The first vision was followed by a considerable period, during which no further revelation was given, and during which Muḥammad suffered much mental depression. [[FITRAH].]
“During this period,” al-Buk͟hārī says, “the Prophet was very sorrowful, so much so that he wished to throw himself from the top of a hill to destroy himself.”
But after a lapse of time, as he was wrapped up in his garments and lay stretched upon his carpet, the angel is said to have again addressed him, in the chapter which begins ([Sūrah lxxiv].):—
“O thou enwrapped in thy mantle,
Arise and preach!”
Muḥammad then believed himself to be a commissioned Apostle, the messenger and the prophet of God, sent to reclaim a fallen people to the knowledge and service of their God. His revelations were God’s Book, and his sayings the utterances of inspiration.
The first convert to Islām was his faithful wife K͟hadījah, the two next, ʿAlī and Zaid, his adopted children, and afterwards his old trusted friend, Abū Bakr, “the True.” Then followed ʿUs̤mān, who was a grandson of ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib; T̤alḥah, the renowned warrior of after days; and ʿAbdu ʾr-Raḥmān, a merchant of some consequence. The new converts soon numbered some fifty souls, either members of the Prophet’s family or his dearest friends.
An important change now occurred in the relations of Muḥammad with the citizens of Makkah. Their hostility was aroused, and the Muslims were subjected to some persecution and indignity. It was not, however, until some three years of his ministration had elapsed that any general opposition was organized. Hostility once excited soon showed itself in acts of violence. Saʿīd, a youthful convert, was attacked whilst leading a party of Muslims in prayer. He defended himself, and struck one of his opponents with a camel goad. It was, says Sir William Muir, “the first blood spilt in the cause of Islām.”
In the fourth year of his mission, Muḥammad took possession of the house of Arqam (a recent convert), and there held meetings for those who wished to know the teaching of the Prophet more perfectly.
The house of Arqam was in front of the Kaʿbah, and was therefore in a convenient position. So famous did it become as the birth-place of believers, that it was afterwards styled the “House of Islām.”