Muhammad (PBUH) The Human Being - Part 7

The first vision was followed by a considerable period, during which Muhammad suffered much mental depression. The Prophet (pbuh) was so upset and unhappy, thinking that Allah had left him, or that he might have angered Allah in some way so that Allah no longer thought him worthy of His message. However, the Archangel Gabriel came back to him and brought this surah, or chapter, of the Quran: 


In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"By the forenoon (after sun-rise); And by the night when it is still (or darkens);
Your Lord (O Muhammad) has neither forsaken you nor hated you.
And indeed the Hereafter is better for you than the present (life of this world).
And verily, your Lord will give you (all i.e. good) so that you shall be well-pleased.
 Did He not find you (O Muhammad) an orphan and gave you a refuge?
 And He found you unaware (of the Qur'an, its legal laws, and Prophethood, etc.) and guided you?
And He found you poor, and made you rich (selfsufficient with selfcontentment, etc.)?
Therefore, treat not the orphan with oppression,
 And repulse not the beggar;
 And proclaim the Grace of your Lord (i.e. the Prophethood and all other Graces). "
Ad-Duha (The Forenoon)

The angel spoke to the grieved heart of hope and trust and of the bright future when he would see the people of the earth crowding into the one true faith. His destiny was unfolded to him, when, wrapped in profound meditation, melancholy and sad, he felt himself called by a voice from heaven to arise and preach. O you (Muhammad) enveloped (in garments)! Arise and warn! And your Lord (Allah) magnify! (Ch 74:1-3 Quran) He arose and engaged himself in the work to which he was called. Khadijah was the first to accept his mission. She was to believe in the revelations, to abandon the idolatry of her people and to join him in purity of heart and in offering up prayers to Allah the Almighty.

From that day on, Gabriel came often to the Prophet (pbuh) and the verses he taught him, the message from Allah to man were later written down, and are known to us as the Holy Quran .
Muhammad pbuh understood now what he had to do and prepared himself for what was to come. Only a strong and brave man, helped by God, can be a true prophet because people often refuse to listen to God's message.


The First believers :

The Archangel Gabriel (pbuh) showed Muhammad (pbuh) how to perform the ritual ablution to be made before prayer. Then the Archangel showed him all the positions of Muslim prayer-the various movements &things to be said with each movement .
Since then Muslims have continued to purify themselves before prayer by performing the ritual ablution and have followed the same movements and prayers first performed by the Prophet (pbuh) Till This day :)

To begin with, though, only the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his wife Khadijah knew of these things. Then one day, 10 year old Ali ( His Beloved cousin who lived with him ) entered the room and found the Prophet (pbuh) and Khadijah praying. He was puzzled and asked what they were doing.!  The Prophet (pbuh) explained to him that they were praising Allah and giving thanks to Him.

That night 'Ali stayed up thinking about all that Muhammad (pbuh) had said; he had great admiration and respect for his cousin .
Finally he came to a decision and the next day he went to the Prophet (pbuh) and told him that he wanted to follow him. At the beginning of his mission, Muhammad (pbuh) opened his soul only to those who were attached to him and tried to free them from the gross practices of their forefathers. After Khadijah, his cousin' Ali was the next companion.

The Prophet used often to go into the desert around Mecca with his wife and young cousin that they might together offer their heart felt thanks to the Lord of all nations for His manifold blessings. Once they were surprised by Abu Talib, the father of 'Ali. He said to the Prophet: "O son of my brother, what is this religion you are following?" "It is the religion of Allah of His Angels, of His Messengers and of our ancestor Abraham," answered the Prophet. "Allah has sent me to His servants, to direct them towards the truth, and you, O my uncle, are the most worthy of all. It is meet that I should thus call upon you and it is meet that you should accept the truth and help in spreading it."

Abu Talib replied: "Son of my brother, I cannot abjure the religion of my fathers; but by the Supreme Lord, while I am alive, none shall dare to injure you." Then turning towards 'Ali, the venerable chief asked what religion was his. Ali answered: "O father, I believe in Allah and His Prophet and go with him." Abu Talib replied: "Well my son, he will not call you to anything except what is good, therefore you are free to go with him."

So, Abu Talib accepted the decision of his son to believe in the message of his cousin Muhammad (pbuh) And with that Abu Talib went on his way .
 

After 'Ali, Muhammad's adopted son Zaid became a convert to the new faith. At about this time the news of Muhammad (pbuh) being the Prophet reached an honest, wise & respected merchant of Mecca, called Abu Bakr .Abu Bakr knew Muhammad (pbuh) well and believed he could never lie, so he went to find out for himself if the story were true, the Prophet (pbuh) told him that he had indeed been sent by Allah to teach everyone to worship the one true Allah.
On hearing this from the Prophet's own lips Abu Bakr knew it to be the truth and became a believer instantly.

Abu Bakr, a leading member of the Quraish tribe & an honest, wealthy merchant who enjoyed great consideration among his compatriots, was but two years younger than the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) . His adoption of the new faith was of great moral effect,  Soon after,5 notables presented themselves before the Prophet and accepted Islam . Several converts also came from lower classes of the Arabs to adopt the new religion.

Later the Prophet (pbuh) was reported to have said that everyone he ever invited to accept Islam,  showed signs of disbelief and doubt, except Abu Bakr; when he was told of it he did not hold back or hesitate.

As Abu Bakr was a man of some influence, through him many people came to Islam. Among these was Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas as, the uncle of Aminah, the Prophet's mother.
The night before Abu Bakr came to visit him & tell him about Islam, Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas dreamt that he was walking in darkness. As he walked he saw the moon & when he looked at it he saw 'Ali, Abu Bakr, & Zayd, the Prophet's freed slave, beckoning to him to come and join them. !!
When Abu Bakr told him about the Prophet's religion, he understood the meaning of his dream and went at once to the Prophet (pbuh) and declared himself a Muslim. :)
He understood that to be a Muslim means to submit oneself to Allah's Will and to serve only Him.
Another person brought to Islam by Abu Bakr was Bilal.

Bilal ibn Rabah was originally from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) he was born in Mecca . One night Abu Bakr went to the house of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, one of the most important men of Quraish.
Umayyah was out and Abu Bakr found only Umayyah's slave, Bilal, at home, Abu Bakr talked to him about Islam and before he left, Bilal, too, had become a Muslim.

The number of people following the Prophet (pbuh) began to grow.
Sometimes they would all go out of the city to the mountains around Mecca to hear him recite the Quran and to be taught by him. This was all done very secretly and only a very few people knew about Islam in those early days.

To be continued In Shaa'Allah (God willing ) :D ....................

References :
http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir.html
http://mohammad.islamway.net/?lang=eng