As the time came close for Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to become the Nabi of Allah Ta‘ala, Allah Ta‘ala began to show him true dreams. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would have a dream, and whatever he saw in the dream would happen later on exactly as he had seen it, in real life.
Allah Ta‘ala placed love for seclusion in the heart of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). This means that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) loved to be alone where he could worship Allah Ta‘ala with nobody to distract him. That is why Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would often go out from Makkah Mukarramah to the cave of Hira. He would stay alone in the cave and worship Allah Ta‘ala.
One day, when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was forty years old, and he went to the cave of Hira to worship Allah Ta‘ala, then an angel came into the cave and made salaam to him. Then the angel said to him, “Iqra” which means ‘Read!’ Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) replied, “I cannot read.” When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said this, the angel hugged him and squeezed him very tightly.
The angel told him to read another two times, and when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) told the angel that he could not read, the angel hugged him and squeezed him very tightly. Then the angel told Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to read these verses:
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ﴿١﴾ خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ ﴿٢﴾ ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ ﴿٣﴾ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ ﴿٤﴾ عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ ﴿٥﴾
This was the first wahi and these were the first verses of the Quraan Majeed that were revealed to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). The angel was Jibreel (‘alaihis salaam), and he told Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) that Allah Ta‘ala had chosen him to be his prophet to the world.
After receiving prophethood, when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) left the cave of Hira to return home, then every stone and tree that he passed made salaam to him. The trees and stones would say, “Assalaamu ‘alaika yaa Rasulallah!”
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