyidah Khadījah what had happened. “I fear for myself,” he said. She replied with the confidence of one who knew him intimately, “Do not. Rather, be pleased. By Allah, He will never humiliate you.”

Every culture has multitudes of love stories, but none as deep and real as this one. Sayyidah Khadījah was wise in her years and intelligent. She proved herself to be an excellent judge of character when she married the Prophet ﷺ. They had built a warm, inviting home where she was available and attentive. When the Prophet ﷺ walked through the doors in his greatest time of need, she was there to assist him. The events he witnessed validated her thoughts: he is to be the Messenger of Allah. Still, he ﷺ worried and felt unease. His emotions were difficult on her and drove her to confirm her thoughts with three individuals: ‘Addās, the Christian slave of ‘Utbah ibn Rabī’ah; Baḥīrah, who met him during a previous visit years ago; and Waraqah, Khadījah’s Christian uncle and a scholar of the previous testaments. One echoed the other saying, “Yes! The one he met is none other than he who serves as the conduit between Allah and His Prophets!”

Waraqah listened to the story closely as his wrinkled face winced. His emotions swelled within him. He had lived a lifetime of longing and accumulated an ocean of knowledge. All that effort culminated in the sublime honor of recognizing the long-awaited messenger of the Divine for the world. Waraqah’s heart swelled with a bittersweet mixture of joy and yearning. Joy, for he had lived to witness the arrival of the promised one; yearning, because his aged body would not allow him to stand beside the Messenger ﷺ in the trials to come. As he listened to the Prophet’s ﷺ account, his eyes welled with tears of gratitude and reverence. His mind raced through decades of study and prayer, each moment leading to this sacred recognition. Waraqah’s emotions were profound, the culmination of a lifetime’s devotion converging in this moment of divine realization. “Indeed, you! My dear nephew, you are the one the son of Mary told us about! You are the Messenger sent! If only I had the strength of youth again, I would support you when your people will expel you.” This must have struck the Prophet ﷺ hard. His people had only shown him affection. Everyone in his home, tribe, city, and beyond loved him. He—the truthful and trustworthy, the one whom tribal leaders were overjoyed to see—would be thrown out by them?! Such is the burden of Truth. Waraqah kissed the forehead of the Prophet ﷺ as they separated. He passed away soon after, having fulfilled his life’s mission. His love and respect for his nephew earned him Allah’s respect, for the Prophet ﷺ later saw Waraqah surrounded by Jannah. The Prophet ﷺ had known from the first meeting with Jibrīl that he was the Messenger of Allah. There was no mistaking it, for he saw the angel with his own eyes and felt the imprint of his embrace. The meeting with Waraqah and his wife’s loving efforts comforted his unease, and they returned home.

Allah’s Mercy

Allah, the Exalted, allowed the newly appointed Messenger ﷺ some time to adjust. Even a heart and soul as pure as his needed time to process what had occurred. This was revelation, after all. Its weight causes the strongest camels to kneel and even exudes sweat beads on the highest Prophets. Soon, the adjustment period passed, and longing set in. He was a Messenger, but where was the Message? He grew anxious waiting. He wandered about, pondering. He found himself atop mountains, contemplating. Whenever his thoughts became their worst, Sayyiduna Jibrīl would come into sight to put him at ease, saying, “O Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah.” When he would return to his wife, she would remind him of the same. Allah, the Merciful, had blessed His beloved with two powerful pillars to stand upon: a ghaybī one in Jibrīl and a ẓāhirī one in Khadījah. May Allah bless them all and grant them peace.

Thereafter, he felt comforted for a time until unease settled in again. This is how he went about until one day, a sound from the sky rocked the ground below, and he beheld the magnificent angel upon a throne on the horizon. The Prophet’s humanity again overtook him. He hurried to his family. He lay covered, waiting for his body to recover as before. Instead, his Lord revealed to him:

“O you, enveloped in a cloak, stand up and warn, and pronounce the greatness of your Lord.” (Surah al-Mudaththir 1-3)

From then on, the clouds receded, and the sun showered continuously upon him ﷺ. He, a mercy to the universe, began to quietly light the people’s ascent out of the darkness of the chasm, the same chasm that had held humanity captive in ignorance and despair. Through his unwavering guidance and luminous character, he bridged the divide between the depths of human faults and the heights of divine purpose, illuminating the path to tawḥīd and moral renewal.