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Hadith
Section
> A
Manual of
Hadith
> Chapter 01: How Divine Revelation came to the
Holy Prophet (Summary of the
Chapter) Chapter
01: Revelation according to the Holy Qur'an is a universal fact. It speaks of revelation to inanimate objects -- heaven and earth (41 : 11, 12; 99 : 5) -- and of revelation to lower animals (16 : 68, 69). Revelation to man is undoubtedly of a different nature from these revelations, and it is with this that we are at present concerned. In the first verse quoted above it is stated that Allah speaks to man -- i.e., revelation to man is granted -- in three ways : (1) by infusing an idea into the mind -- the word wahy used here carries its original significance of a sudden suggestion; (2) from behind a veil, which includes ru'ya (dream), its higher form kashf (vision) and the still higher form ilham, when voices are heard or uttered in a state of trance; (3) when a messenger, the angel Gabriel, is sent with the Divine message in clear words to the recipient of the revelation. The third is the highest form of revelation: the Divine message is sent not in the form of an idea as in the first case or in the form of a vision as in the second but in words through the angel; and it is peculiar to the prophets. The Holy Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet in words in the Arabic language (vv. 2, 3) through Gabriel, who is also called the Faithful Spirit and the Holy Spirit (vv. 2, 4, 5), the angel descending upon the heart of the Prophet (vv. 2, 5). The last verse shows that the Holy Qur'an was revealed in portions. The hadith narrated in this chapter bear out what has been so clearly established in the Holy Qur'an. We are told that before the higher revelation, the Prophet received revelation in the form of dreams; that the Prophet's first experience of higher revelation was marked by the appearance of the Angel, who communicated to him the first Divine message in words, contained in the first five verses of ch. 96, and that the Prophet related his experience to Waraqah who believed in him, saying that it was the angel Gabriel who brought the Divine message to Moses (h. 2). The Prophet's second experience of the higher revelation was similar to the first (h. 3). It is further shown that the higher revelation of the Holy Qur'an came in words through Gabriel (hh. 4, 5). He felt a great strain when this revelation came to him : he perspired even on cold days and grew heavier and a perceptible change came over him (hh. 5-8). It appears that to receive this spiritual experience he was translated to another sphere, and his detachment from the material environment was so real that it brought about a physical change as well.
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