Page 16 - World Religions I - Islam

could not write, which was an important part of the proof of the miraculous nature of the Qur'an.125
 Muhammad returned to Khadijah full of fear and self-doubt. According to
Aisha's testimony, "Then he went to Khadijah and said, 'Cover me! Cover me!'
They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that
had happened and said, 'I fear that something may happen to me.'"17
Compare the appearance of Gabriel in Muhammad's testimony with the four
incidences of Gabriel's appearance in the Bible (Daniel 8:16-18, 9:20-22; Luke
1:13, 18-19; Luke 1:26-30). In the Biblical accounts, Gabriel always first sought
to allay fears. He also made sure the recipients understood the message he
brought, and never left them confused.
 Khadijah consoled Muhammad, convincing him that he was not possessed, but rather that he
would be a "prophet of this people."18 Khadijah sought out the advice of her cousin, Waraqa ibn
Nawfal, "a Christian [who] read the scriptures and learned from those that follow the Torah and the
Gospel."19
• After listening to Khadijah's recount, Waraqa stated, "This is the namus which was sent
down (or "revealed") to Musa (Moses)." 20 The word namus is taken from the Greek work
nomos, which means the law or revealed scriptures.123 Muslims personify the term
namus as Gabriel, since he is considered as the angel who imparted divine knowledge or
brought revelations.124
 Khadijah is recorded as being "the first to believe in God and his apostle."21
• She continued to be a source of comfort to Muhammad when he received opposition
and charges of falsehood.
o The biographies of Muhammad record that when the spirit appeared another time, Khadijah
tested the spirit.
 "Isma'il b. Abu Hakim, a freedman of the family of al- Zubayr, told me on Khadijah's authority that
she said to the apostle of God, 'O son of my uncle, are you able to tell me about your visitant,
when he comes to you?' He replied that he could, and she asked him to tell her when he came. So,
when Gabriel came to him, as he was wont, the apostle said to Khadijah, 'This is Gabriel who has
just come to me.' 'Get up, O son of my uncle,' she said, 'and sit by my left thigh.' The apostle did so, and
she said, 'Can you see him?' 'Yes,' he said. She said, 'Then turn around and sit on my right thigh.' He did
so, and she said, 'Can you see him?' When he said that he could she asked him to move and sit in
her lap. When he had done this she again asked if he could see him, and when he said yes, she
disclosed her form and cast aside her veil while the apostle was sitting in her lap. Then she said,
'Can you see him?' And he replied, 'No.' She said, 'O son of my uncle, rejoice and be of good heart,
by God he is an angel and not a satan.'"22
o This interesting form of testing appeared to be a cultural and traditional method of testing spirits. In
this case, Khadijah was convinced that the spirit was an angel since it was afraid to look upon the
female nude form. It is interesting to note, however, that in Chinese culture the exact opposite is true:
demons and devils are the ones afraid of female nude appearances.
• After his initial vision there was a pause in revelations of an unknown length of time, and Muhammad fell
into a deep depression. This gap in revelation is known as the fatrah. Some sources claim it to be a short
time, while others reference a period of significant length-even as long as three years.122
o During this period, Muhammad intended several times to commit suicide by throwing himself off a cliff.23
 Gabriel interrupted Muhammad's suicide attempts by assuring him that he was the "Prophet of
God."24
o This period of time is considered by scholars to be a preparatory stage in Muhammad's career as a
prophet.25
 During this stage, Muhammad expounded his message secretly to close friends, and only at the end

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