The revelation and the first believers

Hira

The surest account is Aisha’s, placed at the head of al-Bukhari’s Sahih. The revelation began with true dreams; then solitude grew dear to the Prophet ﷺ, and he spent nights in the cave of Hira (Bukhari 3; Ibn Hisham, I, 234-235; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, I, 100). Retiring for one month each year was a custom of Quraysh, according to Ubayd ibn Umayr (Ibn Hisham, I, 235; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 390).

He ﷺ was then forty years old (Ibn Hisham, I, 233; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, I, 98, 100). Anas says he was sent “at forty” (Bukhari 5900); a version from Ibn Abbas, reported by Ahmad, says forty-three (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 389).

Ibn Ishaq adds that the stones and the trees greeted him ﷺ (Ibn Hisham, I, 234), and Abu Shama, quoted by Ibn Kathir, recalls the hadith in Muslim about the stone in Mecca that greeted him before his mission (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 389). These years of preparation are told in part 2.

“Read, in the name of your Lord”

On a Monday, the angel came to him ﷺ in the cave and commanded: “Read.” The command was given three times, and then the first verses of the Qur’an came down (Bukhari 3; Ibn Hisham, I, 236):

At the head of his Sahih, al-Bukhari cites verses 1 to 3, Ibn Ishaq verses 1 to 5. The Prophet ﷺ went back to Khadija, his heart trembling (Bukhari 3).

Ibn Ishaq reports another version, which he has from Ubayd ibn Umayr: the angel is said to have come while he ﷺ slept, with a brocade cloth bearing writing (Ibn Hisham, I, 236). Aisha’s account knows neither the sleep nor the cloth, and hers is the account that stands.

Jabir, for his part, gives the opening of sura 74 as the first passage revealed. Ibn Kathir understands it as the first passage sent down after the pause in revelation (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 412).

The day and the month

The day of the week is established. The Prophet ﷺ said of Monday: “it is the day on which I was born and on which revelation came down to me” (Muslim 1162). Ibn Kathir notes that on this point there is “no disagreement among them” (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 392).

The month is Ramadan according to the best-known view, that of Ubayd ibn Umayr and Ibn Ishaq, which rests on the Qur’an: “the month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an was sent down” (2:185; Ibn Hisham, I, 239; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 392). Ibn Abbas and Jabir place it in Rabi’ I.

The day of the month remains uncertain: 17 Ramadan according to al-Waqidi, on the authority of Abu Ja’far al-Baqir, or the 24th (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 392; al-Salihi, II, 227). The year can be calculated: around 610.

Waraqa: “your people will drive you out”

Khadija took the Prophet ﷺ to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who had become a Christian and wrote out passages of the Gospel in Hebrew (Bukhari 3; research file v1, part 2). Waraqa heard him out, then recognised “the Namus that God sent down upon Moses”, that is, the angel sent to Moses. He added:

“If only I could be alive when your people drive you out!” The Prophet ﷺ asked: “Will they drive me out, then?” “Yes: no man has ever brought what you bring without being treated as an enemy” (Bukhari 3).

The Hijra was foretold on the very first day. It came to pass thirteen years later, and the Qur’an records it: the disbelievers “drove him out” (9:40). The Prophet ﷺ would say so himself, addressing Mecca: “had I not been driven out of you, I would not have left” (Tirmidhi 3925).

This testimony from a man who knew the Scriptures has its page in part 1, The witnesses of the expectation. The objection that makes Waraqa the teacher of the Prophet ﷺ has its own: “He learned it all from Bahira, or from Waraqa”.

The pause, then “Arise, and warn”

Revelation then paused for a time, and resumed with the opening of sura 74 (Bukhari 4; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 414):

The fact is certain, its length debated: nearly two years, or two and a half according to “some” and al-Suhayli (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 414); forty days according to Ibn Abbas; fifteen days; three days according to Muqatil (al-Salihi, II, 272). Ibn Hajar, quoted by al-Salihi, judges that the length given by al-Suhayli “is not established” (al-Salihi, II, 272).

Two additions call for caution.

• A passage in al-Bukhari mentions, during this pause, the grief of the Prophet ﷺ and the mountain peaks. It is not part of Aisha’s account: al-Zuhri introduces it with “according to what has reached us”, a formula that sets it apart (Bukhari 6982; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 386; al-Salihi, II, 271). We mention it, without telling it as an established fact.
• Al-Sha’bi reports that Israfil accompanied the Prophet ﷺ for three years, before Gabriel. Ibn Kathir judges the chain authentic up to al-Sha’bi, who names no Companion (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 388); Abu Shama reconciles this report with Aisha’s account (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 388-389).

Those who see in these beginnings a fit or a possession will find the answer in “The revelation was a fit, or a possession”.

The first believers

Khadija was the first to believe. On her, the sources do not differ: “this is the view of all regarding Khadija”, says Ibn Abd al-Barr, quoted by Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, after al-Zuhri, Qatada, Musa ibn Uqba, Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, I, 110-111; Ibn Hisham, I, 240).

Then came Ali, Zayd ibn Haritha and Abu Bakr. The group is certain, the order debated. Ali was the first male according to Ibn Ishaq; he was eight, ten, twelve or fifteen years old depending on the version. Zayd was the first according to al-Zuhri and Urwa; Abu Bakr according to al-Nakha’i (Ibn Hisham, I, 245-249; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, I, 111; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 431, 437).

Ibn Kathir takes up a reconciliation that he attributes to Abu Hanifa: Abu Bakr was the first of the free men, Khadija the first of the women, Zayd the first of the freedmen, Ali the first of the boys (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 432, 437).

A saying attributed to Ali, “I prayed seven years before the people”, must be set aside: Ibn Kathir judges it “munkar in any case”, that is, unacceptable (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, I, 432).

How this page connects to the others

• The years before, up to the retreat at Hira: Khadija, the Ka’ba and al-Amin, up to Hira.
• Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a witness of the expectation: The witnesses of the expectation.
• The expulsion foretold by Waraqa, and its fulfilment: Aqaba and the Hijra.
• What follows: The preaching in Mecca and the opposition.
• The objections: the revelation, a fit or possession?; Bahira and Waraqa.

Sources for this page

• Qur’an: Tanzil text (Uthmani); translation of the meaning by the site.
• Hadiths: Bukhari 3, Bukhari 4, Bukhari 5900, Bukhari 6982, Muslim 1162, Tirmidhi 3925.
• Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. al-Saqqa, al-Abyari and Shalabi, Cairo, 1955, I, 233-249.
• Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, Uyun al-athar, Beirut, 1993, I, 98-111.
• Ibn Kathir, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. Mustafa Abd al-Wahid, Beirut, 1976, I, 386-437.
• Al-Salihi al-Shami, Subul al-huda wa-l-rashad, Beirut, 1993, II, 227, 271-272.
• Research file “The message and the Hijra”, v1.0, 2 November 2026, section 1; research file “The Prophet ﷺ Foretold”, v1.0, part 2.