Great events in the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him) I

From an old post of mine: [17/01/06]

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I spent the evening today listening to the RIS III lecture: Great moments in the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), by Tareq Suwaidan

I've divided the lecture into several posts, this being the first. I had to listen to it tonight, (my first time) because I felt a sheer drop of emptiness in me. And I know this is because when you stand on a cliff, you can see vastness around you, and that's when you feel empty inside.

There's lots to be learnt- I'd appreciate detailed thoughts :) The only downside is I didn't bother editing or completing my notes, but they're still traceable.

The night of revelation
The night when Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was in the Cave of Hira. He had devoted his life to Allah (the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful). He had no messenger, no book, didn’t no know to pray. He chose to pray according to religion of Ibrahim, and all he knew was glorifying Allah, and that’s what he did for a month. Then in a human form Gabriel appeared- white clothes, green pillow, with a book on top of the pillow.
“Iqra”
He was illiterate.
“I don’t know how to read”
Gabriel hugged him so hard, and told him to read again.
“Ma ana bi qarid”
And once again.
And the 4th time he said, “What should I read?”

Iqra, bismirabbikal ladhi khalaq….
These words were the beginning of all change. He was shaking lots, he didn’t know what this meant. He started to run, towards his home, to his wife.

The heart of this beloved wife had felt something happening to her husband.

She didn’t know and sent her servants to the mountain, but there was no one. Where was he?

Running towards Khadijah, on the way, in that small distance, one of the greatest events happened.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, I heard a sound, coming from the sky, so I looked at the most amazing scene that I have never seen (besides Mi’raj). He saw Gabriel, sitting on a throne, filling heavens, from East to West, with 600 wings, so powerful. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) saw Gabriel in that form only twice. And he spoke to Muhammad, “ya Muhammad, anta rasoolullah, wa ana jibreel” thrice. And then disappeared. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) could not move. He stood there for several hours. That’s when they were looking for him. And he went home, asked to be covered.
He said to Khadijah, when she asked him to sleep, “there’s no more sleep after this”.