One epoch making night that changed the course of history, as the Prophet (saws) sat by himself meditating in the Cave of Hirah', which he often did, pondering over the state of affairs in his cherished town; the silent and static stone idols perched on every mountain surrounding the 'Mother of Cities', controlling the fortunes of a thriving community; the house of Allah being desecrated by the presence of the false deities to whom worship was offered  in the nude by their loyal devotees; orphans being exploited by the very people who were supposed to take care of them; women being abused by selfish men who wielded undisputed power over them; innocent infants being buried alive because they belonged to the wrong gender; impoverished men and women being compelled to pay exorbitant interests on loans they were forced to borrow because of penury; helpless girls bought and sold for slavery and fornication by lecherous men who could afford their market price; - the crepuscular surroundings of the cave suddenly lit up with a dazzling light and a voice echoed in it saying : 'Read! In the name of your Lord Who created....

We all know that it was the voice of the Archangel Gabriel who had brought to the Prophet (saws) the first of a series of revelations from Allah, later to become the Holy Qur'aan, containing the Criterion of right and wrong, a Reminder of the past, a Guidance for the future, a healing for the heart and a vision for the eye, ushering light into darkness, breathing a new life in the lifeless, blowing a new spirit in the insensate, erecting new sign-posts inside the labyrinths of ignorance, leading the way, setting the pace and revealing the goals!

But how could he read? Orphaned at a very young age, adopted by an uncle who could give him little else besides love; with honesty his only asset; wisdom his only strength; truth his only weapon and an endearing tongue his most notable qualification, he was a man who could not possibly belong to the ranks of leaders and pathfinders! He was of limited means; he could not afford to harbour ambitions; he could not do any more than the best he had done so far, which was to serve his employer with devotion and then marry her at her own invitation. He had no halos around his head, no wings appended to his back, no silken robes hung on his body, no sceptres arrayed with gemstones were held in his hand!
 

But the idolaters of Mecca expected to see in a Prophet of Allah everything the Prophet (saws) did not possess; to them, gods and men of gods dwelled in golden temples; they luxuriated on lavish pavilions; they were waited upon by deferential serfs; they were thronged by obedient devotees; they performed miracles; they caused springs to gush forth from stones; they carried the sun and the moon up their sleeves; they thrived on ambrosia, they reeked of sweet perfume, they were beyond the reach of mortals and hence belonged only to the celestial plane!

So, when they heard the Prophet (saws) lay claims to Divine Prophethood, recite gripping poems about men of old in a diction the standard of which totally confounded them; revile the gods whom they had inherited from their ancestors and had preserved in consecrated sanctuaries, raise the torch of knowledge that banished the shadows of darkness and cleared confusion from the minds of those who heard him, even challenge the pedagogues of the Jewish and Christian denominations and brand them as disbelievers and agnostics and trigger off by himself such an upheaval in the land as powerful conquerors could not have done, they were baffled. The only thing which occurred to them was that he was in league with forces of evil from within or from without, - one referring to men of letters in the country who were trying to subvert their nation and the other to the evil designs of the devil who was arming him with knowledge and ability to hoodwink the innocent and possess their souls, or that he was but a shrewd sorcerer who, having charmed his wealthy employer into becoming his wife, was out to get more wealth by cheating the gullible!

Yet, by the Will and Command of Allah, the true religion of Abraham which he re-launched against all the overwhelming odds took its roots in the barren sand hills of Arabia and stands today shoulder to shoulder alongside Judaism and Christianity, the two previous religions based upon Divine Revelations as pure and salubrious now as it was fourteen hundred years ago!

NOTE : There are many accounts by incontrovertible sources of how the first Revelation was made to the Prophet (saws) by the Archangel, the overwhelming effect it had on him, his subsequent visits to the Cave in anticipation of more of these revelations, his disappointment when they did not come and his ecstasy when they did; how he was taught by the Angel the process of ablution and the procedure for the performance of salaat; how he was supported by Khadijah^R.A and so on.

However, for the purpose of tracing the History of Islam, only a brief reference is made to it without meaning or intending any disrespect to our worthy scholars.

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