First revelation Chapter 96: verse 1-5

The following five verses were the first revelation that came to the blessed Prophet Muhammad:

96:1 Read in the name of your sustainer who created you
96:2 Created Insan (Human beings) from A'laq (clot)
96:3 Read - for your Lord is most bountiful
96:4 Who has taught the use of pen
96:5 Taught human being what he did not know

96:1 Read in the name of your sustainer who created you

"The first divinely revealed instruction was about rousing human conscience to become literate. In my view it marked the first step towards enlightenment."

Commentary: The blessed Prophet Muhammad was in deep meditation, contemplating on the issues that had preoccupied his mind for many years. He was concerned with the simple to the most complex questions in his forty year life. In his society life had become valueless; honour and dignity was hard to find; inequality and discrimination was rampant; there was colossal gap between the poor and the rich and it was getting even wider; war, violence and brutality determined the outcome of any conflict; law and order was always favouring the rich and the elite. He desperately wanted to see a change in his society. But he did not know how he could help to bring about a long term change!

The age forty is a defining milestone in the lives of human beings. Many around this age suffer from a midlife crisis. I call it “crisis of conscience” - many people wake up to realise that half of their life has gone, what is there to show for it? What have they achieved? Do they have enough time to do all the things they wished to do? Forty is also when people look back and bask in the glorious memories of their youthful days and at the same time feel extremely insecure and scared of the coming of old age. Many people abruptly end their careers and take up travelling; many end their family life, abandon the world and become new age hippies, monks or embrace hedonistic lifestyles. I believe at the age of forty we should evaluate our lives and make the necessary changes to embrace and welcome the coming of less youthful days.

I also believe intellectual renaissance or rethinking is best faced at this stage in life. Maturity, understanding, experience, insight and wisdom all come from years of hard work and exposure. I am facing my forty soon; the way I think now is by far very different than the way I used to think. I am responding to people’s questions very differently and sometimes I don’t even know where some of these answers come from. The Prophetic mission started at that crossroad of his life. He was ready intellectually to receive the divine wisdom; he was socially well established with an impeccable track record of honesty, integrity and truthfulness; he was emotionally stable with a wonderful, loving, loyal and supportive wife who gave him several children. He was in every way content in his personal life but totally disappointed by everything else around him.

“Read” was the first divine word that was revealed to the Prophet. What strikes me most is that the Prophet was unlettered yet he displayed his own deficiencies by pronouncing the divine instruction. He could not have devised his own embarrassment; he was simply reporting exactly what had happened to him. He was a man known for honesty and truthfulness. He was bringing to the world instructions from God Almighty that knowledge was the only way human beings could gain true freedom and liberation. Some linguists have translated the Arabic word “Iqra” to mean “recite”. I prefer the meaning “read” as this denotes an active and conscious effort to absorb, engage and understand. The divine writ “read” was a direct response to the many questions the blessed Prophet had in his mind about how to bring change. Knowledge was the new and far superior way to bring about sustainable change.

The blessed Prophet’s knowledge at that stage of his life was limited to the cultures and exposure he had from his travels and the surrounding environment. He was unlettered and when he was asked to read the heavenly revelation he simply pleaded ignorance; he said, “I do not know how to read”. Nothing could have prepared him for this. Eventually out of sheer frustration he said; “what do you want me to read?” In later years he admitted to his companions that that was the most terrifying experience he had ever had. The divine intervention enabled him to read but he was still frightened. He ran home to the comfort of his wife, shivering and sweating, begging her to cover him. Such was the journey of a man from being an ordinary human being to becoming a Prophet. To me this only confirms his human nature. For those who claim that the Prophet was not a normal human being and had some super human qualities should rethink their position.

The wisdom and support of his beloved wife was soothing for a frightened man. He confided in her, he found her consolation comforting and soothing to his fearful heart. She reassured him and stated her full confidence in his character and was absolutely certain that God would never harm such a brilliant and generous man. A man she adored, fell in love with and devoted all her life and wealth in serving. . She was an audacious woman who could see in her husband more than a frightened man. She could see him as the best possible hope for leading a revolution in her society. She saw him as the only glimmer of hope in a society that had lost its way. Enlightenment does not come to those who are cowardly and she was certainly not one of them. The world should remember this great woman with admiration, gratitude and humility, for we are all indebted to her unflinching faith and support of her husband, the Prophet, who has been declared as the most influential man ever.

The Prophet was being asked to read. To most of us there is nothing remarkable about reading. In today’s world everyone knows how to read. Even my two year old is an avid reader; obviously he does not know how to read yet but - he seen us reading and he imitates. Reading was not such a common practice in 6th century Arabia or the surrounding nations. Illiteracy was a common feature of the society. The first divinely revealed instruction was about rousing human conscience to become literate. In my view it marked the first step towards enlightenment.

The prerequisite to enlightenment, according to the Quran, is to recognise the position of human beings in the wider and ever expanding universe. It is about accepting that there is only one God who is not disconnected from the universe but is actively involved in the day to day running of it. He sustains and owns everything that is known or unknown to us in this vast and mysterious universe. The society around the Prophet was not godless; in fact they believed in many gods and also the one supreme God.

The Arabic word “Rab” used to refer to God in this verse is very interesting. Some have translated the word “Rab” literally as “Lord”. I do not feel the word Lord alone expresses the full meaning of the Arabic word. The English word Lord when examined closely demonstrates a power relationship or simple ownership, where as the Arabic word Rab indicates a more delicate nurturing and sustaining relationship. It refers to kindness, tenderness and affection, maintaining, nourishing and supporting life, creating perfection and being the owner and maker of all.

I prefer it to be - an organic two way relationship, therefore the word “sustainer” is closer to my feelings and thoughts. I like a God who is sustaining, loving, kind, merciful, fair, just and approachable. In the first verse this natural connection is thus established as the foundation of the message the blessed Prophet would share with the rest of the world and enlightenment through knowledge as the most important feature of those who subscribe to this way of life.