READ! IN THE NAME OF YOUR LORD

     Muhammad's (pbuh) first revelation was the event in which Prophet Muhammad was visited by the Arch-Angel Gabriel who brought him the tidings that God had chosen him to be His Last Messenger to this world, and had imposed upon him the duty of leading mankind out of the welter of sin, error and ignorance into the light of guidance, truth and knowledge. The event took place in a cave called Hira, located on the mountain Jabal an-Nour, near Mecca in 610 CE. and ultimately was the event which started the religion Islam. Muhammad took great interest in religion and often spent time alone in prayer and meditation in the cave of Mount Hira. One night while he was in contemplation, the archangel Gabriel appeared and said, 'Read', upon which he replied, 'I am unable to read'. Thereupon the angel caught hold of him and embraced him heavily. This happened two more times after which the angel commanded Muhammad to read the following verses: "Read! in the name of thy lord and cherisher who created: Created man out of a clot of congealed blood: Read! And thy lord is most bountiful, He who taught the use of pen; Taught the man that which he knew not". (Qur'an, sura 96 [Al-Alaq], ayat 1-5) Eventually he was able to repeat the 5 verses whereupon the angel released him and disappeared. Perplexed by this new experience, Prophet Muhammad made his way to home where he was consoled by his wife Khadijah and also who took him to her cousin Waraqah. Waraqah was familiar with Jewish and Christian scriptures and when Prophet Muhammad told him what happened he testified his prophet hood and was convinced that the revelation was from God. Waraqah said: "This is Namus (meaning Gabriel) that Allah sent to Moses." After this Prophet Muhammad accepted the fact that he was the last messenger and later on started speaking publicly. The first one to be a Muslim -someone who submits to the will of Allah- was his wife Khadijah -after the prophet itself-. 

The cave Hira