We have read in the holy books of Islam and the Christian faith, that it was the Angel Gabriel who announced the birth of Jesus. But unlike Jesus, Muhammad’s father was asked for, from an idol before he was brought into the world. When Jesus was born, his parents consecrated him to God the Most High in the temple in Jerusalem. But in the biography of ibn Hicham, on page 50, we read that as a child Muhammad’s grandfather introduced him to 360 idols inside the Ka’aba and dedicated him to hubal the most important idol in their pantheon. This is to allow you to verify the information that is why we are giving you all the references.
How did Muhammad start receiving his revelations?
In his sahih, volume 1 hadith n°3, the imam bukhari reports that Muhammad started receiving his revelations in the form of premonitory dreams. In other words, he had dreams that came to pass. But was that enough to conclude that he is a prophet? We know that it is not, because there are many people in the world who have premonitory dreams without being prophets. The same hadith tells us that Muhammad withdrew into a cave called “Hira” to meditate for several days until he felt the need to see his family again. There again, we could ask if he was the only one doing it among his people? Or was he doing it for the Most High God? On page 79 of his biography, ibn Hicham says that it was a practice of hanififiyya which was carried out by some men of the Quouraiches before Islam. Muhammad was therefore not the only one to do this kind of meditation. The texts tell us that this was a practice carried out by some idolaters before Islam. So Muhammad was just following, like some individual, the pagan customs of his people.
The rest of the hadith tells us that: “in the cave of hira, the angel appeared to him. “Read!” He said to him, “He grabbed me,” said the prophet, “hugged me to suffocate me, released me and said, read. I don’t know how to read I said. He grabbed me a second time, hugged me to suffocate me, released me and said read: I can’t read I said. For the third time he seized me, hugged me to suffocate me, released me and said: read in the name of your master the one who creates. He created man from something that hangs. Read! The goodness of your master is endless”.
What a strange way for this angel to reveal himself to a man who knows nothing about him? The thing tried to suffocate him three times and kept telling him to read even though he knew he couldn’t read. It’s really strange. Besides, until the end of his strange experience, the thing did not reveal his identity to him. The being he saw did not say to him, for example, “I am the angel Gabriel, Muhammad do not fear”. It is fair to ask this question because we are used to Angel Gabriel’s way of doing things. For example, in the book of Luke, chapter 1 when Zechariah saw Gabriel, he was afraid, but in verse 13 we read, the angel said to him: “fear not Zechariah because your prayer has been answered”. And in verse 19, the angel told him “I am Gabriel”. The same thing happened with Mary when she was disturbed by the greeting of the Angel Gabriel, in verse 30 we read that the angel told her “Do not fear Mary, because you have found favor before God”. In any case, the angel did not suffocate anyone nor leave them under the effect of fear but always reassured them with these words: Do not fear your prayers have been answered or you have found grace and subsequently reveal his identity: “I am Gabriel”. But for Muhammad, it was the exact opposite. The rest of the hadith tells us that he returned home with these verses and a beating heart. On getting to khadidja’s place, he said: “Cover me! Cover me!” She covered him. When he recovered from his fear, he told Khadija what had happened to him and said: “I fear for my life”. So what Muhammad saw was something frightening. So, frightening to the point where he said he fears for his life. But his first wife consoled him to not be afraid and reassured him that it can only be a good thing.
