Period 5 of 18
The First Revelation and the Early Call
At the age of forty he received the first revelation in the cave of Hira, followed by a quiet call to Islam and then the open proclamation.
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The first revelation in the cave of Hira
Aisha رضي الله عنها reported that revelation began with true dreams that came like the break of dawn; then he loved solitude and would spend nights of worship in the cave of Hira. There the angel came and said: “Read!” He replied: “I am not a reader.” The angel pressed him three times and then recited: “Read in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous” (96:1-5). He was forty years old, in Ramadan, the month in which the Quran began to be revealed (2:185; 97:1).
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Khadijah and Waraqa
He returned trembling and said to Khadijah: “Cover me, cover me,” and told her: “I fear for myself.” She replied: “Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep the ties of kinship, bear the burdens of others, help the destitute, honour the guest and assist in true calamities.” She took him to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, an old man who had become Christian and copied the scriptures. He said: “This is the Namus that Allah sent down upon Musa. I wish I were young when your people drive you out.” The Prophet ﷺ asked: “Will they drive me out?” He said: “Yes. No man has come with what you have brought without being met with hostility.”
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The pause in revelation and the command to arise
Revelation then paused for a time; the length of the pause is disputed. Jabir ibn Abdullah رضي الله عنهما reported the Prophet ﷺ saying that while walking he heard a voice from the sky and saw the angel who had come to him in Hira sitting on a throne between heaven and earth. He was frightened and asked to be covered, and Allah revealed: “O you who are covered, arise and warn, and your Lord magnify, and your clothing purify...” (74:1-7). Another report says that when Jibril was delayed, a woman of Quraysh sneered, and Surah ad-Duha was revealed to reassure him (93:1-3).
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The first believers and the quiet call
The first to believe were Khadijah, his young cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, his freedman Zayd ibn Harithah and his close friend Abu Bakr رضي الله عنهم; the sirah books add that Abu Bakr then invited other respected men to Islam. The sirah books describe about three years of quiet invitation, with the believers meeting privately. Ammar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه later said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when no one was with him except five slaves, two women and Abu Bakr,” showing how few the believers were at the start.
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The open proclamation on Mount Safa
When Allah commanded: “And warn your closest relatives” (26:214), and “Proclaim openly what you are commanded” (15:94), the Prophet ﷺ climbed Mount Safa and called out to the clans of Quraysh. Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما reported that he asked them: “If I told you that horsemen were in the valley about to attack you, would you believe me?” They said: “Yes, we have never experienced anything from you but truth.” He said: “Then I am a warner to you before a severe punishment.” Abu Lahab said: “May you perish all day! Is this why you gathered us?” and Surah al-Masad was revealed (111).
How the sources are used
Sources are chosen in this order: the Quran first, then the hadith collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and then other collections such as al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Malik. The sirah books, mainly Ibn Ishaq as transmitted by Ibn Hisham, are used only for details not found in the hadith, and these are marked as “recorded in the sirah books.” Dates in the Christian era are approximate, and hadith numbers follow the hadith library of this website.
Hadith numbers follow the hadith library on this site, and each source opens its hadith there. Details that are not in the hadith collections are marked as coming from the sirah books.
General information for learning, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.