Christianity and Islam

CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM his land with his nephew and protect him against enemies, for a great future lay in store for him. Somewhat alarmed, Abu Talib took him back to Makkah soon after he finished trading in Syria. Much later, at the age of forty, when the Prophet was meditating in a cave called Hira, situated near Makkah, he was visited by the Angel Gabriel, who came to him with the first revelations contained in the Quran: “Read! In the name of your Lord, who created: created man from a clot [of blood]. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.” (96:1-5) After this extraordinary experience, Muhammad rushed back home to his wife Khadijah, to whom he said, trembling, “Cover me with a cloak, cover me with a cloak.” Then, having recovered a little, he told her o f his experience and said: “I feel my life is in danger.” She responded, “No, never! God will never bring you to grief.” Then she took him to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Naufal, who had become a Christian. Waraqah commented: “The One who came to you is the same Namus (the specially appointed Divine Messenger) who came to Moses. I wish I were a young man and could live till the time when your people will expel you.” The Prophet asked, “Will my people expel me?” Waraqah replied: “Yes, no one has been before, who brought the same thing that you have brought, without the people turning hostile to him.” (As-Sirah by Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, p. 238) Another such encounter took place a few years after Muhammad’s receiving prophethood. At this time, Makkah