Читать книгу Muhammad: Man and Prophet - Adil Salahi - Страница 14
ОглавлениеLITTLE IS REPORTED about how Muhammad lived after his marriage, up to the time when he started to receive Divine revelations. It is certain, however, that his marriage was a very happy one. Moreover, his marriage provided him with a comfortable life. Although there is no direct reference to the type of work Muhammad did in this period, it is reasonable to assume that he continued to manage his wife’s business. Since the work was mainly done through the caravan trade, the work itself was not very demanding. None of the old biographers of the Prophet mentioned that he travelled on Khadījah’s trade missions after their marriage but, most probably, he spared her the need to attend to the business herself. He might have selected the men to travel on her behalf and supervised the preparations of the shipment before the caravan set off and the sale of the imported goods when it came back.
Nor are there detailed reports on Muhammad’s social activity in Makkah. It is known that the Arabs of Makkah had their meeting places round the Kaʿbah where they spent some time in the morning and the afternoon in a pleasant atmosphere. Although Muhammad had a likeable personality and everyone seemed to enjoy his company, he did not appear to care much for such gatherings, most probably because the chatting would inevitably have turned to the worship of idols and promiscuous pursuits. These were normal topics of conversation, unless something more serious imposed itself on such meetings. But neither topic interested Muhammad. He had disliked idols since childhood. Moreover, he was protected by God against indulging in wanton pleasures. Indeed there was clearly a wide intellectual gap between Muhammad and the people of Makkah. This gap continued to increase as the years went by. It did not deprive him, however, of enjoying his people’s respect for his honest, serious and amiable character.1
It was probably because of this gap that Muhammad began to take himself away from Makkah for a period of total seclusion. In the month of Ramaḍān, each year, he went to a mountain called Ḥirā’, which was only a few miles away, but offered him complete seclusion. Up there in the mountain there was a little cave where Muhammad stayed for several days at a time. When his supply of food and drink was exhausted he would go back home for a fresh supply and come back for another few days. When the month was over, he went back home, starting with a visit to the Kaʿbah, where he did the ṭawāf, walking round the Kaʿbah seven times before he went home to his wife.
To get to the cave, Muhammad had to climb right to the top of the mountain and descend a short distance down the other side. The cave is a small one with an entrance that is wide enough to admit one person comfortably, but does not easily accommodate two people standing to pray. The entrance narrows at the top and is just about two metres high. Although the ground of the cave is flat, the ceiling slopes down as you go inside until it becomes very low towards the end, where there is a little opening which ensures good ventilation. There is not much space in the cave altogether. It has just about enough room to accommodate one person to sit, stand or sleep. What is worth mentioning is that if one stands to offer prayers at the entrance of the cave and looks through the opening at its end, one can see the Kaʿbah on the far horizon. Just before the entrance there are two great rocks shielding the cave and giving the place an air of complete isolation. Alongside it, the great rocks form a little open space looking over an almost vertical side of the mountain. Only mountaineering experts with full equipment can attempt to climb that side. That little space next to the cave must have given Muhammad all that he needed to be absorbed in contemplating human life nearby and the universal expanse all around him.
Muhammad spent his days and nights in contemplation and worship. He addressed his worship to the Creator of the universe. He did not follow any particular method of worship because he was not aware of any, but he realized that the beliefs of his people were absurd. In those days of seclusion, Muhammad found comfort which lasted him through the rest of the year. He realized that there is a force of truth beyond this world which must have power and control over the whole universe. The world around him could not have come into being by coincidence. But how that truth manifested itself, he could not tell.2
It is easy to read too much into Muhammad’s period of seclusion and his contemplation. Modern authors and biographers in particular have tried to show him trying to find a way out of the total darkness that enshrouded his people. This may bring us very close to saying that Muhammad was in search of an idea or a belief. This is true only in as much as it means that Muhammad rejected all beliefs which were known to him and were practised in Makkan society. He certainly did not aspire to the role that was later assigned to him. Addressing the Prophet, God says in the Qur’ān: “You had not entertained any hope that Scriptures would be given you, but this was an act of grace by Your Lord.” (28: 86) Nevertheless, this regular period of seclusion helped to prepare Muhammad for receiving God’s revelations.
There were other aspects of preparation. It was necessary that Muhammad should understand and realized that the unique relationship which was soon to be established between him and the Angel Gabriel is both real and truthful. He was soon to realized that every dream in his sleep was soon to come true exactly. When he was alone, he might see a light or hear a sound, someone invisible might address him by his name. Yet these matters did not worry him much. When he felt such worry, he told his wife Khadījah, expressing his fears to her. She would reassure him and say that God would not allow anything evil to happen to him. “By God,” she said, “you are faithful to your trust, kind to your kinsfolk and you always tell the truth.” She, however, went to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, the old Christian scholar, asking him about what Muhammad saw and heard. He also reassured her and sent Muhammad word telling him to be reassured.
The First Revelation
Then the moment had to come. It was in the month of Ramaḍān, in the year AD 610 when Muhammad was 40 years old, spending the month in the mountain of Ḥirā’, as had been his habit for several years. Suddenly, Muhammad had a most fascinating experience, an account of which is given by his future wife ʿĀ’ishah.
The first aspect of revelation to God’s Messenger was that his dreams came true. Whatever vision he might have had in his sleep would occur as he had seen. Then, he began to enjoy seclusion. He used to retreat alone into the cave of Ḥirā’, where he would spend several days in devotion before going back to his family. He used to take some food with him, and when he came back he would take a fresh supply for another period. He continued to do so until he received the truth while in the cave of Ḥirā’. The angel came to him and said: “Read”. He replied: “I am not a reader.” The Prophet says: “He held me and pressed hard until I was exhausted, then he released me and said: ‘Read’, and I replied: ‘I am not a reader.’ So he held me and pressed me hard a second time until I was exhausted, then he released me and said: ‘Read’. I replied: ‘I am not a reader.’ He then held me and pressed hard for a third time. Then he said: ‘Read, in the name of Your Lord Who created. It is He Who created man from clots of blood. Read! Your Lord is the most bounteous, Who has taught the use of the pen. He has taught man what he did not know.’” The Prophet returned home to Khadījah, trembling, and said: “Wrap me! Wrap me!” They wrapped him and his fear subsided. He turned to Khadījah and exclaimed: “What has happened to me?” He related to her what happened and said: “I fear for myself,” and Khadījah replied: “You have nothing to fear; be calm and relax. God will not let you suffer humiliation, because you are kind to your relatives, you speak the truth, you assist anyone in need, you are hospitable to your guest and you help in every just cause.” Then she took him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal, her paternal cousin who was a Christian convert and a scholar with good knowledge of Arabic, Hebrew and the Bible. He had lost his eyesight, as he had grown very old. Khadījah said to Waraqah: “Cousin, would you like to hear what your nephew has to say?” [Waraqah was not, in fact, the Prophet’s uncle. Khadījah’s reference to Muhammad as his nephew was in accordance with the standards of politeness which prevailed in Arabia at the time.] Waraqah said: “Well, nephew, what have you seen?” The Prophet related to him what he saw. When he had finished, Waraqah said: “It is the same revelation as was sent down to Moses. I wish I was a young man so that I might be alive when your people turn you away from this city.” The Prophet exclaimed: “Would they turn me away?” Waraqah answered: “Yes! No man has ever preached a message like yours and was not met with enmity. If I live till that day, I will certainly give you all my support.” But Waraqah died soon after that…3
This ḥadīth is related in both of the two most authentic collections of the Prophet’s traditions prepared by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and also related by Imām Aḥmad in his collection.
Al-Ṭabarī also relates the following ḥadīth, on the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr:
The Prophet said: “While I was asleep he came to me carrying a case of a very rich material in which there was a book. He said: ‘Read’. I replied: ‘I am not a reader.’ He pressed me so hard that I felt that I was about to die. Then he released me and said, ‘Read’. I asked: ‘What shall I read?’ (I said this only out of fear that he might repeat what he had done to me before.) He said: ‘Read: in the name of Your Lord Who created. It is He Who created man from clots of blood. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bounteous, Who has taught the use of the pen. He has taught man what he did not know.’ I read it. He stopped. Then he left me and went away. I woke up feeling that it was actually written in my heart.”
The Prophet went on to say: “No man was ever more loathsome to me than poets or deranged persons. I could not bear even looking at either. I thought: ‘The man [meaning himself] is undoubtedly a poet or deranged. This shall not be said about me amongst the Quraysh. Let me climb higher up the mountain and throw myself down and get rid of it all.’ I went to carry out this intention. When I was halfway up the mountain, I heard a voice coming from the heavens saying: ‘Muhammad, you are the Messenger of God and I am Gabriel.’ I raised my head up to the sky and I saw Gabriel in the image of a man with his feet next to one another up on the horizon. He said again: ‘Muhammad, you are the Messenger of God and I am Gabriel.’ I stood in my place looking up at him; this distracted me from my intention. I was standing there unable to move. I tried to turn my face away from him and to look up at the sky, but wherever I looked I saw him in front of me. I stood still, moving, neither forward nor backward. Khadījah sent her messengers looking for me and I remained standing in my place all the while until they went back to her. He then left me and I went back to my family…”4
An Address from Heaven
Before continuing with the narrative to see what the Prophet did when he arrived home, it is necessary to say a word or two about the significance of the relationship which was established at that point in time when Muhammad received the Angel Gabriel, who brought him his revelations. One cannot do much better than quote one of the leading twentieth-century scholars. Sayyid Quṭb (may God bless his soul) writes in his priceless work In the Shade of the Qur’ān:
The true nature of this event is that God, the Great, the Compeller, the Almighty, the Supreme, the Sovereign of the whole universe, out of His benevolence has turned to that creation of His which is called ‘man’, and which takes its abode in a barely visible corner of the universe, the name of which is ‘earth’. He has honoured this species of His creation by choosing one of its numbers to be the recipient of His Divine light and guardian of His wisdom.
This is something infinitely great. Some aspects of this greatness become apparent when man tries, as much as he can, to perceive the essential qualities of God: absolute power, freedom from all limitations and everlastingness; and when he reflects in comparison on the basic qualities of God’s servants who are subject to certain limitations of power and life duration. One may then perceive the significance of this Divine care for man. He may realize the sweetness of this feeling and manifest his appreciation with thanksgiving, prayers and devotion. He feels that the whole universe shares in the general happiness spread by the revelation of Divine words to man in his obscure corner of the universe.
What is the significance of this event? With reference to God it signifies that He is the source of all the great bounties and unfailing compassion. He is the benevolent, the loving, who bestows His mercy and benefaction for no reason except that benevolence is one of His Divine attributes. As for man, this event signifies that God has bestowed on him an honour, the greatness of which he can hardly ever appreciate and for which he can never show enough gratitude, not even if he spends all his life in devotion and prostration. This honour is that God has taken notice and care of him, established contact with him and chosen one of the human race as His messenger to reveal to him His words; that the earth, man’s abode, has become the recipient of these Divine words which the whole universe echoes with submission and devotion.
This great event began to bear on the life of humanity as a whole right from the first moment. It marked a change in the course of history, following the change it brought about in the course followed by human conscience. It specified the source man should look up to in order to derive his ideas, values and criteria. The source is heaven and the Divine revelations, not this world and man’s own desires. When this great event took place, the people who recognized its true nature and adapted their lives accordingly enjoyed God’s protection and manifest care. They looked up to Him directly for guidance in all their affairs, big and small. They lived and moved under His supervision. They expected that He would guide them along the road, step by step, stopping them from error, leading them to the right. Every night they expected to receive some Divine revelations concerning what they had on their minds, providing solutions for their problems and saying to them, ‘do this and leave that’.
The period which followed the event was certainly remarkable: twenty-three years of direct contact between the human race and the Supreme Society [Supreme Society refers to the angels]. The true nature of this period cannot be recognized except by those who lived in it and went through its experience, witnessed its start and its end, relished the sweet flavour of that contact and felt the Divine hand guiding them along the road. The distance which separates us from that reality is too great to be defined by any measure of length this world has known. It is a distance in the spiritual world incomparable to any distance in the material world, not even when we think of gaps separating the stars or galaxies. It is a gap that separates the earth and the heavens; a gap between human desires and Divine revelations as sources from which concepts and values are derived; a gap between ignorance and Islam, the human and the Divine.
The people who lived in that period were fully aware of its uniqueness, recognized its special place in history and felt the great loss when the Prophet passed away to be in the company of the Supreme Companion [The Supreme Companion is an Islamic term which refers to God]. This marked the end of this remarkable period which our minds can hardly imagine, but for its actual occurrence.
Anas related that Abū Bakr said to ʿUmar after the death of the Prophet: “Let us go and visit Umm Ayman (the nurse who took care of the Prophet in his childhood) as the Prophet used to do.” When they went to her she burst into tears. They said: “What are you crying for? Do you not realize that God’s company is far better for the Prophet?” She replied: “This is true, I am sure. I am only crying because revelation has ceased with his death.” This made tears spring to their eyes and the three of them cried together. (Related by Muslim.)
The impact of that period has been in evidence in the life of humanity from its beginning up to this moment, and it will remain in evidence until the day when God inherits the earth and all that walks on it. Man was reborn when he started to derive his values from heaven rather than earth and his laws from Divine revelations instead of his own desires. The course of history underwent a change the like of which has never been experienced before or since. That event, the commencement of revelation, was the point at which the roads crossed. Clear and permanent guidelines were established which cannot be changed by the passage of time or effaced by events. Human conscience developed a concept of existence, human life and its values unsurpassed in comprehensiveness, clarity and purity of all worldly considerations, as well as its realism and practicability in human society. The foundations of this Divine code have been firmly established in the world and its various aspects and essential standards have been made clear “so that he who perishes may perish after having received a clear sign and he who lives may live after having received a clear sign”. (8: 42)
The beginning of revelation was a unique event at a unique moment marking the end of one era and the start of another. It is the demarcation line in the history of mankind, not merely in the history of a certain nation or a particular generation. It has been recorded in the universe and echoed in all its corners. It has also been recorded in the conscience of man, which today needs to be guided by what God has revealed and never to lose sight of it. It needs to remember that this event was a rebirth of humanity which can take place only once in history.5
A Test for Reassurance
When the Prophet reached home after his sojourn in the mountain cave, his wife noticed that he was off-colour, which was natural after all the excitement of his first encounter with the Angel Gabriel. She asked him what was the matter as she started to wipe his face. She asked whether he had seen or heard anything new. He told her: “You remember what I told you about my dreams and the voice I used to hear when I awoke, which caused me some fear! It was Gabriel who appeared and talked to me and made me read words which left me worried. He then told me that I am the Prophet of this nation. As I was coming back, I heard trees and stones saying: “Peace be to you, Messenger of God.” Khadījah said: “Rejoice! By God, I was certain that God would bring you only what is good. I certainly hope that you are the Prophet of this nation.”
She continued to encourage him until he relaxed and ate. She then went to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who reassured her. He then promised her most solemnly that if Muhammad was truly the Prophet who is mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel, “and he calls people to believe in his message while I am still alive, I will do my best in obedience to God’s Messenger and will support him to the end.”
There are several reports about the encouragement Waraqah gave to Khadījah and the Prophet. If we take them together, there were probably two or three meetings between the Prophet and Waraqah, one of which occurred when they met at the Kaʿbah as both of them were doing the ṭawāf. Waraqah reassured Muhammad and kissed his head. Then Waraqah died within a few days. The Prophet said of him: “I have seen in my dream the priest wearing silk clothes in heaven, because he believed in me.”6
The first few days must have been full of worry in the Prophet’s home. He needed every possible reassurance. It seems that Gabriel appeared to him more than once. His wife Khadījah was certain that nothing evil could come to him. Her logical thinking led her to that conclusion. What she knew of the Prophet’s character made her absolutely certain that what he saw and heard was genuine and came from a good source. Her thoughtful mind led her to try to get more reassurance. She said to the Prophet: “Cousin, can you tell me when this companion of yours comes to you next time?” He agreed to do so.
Informed of Gabriel’s presence on his next visit, Khadījah said to the Prophet: “Cousin, sit on my left thigh.” When he did so, she asked him whether he still saw him. The Prophet said: “Yes.” She told the Prophet to move over and sit on her right thigh. As he did so, the Prophet confirmed that he could still see Gabriel. She asked him to sit on her lap and he did so, again confirming that he could still see him. She then took off her head-covering, while the Prophet still sat on her lap. At that moment, he told her he could see him no more. She said, “Rejoice, Cousin, and be firm. This is certainly an angel, not a devil.” It was her clear thinking that led her to try this method, realizing that an angel would not stay in a room where a man and his wife were in a closely intimate position.7
Then followed a period during which the Angel Gabriel stopped coming to the Prophet. It seemed that it all stopped as suddenly as it had started. Now, no more visits by Gabriel and no more revelations. This worried the Prophet and he needed reassurance again.
There are no confirmed reports of the duration of this period during which the Prophet received no new revelations. One report puts it at two and a half years, but it is more likely that it was much shorter than that, lasting perhaps about a month or a few weeks.8 The purpose was to allow the Prophet to have some time to himself, during which his new experience would sink in and he would be able to evaluate the new situation and its implications for his future role. What he was embarking on was by no means easy. It required strength, fortitude and perseverance. Of all these he had plenty, but his task needed even more. The history related in this book will give only a glimpse of the sort of strength and perseverance the Prophet needed to summon up in order to fulfil his task. Moreover, the process of receiving revelation was by no means easy. No human being can tell what it meant, simply because no human being has ever experienced it, apart from those chosen elite whom God has honoured so highly to make them prophets. What it is important to remember, however, is that the receipt of revelation was an actual contact between the Prophet, Muhammad, the human being, and an angel God sent specially to him to give him His own words. The process itself took several forms.
From the two ḥadīths, quoted earlier in this chapter, relating the first encounter between the Prophet and the Angel Gabriel, one can realize that revelation could be given to the Prophet while he was asleep or while he was awake. In that particular instance, both types might have occurred, first during the Prophet’s sleep, and then confirmed when he was awake.
Alternatively, it could come through direct inspiration. In an authentic ḥadīth, the Prophet is quoted to have said: “The Holy Spirit has given me this inspiration that no soul shall die until it has completed its life duration and received all its provisions. Be mindful, therefore, of your duty towards God and maintain propriety when you ask Him for what you want.”
Or the revelation could be given to him while a ringing noise was heard. That was the most difficult form. It is suggested that with that ringing sound, his mind was at its most alert.
Or the angel could come to him in human form. In particular, he appeared in the form of one of the Prophet’s companions, Diḥyah ibn Khalīfah, who was exceptionally handsome.
Or the Angel Gabriel could appear to Muhammad in his own shape, as an angel with wings.
Or finally, God could speak to him directly from behind a screen, either when he was awake, as on his night journey, or during his sleep as the Prophet has once reported: “My Lord appeared to me in the most splendid form, and said: ‘Over what do the Supreme Society dispute?’ I said I do not know. He put his palm on my chest and I felt its coolness and knowledge of everything became clear to me. He said: ‘Muhammad, over what do the Supreme Society dispute?’ I said: ‘Over atonements.’ He said: ‘What are they?’ I said: ‘Ablution after what is disliked, moving forward to do what is good and watching for the time of prayer, one after the other. If a person does this, he is praised during his life and at his death. His sins will be wiped out and he will be like a newborn child.’” (Related by al-Tirmidhī.)
ʿĀ’ishah reported that when the Prophet received revelations, he always sweated, even on the coldest of days.
All this meant that the Prophet had to go through a transitional period during which he would taste part of the complete transformation that was going to take place in his life. During this transitional period, there was no need for new revelations. Only reassurance was needed that what he had seen and heard was true and real. He was a Prophet chosen by God for a great task.
When the transitional period was over, revelations resumed. Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh quotes the Prophet as saying: “As I was walking, I heard a voice from heaven. I lifted my eyes to the sky and I saw the angel who had come to me in Ḥirā’ sitting on a chair raised between heaven and earth. I sat down in terror and fell. I then rushed home and said to my wife: ‘Wrap me! Wrap me!’ God revealed to me: ‘O you enfolded [in your coverings] arise and warn … etc.’” (74: 1-7) From now on, Muhammad was not only a Prophet, he was also a Messenger. From now on, he was to receive revelations without worrying interruptions.
NOTES
1. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Dār al-Qalam, Beirut, Vol. 1, pp. 252-254. Also, Amīn Duwaydār, Ṣuwar Min Ḥayāt al-Rasūl, Dār al-Maʿārif, 4th edition, Cairo, p. 119.
2. Amīn Duwaydār, op.cit., pp. 118-119.
3. Ibn Hishām, op.cit., pp. 249-254.
4. Al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, Dār al-Maʿārif, 4th edition, Vol. 2, pp. 300-301.
5. Sayyid Quṭb, Fī Ẓilal al-Qur’ān, Dār al-Shurūq, Beirut, Vol. 6, pp. 3396-3398. English edition, In the Shade of the Qur’ān, Vol. 30, MWH London Publishers, London, 1979, pp. 220-222.
6. Ibn Hishām, op.cit., pp. 249-254. Also, Amīn Duwaydār, op.cit., pp. 121-122.
7. Ibn Hishām, op.cit., p. 255.
8. Ibid., p. 257. Also, Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, ʿUyūn al-Athar, Dār al-Turāth, Madinah, 1996, p. 170 and p. 176.
