After the marriage...

After the marriage, which occurred when he was twentyfive years old, the Prophet began the life of a manager of his wife’s fortunes, until the age of forty, gaining meanwhile a widespread reputation for wisdom and trustworthiness. He refused to worship idols, as was the common religious practice of the Arabs of the Hijaz. And occasionally he would make spiritual retreats to the cave of Hirā’ in the mountains of the Tihāmah region near Mecca, in which he prayed and discoursed secretly with God.

The Beginning of the Mission At the age of forty, when he was in spiritual retreat in the cave of Hirā’, he was given the mission of propagating the new religion. At that moment the first five verses of sūrah 96 were revealed to him. (This event is known as bi’that — being raised to proclaim God’s message.) That very day he returned to his house and on the way met his cousin, ‘Alī bin Abi Tālib, who after hearing the account of what had occurred declared his acceptance of the faith.

After the Prophet entered the house and told his wife of the revelation, she likewise accepted Islam. Soon after, Zayd ibn al-Hārithah (a loyal slave whom he treated like his own son) also became a convert. The first time the Prophet invited people to accept his message, he was faced with a distressing and painful reaction.

Out of necessity he was forced henceforth to propagate his message secretly for three years until he was ordered again by God to invite his very close relatives to accept the message. He organized a family feast and invited forty of his kinsmen. At the gathering, Muhammad asked if they had ever found him lying?

The general response was: ‘We have never found you lying.’ Then he asked, “If I were to tell you that your enemies have gathered beyond the sandhills to attack you, would you believe me?” They replied, ‘Yes.’ Then he said: I know no man in all Arabia who can offer his kindred a more excellent thing than I now do. I offer you happiness both in this life and in the hereafter. God Almighty has commanded me to call you unto Him.

Who, therefore, among you will assist me herein shall become my brother, my heir and my successor. But this call was also fruitless and no one heeded it except ‘Alī bin Abi Tālib, who in any case had already accepted the faith.