Week 01 Day 02

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Week 01
Day 02
Call to Prophethood / First Revelation
M/J 2016
2 (a) The first revelation came to the Prophet Muhammad in 610. Describe his experience
of this event. [10]
M/J 2018
2 (a): Write an account of the events of the first revelation and the Prophet’s
reaction afterwards. [10]
O/N 2004, O/N 2019
2 (a): Write about the Prophet Muhammad’s first experience of revelation. [10]
M/J 2020, M/J2022

2 (a): Write about the events of the first revelation received by the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) and how he was reassured afterwards. [10]
• With age and growing understanding Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) became more aware of the
corrupt society around him and it disturbed him greatly. He could not believe the polytheistic ideas of
the pagans of Makkah and often thought of God of his forefathers, Ibrahim and Ismail. He realized that
there is a force of truth beyond this world which must have power and control over the whole universe.
A few years before the conferment of prophethood, he became more and more fond of solitude. He
started retiring for days with a supply of dates, oatmeal and water into a cave in a mountain (Jabal e
Noor) outside Makkah, known as cave of Hira. There he pondered and mediated over the condition of
his people. These spells of loneliness and mediation became more frequent as he approached the age of
forty.
• When he was then forty years old, one day towards the end of Ramadan(27th) in 610 AD, he was in
the cave of Hira, when angel Jibrael appeared before him and asked him to read. This was so sudden
and unexpected that startled by the strange voice, he answered’ “I cannot read”. Then he felt that
he was being hugged and squeezed so hard that he thought that he would die of suffocation. He was
then released and the request to read was repeated. “I cannot read”, said Muhammad (P.B.U.H)
again. The angel again hugged him and asked him to read. Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was afraid, so he
asked: “What shall I read?” the angel hugged him for the third time and then recited the following
verses.
• “Read in the name of your Lord and Cherisher, Who created. Created man, out of a (mere) clot of
congealed blood. Proclaim! And your Lord is most bountiful, He who taught by (the use of) pen.
Taught man that which he knew not” (96:1-5)
The Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) could not refuse and recited these verses after the angel and the
words were imprinted on his mind. This was the first revelation and the beginning of Prophethood of
Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).
• He was greatly shaken by this experience and he ran out of the cave. Suddenly, he heard a voice and
raising his head in the sky, he saw the same angel in the sky filling the whole horizon and saying: “O
Muhammad (P.B.U.H) , you are the messenger of Allah and I am Jibrael.” Whichever way he looked,
he saw the same vision and heard the same voice. He stood there until the angel disappeared.
• After the experience he rushed back home and narrated the incident to Hazrat Khadija fearing that
something bad was going to befall him. She comforted him and assured him that no harm could come
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to a man of his nature because he was so kind and generous to the poor and the orphans and that
Allah would protect him from all evils.
• Then she went to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal, who was a blind Christian scholar. After hearing
what had happened to her husband in the cave of Hira, he said that it was the angel Jibrael who had
always brought revelations to previous messengers of God. He also informed her that he would face
enmity and persecutions by his own people. Hazrat Khadija returned and narrated all this to the
Prophet pbuh and then took him to see Waraqa himself. Waraqa not only informed him of the
hardship he would face but alse foretold that he would be exiled from Makkah. When Prophet asked
him about the unseen voices , he asked the Prophet pbuh not to be afraid and to listen attentively.
2(b) What can Muslims today learn from the first revelation about the importance of
reading and understanding the Qur’an? [4]
• The first word, Iqra, is a command to read or learn.
• The Qur’an is the final revelation from God, and in it contains the guidance for humankind for all
time.
• It is an opportunity for Muslims to know what it is that God wants from them so they can act on
what will be pleasing to God.
• For this it would be important to learn the meaning of the Qur’an although there is also reward in
reading it without knowing the meaning.
• Reading it with understanding could lead a person so have a deeper connection with God.
2 (b) What does the Prophet’s first experience of revelation tell us about the nature of
prophethood in Islam. [4]
• The Prophet’s first experience of revelation in the cave of Hira helps us to understand the
concept of prophet hood in Islam.
• It shows that Allah chose prophets according to His own will which means that it was
predestined and could not be attained by personal efforts.
• It was given without warning and often through miraculous events at the time of calling which
caused confusion and fear. For example, Prophet Muhammad got afraid when he was squeezed
by angel Jibrael. Similarly , Hazrat Musa got confused when God addressed him for the first
time.
• This fear and confusion shows that the prophets were chosen from mankind.
• This event also shows that Jibrael acted as a link between God and Prophets.
(b) Was it significant, that the Quran was revealed to someone who could not read or
write? [4]
• Yes, it was significant.

• being unable to read or write it would not have been possible for the Prophet to have
composed the Qur’an himself;
• the implication is that not being able to compose the Qur’an himself, it shows that the Qur’an
is from God;
• the Arabs had a strong oral tradition which allowed the Qur’an to be preserved through
memory alone;
• Since he could not read or write, therefore, he needed scribes for writing down the revelation
and later they became witnesses of the divinity of Quran.
• God did not want anyone else to be the Prophet’s (pbuh) teacher, as that would have meant
someone was superior to him in his knowledge of God. It was a miracle of God.

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M/J 2020, M/J2022

• Yes, it was significant.

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