From
Hira
to
Khadija

When Muhammad received the first words of the Qur'an in the cave at Hira,

he was overwhelmed by what had happened

and wondered if he had gone mad

or had been possessed by Jinn

or had come under some strange magic spell.

So when Jibril disappeared he ran out from the cave

to get away from where it had happened.

But when he left the cave and began to run down the mountain,

he heard a voice above him saying

“O Muhammad, you are the Messenger of God,

and I am Jibril”,

and there before him Jibril appeared again,

only this time not the size of a man, but clearly an angel,

filling the horizon

and stretching up to the roof of the sky.

When the Messenger tried to turn away

he found that he couldn't,

as whichever way he turned there was Jibril

filling the sky in front of him.

Still afraid for his sanity,

when Jibril finally went away

he ran down the mountain and hurried back to his home

to his beloved wife Khadija,

and still shivering from the shock of what had happened,

he lay down on his couch saying

cover me, cover me

Khadija was extremely concerned

at the state of her husband,

and quickly brought a cloak and spread it over him,

doing her best to comfort him.

Slowly his agitation eased,

and he told her of what he had seen and heard,

and his fears of madness or possession.

But she reassured him, that she for one did not think that he was mad,

but believed that what he said must be the truth of what had happened,

and accepted that he was indeed God's Messenger.

Then, when Muhammad seemed more at ease,

she hurried off to consult with her cousin Waraqa.

Waraqa was not an idol worshipper but a Christian,

known to be wise and holy,

and by now an old man and blind.

When Khadija told him what had happened

his reply was quite clear

“Holy! Holy!”

he said

“By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Waraqa

there has come to Muhammad a revealing angel,

the same as came to Moses.

Truly Muhammad is the Messenger of this people.”

and Khadija took this message back to Muhammad to reassure him.

Some days later, Muhammad met Waraqa close to the Ka'aba,

and Waraqa said to him

“Tell me, O son of my brother, what you have seen and heard”.

Then, when Muhammad himself told him what had happened,

Waraqa said once more what he had said to Khadija, but added

“You will be called a liar, and ill-treated,

and they will cast you out and make war on you,

and if I live to see that day God knows I will help God's cause”,

then he leaned forward

and kissed Muhammad on the forehead.

These things did indeed come to pass,

and as the Messenger had to face the hostility of most of the people around him

life became very difficult,

but through it all Khadija was by his side.

The growth of Islam in those early days,

from that first revelation through all its trials

was an experience constantly shared by Khadija,

who gave the Messenger her belief,

her support, her comfort, her love and her affection,

until her death in the year of sadness.