revelation early-islam

First Revelation to Muhammad

610 CE (scriptural)

The night in 610 CE when Muhammad, meditating in the Cave of Hira, received the first verses of the Quran from the angel Jibril (Gabriel), beginning his prophetic mission. Known as Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Power), this event marks the commencement of Islamic revelation and transformed an Arabian merchant into the final prophet of Islam.

The Traditional Account

The Context

Muhammad at Age 40:

  • Married to Khadijah for 15 years
  • Known in Mecca as “al-Amin” (the trustworthy)
  • Troubled by idol worship in Mecca
  • Sought spiritual truth
  • Practiced tahannuth (spiritual retreat/meditation)

Cave of Hira:

  • Mountain cave outside Mecca (Jabal al-Nour, “Mountain of Light”)
  • Muhammad would retreat there, especially during Ramadan
  • Meditate for days at time
  • Khadijah would bring him food
  • Seeking answers to life’s questions

The Encounter

The Night (from Hadith accounts):

  • Muhammad meditating in cave
  • Suddenly angel appeared
  • Jibril (Gabriel) in his true form
  • Overwhelming, terrifying presence
  • Filled the horizon

The Command:

  • Angel commanded: “Iqra!” (Read! or Recite!)
  • Muhammad: “I cannot read” (or “What shall I read?”)
  • Angel embraced him tightly, squeezed him
  • Released, again commanded: “Iqra!”
  • Muhammad again: “I cannot read”
  • Third time, angel squeezed even tighter
  • Then recited the first verses revealed

The First Verses (Quran 96:1-5):

“Read in the name of your Lord who created— Created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the most Generous— Who taught by the pen— Taught man that which he knew not.”

Alternative First Revelation:

  • Some scholars suggest Surah 74:1-7 was first
  • “O you wrapped in garments, arise and warn…”
  • Scholarly debate continues
  • Surah 96 traditional view most common

Muhammad’s Reaction

Terror and Confusion:

  • Fled from cave trembling
  • Ran down mountain
  • Feared he was possessed by jinn
  • Or going mad
  • Overwhelming, traumatic experience

Return to Khadijah:

  • Ran home to Khadijah
  • “Cover me! Cover me!” (Zammiluni!)
  • Trembling, wrapped himself
  • Told her what happened
  • Feared for his sanity

Khadijah’s Response:

  • Comforted him
  • “Allah would never disgrace you”
  • “You maintain family ties, speak truthfully, help the poor, honor guests, assist in calamities”
  • Took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal

Waraqah’s Confirmation

The Christian Monk:

  • Waraqah ibn Nawfal: Elderly Christian (or Hanif)
  • Knew Hebrew scripture
  • Translated Gospel into Arabic
  • Knowledgeable about biblical prophets

His Assessment:

  • Heard Muhammad’s account
  • Recognized signs of prophethood
  • “This is the Namus (the Law/Angel) that came to Moses”
  • “I wish I were young to support you when your people drive you out”
  • Muhammad surprised: “Will they drive me out?”
  • Waraqah: “No man has brought what you bring without being treated with hostility”

Prophecy Fulfilled:

  • Waraqah died soon after
  • Muhammad indeed faced persecution
  • Eventually exiled from Mecca
  • Waraqah’s prediction proved true

The Pause (Fatrah)

Silence After First Revelation:

  • Revelation ceased for period (weeks/months/years - accounts vary)
  • Muhammad distressed, worried
  • Feared Allah had abandoned him
  • Period of doubt and difficulty

The Return:

  • Angel appeared again
  • Surah 93: “Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased”
  • Reassurance and continuation
  • Regular revelations began
  • 23 years of receiving Quran

Theological Significance

Beginning of Revelation

The Quran Descends:

  • First of 114 surahs to be revealed (though not first chronologically in Quran’s arrangement)
  • Beginning of 23-year process
  • Piecemeal revelation, responding to events
  • Preserved and compiled during Muhammad’s life and after

Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr):

  • Quran 97: “Indeed, We sent the Quran down during the Night of Decree”
  • Most sacred night in Islam
  • Better than thousand months
  • Angels descend
  • Observed during last ten nights of Ramadan (especially 27th)

The Prophetic Call

Reluctant Prophet:

  • Muhammad didn’t seek prophethood
  • Afraid when called
  • “I cannot read”
  • Humility before divine commission
  • Emphasizes revelation’s divine origin, not human ambition

Divine Initiative:

  • God chooses messenger
  • Not earned or achieved
  • Grace, not merit
  • Pattern of biblical prophets (Moses, Jeremiah, etc.)

The Miracle of Quran

I’jaz al-Quran (Inimitability):

  • First words: “Read”—but to unlettered prophet
  • Quran’s eloquence and beauty
  • Challenge to produce similar verses (Quran 2:23)
  • Literary miracle
  • Proves divine origin

“Taught by the pen”:

  • Emphasis on knowledge, learning
  • Literacy and education valued
  • Islam encourages scholarship
  • Contrasts with Muhammad being unlettered (makes miracle greater)

Islamic Observance

Laylat al-Qadr

The Night of Power:

  • One of last ten nights of Ramadan
  • Traditionally 27th night most observed
  • Exact night unknown (encourages seeking it throughout last ten days)
  • Night-long prayer vigil
  • Quran recitation
  • Seeking forgiveness
  • Making du’a (supplication)

Significance:

  • Night Quran began descending
  • Angels descend to earth
  • Peace until dawn
  • Prayers especially answered
  • Better than thousand months of worship

Ramadan Connection

Month of Quran:

  • First revelation during Ramadan
  • Month of fasting established partly to commemorate this
  • Special Quran recitation during Ramadan
  • Entire Quran recited in tarawih prayers
  • Spiritual focus on revelation

Historical and Critical Questions

Historicity

Muslim View:

  • Definite historical event
  • Precisely dated: 610 CE, Ramadan
  • Well-attested in early sources
  • Foundation of Islam

Academic Debate:

  • Core event accepted (Muhammad had revelatory experience)
  • Details from later sources (Hadith compiled centuries after)
  • Exact nature of experience debated
  • Psychological, spiritual, or divine explanations

The Experience

Nature of Revelation:

  • Was it vision, voice, direct words?
  • Internal or external experience?
  • Muslim view: Angel Jibril physically present, spoke words
  • Various scholarly theories

The “Reading” Paradox:

  • “Iqra” means read/recite
  • Muhammad reportedly couldn’t read
  • Angel didn’t give him written text
  • Oral recitation, not written reading
  • Or: “recite” better translation than “read”

Sources

Early Accounts:

  • Quran itself (mentions revelation, night of power)
  • Hadith collections (compiled 200+ years after event)
  • Sirah (early biographies)
  • Oral tradition in between

Christian and Jewish Perspectives

Christian View:

  • Don’t accept Muhammad as prophet
  • May respect spiritual experience
  • Quran not divine revelation from Christian perspective
  • Theological disagreements significant

Jewish View:

  • Prophethood ended with biblical prophets
  • Muhammad not in prophetic tradition (from Jewish perspective)
  • Quran not revelation from Jewish viewpoint
  • Some historical/cultural respect

Significance

In a cave outside Mecca, in the darkness before dawn, the world changed. An angel appeared to a meditating merchant and commanded, “Read!” And though the man protested “I cannot read,” the angel squeezed him and spoke divine words that would become the Quran.

Muhammad fled the cave terrified, trembling, certain he was losing his mind. But his wife Khadijah believed him. Waraqah confirmed him. And the revelations continued for twenty-three years, transforming an illiterate merchant into God’s final prophet, an obscure Arab into a name known worldwide, a local religious teacher into the founder of a global faith.

The first word revealed was “Read.” In a largely illiterate society, God commanded reading. In an oral culture, God emphasized the pen. The religion born that night in Cave Hira would become synonymous with learning, scholarship, and the written word. Within centuries, Islamic civilization would preserve and advance human knowledge while Europe languished in its Dark Ages.

“Read in the name of your Lord who created.” These words, spoken to one who could not read, launched a faith that would span continents, endure millennia, and claim 1.8 billion followers. The man who said “I cannot read” became the conduit of a book that Muslims believe is God’s final, perfect revelation.

The Night of Power indeed. One night better than a thousand months. One revelation that changed history. One command to an unlikely prophet that still echoes: Read. Seek knowledge. Learn. Submit to the One who taught by the pen, who taught humanity what it did not know.

From that cave on Jabal al-Nour, light descended to illuminate the world. The final prophet received the first revelation of the final testament. And Islam was born.

“Read!” the angel commanded. And the reading never stopped. To this day, Muslims recite those verses, remember that night, seek Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadan’s last ten days. The revelation that began in a cave continues in hearts worldwide.

Muhammad came down from the mountain transformed—no longer just a merchant, but a messenger. The man who entered the cave seeking peace emerged as the one who would proclaim, “There is no god but God.” And the world has listened ever since.