First Wahy, First Shiverin

The famous hadith (sayings of the Prophet) of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) about the commencement of wahy is as follows:

As narrated by Aisha, "The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he would worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before desiring to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadijah to take his food likewise again until suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read." The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous.'" (96.1, 96.2, 96.3) Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadijah bint Khuwailid and said, ‘Cover me! Cover me!' They covered him till his fear abated and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, ‘I fear that something may happen to me.' Khadijah replied, ‘Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving ones who have been afflicted by calamity.'"

Khadijah then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, who, during the pre-Islamic period had become a Christian and used to write in Hebrew. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadijah said to Waraqa, "Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described what he had seen. Waraqa said, "This is the same one who keeps the secrets (Angel Gabriel) whom Allah sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live until the time when your people will turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone (any man) who comes with something similar to what you have brought would be treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive until the day you are turned out then I will support you strongly." But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration also paused for a while.

Narrated by Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari, reporting the speech of the Prophet while talking about the period of a pause in the revelation: "While I was walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up and saw the same angel who had visited me at the cave of Hira sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I became afraid of him and came back home and said, 'Wrap me (in blankets).' And then Allah revealed the following verses (of the Quran):

‘O you ( Muhammad)! Wrapped up in garments!' Arise and warn (the people against Allah's Punishment)...' this recitation of the Surah continued until 'and desert the idols' (74.1-5). After this, the revelation started to come more powerfully, frequently and regularly."

In another account in Bukhari, Ibn Abbas narrated:

"When he received wahy, the Messenger of Allah moved his tongue in a hurry to be able to recite the Quran. Upon this, the following verses were revealed: ‘Do not move your tongue to make haste. Surely on Us (devolves) the collecting of it and the reciting of it. Therefore when We have recited it, follow its recitation. Again on Us (devolves) its explanation.'"

We can infer from this verse that:

1. Prophet Muhammad had sound reason, consciousness and will when receiving the wahy; one should not assume from his appearance during these moments that he had lost consciousness or passed out.

2. We can understand from the command to the Prophet to be silent and listen, that the Quran was recited to him in sounds, words and sentences.

3. The words, meaning and discourse of the Quran, all together and at the same time, were united in the memory of the Messenger of Allah by the Owner of the wahy - the Prophet was made to learn it all by heart - this had nothing to do with any effort on the part of the Prophet.

4. The fact that the Messenger of Allah uttered and recited the verses after the angel of wahy (Gabriel) had completed the wahy and that the state of receiving wahy was temporary had nothing to do with the Prophet making up his own sentences or creating his own expression of the wahy through human faculties, but rather was connected to Allah making him recite.

In the sentences of ‘Do not move your tongue to make haste with it' and ‘Surely on Us (devolves) the collecting of it and the reciting of it' Allah prohibits His messenger from creating a version based on his own human skills. So it is not the Prophet who created the Quran, but the Owner of the wahy who gave the Holy Book its contents of nouns and adjective phrases, proverbs, prosaic and poetic forms of expression and all the other qualities that are to be found in a literary text.