The voice said, “Read in the name of thy Lord”.

The voice said, “Read in the name of thy Lord”. He was Angel Gabriel who told Muhammad (S) that he was ordained by Allah to be the Messenger of Allah and to preach this “Deen” to the people. This was the first revelation that came over Muhammad (S) when he was told to begin his preaching of the Qur’an to Makkans. Muhammad (S) came home and told Khadija about this who immediately accepted him as the Messenger of God.

She also said that her uncle Warqa had told her that Muhammad (S) had the signs of a great Messenger. When the news of this first revelation of Verse from the Qur’an had reached Warqa through Khadija he told her, “Didn’t I tell you that this husband of yours was the Messenger of God”. ‘Ali (as) was living with Muhammad (S) and had also accompanied him to the Mountain of Hira, and had also experienced the revelation with Muhammad (S).

He had no doubts who Muhammad (S) was and was the first to acknowledge him as the Messenger of Allah. Khadija among the women, their daughter Fatima (sa) and the two daughters from Khadija’s earlier marriage. All acknowledged Muhammad (S) as the Messenger of Allah. Muhammad (S) used to enter the Ka’aba and pray there with Khadija and ‘Ali (S).

The story was mentioned by Ibne Hisham in his Sirat as follows: 'One day these three were praying while Abbas Ibne Abdul Muttalib, Muhammad’s uncle was sitting on the nearby hill and watching. A trader from Yemen was sitting with Abbas. He asked Abbas who these three people were praying in a strange man. The woman was Muhammad’s wife Khadija and the boy was Abu Talib’s son ‘Ali. “they follow some strange ‘deen’ which we are not familiar with yet,” was Abbas’s reply.

Muhammad (S) said that “Lailaha Illallah” means that there is no god, only Allah that Muhammad (S) is His messenger, and that all men are born equal. He taught against idolatry, and against social injustices of the time. In the beginning this preaching of One God went on secretly. Zaid and Abubakr were the other two who accepted Islam. The slave community of Makka began to accept this because they liked the tone of equality of all human beings.

But once they accepted the faith they became steadfast never to go back to their adulatory even after suffering torture by their masters. Muhammad (S) preached Islam secretly for 3 years but only a few people were converted to Islam.