Well before God's revelation marked him as a
Prophet, Mohammad(p) had rejected the religion of Arabia. This
religion called on the worship of several gods, and Mohammad felt
that these idols were not responsible for life or creation.
Questioning the religion that he was born into, Mohammad (p) found
peace in reflection, meditation, and contemplation; however, these
acts of private worship did not give Mohammad the answers that he
was searching for. In his late thirties Mohammad began a practice of
retirement, where he would seclude himself from his family and
relations and spend several days in a cave on top of a mountain two
miles outside of Makkah. He continued this for many years: during
the month of Ramadan, Mohammad would often spend the entire month in
seclusion, for some instinct must have told him that in this holiest
month he would find the answers to his questions. So, it was in his
fortieth year that Mohammad (p) received the revelation from God.
While engaged in worship in a corner of the cave of Hira in the
heart of the night, the orphan son of Abdullah who had never studied
or attended a school, was suddenly shaken by the summons, "O
Muhammad!" followed by the command to recite, this being the
beginning of revelation. A wave arose from the limitless ocean of
Divinity, rent the breast of the Prophet, bewildered and anxious,
and filled to the brim the cup of his spirit.
Mohammad was shocked and afraid. How could there be another voice
in the cave when he was all alone? Nevertheless, he replied: "I am
not one of those who can read". After his answer, he was taken up,
and violently hugged and then set free: the voice repeated, "Read".
Mohammad could only give the same answer: "I am not one of those who
can read". The being repeated the same action, hugging him again.
Once again it commanded him to "Read". This time Mohammad gave a
different answer: he said, "What shall I read?", and the voice said:
"Read! In the Name of your Lord, who has created you! He created
man from a clot of blood. Read, and your Lord is the Most Gracious,
He who has taught by the pen, Taught man what he did not know."
[Al-Quran: 96:1-4]
The shining of a light from the realm of the unseen covered and
enveloped his being and shone forth on his fair features, giving
rise to new and bright life in the darkness of the night. Then, with
a painful tumult in his heart and bearing on his shoulders the
heaviest responsibility conceivable, he set out for home from the
cave of Hira, destined to become the teacher of all human beings and
to assume the leadership of humanity on its long march forward.
What force was it that had disquieted him despite his infinite
patience, made him anxious despite all his tranquil courage, and
plunged his whole being into painful turmoil? Thereafter the envoy
of revelation came repeatedly, reciting verses to him, profound and
astounding verses that bore no resemblance from the point of view of
style and content either to the words of the Prophet himself,
eloquent as they were, or to the conventional prose and poetry of
the age.
Although the Arabs of the Age of Ignorance knew neither how to read
nor how to write and had no historians, philosophers or scholars,
they were famed for the excellence of their poetry and the eloquence
of their speech. The Prophet, however, had never participated before
the beginning of his mission in the cultivation of the arts of
poetry and eloquence.
His conduct, on the one hand, and the verses of the Quran, on the
other, both testify that he made no compromises in conveying his
message. He conveyed the message that he had been ordered to deliver
clearly, unambiguously and in utter contradiction both with the
beliefs and inclinations of the people and with his own immediate
interests. He loudly proclaimed the revelation he had received to
the evil and the ignorant, to a people made degenerate and corrupt
by the worship of the idols they had fashioned themselves, and he
informed them that their sole salvation lay in the worship of the
One God.
The new factor that appeared at a particular time in the life of
the Prophet and caused him to engage in unprecedented forms of
activity was the wondrous phenomenon of revelation, the heavenly
message which he as the most lofty and qualified of men had been
chosen to receive. Before then, no preliminary effort or particular
inclination had been seen on his part that might have led to the
bringing about of the sudden and remarkable transformation of the
world he was now about to accomplish.
The factor that had this profound effect on Muhammad, that changed
that quiet and reflective man into an explosive source of
revolutionary energy and enabled him to bring about such a profound
transformation of humanity, from within the intense darkness of the
Arabs' Age of Ignorance, was nothing other than revelation. It was a
call that penetrated the very depths of the souls of human beings
that melted the marrow of their bones, and directed all their
strivings to the attainment of perfection.
The command of revelation negated all the false and lying criteria
which human beings had regarded as the measure of goodness and
considered the sole means of evaluating human characteristics and
habits, while, in fact, clothing falsehood in the garment of truth.
It brought into operation new and clear criteria which showed human
beings the goals to which they should strive to advance and brought
about creativity in their lives. The veil of ignorance and silence
was torn apart, the human beings' energies were set to work, the
power of thought within them was aroused, and their spirits were
borne aloft toward the infinite summit of being.
A people who in their ignorance and lowliness would tear each apart
on account of the most insignificant things and had lost all virtue,
thanks to their various forms of enslavement, now became, through
Islam and its great concept of monotheism - the true pillar of
humanity and the breaker of idols - so elevated of spirit and so
self-sacrificing that they happily abandoned both their lives and
their property. The remarkable stories of self-sacrifice on the part
of those early Muslims will stand eternally as examples of true
nobility.
The Prophet of Islam had the vision and belief of a world leader,
but he began to proclaim his Divine summons to monotheism in a
relatively restricted sphere, a closed environment where tribal
institutions exercised great influence and idols were counted as the
most sacred and beloved of objects. It was an environment that was
not in any way prepared to accept the message of Divine unity.
The heavenly teachings of Islam and the culture to which they gave
rise were superior not only to the intellectual atmosphere
prevailing in the idolatrous society of the Arabs but also to all
the religious doctrines and cultures of that age.
The program for reforming systems of thought and culture that had
become corrupt was laid down by a man who had never studied, who was
unlettered, and who knew nothing of the religious books or the
civilization of his age.
At first he invited his relatives to worship the Creator, and then
the people of Mecca and the Arabian Peninsula. Finally he proclaimed
to the entire world his mission as the last of the Prophets.
The Prophet had been born into an environment where human beings
engaged in empty boasting out of their shortsightedness and tribal
mentality, where privileges were based on unjust social conditions
and prejudices. Now he arose and swept aside all those false
privileges. He established new values and concepts with respect to
labor, life and social relations, in the framework of a series of
rules and ordinances, and strove to concentrate all the goals and
thoughts of the human being on a program for liberating peoples from
slavery, and delivering the oppressed from the tyranny of emperors
and kings. Even for those who do not regard these exalted aims as
having a heavenly origin will admit that they are among the most
exalted and previous values observable in human history.
What is significant about the Revelation, the Message of God, is
that it was an act for which the Prophet (pbuh) was ready. Meaning,
that he had already forsaken the beliefs of his people and his
culture. Mohammad (pbuh) had proved himself ready for prophethood
through his pious actions and behavior. Among his people he had
already earned the name Al-Amin, The Trustworthy. Moreover, Mohammad
(pbuh) was a mature man, one who had lived the majority of his life,
and could devote the next twenty-three years of that life to the
service of God.
Since different verses of the Qur'an were being revealed as and
when appropriate, it was not possible from the very beginning to
write and preserve it in a book form. So, during the initial stage
of Islam, major emphasis was laid on memory as a means of preserving
the Qur'an.
When a revelation used to come in the very beginning, the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would tend to repeat its words
instantly so that they would be memorized well enough. Thereupon,
Allah Almighty directed him through the verses of Soorah Qiyaamah
that he need not repeat words in a hurry immediately as revelation
came. Allah Almighty would himself endow him with a memory that he
will be unable to forget the words of the revelation once its
descent has been completed. So it was that the moment the Qur'anic
verses would come to him, they would be committed to his memory the
next moment. Thus, the blessed chest of the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhi wasallam), was the most protected vault of the Qur'an, in
which there was no chance of even some common mistake, editing or
alteration. Moreover, as a matter of additional precaution, he used
to recite the Qur'an before angel Jibra'eel every year during the
month of Ramadhaan; and the year he left this mortal world he
completed a cumulative review of Qur'anic recitation twice with
Jibra'eel. (Saheeh Bukhaari with Fat'hul Baari)
Again, as it was, he would not restrict his teachings of the
Sahaabah (Companions) to just the meaning of the Qur'an, but had
them memorize its words as well. Then, the revered Companions were
themselves so enamored with a desire to learn and remember the
Qur'an that every one of them was anxious to get ahead of the other.
There were women who claimed no dowry from their husbands except
that they would teach the Qur'an.
Hundreds of Companions, freeing themselves from all other concerns,
had devoted their whole lives for this purpose. Not only did they
memorize the Qur'an but also went on repeating it within the nightly
prayers. "When someone migrated from Makkah and came to Madeenah",
says Ubaadah Ibne Saamit, "the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)
would entrust him to one of us Ansaar so that he could teach Qur'an
to the new comer." The mosque of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi
wasallam) was so filled with voices generated by learners and
teachers of the Qur'an that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)
had to ask them to lower their voices so that mistakes are not made.
(Manaahilul 'Irfaan)
Thus memorisation of the Qur'an was given more emphasis in early
Islam as this was the only protected and trustworthy method given
the conditions of that time. The reason is that the number of people
who could read or write was very limited in those days. The means of
publishing books, such as printing press, etc., were not there.
Therefore, in that situation, if writing was taken to be sufficient,
it would have neither been possible to spread the Qur'an on an
extensive scale nor to protect it reliably. In its place, Allah
Almighty had blessed the people of Arabia with a memory of such
dimensions that thousands of poetic lines would normally rest in the
memory of one person after another. Common ordinary villagers would
remember by heart their genealogies and those of their families and
unbelievably enough - even those of their horses! Therefore, this
power of memory was well utilized for the conservation and
protection of the Qur'an and it was through it that the verses and
chapters of the Qur'an reached all over in to the far corners of
Arabia.
Besides having the Qur'an committed to memory, the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhi wasallam) made special arrangements to have the
Qur'an committed to writing as well. Zayd Ibne Thaabit says: "I used
to write down the words of wahee for him. When wahee came to him he
felt burning with heat and the drops of perspiration would start
rolling down on his body like pearls. When this state would go away
from him, I would present myself before him with shoulder-bone or a
piece (of something else). He would go on dictating and I would go
on writing. When I would be finished with writing, the shear weight
of copying the Qur'an would give me the feeling that my leg is going
to break and that I will never be able to walk. In any case, when I
would be finished with writing, he would say: 'Read.' I would read
it back to him if there was a shortcoming, he would have it
corrected and then let it be known to people. (Majma'uz Zawaa'id
with reference to Tabraani)
Thus, there existed, during the time of the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhi wasallam), a copy of the Noble Qur'aan which he had arranged
to be committed to writing under his supervision. Although, it was
not there as a formally prepared book, but it certainly was there in
the form of various units of available writing materials. Along with
it, it was also the practice of some revered Companions that they
would make copies of the Qur'anic verses and keep them for personal
recollection. This practice was common since the very early period
of Islam. Accordingly, much before Umar embraced Islaam, his sister
and brother-in-law had in their possession verses of the Qur'aan
which they had written and kept in a book form. (Seerah Ibne
Hishaam)
After reading about the Revelation of the Holy Qur'an, you might
find the following of interest:
How the Holy Qur'an was preserved
Zayd Ibne Thaabit says: "I used to write down the words of wahee for
him. When wahee came to him he felt burning with heat and the drops
of perspiration would start rolling down on his body like pearls.
When this state would go away from him, I would present myself
before him with shoulder-bone or a piece (of something else). He
would go on dictating and I would go on writing. When I would be
finished with writing, the shear weight of copying the Qur'an would
give me the feeling that my leg is going to break and that I will
never be able to walk. In any case, when I would be finished with
writing, he would say: 'Read.' I would read it back to him and if
there was a shortcoming, he would have it corrected and then let it
be known to people.
The Demand of the Qur'an for a Direct Confrontation
From the very first day that the Prophet began preaching his message
of monotheism, he summoned people also to a realistic vision of the
world. When inviting them to faith, he addressed their wisdom and
intelligence and called on them to use their eyes and their ears to
perceive the truth.
Do we deserve the Qur'an?
The student of the Qur'an will find out that, Qur'an is telling us
that the messengers of Allah will lead the people from darkness into
the light and that nowhere in the Qur'an does Allah tell us a story
of a community misled by its messenger or given the wrong teachings
by him.
