The Beginning of Revelation

Before becoming a prophet, Muhammad usually spent onemonth every year in a cave on
the top of a mountain near Mecca. There he meditated and thought about religion of Abraham.
This was done by him because he refused to accept the beliefs of the people of Mecca who
worshipped idols. This continued for a number of years. When he was forty years of age the
Archangel Gabriel came to him and convinced him.
It was clear that he was a prophet from God. He received the first revelation after
becoming a prophet. The first revelation said:
“Read in the name of thy Lord who created?
Created man from a blood clot. Read; thy Lord is most beneficial. He taught by pen.
Taught man what he knew not.”
When the prophet received this revelation from God and when he became sure, then he
began to call people to accept the new religion. The new religion was based on the oneness of
God – worshipping only Allah and giving up the worship of idols. About three years after
Prophet received the first revelation he was told, “Warn your relatives.”
He started to speak to his close friends and his family. Khadija, his wife, was the first
woman to accept Islam, and Abu Bakar the first man. Ali bin Abu Thalib, his cousin was the first
boy to accpet Islam, and Zaid was the first servant to accept Islam. The number started to
increase slowly through the personal contact of the prophet and his close friend, Abu Bakar, but
when he received the verse mentioned, this was the sign for him to inform all the people of
Mecca of his cause.

A. Vocabulary
To meditate : bersemedi
Servant : pelayan, abdi45
Beneficial : memberi manfaat
To increase : bertambah, meningkat
To convince : meyakinkan
Clot : gumpalan beku.
B. Exercise
Exercise 1.
Answer the following question according to the text.
1. What did Muhammad usually do before becoming a prophet?
Answer : before becoming a prophet, Muhammad used to spend one month each year in a
cave on top of a mountain near mecca. There he meditated and thought about Abrahamic
religion.
2. Where was the cave in which Muhammad meditated?
Answer : cave a on top of a mountain near mecca.
3. What did he think about in his meditation?
Answer : he thought about Abrahamic religion
4. How long did he spend in meditation?
Answer : he spends one month every year, and has continued for several years
5. What did he ask God?

6. Why did he ask God’s guidance?

Answer :
7. What did most Meccan people worship?
Answer : idols
8. To whom did the prophet speak after receiving the first revelation?
Answer : he began talking with close friends and family
9. What did the prophet do then?
Answer :
10. What was the Mecan people’s response to the prophet’s call?
Answer :

Exercise 2. Choose the correct answer of the following question!

1. Before Muhammad became a prophet, the people of Mecca ………..
A. Spent one month every year in a cave
B. Liked to stay on top of mountain
C. Worship the only one god
 D. Worship idols
2. How long did Muhammad usually stay in cave?
A. one month every year
B. several months in every year
C. several years
D. one year46
3. Muhammad began to call people to accept the new religion after ……..
A. he received a pen from God
B. he received the revelation from God
C. he stayed forty years in the cave
D. he stayed three years in the cave

4. Who is the first boy to accept Islam?

A. Abu Bakar
B. Ali bin Abu Thalib
C. Zaid
D. Abu Thalib
5. The following are attributed to the beginning of the revelation, EXCEPT
A. Muhammad spent one month every year formeditation.
B. Muhammad received first revelation when he was fourty years old.
C. Muhammad began to call people to accept the new religion after he received the
revelation.
D. Muhammad warned his relatives for three years.

Exercise 3. Text Discussion.

Analyze the text in terms of events and setting, and also give appropriate title of it.
1. The topic (title) of the text is about. …….
2. The main event and the most important ones are: (give the subjects and objects if any)
1)…………..
2). …………
3. The main characters of the story are
 1)……………………..
2). ………………….
3).…………………….
4. The setting in terms of location (where the story happened)
5. The setting in terms of time (when the story happened)

Exercise 4 : Explain the underlined words by referring to the context!

1. “ This was done by him because he refused to accept the beliefs of the people of Mecca who
worshipped idols.” The underlined word refers to …….
2. “ This was done by him because he refused to accept the beliefs of the people of Mecca who
worshipped idols.” The underlined word refers to …….
3. “Read; thy Lord is most beneficial. He taught by pen.” The underlined word refers to ….
4. “ Read; thy Lord is most beneficial. He taught by pen.Taught man what he knew not.” The
underlined word refers to ………
5. “When the prophet received this revelation from God and when he became sure, then he began
to call people to accept the new religion.” The underlined word refers to ….

C. Grammar Used
PAST TENSE
Form : The past tense forms of verb such as : spent, meditated, refused, continued, worshipped,
convinced, etc.
Function : The most basic use of the past tense is to describe one completed action in the past.
The completed action in the past is generally indicated by the time markers such as yesterday,
two days ago, in 1961, etc, or simply by the use of the verb in the past tense.
Examples :
1. Muhammad usually spent one month every year in a cave on the top of a mountain near
Mecca.
2. There he meditated and thought about religion of Abraham.
3. This was done by him because he refused to accept the beliefs of the people of Mecca who
worshipped idols.
4. This continued for a number of years.
5. When he was forty years of age the Archangel Gabriel came to him and convinced him.
Sentence Transformation
To change the tense to the interrogative and negative, simplyplace the auxiliary verb
“did” for both singular and plural subjects in front of the sentence, followed by the main verb in
the simple form, the subject and the rest of sentence. Add the negation ‘not’ to form a negative.
Note the word order in the example below.
Muhammad received the first revelation after becoming a prophet. (Statement).
Did he warn his relatives?(Int.)
Muhammad did not worship idols (Neg.)
Why did Muhammad meditate in a cave ? (Question with the question word “why”)

Grammar Focus Activity I

The following sentences contain verbs in the basic tenses. Try to change these sentences
to interrogative with the interrogative wordsgiven at the end of each sentence.
Example :
- Muhammad received the first revelation when he was forty years old. (when)
- When Muhammad receive the first revelation?
1. When people forgot the true message of Allah, He sent other prophets to remind them of their
duty to Allah.
(when)
2. The people of Mecca wanted to rebuild the Ka’ba, because it had been damaged by the flood.
(why)
3. All prophets taught us to worship Allah alone. (who).
4. He requested four men to hold the cloth. (How many).
5. He explained the new ideas he had received from God. (what)
6. Muhammad invited all the members of his family to dinner in his house. (where)
7. The messenger delivered his message to his family as well as to the Quraysh people. (to
whom).
8. The tribes of Mecca co-operated with each other to rebuild the Ka’ba because it was an honor
for them and all the Arab tribes. (Why).
9. Muhammad talked to people and advised them not to worship idols. (to whom).
10. They all felt happy. (how)

Grammar Focus Activity II

Change the verb in bracket into past form to complete the passage.
It was a fruit season. Almost all people at that country ………(plant) fruit tree. So …… (do)
Nashreddin. He …….(have) a lot of grape trees. He ………(pick) two basketful of grapes and
……….(want) to sell the grapes to the market. He ……..(put) the two basket on his donkey. It
……(is) a very hot midday. The market was still far before him. He …….. (stop) and ………
(have) a drink in food stall nearby. Then several men with several donkeys bringing grapes
……..(come) and ………(take) a rest at the same food stall. After having lunch,
they ……..(fall) sleep. Nashreddin ……….(not feel) asleep. Seeing the men were sleeping, he
……..(go) out. He …… ….(begin) thinkingabout what to do with those men.