Seerah 2 — Prophethood & early daʿwah السيرة

DECK At about age 35 he helped rebuild the Kaʿbah after it was damaged, and resolved the dispute about placing the Black Stone (Ḥajar al-Aswad) — earning even more respect as al-Amīn (the trustworthy).

VIDEO A flood had damaged the Kaʿbah, so the Makkan clans rebuilt it, each clan taking a share. When it came time to set the Black Stone back, every clan wanted the honour and a dispute broke out. They agreed the next person to enter the sacred precinct would arbitrate — and it was Rasūlullāh ﷺ. Relieved, they said “the truthful, trustworthy one has come.” His solution: he spread out a cloth, laid the stone in its centre, had each clan-chief hold an edge so all lifted it together, then set the stone with his own hands — giving every clan a share of the honour and averting bloodshed. The Sheikh's lesson: his character won their trust before prophethood — he said no words to persuade them; his akhlāq did. Even later, when daʿwah began, the Quraysh leaders conceded “we find no fault in your character” — their dispute was only over creed.

VIDEO He links this to Ibrāhīm (AS), who while building the Kaʿbah prayed that Allah raise among them a Messenger from themselves who will recite the verses, teach the Book and wisdom, and purify them — so the man who rebuilds Ibrāhīm's Kaʿbah is the answer to Ibrāhīm's prayer.

DECK He spent time in solitude and reflection at Cave Ḥirāʾ on Mount Nūr. (Qur'an: “And We did not send you except as a mercy to the worlds” — al-Anbiyāʾ 21:107.)

VIDEO The act of withdrawing alone to worship is called at-taḥannuth. Around 38–39 a thought entered his heart and solitude was made beloved to him; he would climb the mountain to reflect on four life-questions everyone must ask — Who am I? Why was I created? Who sent me and what does He expect? Where am I going? He reflected for about 2–3 years. Khadījah (RA) supported him, bringing him food and trusting him without pestering. The Sheikh's lesson: tazkiyah (self-purification) and a strong connection with Allah are the foundation — daʿwah cannot stand on an empty inside; the effort of the climb amplifies the reward of the reflection.

DECK In 610 CE the Angel Jibrīl appeared in Cave Ḥirāʾ and revealed: “Read in the name of your Lord who created…” (al-ʿAlaq 96:1–5). When commanded to read, the Prophet ﷺ replied “I cannot read.” (Bukhārī).

VIDEO Jibrīl came suddenly, pressed/embraced him, and said “Iqraʾ” (Read). He answered “Mā anā bi-qāriʾ” (I am not a reader). This was repeated; on the third press Jibrīl recited the first five verses of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq (96:1–5) — “Read in the name of your Lord who created — created man from a clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous — who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.”

DECK He rushed home to Khadījah (RA) crying “Cover me, cover me!” (Bukhārī, Muslim). She comforted him: “By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you…” (Bukhārī).

VIDEO Trembling and feverish, he cried “Zammilūnī! Zammilūnī!” (Cover me!). Khadījah's reassurance — the Sheikh notes how wise she was — listed his virtues as the proof: you keep ties of kinship, you bear others' burdens and provide for the destitute, and you help secure people's rights. She then took him to her Christian kinsman Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who confirmed this was the great revelation, pledged to support him if he lived to see it, and foretold that his own people would drive him out — which astonished the Prophet ﷺ, given his honoured standing among them. The Sheikh adds that for all 40 years before prophethood no sin is recorded of him — the prophets' quality of ʿiṣmah (being protected from sin). Qur'an on his character: “Indeed, you are upon an exalted standard of character” (al-Qalam 68:4).

VIDEO After the first five verses, revelation paused (fatratul-waḥy, the majority view ~10 days) — a great distress; he would return to Ḥirāʾ hoping for it. It ended with the throne-vision of Jibrīl seated between heaven and earth; shaken, he came home saying “Daththirūnī!” (Cover me). Then came Sūrat al-Muddaththir — “O you who are enwrapped, arise and warn” (qum fa-andhir = do daʿwah) — and Sūrat al-Muzzammil — “stand at night in prayer” (qiyām al-layl). The Sheikh pairs the two “arise” commands: the daʿwah only stays strong if fuelled by night worship. The whole mission would run 23 years: a Makkan period (~13 yrs = 3 years secret + 10 years open) then the Madīnan period.

VIDEO He called his closest circle first. The earliest believers: Khadījah (wife, first to believe), ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a child ~7 in his home), Zayd ibn Ḥārithah (his freed/adopted son), and Abū Bakr (his close friend). Through Abū Bakr came a wave of major Companions — ʿUthmān, az-Zubayr, ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, Ṭalḥah. Abū Bakr, titled aṣ-Ṣiddīq, accepted with no hesitation; the reward of guiding even one person to Islam, the Prophet ﷺ said, is better than all the sun rises upon.

VIDEO For the first ~3 secret years daʿwah was based at Dār al-Arqam (house of al-Arqam ibn Abī al-Arqam). The Sheikh's three reasons it was chosen: (1) it sat near Mount Ṣafā, away from Quraysh's eyes; (2) al-Arqam was a teenager (~16–17), so his house drew little suspicion; (3) he was from Banū Makhzūm, a rival of the Prophet's ﷺ clan Banū Hāshim — the last place Quraysh would look. There the core was taught tawḥīd first, an early prayer (qiyām al-layl before the five daily prayers were made farḍ at the Miʿrāj), and tazkiyah — so they would stand firm under the coming persecution and not be among al-mutasāqiṭīn (those who fall off the path of daʿwah).

VIDEO After ~3 years the command came — “And warn your nearest kinsmen” — so he climbed Mount Ṣafā and summoned the clans. His test question: if I told you an army was behind this mountain about to attack, would you believe me? They said “Yes — we have never known you to lie.” He then called them to worship Allah alone and warned of the Day of Judgment. Two obstacles made it hard for them: entrenched shirk (the 360 idols) and their denial of resurrection.

VIDEO Abū Lahab threw dirt at him, cursing “Tabban laka!” (may you perish — did you gather us for this?). In response Allah revealed Sūrat al-Masad: “Tabbat yadā Abī Lahabin wa tabb” (Perish the two hands of Abū Lahab). From that day open opposition began.

VIDEO Quraysh formed a council to block Islam and ran a slander campaign — calling him a sorcerer, liar, poet, madman, and warning pilgrims off him (which, the Sheikh notes, ironically backfired as free advertising). They tortured the weak and enslaved believers without tribal protection — Bilāl, and the family of Yāsir, to whom the Prophet ﷺ said “Be patient, family of Yāsir — your appointed place is Paradise.” Sumayyah (RA), Yāsir's wife, became the first martyr of Islam. To protect the carefully-built core, the Prophet ﷺ decided to send the first migration to Abyssinia (Ḥabashah) — the subject of the next lesson.