The status of prophethood brings huge responsibilities with
it. Whosoever God wishes to impart this status to is also
given special training from his birth. A prophet is entrusted
to deliver messages related to the obligations of human beings
towards each other and towards their Creator, the remembrance
of divine instructions, and warns his people of the guidance
that he receives from God. Such messages strike at the worldly
interests of the people of the time. Most people, in general,
and a specific group of people in particular resent the
prophets and ultimately revolt against them. If the prophet
has not faced resistance or difficulties earlier, or is
unaware of how human beings behave under different situations,
he may find it difficult to perform his task of prophethood
effectively. Training is provided to him under God’s
supervision, and He provides special support and assistance,
making extraordinary arrangements to help the prophet emerge
from exceptionally difficult challenges in life.
The Pharaoh of Egypt was an extremely cruel and merciless
ruler, who had forced his people to worship him as their god.
When Moses (sws) was assigned to preach faith to him, he had
been brought into the world under very hard conditions. The
Pharaoh had given orders to kill all new born males of Moses (sws)’s
family. God put the idea in his mother’s heart to place the
new born in a basket and cast it adrift in the river, leaving
it to its destiny. As the basket went by the Pharaoh’s palace,
the latter’s childless wife saw it, ordered it to be taken out
of the water, and seeing a beautiful baby inside, insisted
that she would bring it up herself. Thus Moses (sws) had the
opportunity to be brought up in the king’s court, among the
elite of Egypt and understand their ways, and their approach
to life. He observed the conflict between the Coptic Egyptians
and the tribes of the Israelites from Kananah who had settled
in Egypt, the latter’s oppressed state and the former’s
aggression. Once in the city he saw an Egyptian torturing a
Kananī, and in an attempt to free the latter, he hit out at
the Egyptian. Unknowingly, he hit a fatal blow. Moses (sws)
was deeply affected and asked God for his forgiveness. On
advice from a sympathetic courtier, he left the city and went
to Madyan, where he stayed for some time. He took employment
to look after someone’s sheep and goats, and learnt from their
owner the art of preaching good. All these experiences were
such that they honed his personality and brought depth and a
deep calm to his character. When this training was completed,
he was given prophethood, was instructed to preach in the
court of the Pharaoh, and also told that he had been specially
trained for this purpose. (Qur’an, 20:41)
Joseph (sws) had been subjected to the cruelty of his half
brothers since childhood. This had made him strong in the face
of adversity. When his brothers threw him in a blind well, God
protected him, and gave him into the slavery of a rich man in
Egypt. Here he learnt to handle his master’s estate and also
farming, storage and management of agricultural yield. He
experienced the problems of bondage, and of being in jail
without being guilty. Thus his exposure to such travails of
life helped him to develop piety, patience and steadiness of
purpose. This training was of much use to him when he was
finally released from prison.
Muhammad (sws)’s
Orphanhood
This is exactly what transpired also with Muhammad (sws),
according to the established practice of God. When he was
born, his father had already died and so he was deprived of a
father’s love and kindness. Orphans were often mistreated in
Arab society. They were considered to be without any backing
or support and were easy prey for relatives who would usurp
their inheritance, leaving them poor and wanting in material
wealth.
The details of the difficulties that Muhammad (sws) had to
face due to his being an orphan are not known to biographers.
It does seem that he had a hard life. When according to the
Quraysh custom, his mother tried to arrange for a foster
mother from among the Banu Sa‘d tribe, none were ready to take
him because he was an orphan. Finally a poor nurse took him in
for breastfeeding.
He had some time with his mother when he was brought back
to Makkah after spending a few years in the desert, but this
peaceful period was a short one. His mother took him to
Yathrab and, on their way back, she died at Abwa’, and he was
once again orphaned. Had she remained alive, she would have
made efforts to bring him up and ensure that he got an
opportunity to get proper status in society. Now this chance
was also lost. His grandfather ‘Abd al-Muttalib took him under
his wing. This situation, too, only lasted two years and when
Muhammad (sws) was eight years old, his grandfather passed
away. On account of being a member of the Banu Hashim family,
he was under the general trusteeship of the tribe as a whole,
but then he faced the responsibility of standing on his own
feet. His father had died in his youth and had left no
inheritance. Perhaps it was with reference to this time, when
people were talking about other prophets being shepherds, he
mentioned that he too had been engaged in grazing the goats of
his family in Makkah.
A shepherd pays full attention to each
and every animal of his herd. If any of the sheep or goats
becomes lame, or is ill and refuses to eat, he devotes his
time and care to it. If any strays away from the herd, he
searches for it and gets it back safely. If wolves are to be
found close to the grazing area, and they attack the herd, he
keeps the necessary equipment with him ready to drive them
away. The same process is also used to build the character of
a human being. It is likely that God enabled his would be
prophets to obtain training of shepherding animals so that
they would learn how to take care of their people and protect
them against the onslaught of satanic forces. Muhammad (sws)
also said:
Each one of you is a shepherd, and
shall be questioned about your herd.
Because of this training, the Prophet (sws) kept in
contact with each one of his companions separately and
participated in what was happening in their lives,
congratulating them in happiness, and commiserating with them
in sorrow. Thus he gave them individual attention and trained
them accordingly.
The Search for a
Livelihood
When the Prophet (sws) reached an age
when he was required to earn a living, he started to travel
for purposes of trade, as other young men of the Quraysh did.
These travels gave him the opportunity to see new lands,
observe the ways of living of their people and learn of new
trading arrangements. This training which was available to him
in his early youth was of great benefit to him. Through it, he
not only obtained direct knowledge of various regions of his
own country, but of other places and the behaviour, attitudes,
customs and traditions of the people living here. This knowhow
was of much use to him when he was appointed to preach the
faith and called upon to discuss and debate with individuals
and groups on several matters.
Support to the
Oppressed
The Prophet (sws) had the company of good people from the
very beginning. Young men with high integrity and sense of
moral values were his friends. He also had the opportunity to
be involved in consultations and decisions making on matters
with elders holding exemplary character. When he was only 20
years old, he participated in the agreement called hilf al-fadul
with a group of individuals having high standing in society.
This agreement and the group had a very good effect on
society, and people became more receptive to helping the poor.
Later, the Prophet (sws) would often speak of how much he had
learned by working for this agreement.
When God aims to train his messengers and subjects them to
harsh trials, He also demonstrates His great glory whereby no
ill befalls His prophets. All the despicable schemes and plans
of the Pharaoh to kill Moses (sws) could not harm him.
Similarly, despite losing both father and mother in childhood,
the Prophet’s grandfather ‘Abd al-Muttalib, uncle Zubayr and
Abu Talib gave him love and support, although normally orphans
were rejected and deserted by relatives, and not allowed to
rise in the world. They faced extraordinary challenges to earn
a decent living. But the Prophet (sws) managed to do all this
and barriers began to lift for him one by one. His real wealth
was the inner contentment related to matters of the spirit,
and not to material resources. Referring to these blessings,
the Qur’an, addressing the Prophet (sws), says:
Did He not find
you an orphan and give you shelter? And found you wandering
and guided you? And found you in need and enriched you? (6-8)
The purpose was that the Prophet (sws) should adopt an
attitude of supporting orphans, sympathizing with the poor and
the needy and taking care of them. This is the reason why we
see so much benevolence and sympathy with the weak, ways to
free slaves and love for orphans in the life of the Prophet (sws).
Religious Leanings
Another aspect of the training of apostles was that God
would make sure that they were fully informed of the
environment in which they were to present His teachings. They
were aware of their beliefs, objects of worship and love, the
perceived good and bad features of their characters and their
moral weaknesses. They understood well their way of thinking
and and their psychological make up. For example, Shu‘ayb (sws)’s
nation was involved with trade, so he was a trader too, and
knew all the honest practices. They blamed him for creating
barriers for them so that he could benefit his own trading
operation. The people played underhand tricks. This is why
when he as a messenger of God exposed their wrongdoings, they
blamed him by saying that by casting moral allegations on
their character he wanted to further his own interest at their
expense. They were aware of his trade acumen and his ability
for assessment. They were expecting him to use his experience
and sharp wit to benefit them all, and were disappointed to
see that he was trying to prevent them from enhancing their
own profits by unfair means.
Abraham (sws) was born amongst people who were not only
worshippers of idols, but were their sculptors and trustees of
idol houses. Brought up in such an environment, he became
thoroughly familiar with every aspect of the extent of
adulation and love that people had for these statues. After
his prophethood, when he called on his people to accept the
oneness of God, he used his access to the idol house and
smashed all the idols there, thus showing them the futility of
their worship.
Since Muhammad (sws) was to be made a prophet amongst the
Ishmaelites, and he was to revive the nation of Abraham (sws),
he was born in the central city of the Ishmaelites, Makkah, in
the dignified and ruling tribe of the Quraysh. Thus he had
full information about their dependence on the idols and their
beliefs. He was also knowledgeable about all of the wrongs
done to the tribes by each other. He made use of this vast
knowledge of the tribes in Arabia after he was granted
prophethood.
The Qur’an says that when Abraham (sws) decided to break
all the statues in the Ka‘bah’s as a conclusive argument to
his plea, his nation had prepared a fire in which to burn him.
God saved him from this and asked him to migrate from the
place. While leaving, Abraham (sws) expressed his disgust
openly at his people and at their polytheism. God liked this
expression so much that He ordered it to remain as a tradition
in his future generations forever. Good people continued to
pass it on to their descendants. This is why although, with
the passage of time, polytheism had become a way of life with
the Ismaelites, there was still a group left who followed the
faith of its original ancestor and kept firm to his hatred of
shirk. This group was known as hanīf during the times of the
jahilliyah. These people worshipped the Ka‘bah and tried to
follow only the traditions that came to them in their original
form from Abraham’s time, but criticized the innovations that
had crept in later. They were honest, with high moral values,
sympathetic to the poor, providing support in good deeds and
staying away from immoral ones. The Prophet (sws) was a
prominent member of this group before the divine revelation.
He would never participate in the polytheistic customs and
immoral activities of his people. His actions were always
those of one with integrity, honesty and truthfulness. As
such, people held him with a lot of respect and regard.
Search for the Truth
It should be remembered that the first source of guidance
for man is the voice of his own conscience. The people who are
chosen by God for prophet hood are blessed with the qualities
of a nature that always follows the path of true morality from
the beginning. Such individuals believe in the oneness of God
and the Day of Judgment, and are well aware of the difference
between good and evil, and wrong and right of human actions
that have been ingrained within their nature. In spite of
this, such a fire for knowledge burns inside them that they
wish to arrive at the absolute truth so that they can accept
it with an open mind and make it their guiding light. It has
been stated in Surah Hud that Salih (sws) and Shu‘ayb (sws)
told their people that even before they had been made
apostles, they were on the path of a “clear evidence,” ie. the
purity of their nature had directed them towards the path of
their Lord, and their heart had given evidence that it was the
true path. They were able to declare that assigning any
partner to God and other criminal acts were wrong. Afterwards
when God sent His wahī upon them, the voice of their nature
was reinforced multifold. The knowledge that they had gained
through the wahī caused it to become stronger and brighter.
This was the addition of the light of the wahī over that of
their nature.
This is also true in case of Muhammad (sws). His life was
one of uprightness and highest morality. Despite living in the
centre of idol worship, he remained aloof and untouched by the
evils of polytheism. It has been narrated that the people
belonging to the hanīf group of Makkah would lean against the
walls of the Ka‘bah, and pray thus: “Our Lord, we do not know
how to worship You: if we did, we would have done so
accordingly.” Muhammad (sws) was in this condition of
bewilderment and uncertainty, as is referred to in the Qur’an.
You did not know the Scripture before
this, nor the laws of faith. (42:52)
The reason for this is that, whatever the concept of faith,
unless a man is aware of the details, he remains concerned
about whether what he is doing is right or not, if it is
according to the truth and whether it is acceptable to God. He
is only at peace when he is completely convinced of the true
path that he is to follow. A divine Book meets this need. It
clarifies the requirements and demands of faith and provides
practical ways of practicing faith. After the revelation of
the Book, man can use the guidance that his own nature
provides judiciously and adopt a religious life style. It is a
requirement of the status of prophethood that the prophet
achieve the highest level of wisdom and understanding of faith
and religious matters. Each and every matter should be as
clear to him as if he sees it with his own eyes. Once he has
fully accepted the faith, he is ready to preach to his
addressees with full belief and certainty. Until the need for
divine guidance through wahī is satisfied, the prophet is in
constant search of the truth. The Qur’an mentions this state
of mind of the Prophet (sws) in the following words:
Did He not find you perplexed, and
show you the way? (93:7)
Worship at Night
In this search for truth, Muhammad (sws) would offer other
Abrahamic rituals of worship such as the prayer, the fast,
circumambulation, hajj and animal sacrifice and reflect deeply
over what the truth could be. He became reclusive and he
started to stay away from the city, spending time in
meditation in a cave at the top of a mountain. He would take
some edibles, stay in the cave of Hira and return to his
family when his supplies were finished. This going and coming
continued for a long time. There were others also who spent
time away from their families and friends, praying and
meditating, reflecting and thinking about God and the truth of
life and their existence. This form of worship and deep
reflection prepared Muhammad (sws) and purified his heart to
receive the light of the divine revelation.
It will not be correct to say that this form of worship is
similar to that which priests or soothsayers use to meditate
or go into trances as a part of their training. Such
individuals spend a lifetime in developing skills in their
chosen profession and the world knows about their desires.
People who know them are well aware of their training and see
them build up their skill step by step. The situation with
prophets is very different. They have no desire to acquire any
skills. The status of prophethood is not an acquired one, nor
is it skill oriented. It is a gift from God. A prophet is not
a disciple; he does not obtain training on how to meditate
from any teacher, and he has no thought in his mind that he
is, in any way, eligible or worthy of being a prophet. Also,
such an experience is not an ordinary one or one that one can
learn from the example of others. Only those have experienced
it to whom God wished to grant this lofty status. This is why
the early experiences that a prophet goes through are
completely novel, strange and unfamiliar to him. Hence, one of
the features of his training by God is that he is subjected to
some extraordinary situations that could familiarize him with
certain aspects of prophethood.
Dreams giving Glad
Tidings
After passing the stage of purification of his soul through
solitary worship, another change that came upon Muhammad (sws)
was that he started having dreams bearing good tidings. These
were as bright as the light of dawn after a dark night. These
had a powerful effect on him. It seems that the purpose of
such dreams was to prepare him to be strong enough in heart
and mind to bear the blessings of being one with the angels
and being a recipient of the divine light.
Ray of Light
According to authentic books, once when Muhammad (sws) was
engrossed in his prayers and spiritually linked to his Lord,
an angel appeared suddenly, and said, “read.” He answered: “I
cannot read.” At this, the angel embraced him so tightly that
he started to hurt him. He let him go and asked him again to
read. He replied again that he could not. The angel caught him
in an even tighter embrace that hurt him extremely. He was
once again instructed to read and he gave the same answer. The
angel embraced him for the third time and said: “Read, in the
name of your Lord, Who created man from a particle of blood.
Read and your Lord is highly Merciful.” Having said this, the
angel disappeared.
Muhammad (sws) was very perturbed by the entire episode and
came home, trembling. In great fear and distress, he asked his
wife to put a blanket over him. When he had recovered
somewhat, his wife inquired about the reason for his anguish.
He told her, and expressed fear for his life. She consoled
him, reassuring him by saying that he maintained links with
relatives, was truthful, bore the burden of the weak, was
hospitable, took care of the poor and helped those affected by
disasters; why should God put his life in danger? She was
certain that this incident would bring good news for him, and
suggested that her cousin, Warqah ibn Nawfal who was a
scholar, a very righteous man and had knowledge of the holy
books should be told and asked for advice. The Prophet (sws)
liked this suggestion and went to Warqah ibn Nawfal, telling
him the whole story. He said that he thought the same angel
who had come to Moses (sws) had also come to him. Then he
expressed the wish to be alive when the Prophet’s people would
banish him from this city. Muhammad (sws) was astonished at
this, and asked whether they would do this to him, at which he
replied that whoever had brought such a message earlier had
been treated to the same fate by his people.
Warqah ibn Nawfal was one of the people belonging to the
hanīf group of Makkah. He was a truth seeking individual, who,
after much research and thought, had realized that the true
faith was with the Christians. He had converted to
Christianity, learned Hebrew and was able to read and
understand the Torah. Thus he was aware of God’s instructions
and the predictions about the last prophet in the holy books.
He had become old by that time and died soon after.
From this authentic narrative that appears with a little
variation of words in both Sahīh Bukharī and Sahīh Muslim, we
can deduce the following:
1. Muhammad (sws) himself does not say that an angel had
appeared before him. This is a narration by a third person.
The angel did not introduce himself. That is why the Prophet
was curious to find out who he might have been from a more
knowledgeable person. Warqah ibn Nawfal, having read of
similar situations with other prophets, knew what may have
happened to Muhammad (sws).
2. Even though he knew that the signs were those of a
divine revelation, Warqah ibn Nawfal did not tell Muhammad (sws)
that he has been made a prophet. That is, he did not accept
his prophethood yet.
3. Warqah ibn Nawfal was a truthful man, and it was his
search for the truth that had led him to adopt Christianity as
his faith. If it had been clear to him that Muhammad (sws) was
a prophet, he would not have hesitated to accept him and
declare his faith, thus attaining the status of being the
first one to do so. Instead, he assailed his ill health, and
expressed a desire to be alive until the success of the
Prophet (sws). Thus, in the incident of the cave, he saw signs
of future prophethood for Muhammad (sws).
4.The only demand made by the angel was “read.” This word
is used in Arabic to read by oneself, as well as to read out
aloud to others. The word has been used in the latter sense in
the Qur’an several times. In this form, it would mean to read
out aloud to others. This is thus an explanation of the
responsibilities of a prophet to communicate the message of
God to other people.
5. The angel gave an instruction, but did not explain what
was to be read. He left this unsaid, and disappeared. Muhammad
(sws) repeatedly told him that he was illiterate; what could
he read out to others? In contrast, when Moses (sws) saw a
bright light on a tree and went close, he realized that he was
designated a prophet from the very first wahī, and that he was
required to correct the beliefs of his people and establish
forms of worship amongst them. He did not need to carry out
any questioning or research to determine this fact.
6. The angel embraced the Prophet (sws) thrice, probably
with the aim of opening up his chest so that he was able to
read, but this did not happen. He was not able to do so in
later life either. We need to determine another purpose for
this act of the angel.
7. There is no evidence in biographical books or the Hadīth
that the Prophet (sws) may have started preaching immediately
after the incident of Hira. He was unsure of his own status,
and did not have any message to pass on to others.
In view of the above points, we can conclude that this
experience was a part of his training, and an introduction to
the angel of wahī. The Prophet (sws) was thus informed that
such an angel would come to him in the future to give him a
message from God which he would be required to communicate to
his people. It is not correct to claim that the incident in
the cave was the beginning of prophethood, or that the first
wahī was revealed here.
As far as the angel addressing and embracing Muhammad (sws)
several times is concerned, Amīn Ahsan Islahī explains it
thus:
It is an
extremely delicate matter for a human being to come into
contact with a spiritual force. It becomes necessary to make
one’s heart and mind ready and able by frequent meetings,
frequent contact and frequent connections. The angel embracing
him, and then letting him go many times could mean that he
wished the prophet to become familiar with his being and voice
and to be comfortable with him. The idea was that when the
next meeting happened, the prophet would be reassured that it
was not the devil but his old friend who had reappeared.
This means that the wahī was only meant as an introduction
to the angel, and the matter of the main wahī, and the
designation of prophethood was left to a later date.
According to narratives, the angel did not reappear for a
long time. This period is often called the breaking of the
wahī, which is an incorrect term, in our view. How could the
wahī be broken off when it had not begun in the first place?
Actually, wahī began when the angel came for the second time,
and this was after some time had lapsed.
The reason why the incident of the cave is cited as the
revelation of the wahī is the narration that ascribes the
first few verses of Surah ‘Alaq to the angel when he embraced
Muhammed (sws). Some questions arise at this that remain
unanswered:
1. If Muhammad (sws) had received the wahī, why
was he doubtful about his prophethood and why did he go to
Warqah ibn Nawfal and ask what had happened to him? He should
have said with full conviction that he had received divine
revelation in such and such words and been ordered to
communicate it. But he did not.
2. When Moses (sws) received the wahī, he was
explained the basic elements of faith and given instructions
related to his responsibilities. In contrast, if Muhammad (sws)
was given Surah ‘Alaq, he was told to read, but there was no
message here. It contains only a few attributes of God.
3. The ummah has not unanimously accepted Surah
‘Alaq being the first wahī. Sahīh Muslim narrates from Yahya:
“I asked Abu Salamah, which part of the Qur’an was revealed
first?” He said: “Surah Muddaththir.” I asked: “Not Surah
Iqra?” He said: “He had asked the same question of Jabir bin
‘Abdullah who had said “Surah Muddaththir.” When I asked: “Did
Surah Iqra not come first?” He said: “I am saying what I have
heard Muhammad (sws) say.”
From this narrative it becomes clear that this difference
of opinion had begun in the early days, when some people
regarded Surah Iqra to be the first wahī, and others took
Surah Muddaththir to be the first, with reference to the
Prophet (sws). The latter surah includes some instructions
for the Prophet (sws) and tells him to preach. This is not
true for Surah Iqra.
It seems, therefore, that the narrative describing verses
of Surah ‘Alaq to be the first wahī is not very dependable.
Here, the opinion of Amin Ahsan Islahī is worth noting:
The instruction to read by beginning in the name of God is
very significant. The predictions about Muhammad (sws) in
ancient books say that the last prophet would preach in the
name of His Lord (here the Mawlana has copied verses 8:18-19)
of the Book of Exemption which is based on this prediction)….
If we accept that the angel had only said “read, in the name
of your Lord”, this is an indication of the fulfillment of
this prediction. In this case, it is correct for Muhammad (sws)
to say that he does not know what it is that he has to read,
and for the angel to say that he must read in the name of his
Lord, He will tell him what to read. In my view, the angel had
said: “Read, in the name of your Lord,” and his purpose was to
prepare thes Prophet (sws) to read out the message of God to
people.
The Prophet’s
Nervousness
A question arises as to why the Prophet was (sws) so
nervous when faced with the angel that he left his prayers and
went home in a state of fear and panic. It was only after some
time that he was able to talk and relate to his wife what had
happened. We believe that he was fully occupied in his worship
and his mind free of any other thought or plans. He had no
foresight of any divine spirit appearing before him in such a
manner. He was thus unnerved by this unfamiliar experience. It
was not also made clear to him why the angel had appeared.
The Prophet (sws) was going through a training period here.
On the other hand, Moses (sws) already knew that he had been
made a prophet and was given his instructions. But when he
implemented the miracle of his stick becoming a snake, he
became frightened and ran away and did not look back. He had
not foreseen that this would happen. He was reassured and told
that prophets were not supposed to be frightened.
Such conditions faced by prophets are temporary. When they
receive wahī again and again, they become fully satisfied that
their experiences are from God and they are being appointed
for a very special task.
(Translated from
Hayat-i Rasul-i Ummī by Nikhat Sattar)
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