KHADIJAH saw the wisdom and direction Muhammad had acquired since his trance and she believed that it was indeed the spirit of the Lord which was driving him.
She took Muhammad to her cousin Waraqua ibn Naufal, who was a very old man with much knowledge of the Israelite and Christian scriptures.
Waraqua after seeing and speaking to Muhammad declared his belief that the heavenly messenger who came to Moses of old had now come to Muhammad, and that Muhammad was chosen as a prophet of his people.
In the first few years of Muhammad’s prophet-hood, he mainly prophesied to his family members and servants.
The Meccans thought Muhammad had become a little mad, but his teachings caused many who listened to follow him.
After three years, Muhammad’s teachings finally became the talk of the town and his influence was leading many Arabeans to forgo their pagan and idol worship. Muhammad taught that Islam was the way for all mankind.
The concept of Islam is derived from the word ‘salaam’ which means ‘peace’ in Arabic.
Islam means peace through the complete submission/surrender to Allah. Muhammad taught that all of mankind who were straying from following the way of the Lord had their days numbered and would be eliminated on the Day of Judgment.
He taught that Islam was not new, but was the way of their ancestor Abraham and all the prophets of Allah that existed before and after him.
The concept of Islam and the concept of hunhu are similar in that they are both standards for mankind which were set in emulation of the Creator and cannot be altered.
Like hunhu, a good Muslim is seen by his words and works.
Islam is thus a way of life and not just a religion.
However, Muhammad stressed that if anyone was to ask what their religion was, they should say Islam.
Muhammad’s teachings mainly dwelt on the story of the creation of mankind and our purpose on earth.
He challenges people to meditate on the fact that they were created in the image of Allah.
Muhammad teaches that it is through mankind that Allah speaks and carries out His will on earth because He created the man as a vessel for His Spirit which is everlasting.
Thus Muhammad warns mankind to stop worshiping the things they created with their hands because Allah gave dominion of all His creation on earth to man.
Muhammad says that it is the black man that Allah created of black clay and from his descendants all the other races emerged.
Among mankind, Muhammad is careful to point out that there are some who lost their way in the olden days and were cursed by Allah.
As for the white race, Muhammad says that they are not of black clay, but of plastic clay, and have been turned into apes and swine.
Muhammad says the loss of their blackness is their curse and also a sign for mankind.
In many of his writings he refers to the whites as dead, because they could no longer live spiritually.
For the above reason, many Arabs felt privileged to have even the slightest tone of melanin (blackness) on their skin and the black Arabs and Africans were empowered.
However, the nobles and wealthy Arabs became weary of Muhammad’s message because many of them possessed and ill treated blacks as slaves.
One such slave was an African called ‘Bilal’, who after taking up Islam was physically punished by his masters, but refused to change his stance.
When Muhammad heard of Bilal’s devotion, he paid for his release and Bilal began following Muhammad and became his closest associate until the day of Muhammad’s passing.
The message of Islam taught that a woman is not to be abused or polluted as she is the bearer and the first teacher of man when he is born.
The delicacy, purity and innocence of a woman are a gift from Allah and are not to be defiled, but to be preserved in a mother and passed on to her offspring. Muhammad taught that the woman was different from the man but equal.
The woman is the female member of the human family.
In his time, women were often sold as slaves and some were lowered to prostitution by their masters.
Before long, the Muslims started getting persecuted.
At the Ka‘bah, the idol worshipers were enraged because Muhammad denounced their idols.
He often told of how Abraham was born to a family which had also begun worshiping idols, but because of his faith in Allah, he broke his father’s idols and left his home for the land that Allah had promised him.
He urged mankind to do likewise.
Muhammad urged people to free their slaves and to respect their servants.
He taught that man should take care of the orphan, the needy and the widow.
He taught that one should give in private and not for men to see his generosity.
Muhammad’s message did not differ to the teachings of all the prophets before him.
Muhammad spoke of all the prophets including; Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Moses, David, Solomon and Yahshua (Jesus).
He says that there is no distinction between the prophets of Allah and they are all men of flesh and blood, who are guided by the spirit of Allah, and are sent among their brethren on earth to carry out Allah’s will.
Through these prophets, mankind can learn their true potential and grow spiritually.
The Muslims call upon Allah by His name and not the title God.
The English word ‘god’ was derived from the word ‘judge’ and it has been attributed to many things by the heathens.
Allah is a holy name which Muslims attribute to none other than the Creator.
It is equivalent to the holy name of Mwari which is also attributed to none other than the Creator in many parts of Africa.
Allah is also similar to El, which is the Hebrew word for Mwari.
When the persecution and killing of the Muslims intensified, Muhammad sent some who were able to Abyssinia to seek refuge from the righteous Christian king of that land.
His name was Negus (King) Nejashi and Muhammad had learnt about the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia from his childhood Ethiopian guardians.
A large number of the Muslims fled to Abyssinia to see Negus Nejashi.
On arrival they found that some of their persecutors had overtaken them and falsely presented themselves as slaves who had escaped from their masters to Nejashi.
They claimed that they were people who rebelled against their forefather’s tradition and began following a mad man who they call a prophet.
When Nejashi questioned the Muslims, one of them presented their case.
They spoke of how the Muslims had been persecuted by their kinsmen for forgoing idolatry and pagan worship.
They spoke of how Muhammad had been sent to them in the same way that the biblical prophets were sent and when he mentioned names like Yahshua (Jesus), the Nejashi asked them from where they had heard those names.
They mentioned that they had been taught these things by their prophet Muhammad.
The Arabian persecutors then accused Muhammad of being against Yahshua because he taught that Allah begot no son, but made all men equal.
They did this knowing that the Ethiopian Christians followed the false doctrine of the trinity and believed that Yahshua was the only begotten son of God.
They believed only Yahshua could be raised from the dead.
Muhammad taught that all the righteous among mankind could be raised again and that death and rebirth were the cycle of life.
Nejashi then questioned the Muslims on the issue of Yahshua and their spokesman reiterated the words of the Quran to him.
He spoke of how Mary was a virgin and how Allah’s hand miraculously created Yahshua in Mary’s womb in the same way He created Adam afore time.
They said Yahshua was sent by Allah to show His sovereignty to mankind, as a blessing from Allah and a thing ordained.
When Nejashi heard these words he cried and said that Islam and Christianity were like two rays from the same sun.
He told the persecutors of the Muslims that he would never give them up for a mountain of gold.
He let the Muslim runaways live in Ethiopia for as long as they wished.
The descendants of these Muslims are still in Ethiopia and they are black to this day.
After the success of the Muslims in Abyssinia, one of their chief oppressors, a Qureysh tribesman called Umar, converted to Islam.
This came as a great shock for the idol worshipers and a victory for the Muslims because Umar had been a very influential man in Mecca.