Silla Shah
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...A BEAUTIFUL STORY...
The Prophet Mohammed -peace be upon him- was born in 570 A.D. in the town of Mecca, in Arabia. He lived for 40 years in this town before God called him as a Prophet. The town was one divided into two classes, -the rich and affluent, and the poor and downtrodden. The majority of it's inhabitants were idol worshippers who worshipped the 360 idols which decked the Ka'bah.
At the age of 40, Mohammed -peace be upon him- retired to a cave one evening, as was his habit from time to time, to take solitude and refuge from the bustle of Mecca's city life. It was on this occassion, that the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a frightening vision. The angel ordered him "iqra" (Recite/read) several times. -Mohammed -peace be upon him-, being an illiterate, and enveloped in fear, said, "What shall I recite?" -It was then that the first verses of the Muslims Holy Book, the Qu'ran, was revealed to him:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ
Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,
الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
Who taught by the pen
عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Has taught man that which he knew not.
[The holy Qur'an - translation of verses 96:1-5]
After receiving these words, Mohammed -peace be upon him- fled from the cave in fear. It was then that he saw the archangel filling the whole of the sky. The angel said, "I am Gabriel, and you are a Messenger of God!"
The Prophet returned to Khadija while his heart was beating rapidly. She took him to Waraqa bin Naufal who was a Christian convert and used to read the Gospels in Arabic. Waraqa asked (the Prophet), "What do you see?" When he told him, Waraqa said, "That is the same angel whom Allah sent to the Prophet Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out." the Prophet asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly."...
New revelations eventually came from God commanding him to make known to Mecca, and the world, that there was only one God, indivisable, without beginning or end, mother or father, son or daughter, and that this God would hold people accountable for their actions on the Day of Judgement, and that he, Muhammad, was the final Messenger of this God.
As a result, for the next 13 years Mohammed -peace be upon him- and his followers recieved the bitterest of persecution from the pagan people of Mecca. Mohammed -peace be upon him- himself was ridiculed and assaulted, slandered and abused. His followers were also tortured, oppressed, and the weaker among them were killed.
Eventually however, the city of Medina, a town which was a 13 day camel journey from Mecca, invited the Prophet Mohammed -peace be upon him- to come and live in their city and be its leader in accordance with the rules of Islam. It was from here that a series of wars occurred between the Meccan's and the inhabitants of Medina, which resulted, eventually, in Muhammad's -peace be upon him- bloodless conquest of Mecca, in which he forgave all those who persecuted him.
From the time Mohammed -peace be upon him- recieved his first revelation, until the time of his death, he would recieve subsequent revelations from God, which were compiled into book form, and is what is known today as "The Qu'ran."
He is believed by Muslims to be the last Prophet sent to humanity, after a long chain of Prophets that include Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jesus, May peace be upon all of them.