Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 10 - Zayd b. Harithah & Beginning of Revelation - Yasir Qadhi | Sept 2011
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 10 - Zayd b. Harithah & Beginning of Revelation - Yasir Qadhi | Sept 2011
Last week right at the end we discussed the story of the Ka'bah and there are some profound symbolisms. Before this we mentioned the tangent about the story of the Black Stone; that it had become fragmented, and the Abbasids had to put it back in molten rock, and the actual Black Stone is in pieces now, it's not the original stone.
Symbolisms We Learn From the Rebuilding of the Ka'bah
1. There is clearly the metaphor being given that the Ka'bah has been destroyed before the coming of the Prophet PBUH and is being rebuilt right at his time. The symbolism is that the religion of Ibrahim AS had been destroyed and now the Prophet PBUH is going to rebuild it. So the Ka'bah represents the religion of Ibrahim AS. Allah says:
أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ
"The first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Makkah." [3:96] Thus this House represents the worship of Allah. And the symbolism of it being destroyed shows that the religion of Ibrahim has not been preserved by humanity, and the fact that it's being renewed at the time of the Prophet PBUH is a sign that the religion of Ibrahim is going to be rebuilt.
2. The fact that the Ka'bah was rebuilt upon the foundations of Ibrahim shows that the foundation of the theology that the Prophet PBUH comes with is the same "La ilaha illaLlah," but the actual bricks will be renewed.
3. Just like the Prophet PBUH saved his people from civil war and bloodshed, so too he will save them as the Last and Final Messenger and exalt their honor.
4. The fact that the Prophet PBUH united all of the tribes by holding the cloth, is a symbol that he will unite them all under the banner of Islam.
5. Also, when the Prophet PBUH entered the Ka'bah, all of the tribes were happy - this shows that the Prophet PBUH was such an immense character; his nobility was so recognized.
(It's narrated that when Abu Jahal stood up to gather funds for the Ka'bah, he said, "We are rebuilding the House of Allah, so make sure that the money you use is from your pure earnings - no cheating and no interest, no gambling or prostitution, etc." This is amazing that someone as filthy as Abu Jahal understood this - that you should not spend in the path of Allah with filthy money.)
(Also, for the first time in the history of the Ka'bah, the jahili Arabs built it in a square shape. And there is a [divine] wisdom in this: We know that praying inside the Ka'bah is a very great blessing, and if it had been built in the shape of Ibrahim AS in a rectangle, it would be impossible [for common people like us] to pray inside the Ka'bah. But it's a huge blessing from Allah that it's remained square because now, everyone can pray 'in the Ka'bah'. Why? Because the original structure of the Ka'bah is now outside, [that is the Hijr Ismail,] and it's open for all to pray in. Thus there is great wisdom in this. Allah's plans always work out for the best.)
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Zayd ibn Harithah
There is another story before the advent of the wahy, which clearly shows the character of the Prophet PBUH. That is the story of Zayd ibn Harithah. He is from the Qahtani branch of the Arabs, not the Adnani branch, and he is from a tribe of Yemen. Zayd's mother and father were from two different tribes that had a love-hate relationship.
One day Zayd's mother, Su'da, took Zayd, who at the time was 7 or 8 years old, to her own tribe. Right at that time, it so happened that a small fight broke out between Zayd's father's and mother's tribes; and so, Zayd's relative (i.e. his uncles etc.) got so angry, they took Zayd, kidnapped him from his own mother (their own sister's child) and sold him into slavery to get revenge at the tribe of Zayd's father - because in Jahiliyyah, the son belongs to the father. And so, Zayd was sold in the grand fairs of Ukkadh (Okaz) - the largest marketplace which took place after the Hajj season. And they sold him to Hakim ibn Hizam (Khadija's nephew). Khadija had given Hakim money to find a young slave, and so Zayd becomes Khadija's servant. And when Khadija married the Prophet PBUH, she gifted Zayd to the Prophet PBUH. This is of course way before Islam.
So, Zayd's father (Harithah) is frantically looking for his son. He is spreading the news, "There is a boy from our tribe, these are his features etc., if anybody hears of him, please come and tell me." It's so happened that during the Hajj season someone saw Zayd and realized this is the boy Harithah is looking for. So they told Harithah, "We found your son, he is a slave to one of the grandsons of Abdul Muttalib, and his name is Muhammad." So his father and the brother travel to Makkah and ask where is Muhammad. They are told he is in the Haram area, so they approached the Prophet PBUH and said, "Ya Muhammad, you are of the most noble lineage, trustworthy etc. (praise) - we want to take our son back who was unjustly stolen and kidnapped and sold into slavery. And Zayd is our son, and we will give you any ransom you want, but please be generous with us (because we can only afford so much)."
Note that this happened in the days of Jahiliyyah so there was no law and order - and power belongs to the strongest. No court or anything of that sort for them to plead their case etc. The law of Jahiliyyah is that they have to deal with it and thus they are willing to buy their son back. And so the Prophet PBUH said, "Is this what you want? That I send Zayd back with you?" They said, "Yes," and the Prophet PBUH said, "It is up to him (Zayd). I will leave the matter to him - if he chooses you, I will send him back with no ransom, but if he chooses me, I cannot turn him away." So the father and uncle were overjoyed, and they said, "O Muhammad, you have done marvelous and have done much more than we could have asked for."
And so the Prophet PBUH called Zayd, who is now around 25 years old, and the Prophet PBUH asked Zayd, "Do you recognize these men?" Zayd said, "Yes, this is my father and uncle." Then the Prophet PBUH said, "They have come requesting that you go back with them, and I have left the matter to you - if you want, you may go with them, or if you want, you may remain with me."
Subhan'Allah even in this, we find that the Prophet PBUH had a fondness of Zayd - he doesn't want to let go of him, but he cannot say no because morally they have a point, "Our son is not a slave." So the Prophet PBUH does the morally correct thing, but he doesn't want to hand over Zayd because he has genuine feelings of paternal love.
Instantaneously Zayd said, "I can never choose anyone over you, for you are to me more than a father and uncle combined." This is unnatural for a man to say to a person who is not his blood relative. Biologically the love you have for your father is there (in the fitrah). Zayd has pure memories and yet instantaneously he said, "How can I choose anyone over you?" This is impossible except for a prophet of Allah - the love of a prophet trumps the bond of fatherhood.
Zayd's father said, "O Zayd, have you gone crazy? You will choose to be a slave in a strange land, and refuse to come with your own father to your own tribe?" - because as a slave you have no honor, rights, or protection. So his father said, "Have you gone crazy?" Zayd said, "I know what I have said. I have seen from this man that which no other man has done." Right there and then, the Prophet PBUH stood up and said, "O people of Makkah, I want you all to testify that from this day, Zayd is a free man and I adopt him as my son and he will inherit from me, and I from him." He did this in front of the father to bring peace to his heart that his son is a free man, adopted by Quraysh. Thus the Prophet PBUH adopted Zayd, and Zayd was called Zayd ibn Muhammad.
Subhan'Allah this is an amazing story and this one incident tells us more about the mannerisms of the Prophet PBUH. It speaks volumes about who he is.
And decades later, Abdullah ibn Umar RA said, "We never knew of Zayd by any other name except Zayd ibn Muhammad until Allah revealed Surah al-Ahzab Verse 5." This is where Allah says, "Call children by their fathers. That is more just in the sight of Allah." So this is when the Prophet PBUH re-changed the name of Zayd back to Zayd ibn Harithah.
According to one opinion, Zayd was the first person to accept Islam. (Narrations differ over who the actual first convert is, but to reconcile between all different narrations, we simply say that: the first Qureshi of the adult male was Abu Bakr, the first female was Khadija, the first freed slave (mawla) was Zayd, and the first child was Ali. The point being: Zayd was among the firsts.)
In the times of Jahiliyyah, Zayd married Ummi Ayman who was the servant of Aminah, the Prophet's PBUH mother. And Ummi Ayman was inherited by the Prophet PBUH. She didn't suckle him but took care of him. So Ummi Ayman was a young lady, maybe 10-15 years older than the Prophet PBUH, so at least 20 years older than Zayd. And Zayd married Ummi Ayman. And they both had a child who was born literally in the house of the Prophet PBUH, Usama ibn Zayd, the Hibbun Nabi (the Beloved of the Prophet), the one whom when the sahaba wanted something, they went to Usama and said, "Why don't you go to the Prophet PBUH and ask him, because he loves you SO much he will never say no." So Usama was a baby in the house of the Prophet PBUH and he has a special status because the Prophet PBUH loved both him and his father so much.
When the Prophet PBUH adopted and freed Zayd, this meant that Zayd would have the same status as the Quraysh, so the Prophet PBUH encouraged him to marry his own cousin, Zaynab bint Jahsh, to remove all 'elements of slavery' (stigma) from him. (Of course later on after so many years, the marriage didn't work out and they get divorced, and the Prophet PBUH married Zaynab as instructed by Allah directly in the Quran.)
Another thing was, whenever the Prophet PBUH sent Zayd somewhere, he was put in charge. He was always the commander - and this shows the status that the Prophet PBUH gave him. Eventually of course Zayd met his martyrdom in the Battle of Mu'tah against the Romans. This was the only battle where the Prophet PBUH put three people in charge, because it was such a fierce battle. He said, "Zayd is in charge of you. And If something happens to him, then my cousin Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. And if something happens to him, then Abdullah ibn Rawahah." He puts three people in charge, one after the other. And all three leaders were killed and then Khalid ibn al-Walid took charge and this was when Khalid became the great known fighter and also when the Prophet PBUH said, "You are the Sword of Allah."
(The three commanders that died in the Battle of Mu'tah were all extremely beloved to the Prophet PBUH. As such, this was a very painful time for the Prophet PBUH. When the news of this came, it was very painful. Then Usama, who was a young lad, was given charge. Of course the Prophet PBUH died during this, and this is when the small crisis between Abu Bakr and Umar happened when Umar said, "Take Usama out of the battlefield" - but Abu Bakr said, "I cannot undo a command that the Prophet PBUH did.")
Zayd is the only sahaba that has the blessing of being mentioned by Allah, by name, in the Quran [33:37]. Not even Abu Bakr has this blessing.
Abdullah ibn Umar RA once complained to his father, Umar al-Khattab, who was the khalifa at the time, "How can you give the salary of Usama ibn Zayd more than my salary?" And so Umar RA said, "Because he was more beloved to the Prophet PBUH than you, and because his father was more beloved to the Prophet PBUH than your father."
This is pretty much the only incidents we know before prophethood begins. And it's now as if the stage has been set, the character of the Prophet PBUH has been established, there are many signs and hints that there is a prophet coming; there are clear indications that something is about to change.
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The Beginning of Revelation
Aisha RA is the main narrator of the hadith of how wahy (revelation) began. It's a very long hadith and very detailed. It's two pages. And in this, there is a beautiful wisdom - she couldn't have witnessed this herself but is narrating in vivid detail - which shows that the Prophet PBUH had many conversations with her just as a loving husband does. This is the hadith narrated in Bukhari:
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Aisha narrated:
(The Mother of the Faithful Believers) The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the Cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again until suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the Cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet PBUH replied, "I do not know how to read."
The Prophet PBUH added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time until I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." [96:1-3] Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwaylid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" She covered him until his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija replied, "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones."
Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza, who during the pre-Islamic period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to Waraqa, "Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said, "This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone (man) who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive until the day when you will be turned out, then I would support you strongly." But after a few days, Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while.
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Aisha says that the Prophet PBUH used to seclude himself in the Cave of Hira, the mountain of Jabal al-Nour (Mountain of Light) - this cave is amazing in many ways. It's not as much as a cave as it is a type of hole. When you sit in the cave, there is only space for one person. And you are forced to face the Ka'bah and you can also see it. There's a beautiful breeze blowing as well, and it's said in Ibn Ishaq that Abdul Muttalib had discovered it and that he also sat there to meditate. So the Prophet PBUH would go there with some food and water, to just sit there and meditate for a number of nights. When he ran out of food and water, he would go back to replenish and to take care of some of the family affairs for a few days, and then go back up again.
Around this time, the Prophet PBUH said, "Before revelation came to me, I began to hear rocks and stones greet me in my path and there was a particular rock that always gave salam to me, and I recognize that rock even to this day."
Also Aisha RA narrated, "The Prophet PBUH would dream as true as the sun rose (as certain as you know the sun will rise tomorrow)." That is, his dreams would all come true. He mentioned this to Khadija and she said, "This is a good sign from Allah." Again this shows the wisdom of Khadija. And it's mentioned in Bukhari that this period of dreams lasted for six full months. So let's pause here for a while to talk about dreams.
In a hadith, the Prophet PBUH said, "Nothing is left of prophethood except good dreams. And good dreams are 1/46 of prophethood." Some scholars tried to explain this particular ratio, and one of the explanations is:
· 6 months before Ramadan, from Rabi' al-Awwal to Ramadan, the Prophet PBUH saw his dreams come true the next day.
· And the prophethood lasted for 23 years.
· As a fraction, this is [6 months/23 years] = 1/46. This exact fraction. (But of course we have no way of discerning whether this is correct because there's no evidence from hadith to support this interpretation.)
Why are all these things happening to the Prophet PBUH?
1. To indicate to him that something amazing is about to happen. A sign that he needs to prepare.
2. Being a prophet requires spiritual, psychological training. And so the Prophet PBUH is being upgraded and transformed into the Messenger of God. For 6 months he is seeing dreams, hears stones saying salam etc. It's as if the Prophet PBUH is being spiritually, mentally, and psychologically trained for the big revelation.
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Three Types of Dream
There are three types of dream [that we common people see, believer or non-believer]:
1. Dreams from Allah - (1) generally good and positive; (2) they come true; (3) could be visions of the future (could be of tomorrow, next year, or 10 years down the line); (4) sometimes it happens as it is & doesn't require interpretation, but sometimes it's symbolic & requires interpretation; and (5) they never terrify you
2. Dreams from Shaytan - (1) they terrify you (nightmares); (2) they are never true - don't act upon them; and (3) we should not tell anybody of them
3. Dreams from our own imagination; (1) the sign of this dream is that it vanishes from our memory after a short while - a few minutes or hours or days.
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In this time, the Prophet PBUH cut himself off from society. (No doubt, Islam encourages some moment of solitude, to break away from dunya to concentrate on ibadah, however, it's not a sunnah to cut yourself off [for a lifetime] to live in complete solitude. Because once revelation came down, the Prophet PBUH never returned to the Cave of Hira even once.)
In some narrations it's mentioned on one of the Saturdays of Ramadan that the Prophet PBUH saw a light and heard a sound, so he looked around but couldn't find anything. And on Sunday the same thing happened. And then on Monday Jibril AS came to him. Indeed the Prophet PBUH said, "On a Monday I was born, and on a Monday the revelation began" - in Sahih Muslim. This day also marks Laylat al-Qadr.
On Monday occurs the famous incident that the angel came to him and told him, "Iqra," - "Read." And the Prophet PBUH said, "I cannot read." Then Jibril squeezed him so tight that the Prophet PBUH said he lost all energy. Then Jibril let him go. And Jibril said again, "Iqra." And the Prophet PBUH said again, "I cannot read." And Jibril squeezed him again. And this repeated until Jibril said the first 5 verses of Surah al-Alaq.
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Wisdoms From the Incident of the First Revelation
We first note: Why is Jibril squeezing him? (1) Some scholars say: to indicate this is real. (2) Others say: Jibril is indicating to him, "You are about to be inspired with a heavy message" - indeed it was physically painful for the Prophet PBUH to receive revelations. (3) Some scholars say: it indicates that he will face three significant trials:
1. The boycott that lasted for 2.5 years where the Muslims had nothing to eat
2. The assassination attempt & the Hijrah
3. The Battle of Uhud where he was bleeding from three places of his head
But of course, every time Allah opened the way out.
And only Allah knows why the squeeze occurred.
Note, iqra has two meanings - to 'read' (from a paper etc.), and to 'recite' (from memory). The verb encompasses both meaning. When Jibril said, "Iqra," the Prophet PBUH thought he meant in the 'read from a parchment' sense. However, Jibril meant iqra in the sense recite from his memory. And at the third time of asking, Jibril said, "Recite in the name of your Lord." That is, "Your recitation will come from Allah, in His name, with His blessings." The qira'at will be in Allah's name. It's very profound that the first verse isn't, "Bismillah," but:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
That is, "Recite in the name of your Lord who created." The ba (ب) in the ayah could mean: (1) The recitation will come directly from Allah (not from yourself); or (2) Allah will help you in this recitation.
Next Jibril said, "The Being who created man, from that which clings." So Allah is saying, "The One who created man in all these stages, He is the One who is speaking to you." Iqra is mentioned twice - and the reason for this duality is many. Firstly, your job is to recite and keep on reciting. First iqra is religious knowledge; Second iqra is the knowledge of this world. "The One who taught by the pen taught man what he didn't know." So Allah is telling us to learn the knowledge of religion that comes from Allah, then learn the knowledge that comes from the pens. But remember - He is the One who taught men these things. This verse came to a civilization who didn't have pens nor did they know how to write. This verse is telling them to read what others have written and study them. And it's no surprise a few hundreds year later, Islam became the pinnacle of science, math, chemistry, law, medicine etc. People from [lands later to be known as] France, England would come to Andalus (Spain) to study medicine etc. and then go back to teach their people. And this happened because Allah encouraged knowledge from the first revelation.
And even the knowledge we take for granted, such as writing; the whole concept is really a miracle - the sounds that come out as speech can be recorded through scribblings? We would never know it unless Allah taught it to us. If Allah did not teach Adam AS how to speak, we would be grunting and groaning like animals and would never be able to speak. The Prophet PBUH said, Allah taught Idris AS how to write - if He didn't, we would never write. Allah taught Nuh AS how to build a ship. Allah taught Dawud AS how to make the armor malleable. Allah taught so many prophets so many things - and from these, all other human knowledge comes forth. This is why we say: whatever discovery we come across, Allah is the One who gave us the qudrah & intelligence to find it.
Now the significance of iqra is that: what is about to happen is from now on, men will have a direct communication (a book) coming from Allah. So the first command is to read and recite the Quran. Also, it's worth noting that from the word 'iqra' we get the word 'Quran.' And as iqra both means read and recite, the Quran has been preserved in both memory and writing - in the huffadh and al-Kitab. This is the only book preserved in both.
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After the First Revelation
Getting back to the story, Aisha narrates that the Prophet PBUH ran back to Khadija. His heart was palpitating. And he entered in upon Khadija and said, "Cover me up! Cover me up!" This shows how unexpected this was for the Prophet PBUH to see the figure of Jibril AS, who was shown in his massive form, that is surely a figure that is not human. And when you are that nervous, you get cold. So he runs back to his wife. (This, wallahi, shows the humanity of the Prophet PBUH. And it clearly shows that his message was not premeditated - he didn't think, "Let me see how I can trick mankind into believing that I'm a prophet," unlike some false prophets who have magnificent stories of themselves which sound so grandiose; our Prophet PBUH goes running home to his wife Khadija. Wallahi this shows that our Prophet PBUH is telling the truth and that he is a true prophet.)
So Khadija covers him up until finally he calmed down. And then he told Khadija all that had happened which shows how close he was to her - he could have gone to Abu Talib, but he went to his wife. When she calms him down, he tells her the story and he says, "I am scared/worried for myself." This has led to many controversies - what exactly did he mean by he is scared/worried for himself? - over 12 opinions as to what this means, but the bottom line is pretty clear: (1) Either he was scared of dying from the squeezing of Jibril; or (2) He is scared that he is seeing visions that normal people don't see, so he is scared of losing his sanity.
So Khadija said:
كلَّا! والله ما يخزيك الله أبدًا، إنك لتصل الرحم، وتصدُقُ الحديثَ، وتَحمِل الكَلَّ، وتَكسِبُ المعدومَ، وتَقري الضيف، وتعين على نوائب الحق
"No, by Allah! Allah would never humiliate you or cause you harm. You are good to your kin, you are truthful in speech, you take on the burden of others, you give money to those who have little, you are hospitable to your guests, and you do all kinds of good!" - She gives us a beautiful ruling from her pure fitrah, without knowing any Quran or hadith, that: If you do good, Allah will do good to you. And she is certain - she swears by Allah, that it's not possible Allah will cause harm to the Prophet PBUH. This shows why Allah chose her - that she is consoling him.
According to one book, she went to Addas, a Christian who was a slave in Makkah, and asked him if he is familiar with what's going on. And Addas said, "What? The angel of Allah in this heathen place of idols of Makkah? How is this possible?" So when Khadija got the sense that this is something that is related to Judaism or Christianity, then she goes to Waraqa ibn Nawfal - Khadija's older cousin. (And he was one of the four hunafa' [the four who rejected idolatry] - he was the eldest of the four and he had traveled through the lands and adopted some type of religion; The version in Bukhari says that Waraqa learned to write the books in Hebrew and became a Christian. So most likely he is a Jewish Christian, not a pure 'Christian' or a pure 'Jew' - because he didn't write in Syriac or Greek. He didn't believe in the Trinity, he believes in the prophets of the Jews and Christians, but he is not worshiping openly like a Jew or a Christian.)
So Khadija asks Waraqa, and he becomes enthusiastic, agitated, and eager, and says, "By God! This is the same Keeper of Secrets (al-Namus) that came to Musa!" He didn't say Jesus because most likely, he understood that the Prophet Muhammad PBUH would be resembling Musa AS more than Jesus AS. He then said, "How I wish I were a young man so that I could help you when your nation ridicules you, persecutes you, and expels you!" When Waraqa said, "Expels," the Prophet PBUH asked, "My nation will expel me?!" Of course the first two are bad enough - but the third one, the Prophet PBUH couldn't keep quiet and said, "My people will kick me out?" Waraqa said, "Yes, never has any prophet been sent except that these things have happened."
(Many years later [most likely after al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj], some of the relative of Waraqa asked the Prophet PBUH, "What is the fate of Waraqa?" The Prophet PBUH said that he saw Waraqa wearing white robes and having been blessed with gardens in Jannah. So he is surely one of the earliest converts to Islam. He is the first sahabi and first to die as a Muslim in Islam. Waraqa only lived a short time after the first revelation.)
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The Second Revelation
The Prophet PBUH then continued to narrate his story, "The revelation stopped for a while [after the first revelation]." Some scholars say up to six months. Some say three months. And so the Prophet PBUH resumed back to normal, but then, "When I was walking, I heard a sound and looked up, and I saw the same angel that had come to me in Hira, sitting on a throne that was in the heavens and the earth, and once again I trembled - and I rushed back to Khadija again saying, "Daththiruni!" and that was when Jibril came and revealed the second revelation:
يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ
...قُمْ فَأَنذِرْ
"O you who is wrapped up in a cloak! Stand up and warn (be active and spread the message)!" [74:1-2]
So scholars say, with 'iqra' he became a nabi, and then with 'qum fa andhir' he became a rasul.
وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ
وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ
وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ
وَلَا تَمْنُن تَسْتَكْثِرُ
"And your Lord, glorify. And your clothing, purify. And uncleanliness, avoid. And do not confer favor to acquire more." [74:3-6]
You can understand these verses literally and metaphorically. The symbolisms are, "Worship and pray to your Lord, and have strength from Him throughout! And be pure physically and spiritually - cleanse yourself from sins! And abandon all idols! And don't be greedy for what is in the hands of men - do things for the sake of Allah and expect your reward from Him!"
Next we will talk about the types of revelation and how it occurred.