The Chosen Prophet

In the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, in the bustling city of Mecca... lived a man known for his honesty, integrity, and deep contemplation.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah, now forty years old, had achieved everything the world could offer — a loving wife, beautiful children, successful business ventures, and the respect of his community.

Yet something stirred within his heart... an inexplicable yearning that worldly success could not satisfy.

As the month of Ramadan approached in the year 610 CE, Muhammad felt drawn to solitude more than ever before.

He had developed a habit of retreating to a cave called Hira, located on Jabal al-Nur — the Mountain of Light — just outside Mecca.

This cave, perched high above the city, provided the perfect sanctuary for reflection and meditation.

Night after night, Muhammad would climb the rocky path to the cave... carrying with him only simple provisions.

In the quiet darkness, surrounded by the vastness of the desert sky, he would contemplate the mysteries of existence.

He pondered the nature of life, death, and what lay beyond.

He reflected on the social injustices he witnessed in Mecca — the treatment of orphans, the plight of the poor, the worship of countless idols carved from stone and wood.

His heart was troubled by the spiritual emptiness he observed around him.

The Meccan society, though prosperous through trade, seemed to have lost its moral compass. People worshipped hundreds of gods... seeking favor from statues that could neither hear nor respond.

Muhammad's pure heart recognized that there must be something greater — something more profound than this material world and its false deities.

On one particular night, during the last ten days of Ramadan... as Muhammad sat in deep meditation within the cave of Hira... the ordinary silence was suddenly broken!

A being of immense power appeared before him — the angel Jibreel (Gabriel), in his true angelic form, filling the entire horizon. Without introduction, without preamble, the angel seized Muhammad in an overwhelming embrace and commanded: "Iqra!" — Read!

Muhammad, trembling and overwhelmed, replied: "I cannot read" (or "I am not a reader" — ma ana bi-qari'). He was unlettered, unable to read or write. But the angel pressed him again, squeezing him so tightly that Muhammad felt he had reached the limits of his endurance, and repeated the command: "Read!"

Again Muhammad answered: "I cannot read." For a third time, Jibreel embraced him with crushing force and then released him, finally delivering the words that would begin the final revelation from Allah to humanity:

"Read in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. Who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not." (Quran 96:1-5)

These five verses — the first words of the Quran ever revealed — did not speak of prayer, fasting, or pilgrimage. They spoke of knowledge. The very first command of Islam was to read, to learn, to seek understanding in the name of the Creator. It was a declaration that knowledge and faith are inseparable — that the pursuit of truth is itself an act of worship.

Muhammad descended from the mountain with these words burning in his heart. His entire body was trembling — not from the cold of the desert night but from the overwhelming power of what he had just experienced. He rushed home to his wife Khadijah, his heart pounding with a mixture of awe and fear, and cried out: "Zammilooni! Zammilooni!" — "Cover me! Cover me!"

Khadijah wrapped him in a cloak and held him close, waiting patiently until the trembling subsided. When he was finally able to speak, Muhammad poured out everything that had happened — the angel, the embrace, the words, the overwhelming terror. He feared for himself — feared that something supernatural had overtaken him, that he might not be able to bear this burden.

But Khadijah — the woman who had known his character for twenty-five years, who had witnessed his honesty, his compassion, his unwavering integrity — did not hesitate for a single moment. She spoke words that would echo through the centuries: "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You maintain ties of kinship, you bear the burden of the weak, you help the destitute, you honor your guests, and you assist those afflicted by calamity."

Her response was not merely emotional comfort — it was a theological argument. Khadijah reasoned that a man of such noble character could not be abandoned by Allah. A God who is just and merciful would not send evil to one who had spent his entire life doing good. With these words, Khadijah became the first person in history to believe in the prophethood of Muhammad — the first Muslim.

But Khadijah wanted further confirmation. She took Muhammad to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal — an elderly scholar who had studied the Christian and Jewish scriptures extensively. He was one of the few remaining hanifs in Mecca — those who had rejected idol worship and sought the original monotheism of Ibrahim.

When Muhammad described his experience, Waraqah's eyes widened with recognition. "This is the same angel — the Namus — who came to Musa (Moses)!" he exclaimed. "I wish I were young! I wish I could be alive when your people drive you out!" Muhammad was startled: "Will they really drive me out?" Waraqah replied with the certainty of a man who knew the scriptures: "Yes. No man has ever come with what you have brought without being opposed. If I live to see that day, I will support you with all my strength."

Waraqah passed away shortly after this encounter, but his confirmation had served its purpose. The revelation was authentic. The angel was Jibreel. And Muhammad ibn Abdullah — the orphan of Mecca, the shepherd, the trader, the husband of Khadijah — was now the Messenger of Allah to all of humanity.

After a period of silence known as fatrah al-wahy (the pause of revelation), during which Muhammad anxiously waited for further communication from Allah, the revelations resumed. The angel Jibreel appeared again, and the opening verses of Surah Al-Muddaththir were revealed: "O you who wraps himself in a cloak, arise and warn! And your Lord glorify! And your garments purify! And uncleanliness avoid!" (Quran 74:1-5). The period of private contemplation was over. The command was now clear: rise and warn. Deliver the message. Call humanity to the worship of the One God.

And so began twenty-three years of revelation — a period that would produce the Quran, establish a civilization, transform the Arabian Peninsula, and ultimately change the course of human history. It all started with a single word in a dark cave on a mountain overlooking Mecca: Iqra — Read. Discover more about the stories of the Quran and the lessons they hold for our lives.