Prophet Muhammad's time (610 a.d. - 632 a.d.)
The Prophet's First Communication with Allah
Prophet Muhammad's peace be upon him first communication from heaven came in the form of a command:
Recite! In the name of your Lord, who created all things,
who created man from a clot (of blood).
Recite! And your Lord is Most Bounteous
Who teaches by the Pen,
teaches man that which he would not
have otherwise know
Quran Surah 96, Verses 1 - 5
The Arabic word for "recitation" or "reading" is qur'an, and the collected revelations given to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him are known to us as the Quran. The revelations that continued to come over the next twenty years were sometimes terse and short, at other times elaborate and poetic.
The early revelations did not immediately convince Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that he was a messenger of God. In fact, his first reaction was fear and self-doubt. During his depressions brought on by fears over the source and nature of his revelations, he sought the comfort and advice of Khadija.
As the revelations continued, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him finally became convinced that the message he was receiving was the truth, and that he had been called to be a messenger of divine revelation. He came to think of himself and his mission as one similar to prophets and messengers who had preceded him in announcing the existence of the one God, Allah.
Allah, (which means "the God") was the same God worshiped by the Christians and Jews, but Allah had now chosen Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him to be his last and greatest prophet to perfect the religion revealed earlier to Abraham, Moses, the Hebrew prophets, and Jesus. The religion Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him preached is called Islam, which means surrender or submission to the will of God. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. The term Muslim refers to one who submits to God's law.
